Installing Exim - installation and run time

Run time configuration file

Having compiled Exim, it is neccessary to install it.

The installation process uses another configuration file, and again a sample version is provided.

The sample file, called "configure.default" is used if an actual configuration file has not been produced

However it is required to make some changes to the default version, or Exim does not work properly.

Mailboxes

In Caldera Linux 1.3, the default user mailboxes are located in /var/spool/mail/.

This location is used by smail, sendmail, and the adduser package.

However in the sample configuration file, the default path is /var/mail/.

So this requires to be changed.

Rights to mailboxes

If the advice given in the documentation that Exim should be run under the UID of 42, and the GID of 42, then Exim ends up with no rights to write in the mailboxes.

Within Caldera Linux 1.3, the adduser utility sets the user as the owner of the mailbox, and the group "mail" as the group owner.

In my case therefore, I created Exim as a user with the UID = 42, and created Exim as a group with the GID = 42, then added Exim to the mail group.

It is then also neccessary to alter the runtime configuration file by the uncommenting of the two lines

group = mail 

mode = 0660 

Reinstalling and recompiling Exim

During my various attempts to compile and install Exim, I found that recompiling and reinstalling does not work, every time you try, it goes less and less into the process.

The solution is to not do it at all - if it is required to recompile or reinstall, the best solution is to just delete everything and start again.

This is not as drastic as it sounds, the build time and run time configuration files can be kept in a spare directory, and moved across as required.

I also found that the most successful installations were those done after all the required directories have been manually created, and rights given to Exim. So don`t leave Exim to create the directories.

Results so far

So far I have Exim running on a host called "linux-2.e-nor.loc". I can send e-mails between users on Linux-2.

I have sendmail running on another host, "linux-1.e-nor.loc", and can send e-mail between users on the two servers, and also between users using Outlook Express on Windows 95.

Below is the information extracted from the mailbox on linux-2 for the user called "aaa", for an e-mail sent from bbb@linux-1.e-nor.loc using Outlook Express on a Windows 95 workstation to aaa@linux-2.e-nor.loc.

From bbb@linux-1.e-nor.loc Mon May 13 07:31:18 2002
Return-path: [bbb@linux-1.e-nor.loc]
Envelope-to: aaa@linux-2.e-nor.loc
Delivery-date: Mon, 13 May 2002 07:31:18 +0000
Received: from linux-1.e-nor.loc ([192.192.192.196] ident=root)
	by linux-2.e-nor.loc with esmtp (Exim 3.34 #1)
	id 177AIg-0000Am-00
	for aaa@linux-2.e-nor.loc; Mon, 13 May 2002 07:31:18 +0000
Received: from 95-on-486 (95-on-486.e-nor.loc [192.192.192.197])
	by linux-1.e-nor.loc (8.8.7/8.8.7) with SMTP id HAA00551
	for [aaa@linux-2.e-nor.loc]; Mon, 13 May 2002 07:25:59 GMT
From: "bbb-linux-1" [bbb@linux-1.e-nor.loc]
To: [aaa@linux-2.e-nor.loc]
Subject: From bbb to aaa
Date: Mon, 13 May 2002 08:31:24 +0100
Message-ID: [01c1fa50$2fcee360$c5c0c0c0@95-on-486.e-nor.loc]
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain;
	charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-Priority: 3
X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.71.1712.3
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.71.1712.3
Status: RO
X-Status: 
X-Keywords:
X-UID: 2

This is a test e-mail from bbb@linux-1.e-nor.loc to aaa@linux-2.e-nor.loc

    

PS

Internet Explorer gets confused by pairs of chevrons inside text - it tries to use them as tags.

I have therefore replaced the chevrons in the above extract with [ and ]

© 2002 Ron Turner

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