[ale] Sendmail 8.9.1, Linuxconf, mail.local annoyances, and me...

[Michael H. Warfield]

Jay Finch enscribed thusly:
> Hi all!
> 	After many frustrating hours of trying to deal with the Sendmail 8.9.1
> annoyances, and how it doesn't deal with Linuxconf very well, I figured I'd
> ask the experts. ;)

> I have Sendmail 8.8.8 -- I want to upgrade to 8.9.1 to take advantage of
> the new, more powerful SPAM filters that 8.9.1 offers.  HOWEVER -- I also
> need to update my sendmail.cf as well, and here's the rub.

> I followed the (sometimes obtuse) instructions on how to configure Sendmail
> 8.9.1 and started modifying it to match my existing 8.8.8 config.  (WIth
> the correct Cw fields, variables, etc.)

> Now, when I tried to start it, I got these errors:

> (From Syslog)
> Oct  2 01:18:29 larp sendmail[10021]: NOQUEUE: SYSERR(nobody): queuename:
> Cannot create "qfBAA10021" in "/var/spool/mqueue" (euid=65534): Permission
> denied

> (From Messages)
> Oct  2 01:15:01 larp sendmail[9986]: BAA09976: to=<root at larp.com>,
> ctladdr=<horus at larp.com> (1000/100), delay=00:00:01, xdelay=00:00:00,
> mailer=local, stat=unknown mailer error 1
> Oct  2 01:15:02 larp sendmail[9986]: BAA09976: BAA09986: DSN: unknown
> mailer error 1

	That sounds like either sendmail was not suid or it was suid to the
wrong user.  Newest versions of sendmail can be run suid to some user other
than root, but you've got to REALLY know what you are doing if you are going
to walk down that path.  Check the permissions and ownership of
/usr/sbin/sendmail and see if they are something like this:

-r-sr-xr-x   1 root     kmem       351959 Sep 22 19:51 /usr/sbin/sendmail

	If that "s" in column 4 is an "x", that's likely your problem.
If it is an "s" but the owner is not "root", check the owner on your
/var/spool/mqueue directory and see if it's owned by the same owner.

	Lastly, check your sendmail.cf file for a "RunAsUser" parameter.
If that exists and is set to something other than root, then sendmail will
run as that user and /var/spool/mqueue needs to be owned by that user.
There is more information about directory permissions, ownerships, and the
RunAsUser option in the sendmail README file.

> -----
> Erg... This was pretty bad and got me so annoyed I downgraded back to 8.8.8
> so I could keep my mailserver running.

> I've searched and found some "Howto" documents on configuring Sendmail, but
> they're all for 8.8.7- ... I've done this before, but damn... I forgot how
> hard it was. :(

> Any suggestions?  Tips? Hints?  Locations of small-arms manafacturers? ;)

> Cheers!
> Jay
> ...Man, the "Bat Book" is huge...
> -----
> Jay Finch                       : "You cannot run out of time.
> Owner/GKE of NERO-Atlanta       :  There is infinite time.
> (770) 650-0410  (voice)         :  You are finite.
> horus at larp.com                  :  Zathras is finite.
> kateth at bck.org                  :  This .... is wrong tool."
> MTBI Survey says:  ENXJ         :       -- Zathras (Babylon 5)
>       Check out my home page at:  http://www.photobooks.com/~horus/

	Mike
-- 
 Michael H. Warfield    |  (770) 985-6132   |  mhw at WittsEnd.com
  (The Mad Wizard)      |  (770) 925-8248   |  http://www.wittsend.com/mhw/
  NIC whois:  MHW9      |  An optimist believes we live in the best of all
 PGP Key: 0xDF1DD471    |  possible worlds.  A pessimist is sure of it!