Thread: Email and SASL
View Single Post
  #1   (View Single Post)  
Old 8th February 2009
JMJ_coder JMJ_coder is offline
VPN Cryptographer
 
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 464
Default Email and SASL

I'm trying to get my email all squared away and I am having serious issues with the smtp server. My first question is what is the purpose of sasl? I know that it is meant for a secure connection, but email isn't a secure communication (unless you encrypt the actual text message thoroughly yourself).

The problem I'm having is that postfix that ships with NetBSD doesn't include sasl support for the client (the server has dovecot). I don't need this to act as a full blown mail server. It should merely relay the message to the remote server that I have been assigned (that is it should act only as a client).

I modified all the setting in main.cf according to the tutorials (i.e., relay host, smtp_enable_sasl, setup sasl_password file), and it still won't work. I keep getting a fatal SASL library initialization error!

I built postfix from pkgsrc including cyrus sasl, but it doesn't want to use that postfix. It keeps trying to use the original postfix which doesn't include the sasl. I even copied the rc script for the new postfix to /etc/rc.d/ and still it gives me issues. It complains on startup of postfix already being running and postfix not being used as in mailer.conf (but the sendmail command doesn't appear to have been included in /usr/pkg/libexec/postfix).

Now, postfix is configured and working for local mail delivery. And fetchmail is working with it and downloading from my remote pop server(s). It's just when postfix goes to send remote emails that it fails.


I am thinking of using the DynDNS MailHop Outbound service (for one thing, the mail server my hosting company uses is run by a company I can't tolerate) - does it allow non-sasl connections (it appears to be the case)?


Another thing: Currently postfix runs as a daemon, but I don't need it to run all the time. I only need it at certain times to send along the mail queue. Is it possible to not start it at boot time but only call it at certain times (say upon exiting mutt, or when I logoff) have it send mail and then exit the postfix processes?


Note: sorry if this seems a little rant-like, this has become quite irritating!
__________________
And the WORD was made flesh, and dwelt among us. (John 1:14)

Last edited by JMJ_coder; 8th February 2009 at 01:25 AM.
Reply With Quote