Configuring sendmail on SuSE Linux 7.1

[Kurt Granroth]

Sundar Narayanasamy wrote:
> I want to set up a mail server at home. My understanding is to configure
> sendmail first and second install POP3 server like qpopper.
> 
> When I try to set up sendmail on SuSE Linux 7.1, the SuSE handbook says to
> update rc.config for the following variables
> SENDMAIL_TYPE, SENDMAIL_HOST, SENDMAIL_SMARTHOST........, which I don't
> see'em in rc.config.
> 
> Does anybody know of any on-line step-by-step instruction on configuring
> sendmail on SuSE7.1 with YaST1 or any other good source you think that I can
> benefit from.I did download sendmail. But, instruction that came with it
> were dispersed and daunting.

First, since you have 7.1, use YaST2 to do the initial setup.  It
creates very nice defaults.  For many (most?) cases, it *should* be
all you need.

If you do need to make changes, you can do so with those variables..
but they are not in /etc/rc.config.  Instead, they are in
/etc/rc.config.d/sendmail.rc.config

However, read below..

> Note: Is there any other product easier than this, commercially or
> non-commercially?

I recommend qmail (http://www.qmail.org).  You *do* have to compile it
yourself since AFAIK, no distros ship it in RPM form (it doesn't lend
itself to a generic installation).

Qmail is very secure and very easy to configure.  I use it on all of
my computers.. from a direct connection to an SMTP relay to a (used to
be) dial-up laptop.  All require just a few changes.

The downside is that it's not as popular as sendmail.  As a result,
you *may* have more problems getting help if you need it.  I say "may"
because there are qmail fans on this list.. which always helps :-)

Also, since qmail isn't as popular, there isn't as many GUI tools for
configuring it so you *will* have to read the docs.

If you really want to do research on good mtas, you should also check
out postfix which I hear lots of good things about but have never
tried.
-- 
Kurt Granroth            | http://www.granroth.org
KDE Developer/Evangelist | SuSE Labs Open Source Developer
granroth@kde.org         | granroth@suse.com
            KDE -- Conquer Your Desktop