Re: [Exim] differentiate between local and outside users

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Author: Philip Hazel
Date:  
To: deshmukh
CC: exim-users
Subject: Re: [Exim] differentiate between local and outside users
On Tue, 12 Aug 2003 deshmukh@??? wrote:

> i am new to linux and exim. so, my questions may appear to be basic.


Which Linux distribution? Which release of Exim?

> my exim set-up was done using exim-config smarthost option.


Sounds like Debian, in which case you are probably using Exim 3. The
people on this list are mostly Exim 4 users these days, and only a few
are familiar with the way Debian sets up Exim 3. For a start, I am
not... so any comments I make are "generic Exim comments", and may not
apply precisely to your set-up.

> i also added these entries
>
> sandip: sandip@???
> father: sandip@???
> daughter: sandip@???
>
> in /etc/email-addresses.


I presume "sandip@???" is the email address that your ISP
supplies, and I further presume that /etc/email-addresses is some kind
of alias file. Is is mentioned in the Exim configuration, or is it
something your MUA uses? To find the name of Exim's configuration file,
run

/usr/sbin/sendmail -bP configure_file

> however, when i get a message from my daughter, it seems to be coming from
> sandip@???. i think it is the entry in /etc/email-addresses thats
> doing this.


How has the message travelled? Did it go to your ISP and come back, or
did it stay in your host? You can tell from the "Received:" headers in
the message. When you say "coming from" do you mean the "From:" line, or
the envelope sender (in the Exim log)?

If the message went through your ISP, it may well be that the ISP
re-wrote the sender to the only valid email address it knows about.

I'm afraid there's a lot of complication in email, and a lot to learn.
Running an MTA is not simple.

> how do i prevent it from happening?


You will probably have to learn a bit more about the way your MUA works,
and the way Exim works. In particular, learn about Exim's debugging
tools, which allow you to send messages and watch what it does with
them. There is some information in the reference manual, but the really
introductory material is only the in book. The current edition is for
Exim 4.

--
Philip Hazel            University of Cambridge Computing Service,
ph10@???      Cambridge, England. Phone: +44 1223 334714.
Get the Exim 4 book:    http://www.uit.co.uk/exim-book