Customer Reviews

Sendmail

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I knew nothing of sendmail (or Unix!) when I was asked to implement a new mailhub, mail-gateway, and mail-relay. While I was learning ls, cp, and vi, I was also learning how to compile, install, and configure sendmail! -Thanks to this book.

If you're going to be involved with sendmail, you've heard of the sendmail.cf file. Don't be scared, just jump in and learn it once and for all. With this book, you'll quickly master the .cf file and amaze your friends by configuring SMTP mail servers in no time. More than the complete sendmail reference, this book gives many real-world examples you can adapt to your environment.

The only drawback concerns the release of sendmail 8.9. With the significant changes between 8.8 and 8.9, O'Reilly would do us all a great favor by releasing a 3rd edition covering what's new in 8.9. Regardless, the "Bat Book" will maintain its position within arms reach of my keyboard.

I too, am awaiting a third edition to address the major changes in versions 8.10 (which I use) and now the latest 8.11.1. Many of the reviewers are correct where they recommend that you need to have some admin, UNIX/LINUX, and some C++ language experience to fully understand the book. I had to delve into the sendmail.cf file myself and then correlate the applicable section of the sendmail.cf file to it's applicable section in the batbook and learn to understand the book and the inner workings of Sendmail. Once I made the connections and correlations between this book and sendmail.cf, this book became invaluable. In fact, it is the only legitimate complete resource on this software. In one sense, I wish it was a little more tutorial based in nature when I first started learning how to configure sendmail pressured and on the fly when our e-mail server went down and I had to become the "official expert" replacing my ex-boss the former "official expert", who left for "greener pastures". It's easy to read the book now since I know more about sendmail. I'm glad the book is here, Surfing through the sendmail.org page to find info is a nightmare. Surfing many personal webpages concerning sendmail, Many have incomplete answers to your questions and these people always tell you that if the answers to your questions are not present, "BUY THE BATBOOK"

A great book, but (as was said before) sendmail 8.9.3 is released with some security fixes. Many things are the same in v8.8 and v8.9.3 but there are some major differences as well. If you need to learn sendmail now, buy this book, it's the best. If you can wait, buy the next edition!

This book is most definitely the worst technical book I have ever come in contact with--which is very surprising since O'Reilly usually has extremely high standards. If you are having any of the common problems with sendmail, you will *not* find the answer in this book. Rather, in your despair, you will torture yourself flipping vainly through its massive incomprehensible bulk--and flip you will, because the index is a useless atrocity. However, if you have no immediate problem to solve, and have a bottomless fascination with the endless intricacies of "sendmail.cf", you will perhaps enjoy it. The book is nothing more than an exhaustive (and exhausting) reference to the configuration file. Good luck, though, finding any *particular* macro or option you are looking for. There is a pathetically feeble attempt made at a "tutorial" of sorts--but don't be fooled: the writers are much more interested in impressing rather than instructing. So, if you're having a particular problem or question with sendmail--maybe it won't relay, maybe it can't resolve an address, hell, maybe you just want to know how to get it to reread the config file--you'll get your answer in at least half the time if you *don't* have this book around to distract you.

This book is a godsend just because it's there, not because it's that good. You'll have to look elsewhere too (like sendmail.org). In fairness, configuring sendmail in all its complexity is a mess, so the book had its work cut out. However, it's not that hard to configure a simple sendmail installation, and the book should have made that possible within the first few chapters. As it stands, I'm not sure at what point in the book you should be able to actually send email without having to learn everything.

I bought this book because I needed to learn about anti-spam measures using sendmail features the 1st edition didn't cover. While the book wasn't as detailed in those areas as I'd like, it certainly provided me with enough info to accomplish what I needed to do, and has been an excellent reference for basic sendmail questions I've had since. It *has* to be a pretty good book if it helped someone with essentially no sendmail experience at all set up anti-spam stuff!

Not for a weak heart. Not for 21-days reading and become the sendmail(8) expert. You need at least a month to read, and may be two years to UNDERSTAND what it says..and brave enough to edit the sendmail.cf directly. Good, if you don't have to admin sendmail. But if your boss think you're smart, and you also think you're a lot smarter than other guy ... go ahead. Be mail admin ... with sendmail(8). And better buy this book before you drop dead. To have more chance to survive: better buy DNS & BIND too, also at amazon.com. BTW, I bought both the 1st and 2nd edition. Have to...

... were afraid to ask!

If you want or have to work with sendmail the ubiquitous SMTP server written by Eric Allman et. al. then this is the book for you. I have been an Unix system administrator for 15+ years and I still run to this book when I have to do anything fancy with sendmail.

Every system administrator worth their salt has to munge the sendmail.cf file at least once in their career. This book will at least point you in the right direction.

Highlights

* Very Clear, Consice and easy to understand.
* Examples are good and to the point.
* Explains setup, running and Admin in depth.

Ok! Face it, if you are into sendmail and want a good reference, do you have any other choice ??

Luckily, Allman and Costales have done a wonderful job in creating this book.

Santy

As a reference to SendMail the book is very useful, however it takes a good deal of prior knowledge and cunning to actually setup a SendMail server using the book.

By all means, it can be done but if you're looking for a "lead me by the hand" book this isn't the one. It's more of a "here is the information, some ways to use it, go do it" book.

In all I rate it very good because of its reference nature, but I think it could contain more tutorial and less reference hence only four stars.