Summary: Returned mail: unknown mailer error 5

From: GREGOR E FELLERS (u2is9gef@gregsun.crrel.usace.army.mil)
Date: Sat Mar 11 1995 - 02:27:34 CST


I received several responses about my sendmail problem, all saying
essentially the same thing. I am including the answer that best described
the situation.

Now about that root canal...

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>From jack@scope.dentistry.adelaide.edu.au Thu Mar 9 17:59 EST 1995
Return-Path: <jack@scope.dentistry.adelaide.edu.au>
From: Jack Porter <jack@scope.dentistry.adelaide.edu.au>
Subject: Re: Returned mail: unknown mailer error 5
To: u2is9gef@gregsun.crrel.usace.army.mil
Date: Fri, 10 Mar 1995 09:21:15 +0930 (CST)
In-Reply-To: <9503081234.AA13418@gregsun.crrel.usace.army.mil> from "GREGOR E FELLERS" at Mar 8, 95 07:34:18 am
X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL23]
Mime-Version: 1.0
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Hi There.

> Please sendmail gurus help us out. We have just upgraded our mailhost
> to solaris 2.4 (from 4.1.3) and sendmail does not work any more.
>
> Mail to and from where sender and receiver is on the mailhost still works.
>
> Mail to the mail host which is actually an alias to an address on a
> different system works. (ie it gets forwarded to the appropriate place)
>
> However mail from another host to a user on the mail host is returned
> with the message below.
>
> The sendmail.cf file is the same as the one working on 4.1.3.

I had exactly the same problem on Sol2.4 when I bit the bullet and installed
sendmail 8.6.9. When sendmail receives a message from a remote system, it
invokes /bin/mail to forward it to the actual user. Sendmail includes
the command line option -r <return path> to the mail command line, so the
command becomes (say)

/bin/mail -r "fred@somewhere.com <Fred Nurk>" localusername

Because mail doesn't support the -r option, it barfs with the following error:

> mail: Options MUST PRECEDE persons

and returns error code 5.
(try the above command at the command line and watch the same error appear).

So to solve it, edit sendmail.cf, and go to the line which reads something
like: (it's in the MAILER DEFINITIONS section)
Mlocal, P=/bin/mail, F=lsDFMrmn, S=10/30, R=20/40,
               A=mail -d $u

This specifies the local mailer, the F= option tells sendmail what options
to include on the command line.

I found this in the sendmail.cf which came with Sol2.4, so I just copied the
F= bit in and all worked fine. If you get the doc tar.gz file and take
a look at the op.ps postscript file, it explains what each of these options
really means, if you're interested!

Mlocal, P=/bin/mail, F=flsSDFMmnP, S=10/30, R=20/40,
                A=mail -d $u
                             ^^^^^^^^^^^^

Enjoy,

        Jack.
 
 

-- 
Jack Porter, Computing Officer          jack@scope.dentistry.adelaide.edu.au
Clinical Dentistry                      Rm 2108.C, Dental School
University of Adelaide                  Ph 303 3368, 303 3283 (secretary)

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