On Tue, 15 Nov 2005, Jason Meers wrote:
> 1) A usable config, no matter how simple. The sample config is very thorough
> but now 20 pages long.
The *default* configuration (it isn't a sample, it really works :-) is
672 lines long, it is true (your printer has 34 lines per page?).
It's the way it is because people (in the early days) wanted a working
configuration that was highly commented so that newcomers could read it
and perhaps understand the way it worked. Perhaps this has turned into
overkill?
> 2) From this starting point I would expect questions like:
>
> how can I specify 2 local domains instead of just 1
From the default configuration:
# The first setting specifies your local domains, for example:
#
# domainlist local_domains = my.first.domain : my.second.domain
Is that too terse, perhaps?
> how do I list hosts in a separate file
OK, I agree that isn't addressed in the default configuration. But it's
an example of a much deeper question. Nowadays, people are just as
likely to ask "in a database" as "in a separate file".
> what is relay_from_hosts needed for
From the default configuration:
# The third setting specifies hosts that can use your host as an outgoing relay
# to any other host on the Internet. Such a setting commonly refers to a
# complete local network as well as the localhost. For example:
#
# hostlist relay_from_hosts = 127.0.0.1 : 192.168.0.0/16
#
# The "/16" is a bit mask (CIDR notation), not a number of hosts. Note that you
# have to include 127.0.0.1 if you want to allow processes on your host to send
# SMTP mail by using the loopback address. A number of MUAs use this method of
# sending mail.
> what does the "!" mean in "! +local_domains"
Good point. That could be explained.
> 3) I also would expect someone to be willing to help me understand why the
> subnet is written as /8 instead of /255.0.0.0 or what an MX record actually
> does. It isn't strictly about exim but thats no reason to tell someone to go
> away and RTFM or print out the full spec.
It is true that this sort of information isn't widely available, which
is why chapter 2 exists in the Exim book.
> If I don't understand that its a router I need to perform a certain function,
> how would I know which part of the spec to read?
How about starting at the Contents, finding "How Exim receives and
delivers mail" (chapter 3), and starting from there? Sorry to sound
tetchy, but I *have* tried to describe the overall way Exim works.
> 4) As I learn, I would like to be shown how to change a working config to
> modify it's behavior and progress in small step eg:
>
> domainlist local_domains = example.com : example2.com
>
> could use a text file instead:
>
> domainlist local_domains = /etc/exim/local-domains.txt
Section 5.1 of the Exim book tells you how to do that. And indeed,
chapter 5 is exactly trying to do the kind of thing you want - extend
the default configuration in small steps.
OK, I'm a grumpy old man, but sometimes I do think that people have lost
the habit of reading documentation. This may be because so much
available software is poorly documented, so people's expectations are
low. Or maybe nobody reads books any more at all...
--
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
