Re: mail in linux...
First, the '_' character is illegal in host names. RFC 952 contains the
requirements for hostnames:
1. A "name" (Net, Host, Gateway, or Domain name) is a text string up
to 24 characters drawn from the alphabet (A-Z), digits (0-9), minus
sign (-), and period (.). Note that periods are only allowed when
they serve to delimit components of "domain style names". (See
RFC-921, "Domain Name System Implementation Schedule", for
background). No blank or space characters are permitted as part of a
name. No distinction is made between upper and lower case. The first
character must be an alpha character. The last character must not be
a minus sign or period. A host which serves as a GATEWAY should have
"-GATEWAY" or "-GW" as part of its name. Hosts which do not serve as
Internet gateways should not use "-GATEWAY" and "-GW" as part of
their names. A host which is a TAC should have "-TAC" as the last
part of its host name, if it is a DoD host. Single character names
or nicknames are not allowed.
Since that RFC the requirement for the first character to be a letter has been
relaxed (see STD 3). You can't name your machine the same name as your ISP. That
would be disastrous. Name it whatever you like, really, because if you don't have
a real registered DNS name it doesn't make a difference (provided you don't use
the name of a real machine on the net). Perhaps you'll name your machine
'castle-of-lions'. I like that.
Anyway, it's more likely that your problem lies with DNS. Have you configured
your /etc/resol v.conf and /etc/host.conf for your ISP's DNS servers?
Dave Elliot wrote:
> Hey there,
> Well, I've run into some problems with trying to get mail up and running.
> Currently, I'm not using X(configuration problems), but once I do, I'll
> start using Mozilla. However, I'd like to use e-mail with my system from
> the command line until then. Here's the deal. I set up my computer with
> the hostname 'castle_of_lions' and didn't get any complaints from the debian
> install. However, when I ran smail(or maybe it was fetchmail), it said
> something to the effect that 'fqdn couldn't validate hostname'... What does
> that mean? So, I changed the hostname to something easier, and it accepted
> the hostname, but won't let me get mail. I changed my computer name to
> mail.inxpress.net(my mail servers provider), and used fetchmail... I told
> it to send my root mail to my main user(alfor). When it downloaded it, it
> appeared to delete the messages, and I couldn't find them in any of the
> /home/(user) directories. How can I set my system up to get and send mail?
> I think I read somewhere that I need to adduser with the name of my internet
> providers login/e-mail address. However, when I try that, it won't allow me
> to use that(kingalfor) Is there a limit on the length of linux usernames?
> I would like my system to have a hostname of 'castle_of_lions'.
> I'd like to be able to login my system without having to make a special user
> named kingalfor.
> I'd also like to use elm or perhaps pine. I'd prefer pine, but can't find
> it anywhere in the distribution. If it's there, could someone tell me where
> it is, or else, how do I get it? I've got elm, I just have to learn how to
> use it.(if anyone can help me on configuring elm, that would be much
> appreciated also.) I've read the HOWTO, but it just seems to be one big
> configuration file with not much help... Maybe I'll try to look at it
> again, but please, any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
--
Jens B. Jorgensen
jjorgens@bdsinc.com
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