Mailing List Archive: Is a patch still required to send mail through a Smarthost

Is a patch still required to send mail through a Smarthost

May 30, 2019, 12:51 PM

Post #1 of 3 (1072 views)

I want to use qmail to send outgoing mail through a smarthost, searching for this seems to suggest its possible with a patch to qmail.

There was a patch here: http://www.ingorohloff.de/soft/qmail.html (link dead) internet archive here https://web.archive.org/web/20150616072925/http://www.ingorohloff.de/soft/qmail.html
This patch seems to be old, 2004

another patch is here
https://tomclegg.ca/qmail/#qmail-remote-auth
which also seems to be old.

other patches here
https://notes.sagredo.eu/en/qmail-notes-185/patching-qmail-82.html#auth
seem to be newer

https://www.fehcom.de/qmail/smtpauth.html
seems to be the most current patch

My questions:
* Is a patch still required?
* If so are there any patches that are recommended?
* If this is an out of the box feature, could it be added to the FAQ?

Re: Is a patch still required to send mail through a Smarthost [ In reply to ]

schmonz at schmonz

May 30, 2019, 6:42 PM

Post #2 of 3 (1071 views)

Permalink

On 30 May 2019, at 15:51, Matt Turner wrote:

> I want to use qmail to send outgoing mail through a smarthost,
> searching for this seems to suggest its possible with a patch to
> qmail.

If you've got a static IP (or an acceptably predictable and narrow
range) where the smarthost can expect you to connect from, no patch is
required. See "How do I set up a null client?" at
https://cr.yp.to/qmail/faq/outgoing.html#null-client (and the format of
control/smtproutes is described further in qmail-remote(8)).

If your smarthost needs you to authenticate, you'll need a patch. I
haven't used one myself, but https://www.fehcom.de/qmail/smtpauth.html
is what I'd try first. Maybe someone with practical experience can weigh
in on what they've used.

Re: Is a patch still required to send mail through a Smarthost [ In reply to ]

conover at rahul

May 30, 2019, 7:48 PM

Post #3 of 3 (1071 views)

Permalink

https://www.fehcom.de/qmail/smtpauth.html works fine for me. Compile
qmail 1.0.3 as per always.

Separately, in a DIFFERENT qmail 1.0.3 directory, compiled as always,
install the smtpauth patches, as per directed. Then copy qmail-remote,
(which now has the authentication patches,) to /var/qmail/bin, i.e.,
replace the stock 1.0.3 qmail-remote with the qmail-remote with
authentication. The change /var/qmail/control/smtproutes to
accommodate the authentication password, etc., as directed.

Works on the Raspberry Pi 3B1/Raspbian, too.

I am running this on several accounts, and the only one that was not
straight forward was Gmail, which took some piddling, and I ended up
running openssl(1) to connect. (My Gmail port issue? Maybe.)

Does anyone know if Gmail can be used with TLS only? Or, does it
require SSL?

Thanks,

John

Amitai Schleier writes:
> On 30 May 2019, at 15:51, Matt Turner wrote:
>
> > I want to use qmail to send outgoing mail through a smarthost,
> > searching for this seems to suggest its possible with a patch to
> > qmail.
>
> If you've got a static IP (or an acceptably predictable and narrow
> range) where the smarthost can expect you to connect from, no patch is
> required. See "How do I set up a null client?" at
> https://cr.yp.to/qmail/faq/outgoing.html#null-client (and the format of
> control/smtproutes is described further in qmail-remote(8)).
>
> If your smarthost needs you to authenticate, you'll need a patch. I
> haven't used one myself, but https://www.fehcom.de/qmail/smtpauth.html
> is what I'd try first. Maybe someone with practical experience can weigh
> in on what they've used.

--

John Conover, conover@rahul.net, http://www.johncon.com/