Using a hostname other than the server's primary name...
Brief Overview:
The box that currently hosts our Mailman lists has several different hostnames, some of which (including its primary) are only resolvable from inside our firewall. While Mailman is configured to prefer a non-primary hostname, generated emails include the primary hostname in some of their headers (including "Sender", "Return-path", and "Reply-to"), resulting in the use of addresses which are undeliverable from outside our local network.
Is it possible to override this behavior?
Detailed Information:
The primary hostname of the server which hosts our Mailman lists is "baruch.letnet.net". For a number of reasons, this hostname is not resolvable from outside our firewall.
This server has additional hostnames ("www.letu.edu" and "lists.letu.edu") which are resolvable and accessible from outside our firewall.
Lists are configured with host_name (Host name this list prefers for email) set to "lists.letu.edu".
An e-mail sent through the list, however, gets headers which include the following:
From: "Roedel, Mark" MarkRoedel@letu.edu X-BeenThere: deck3@lists.letu.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5c2 Reply-To: Deck 3 alumni and friends deck3@baruch.letnet.net List-Id: Deck 3 alumni and friends
List-Unsubscribe: http://www.letu.edu/mail/lists/listinfo/deck3, mailto:deck3-request@lists.letu.edu?subject=unsubscribe List-Archive: http://www.letu.edu/mail/lists/private/deck3 List-Post: mailto:deck3@lists.letu.edu List-Help: mailto:deck3-request@lists.letu.edu?subject=help List-Subscribe: http://www.letu.edu/mail/lists/listinfo/deck3, mailto:deck3-request@lists.letu.edu?subject=subscribe Sender: deck3-bounces@baruch.letnet.net Errors-To: deck3-bounces@baruch.letnet.net Return-Path: deck3-bounces@baruch.letnet.net
Any way (using the SMTPDirect handler, in case that matters) to ensure that all headers that refer to the list address use the correct hostname? Reply-To is the most visible problem for list subscribers, and although I can of course override that by providing an explicit reply-to address, it seems like it'd also be to our benefit to have Sender/Errors-To/Return-Path contain reachable addresses as well...
-- Mark Roedel Web Programmer / Analyst LeTourneau University Longview, Texas USA
On 04/28/04 18:45 Roedel, Mark wrote:
Brief Overview:
The box that currently hosts our Mailman lists has several different hostnames, some of which (including its primary) are only resolvable from inside our firewall. While Mailman is configured to prefer a non-primary hostname, generated emails include the primary hostname in some of their headers (including "Sender", "Return-path", and "Reply-to"), resulting in the use of addresses which are undeliverable from outside our local network.
Is it possible to override this behavior?
Hi.
Check your MTA configuration for missing domain/name directives.
We're using exim 3.35 and had similar problems. After adding a domain directive to the mailman director our probs were solved: domains = lists.letu.edu
-- cheers, Steffen
At 11:45 AM -0500 2004/04/28, Roedel, Mark wrote:
The box that currently hosts our Mailman lists has several different hostnames, some of which (including its primary) are only resolvable from inside our firewall.
[ ... deletia ... ]Is it possible to override this behavior?
Yes, but it depends on your MTA. We recently did this on a mail server I am responsible for.
With postfix, you set $myhostname equal to the value you want the outside world to see. You will also need to set $smtp_bind_address to the IP address you want to use for outbound connections.
So long as $myhostname resolves to the IP address specified in $smtp_bind_address, for which the reverse DNS points back to the same name claimed in $myhostname, you should be set.
Note that you may need to make firewall changes to support these application changes. Many firewalls are configured to allow incoming connections, and outgoing packets are only allowed for "established" connections (i.e., in response to a given incoming connection). Outbound connections are typically more limited, and may not include the IP address you specify in $smtp_bind_address.
Any way (using the SMTPDirect handler, in case that matters) to ensure that all headers that refer to the list address use the correct hostname? Reply-To is the most visible problem for list subscribers, and although I can of course override that by providing an explicit reply-to address, it seems like it'd also be to our benefit to have Sender/Errors-To/Return-Path contain reachable addresses as well...
There's no way to fix this problem from within Mailman. You have to fix this problem inside your MTA.
-- Brad Knowles, brad.knowles@skynet.be
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania.
SAGE member since 1995. See http://www.sage.org/ for more info.
participants (3)
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Brad Knowles -
Roedel, Mark -
Steffen Mueller