Is there a sendmail expert avail?

[tamra]

I have a question about a sendmail configuration I'm trying and thought I'd ask a few people before hand.

I'm trying to customize the headers to provide specific info instead of basic/generic info. but can someone attempt to override these settings?

thanks,
Tamra

[steve0]

Which parts did you want to customize..?

Many mailer scripts allow you to create custom header info..

Is your goal to make the information static?

[rackaid]

You will need to be more specific about which headers you wish to modify. Perhaps post and example header and indicated the parts you wish to change. Some headers can be altered by the mailing program while others will require a change to the sendmail config file or even to the source code.

[tamra]

in the sendmail.cf, I'm trying to *always* force the name of the local host and/or IP address for form mail scripts created remotely which force the server to queue messages out. some of the form mail scripts create an error, or I have a feeling someone is trying to compromise one remotely. I want to always force an additional "Received from:" header with source details, in addition to the default received header to *always* notate the originating local host.

right now when there's an error, the message doesn't get sent, but it would be nice to get specific info on the source since the messages are relocated to an admin directory for review.

times like this I wish I'd have gone to a free sendmail class 4 years ago, but didn't think I'd ever have a system admin use for it. so never say never I guess. :o) but so far, with the info from busan.edu & sendmail.org, I may find the solution shortly.

[rackaid]

I am not sure what you mean by force the name of localhost? If you want a server to use a domain that is other than its hostname, look into masquerading. You can rewrite the hostname on emails with that info.


"always notate the originating local host"

Not sure what you mean. Emails should include an IP of the orginating server by default. Posting headers as examples would be useful.

[tamra]

Originally Posted by rackaid

I am not sure what you mean by force the name of localhost? If you want a server to use a domain that is other than its hostname, look into masquerading. You can rewrite the hostname on emails with that info.


"always notate the originating local host"

Not sure what you mean. Emails should include an IP of the orginating server by default. Posting headers as examples would be useful.

thanks for your information and sorry, I'm actually referring to the default headers when users are sending automated information via form mail directly from the server. when virtual hosts are sending mail via forms from their localhosts, the local IP address isn't captured, only the name of the primary host/network ID is captured in the header, not the user's local hostname or even their local IP address while sending form mail from their virtual host.

I want to force both the primary and local hostname to always be looked up and try to obtain an IP address in case their script is causing an error. it makes it easier to track someone down, as opposed to having to scroll thru the message details

I always add additional headers for abuse tracking when sending automatic mail from forms, but not everyone does this.

thanks,
Tamra

[rackaid]

Ok ... that's much clearer.

You may need to try invoking sendmail via:

"sendmail -t -f user@domain.com"

Where user@domain.com is the user. This will set the from address in the headers. There is little you can or should do about the IP. Faking the IP can often be detected and will be treated as spam.

[tamra]

Originally Posted by rackaid

Ok ... that's much clearer.

You may need to try invoking sendmail via:

"sendmail -t -f user@domain.com"

Where user@domain.com is the user. This will set the from address in the headers. There is little you can or should do about the IP. Faking the IP can often be detected and will be treated as spam.

Thanks ;o) I think this situation applies more to sendmail.cf and the local mail procedure, and web forms that I have no control over or didn't author. I think I found a few work arounds at busan.edu. I just want to make sure the user's local network address is captured, instead of just the primary host address, which applies to all local hosts. Not every local host will use the same method to create their web forms to send mail out and may not apply abuse tracking info to headers.

I was trying out a few things in the sendmail.cf file to make sure that either the originating IP address or originating host is always displayed in the header when using sendmail locally from any generic web form in addition to the standard sendmail headers. From the mail program, this isn't an issue, only from local web hosts. When an error occurs, I have to look at the process ID and look up the information in the log, which takes longer than having it stand out immediately in the header.