========== DISview [518] !ALIAS.TXT ========== The DIS package supports two alias files: 1. The alias file for incoming mail (~/alias). This file is used by your SMTP server. 2. The alias file for outgoing mail (~/spool/mail/alias). This file is used by PCElm and SNEWS. The mailer in the built-in KA9Q BBS is unaware of either of these files. ================================== INCOMING MAIL ALIAS FILE (~/alias) ================================== To edit ~/alias from the DIS Session Manager: ***************************************************************** MAIN MENU:D > CONFIGURE NET:D -- "Edit Incoming Mail ALIAS File" ***************************************************************** >> Example of ~/alias: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ # ~/alias default deliver postmaster ian ian.wade ian ian-wade ian root ian inquiry enquiry fred forward fred@anyhost.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The incoming mail alias file (~/alias) is read by your SMTP server. The incoming mail alias file is read _after_ the rewrite file (~/spool/rewrite). Your SMTP server is unaware of the outgoing mail alias file (~/spool/mail/alias). Fields in the alias file are separated by one or more spaces. A new alias definition starts at the first character position on a line. Alias definitions may be longer than one line long -- continuation lines start with one or more spaces. The alias file may contain comment lines (starting with #) and/or blank (empty) lines to improve readability. The alias name (the first field in an alias definition) may contain dots or minus characters (but not "@" or "%"). Case does not matter; e.g. "postmaster" and "PostMaster" are the same. The second and subsequent fields of an alias definition contain the alias expansion. The expansion may contain any mix of local mailbox names and remote email addresses. A local mailbox name must not exceed 8 characters, and must be a DOS-compliant filename (without a dot or extension). The filename must not contain any of the following characters: \ " [ ] : | < > + = ; , Incoming mail for a local mailbox is saved by default in the DOS file ~/spool/mail/.txt. Alias expansions in ~/alias cannot refer to other aliases (i.e. it is not possible to build lists of lists). Alias definitions in ~/alias are readable by remote users (with a command like 'telnet 25', followed by the SMTP 'EXPN' command). This may be a security issue. ============================ "default" entries in ~/alias ============================ The incoming mail alias file may contain a "default" entry. This entry must be the _first_ alias definition in the file. The default entry may be either: "default deliver" or "default " "default deliver" ----------------- The "default deliver" alias allows mail addressed to _any_ mailbox on your system to be delivered without requiring corresponding username entries in ~/ftpusers. Where an incoming username matches an alias, the mail is delivered to the mailbox that corresponds to the alias. (In the above example, mail for "postmaster", "ian.wade", "ian-wade" and "root" is all delivered to "ian", mail for "inquiry" is delivered to "enquiry", and mail for "fred" is delivered to "forward" and also forwarded to "fred@anyhost.com"). Where an incoming username does not match any alias, the mail is delivered to the mailbox. Thus mail for "ianwade" is delivered to "ianwade", mail for "joebloggs" is delivered to "joeblogg", and so on. The incoming mail alias file should have a "postmaster" entry. Otherwise, mail addressed to "postmaster" will finish up in the "postmast" mailbox (this is because mailbox names are restricted by DOS to 8 characters). It is preferable to alias "postmaster" to your main mailbox name, making it less likely that you will miss seeing any "postmaster" mail. "default " ----------------------- If the incoming mail alias file contains the entry "default " (e.g. "default ian") instead of "default deliver", then all mail which does not match any other aliases in the file is delivered to . N.B. For this to work, you must also have an entry in ~/ftpusers for and for every other aliased mailbox. For example, if ~/alias looks like this: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ # ~/alias default ian # Mailboxes for incoming mail from lists fire-digest firewall solaris sun ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ then you must have a corresponding ~/ftpusers that looks something like this: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ # ~/ftpusers ian ianspassword \DEMON 71 firewall ~ \TEMP 0 sun ~ \TEMP 0 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That is, there is a user entry in ~/ftpusers for every local mailbox name in ~/alias. The ~ passwords in ~/ftpusers signify that the "firewall" and "sun" users can receive mail but cannot otherwise access your system (e.g. via FTP or Telnet). The main advantage of using "default " instead of "default deliver" in ~/alias is that all mail goes to one mailbox (except any mail addressed to the aliases). No "default" entry ------------------ If the "default deliver" entry is missing, any mail addressed to your system will only be delivered to users having entries in ~/ftpusers. Mail addressed to other users not listed in ~/ftpusers will be bounced (with one exception: any mail which is addressed to "postmaster" will _always_ be delivered). ============================================= OUTGOING MAIL ALIAS FILE (~/spool/mail/alias) ============================================= To edit ~/spool/mail/alias from the DIS Session Manager: ***************************************************************** MAIN MENU:F > CONFIGURE MAIL:B -- "Edit ALIAS" ***************************************************************** >> Example of ~/spool/mail/alias: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ # ~/spool/mail/alias ian ian@dowrmain.demon.co.uk thegang alex@alpha.com bill@beta.edu george@gamma.org denise@delta.gov outgoing list1 thegang oscar@omega.gov ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The outgoing mail alias file (~/spool/mail/alias) is read by PCElm and SNEWS. PCElm and SNEWS are unaware of the incoming mail alias file (~/alias), the rewrite file (~/spool/rewrite) and ~/ftpusers. Syntax rules for entries in ~/spool/mail/alias are the same as for ~/alias. In addition, for PCElm only, expansions in ~/spool/mail/alias _can_ refer to other aliases (i.e. it is possible to build lists of lists -- see the definition of "list1" in the example above). This does not apply to SNEWS. N.B. Some versions of PCElm are broken, and do not process the outgoing mail alias file properly. PCElm version 1.11 fixes this problem and should be used in preference to earlier versions. Alias definitions in ~/spool/mail/alias are _not_ accessible by remote users.