email server setup.

[nikhil]

Hi,

I have got a domain name through dyndns.org....something like nikhilk.homedns.org
I was wondering if I have sendmail installed on my linux box to accept connections, is it possible for me to send and receive e-mails? or do I need to configure dns for it? my linux box is connected to a router and then goes to the net through a cable modem.
Also on their site , when i go to add a host they have a line saying "mail exchanger optional"..i went through their docs but am a bit confused as to how this whole email thing works....can someone tell me that if i enter their mailhop servers ip there, will i be able to receive email at say john@nikhilk.homedns.org???
sorry for the long post!!

Thanks
Nik

[Dolda2000]

You don't need a domain name at all to send mail. To receive mail, however, you need a domain with the MX record set to your domain name (IP address will not work). The MX record is what tells a sending server which server to send the mail to. Therefore, you will want to enter your server in the MX record, not someone else's.

[nikhil]

ok...makes sense so far.
so now while adding the hostname(stanelec.dyndns.org) which has sendmail accepting connections should I enter this:
stanelec.dyndns.org. 43200 IN MX 10 mx1.mailhop.org.
OR this:
stanelec.dyndns.org. 43200 IN MX 10 stanelec.dyndns.org.
in the mail exchanger field.
I guess mx1.mailhop.org is if I want to use their MailHop Forward service.
Will both the above work?

thnks for the help...i really appreciate it.

[Dolda2000]

Well, if you don't use stanelec.dyndnsorg, the mails won't reach your server. If that isn't what you want, though, then use the other one.

[nikhil]

ok...so since I need the emails to come to my server i'll have to use the second entry rite?also with this entry in place it will be possible for me to
receive emails at say "john@stanelec.dyndns.org"??just being sure here.

thnks for all the help.

[Dolda2000]

Yeah, that's the thought, at least. You'll probably need to add stanelec.dyndns.org to /etc/mail/local-host-names if you're using sendmail, or it won't recognize it.

[nikhil]

When I enter
stanelec.dyndns.org. 43200 IN MX 10 stanelec.dyndns.org.
in the Mail Exchanger field I get an error message saying
The MX entered ("stanelec.dyndns.org.43200INMX10stanelec.dyndns.o rg.") did not resolve or resolved to a CNAME.
Anyone has any idea wats going on? I'm just trying to receive mail at say
john@stanelec.dyndns.org using dyndns's mail exchanger field.

[shilo]

I use dyndns.org and I have my mailserver working. I didn't need to use a mx. I just left that box unmarked on their website. I just named my local box after the dyndns.org account. For instance, make your hostname stanelec and your local domain dyndns.org. Then, as long as you have port 25 opened up and john is a user on your box, email addressed to john@stanelec.dyndns.org should come right to his inbox. Works for me, anyway.

[rdccosmo]

Hi,
in my configuration the messages are all being concatenated in files named after the users in /var/spool/mail, not in /var/spool/mail/virtual under the user Maildir directory. Hence the squirrelmail can't see users new mails. Any ideas what configurations files must be misconfigured?