• exim configuration.

    From [email protected]@21:1/5 to All on Sun May 18 00:30:01 2025
    /etc/stunnel/stunnel.conf has
    [smtp]
    client = yes
    accept = localhost:106
    connect = mail.easthope.ca:465

    Then
    swaks -s localhost -p 106 -f [email protected] -t [email protected]
    sends a test message.

    Whereas exim is configured according to https://wiki.debian.org/Exim
    and
    swaks -s localhost -p 25 -f [email protected] -t [email protected]
    produces no message and this in /var/log/exim4/mainlog.

    2025-05-17 11:54:42 1uGMgE-0004Aw-2M <= [email protected] H=localhost (imager.invalid) [::1] P=esmtp S=474 id=[email protected]d
    2025-05-17 11:54:42 1uGMgE-0004Aw-2M ** [email protected] R=smarthost T=remote_smtp_smarthost: all hosts for 'easthope.ca' have been failing for a long time (and retry time not reached)
    2025-05-17 11:54:43 1uGMgE-0004B1-37 <= <> R=1uGMgE-0004Aw-2M U=Debian-exim P=local S=1785
    2025-05-17 11:54:43 1uGMgE-0004Aw-2M Completed
    2025-05-17 11:54:43 1uGMgE-0004B1-37 ** [email protected] R=smarthost T=remote_smtp_smarthost: all hosts for 'easthope.ca' have been failing for a long time (and retry time not reached)
    2025-05-17 11:54:43 1uGMgE-0004B1-37 Frozen (delivery error message)

    Anything obvious?

    Thx, ... P.

    --
    VoIP: +1 604 670 0140
    work: en.wikibooks.org/wiki/User:PeterEasthope

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  • From didar@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Tue May 27 11:00:01 2025
    On Sat, May 17, 2025 at 03:11:14PM -0700, [email protected] wrote:
    /etc/stunnel/stunnel.conf has
    [smtp]
    client = yes
    accept = localhost:106
    connect = mail.easthope.ca:465

    Then
    swaks -s localhost -p 106 -f [email protected] -t [email protected]
    sends a test message.

    Whereas exim is configured according to https://wiki.debian.org/Exim
    and
    swaks -s localhost -p 25 -f [email protected] -t [email protected]
    produces no message and this in /var/log/exim4/mainlog.

    2025-05-17 11:54:42 1uGMgE-0004Aw-2M <= [email protected] H=localhost (imager.invalid) [::1] P=esmtp S=474 id=[email protected]d
    2025-05-17 11:54:42 1uGMgE-0004Aw-2M ** [email protected] R=smarthost T=remote_smtp_smarthost: all hosts for 'easthope.ca' have been failing for a long time (and retry time not reached)
    2025-05-17 11:54:43 1uGMgE-0004B1-37 <= <> R=1uGMgE-0004Aw-2M U=Debian-exim P=local S=1785
    2025-05-17 11:54:43 1uGMgE-0004Aw-2M Completed
    2025-05-17 11:54:43 1uGMgE-0004B1-37 ** [email protected] R=smarthost T=remote_smtp_smarthost: all hosts for 'easthope.ca' have been failing for a long time (and retry time not reached)
    2025-05-17 11:54:43 1uGMgE-0004B1-37 Frozen (delivery error message)

    Anything obvious?

    Maybe your localhost exim instance is tring to connect to port 25 on easthope.ca
    and easthope.ca listens only on port 465 and not port 25. You will have to look into the "remote_smtp_smarthost" transport definition - the "T" in "T=remote_smtp_smarthost" means the transport that exim is trying to use, "R=smarthost" means the router is smarthost. These terms have special meanings under exim.

    If you simply want to forward emails via smarthost, you should consider a simpler mail agent like `msmtp'. I personally use `dma' (DragonFly Mail Agent) for this purpose. Both are available in Debian along with some other such agents.

    Exim is a very flexible and powerful full-fledged MTA (mail transport agent) and
    is generally an overkill for this purpose. But, if you want to learn Exim then I
    found it better to use the "roll your own hand crafted single conf file" in /etc/exim/exim4.conf.

    I used https://www.exim.org/docs.html this to learn how to make exim do the things that I wanted it to. But, it took me 2 months _during the COVID lockdowns_ to get stuff working - I am a little dull!

    HTH


    Thx, ... P.

    --
    VoIP: +1 604 670 0140
    work: en.wikibooks.org/wiki/User:PeterEasthope


    --
    Regards,
    Didar

    If only Dionysus were alive! Where would he eat?
    -- Woody Allen

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  • From [email protected]@21:1/5 to All on Tue May 27 16:40:01 2025
    From: didar <[email protected]>
    Date: Tue, 27 May 2025 14:20:14 +0530
    Maybe your localhost exim instance is tring to connect to port 25 on easthope.ca and easthope.ca listens only on port 465 and not port 25.

    In the "dpkg-reconfigure exim4-config" process, the port was set to 465.
    The problem is beyond confusion of 25 and 465.

    You will have to look into the "remote_smtp_smarthost" transport
    definition - the "T" in "T=remote_smtp_smarthost" means the
    transport that exim is trying to use, "R=smarthost" means the router
    is smarthost. These terms have special meanings under exim.

    Constructive tips to work on when there is time. Thanks.

    If you simply want to forward emails via smarthost, you should
    consider a simpler mail agent like `msmtp'. I personally use `dma'
    (DragonFly Mail Agent) for this purpose. Both are available in Debian
    along with some other such agents.

    Right oh. Thanks.

    Similarly, I've used the Oberon Mail module for several years. It
    submits messages to the smarthost through stunnel with no intervening
    MTA. Oberon Mail and stunnel are straightforward to configure.

    I used https://www.exim.org/docs.html this to learn how to make exim
    do the things that I wanted it to. But, it took me 2 months _during
    the COVID lockdowns_ to get stuff working - I am a little dull!

    Good. Thanks. I reviewed exim4 more for interest than necessity.
    When there is time, can follow up on your suggestions.

    Thx, ... P.

    --
    VoIP: +1 604 670 0140
    work: en.wikibooks.org/wiki/User:PeterEasthope

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  • From David Wright@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Sun Jun 1 06:50:01 2025
    On Sat 17 May 2025 at 15:11:14 (-0700), [email protected] wrote:
    /etc/stunnel/stunnel.conf has
    [smtp]
    client = yes
    accept = localhost:106
    connect = mail.easthope.ca:465

    Then
    swaks -s localhost -p 106 -f [email protected] -t [email protected]
    sends a test message.

    Whereas exim is configured according to https://wiki.debian.org/Exim
    and
    swaks -s localhost -p 25 -f [email protected] -t [email protected]
    produces no message and this in /var/log/exim4/mainlog.

    2025-05-17 11:54:42 1uGMgE-0004Aw-2M <= [email protected] H=localhost (imager.invalid) [::1] P=esmtp S=474 id=[email protected]d
    2025-05-17 11:54:42 1uGMgE-0004Aw-2M ** [email protected] R=smarthost T=remote_smtp_smarthost: all hosts for 'easthope.ca' have been failing for a long time (and retry time not reached)
    2025-05-17 11:54:43 1uGMgE-0004B1-37 <= <> R=1uGMgE-0004Aw-2M U=Debian-exim P=local S=1785
    2025-05-17 11:54:43 1uGMgE-0004Aw-2M Completed
    2025-05-17 11:54:43 1uGMgE-0004B1-37 ** [email protected] R=smarthost T=remote_smtp_smarthost: all hosts for 'easthope.ca' have been failing for a long time (and retry time not reached)
    2025-05-17 11:54:43 1uGMgE-0004B1-37 Frozen (delivery error message)

    Anything obvious?

    My observations would be:
    1 What are localhost, mail.easthope.ca and easthope.ca?
    2 What does "configured according to https://wiki.debian.org/Exim" mean?
    3 Swaks should have given you a blow-by-blow account of each submission.
    4 Exim applies an address retry timeout, rather than continuously
    knocking on an unanswered door.

    On Tue 27 May 2025 at 07:23:36 (-0700), [email protected] wrote:
    Similarly, I've used the Oberon Mail module for several years. It
    submits messages to the smarthost through stunnel with no intervening
    MTA. Oberon Mail and stunnel are straightforward to configure.

    Similarly, I use mutt to send my emails directly to my email
    provider's smarthost (no tunnel). I like the instantaneous feedback
    on the submission process. Using an MTA can result in snags not being
    reported straightaway, as it merely queues it for retrying later.

    I configure Exim to handle all intra-LAN emails, which I don't need
    to compose with an MUA: they're typically system-generated. Most are
    sent to one particular host, but using an MTA has the advantage of
    queueing them when any destination host is switched off.

    Currently, I use Swaks to send a daily email to a hotmail account,
    allowing me to determine my home IP address from wherever I am.

    On Tue 27 May 2025 at 14:20:14 (+0530), didar wrote:
    I used https://www.exim.org/docs.html this to learn how to make exim
    do the things that I wanted it to. But, it took me 2 months _during
    the COVID lockdowns_ to get stuff working - I am a little dull!

    Good. Thanks. I reviewed exim4 more for interest than necessity.
    When there is time, can follow up on your suggestions.

    I'm not sure it's worth trying to configure Exim without having
    a clear picture of what you want it to do with it, and how it
    will fit into your overall email strategy. (Obviously I'm talking
    about going beyond sole use of dpkg-reconfigure exim4-config
    in a LAN with a single PC.)

    Cheers,
    David.

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