Re: Simple Linux to Linux(Debian) email
On Mon, Apr 08, 2019 at 02:39:35PM +0100, Joe wrote:
> On Mon, 8 Apr 2019 21:33:03 +0900
> Mark Fletcher <mark27q1@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> >
> > My image of an ideal solution is a piece of software that can present
> > email to a remote MTA (ie an MTA not on the local machine) for
> > delivery, but is not itself an MTA, and certainly has no capability
> > to listen for incoming mail.
> >
>
> a) Sendmail. Not the full-featured MTA, but the utility.
> https://clients.javapipe.com/knowledgebase/132/How-to-Test-Sendmail-From-Command-Line-on-Linux.html
>
Oh ah. Right, I hadn't separated the two in my mind. This may also do
the job well I'm guessing.
> b) Write it yourself. If you can do simple scripting then you can write
> something that talks basic SMTP to a remote SMTP server.
>
> Here's basic unencrypted SMTP:
> https://my.esecuredata.com/index.php?/knowledgebase/article/112/test-your-smtp-mail-server-via-telnet
>
<snip>
Yes, I had considered that too, and was going to script something up
over a telnet session (inside my home LAN, albeit through a VPN to be
able to tunnel back through a NAT'ing router) if this thread didn't turn
up anything useful. But it did. :)
Also, I'm an engineer by training and follow the principle of re-use --
if there's a tool out there that does what I want I'd rather use it than
write a new one. I admit I sometimes stray from that in the name of
learning, but on this occasion I just want to solve a problem and move
on.
>
> c) Use a standard MTA and tell it not to listen to anything from
> outside your network. Use your firewall to not accept SMTP on the WAN
> port, and unless you have previously received email directly then the
> SMTP port shouldn't be open anyway.
>
> Use the MTA's configuration to listen only to localhost. Restart it and
> check where it's listening with netstat -tpan as root.
>
> That way you have two mechanisms to prevent access, even if you
> misconfigure one of them you should still be OK. After you have the MTA
> running and sending email where you want it to go, use ShieldsUp!! on
> https://grc.com to check which ports are open to the outside. Select
> 'All Service Ports' to check TCP/1-1055.
>
Yes, agreed, this should also work. One thing I didn't mention in my
original post is that I have to build all software for the "client"
machine from scratch, and I'd expect a full-strength MTA to be a large
project to build from source (many and potentially complex dependencies
and so on), while a simple tool is likely to have a smaller and less
complex dependency tree. Also because security is important on this box,
every package I add needs careful consideration to make sure it doesn't
compromise that -- again nudging me towards the smaller, simpler tool
with fewer dependencies.
Thanks for your suggestions.
Mark
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