Sendmail: Theory and Practice (Paperback)

by Frederick M Avolio (Author), Paul Vixie (Author) "While many people use electronic mail (hereafter "e-mail") in today's internet-worked world, comparatively few people are concerned with the details of its delivery..." (more)
Key Phrases: ruleset rewrite, unknown mailer error, level aliases, Key Value, United States, Mail Delivery Subsystem (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
* Provides 'cookbook recipes' and simplified explanations on how Sendmail works and how to manage a mail system * Examines e-mail and Sendmail by laying ground work and defining key terms * Progresses from the simple to the complex, providing knowledge
essential for both the interested user and the experienced system manager.


Sendmail is the ULTRIX, OSF/1, and BSD UNIX standard mail deliverer; however, Sendmail has been and is still considered by many to be impossible to understand. Sendmail: Theory and Practice explains Sendmail's history, architecture, configuration, and
maintenance. Systems managers wanting to learn how to set-up and maintain their mail system (made up of one or many computers) and interested readers wanting to learn more about electronic mail will find this book beneficial. The book explains how and
why Sendmail does what it does and provides practical advnce about designing and maintaining an electronic mail system. 'You need this book if you run a mail gateway, or if you have a really strong curiosity about how email works.' - C Vu, November 1995

From the Publisher
Sendmail is the ULTRIX, OSF/1, and BSD UNIX standard mail deliverer; however, Sendmail has been and is still considered by many to be impossible to understand. Sendmail: Theory and Practice explains Sendmail's history, architecture, configuration, and maintenance. Systems managers wanting to learn how to set-up and maintain their mail system (made up of one or many computers) and interested readers wanting to learn more about electronic mail will find this book beneficial. The book explains how and why Sendmail does what it does and provides practical advance about designing and maintaining an electronic mail system. 'You need this book if you run a mail gateway, or if you have a really strong curiosity about how email works.' - C Vu, November 1995

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 262 pages
• Publisher: Digital Press (March 3, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555581277
• ISBN-13: 978-1555581275
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,730,411 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent explanation of sendmail.cf, companion to Bat book, November 10, 1998

By	Mark C. Langston (San Jose, CA) - See all my reviews

This is an excellent book, IMHO. Although it does contain practical, hands-on examples, it's strenth is that it explains the theory behind sendmail and, more importantly, sendmail.cf. It really lets you get a grip on why sendmail.cf looks the way it does, and how the various rules work. While it's a good book on its own, it really shines as a companion to the Bat book. (O'Reilly & Assoc. Sendmail, 2nd Edition)

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dated but still relevant, March 16, 1999

By	Kirk Rafferty ([e-mail]) (Aurora, Colorado) - See all my reviews

"Sendmail : Theory and Practice" is a great introduction for anyone who has to maintain a UNIX mailserver. Although a bit dated (some of the suggested utilities are quite dated and have been superceded), the fundamentals are sound, and still very applicable.

If you're a beginning sendmail administrator, read this book before reading the "Bat" book (O'Reilly's Sendmail in a Nutshell). If you're more experienced, use it as a companion. And if you're a Guru, well...write another Sendmail book.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not an introduction., June 30, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Sendmail: Theory and Practice (Paperback)

I disagree that this book is a good introduction to sendmail. It does not cover the basic options well, and very quickly goes off the deep end of the sendmail.cf file. It is probably a very good introduction to the advanced sendmail.cf programming that most people will never need to do.

It barely mentions how to create sendmail.cf using the m4 macro processor. It doesn't cover virtual hosting well, but spends pages and pages on uucp and decnet mail. And ,it is unix-centric to the point of assuming that all users will be on unix boxes with their own properly configured hostname and sendmail, rather than on DHCPed PCs down the hall (which seems to be the current situation).

All in all, this book told me little of nothing about the sendmail tasks I have to accomplish and way too much about stuff I should never have to touch.