[H-GEN] Mail setup

Robert Brockway robert at timetraveller.org
Sun Jul 28 20:32:04 EDT 2002


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On 29 Jul 2002 hphillips at 4ward.com.au wrote:

> What I need to know now is if the server is not connected to the
> internet (it's on dial-up) then it should keep the outgoing mail until
> it is connected, right? How long will it keep trying until it gives up?

Yes.  If you're using sendmail then there are 2 parameters in the config 
file to say a) how long it keep it before annoying you with an advisory 
message & b) how long it keeps it before bouncing it back to the sender.

The parameters in sendmail.cf are:

O Timeout.queuewarn
O Timeout.queuereturn

Eg, I currently have:

O Timeout.queuewarn=1h
O Timeout.queuereturn=2d

If the box is only periodically connected to the net then I recomend 
keeping Timeout.queuewarn high enough that you don't get advisories for 
most emails.  Before I had a 24/7 link I had it at 1 day.

Also of interested is:

O DeliveryMode

For a box with only a periodically connection to the 'net I recomend:

O DeliveryMode=deferred

Deferred mode delivery does no dns checks or attempt at delivery before 
pushing the mail into the queue.  Set delivery at say 2 minutes to get 
good performance.  You could even run different delivery modes when online 
& not online by restarting sendmail the new delivery mode at the 
appropriate time.

> Can I increase this or change it so that it only tries to send when its
> connected to the internet?

Put a "sendmail -q" in the ip-up scripts for your ppp link (or 
equivalent).  This will flush the queue when you go online.

> PS As so often happens, writing a request for help inspired me to try
> some stuff that I hadn't thought of before. Of course this happens AFTER
> I click on the 'Send Now' button.

Always :)

Cheers,
	-Rob

-- Robert Brockway B.Sc. email: robert at timetraveller.org  ICQ: 104781119
   Linux counter project ID #16440 (http://counter.li.org)
   avon: up 18 days,  8:13,  3 users,  load average: 0.00, 0.00, 0.00
   "The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens" -Baha'u'llah


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