Re: [exim4] Testing and making sense of smtp output

[lee <lee@yagibdah.de>]

Brian <ad44@cityscape.co.uk> writes:

> On Fri 17 Oct 2014 at 03:15:49 +0200, lee wrote:
>
>> Brian <ad44@cityscape.co.uk> writes:
>> 
>> > On Mon 13 Oct 2014 at 04:12:04 +0200, lee wrote:
>> >
>> >> Jonathan Dowland <jmtd@debian.org> writes:
>> >> 
>> >> > On Sun, Oct 12, 2014 at 02:45:44PM -0400, Harry Putnam wrote:
>> >> >> > And if so, is that not acquired from /etc/hosts?
>> >> > snip
>> >> >> Egad ...  I just noticed that was from a different machine... but the
>> >> >> format is the same on all of mine.  So still should stand as something
>> >> >> to critique/
>> >> >
>> >> > Debian's exim4 will take the contents of /etc/mailname over the dns name by
>> >> > default. I'd recommend putting the fqdn that you want exim to use there.
>> >> 
>> >> You can also specify it in exims' configuration.  Unless you do have
>> >> good reason to do so, I'd advise against it and let exim use the host
>> >> name (which the automatic configuration which I don't exactly recommend
>> >> hopefully lets exim use unless you tell it otherwise).
>> >
>> > The HELO cannot be specified using dpkg-reconfigure. It is taken from
>> > /etc/hosts.
>> >
>> > /etc/mailname can be specified with dpkg-reconfigure. It is not the best
>> > of ideas to leave it blank.
>> >
>> > There is no connection between /etc/mailname and the HELO.
>> 
>> 
>> "primary_hostname 	Use: main 	Type: string 	Default: see below
>> 
>> This specifies the name of the current host. It is used in the default
>> EHLO or HELO command for outgoing SMTP messages (changeable via the
>> helo_data option in the smtp transport), and as the default for
>> qualify_domain. The value is also used by default in some SMTP response
>> messages from an Exim server. This can be changed dynamically by setting
>> smtp_active_hostname."[1]
>> 
>> 
>> There is no mentioning of /etc/mailname here.  Perhaps that's an
>> ideosyncrasy of the automatic configuration.
>
> No. It's because there is no connection between /etc/mailname and
> primary_hostname.

Then how does it happen that Debian manages to configure exim in such a
way that the contents of /etc/mailname are being used instead of the
hostname?  Is that another option exim has, and if so, how's it called?

I seem to vaguely remember an option to specify the HELO string, and I
couldn't find it anymore because I don't remember how it's called.


-- 
Again we must be afraid of speaking of daemons for fear that daemons
might swallow us.  Finally, this fear has become reasonable.