basic mail setup for ubuntu (in order to use ZMmail feature)

ktheking · Post by **ktheking** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 7:59 pm

Hi,

I'm looking for a good article on how to setup mail on an ubuntu 7.04 server,in order to be able to send mails with zoneminder.

Already I discovered that this is not straight forward.

Getting already the darn mail to work isn't so easy like taking a mailclient ,setup the smtp server , login and password ,and send the mail.

And apparently even once you've got the sendmail working ,you still need to make changes in the perl script "/usr/bin/zmfilter.pl" to make it work.

example : http://www.zoneminder.com/forums/viewto ... 6dab34421f

Any help on this one would be appreciated (I think by others too ...)

Kind regards,

K.

Lee Sharp · Post by **Lee Sharp** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 8:48 pm

I would bet it is not just a mail server problem. Your mail server is probably being blocked by ISPs fearing spam. You may want to try sending mail in telnet on the zoneminder server first to see if that is the case. If you can not directly mail, you will have to set up sendmail to use an outbound mail forwarder at your ISP with the required security. And yes, it is a PITA.

ktheking · Post by **ktheking** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 8:49 pm

So what you mean is something like :

esmtp ?
postfix configured as mail relay ?
or other smtp relay ?

haus · Post by **haus** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 10:14 pm

I was able to use my ISP's mail server here in the US with no problem. Maybe I'm lucky..? I'm using an Ubuntu server install and I didn't have to do anything special, just entered smtp.comcast.net (I use comcast cable internet).

Some ISPs block outgoing mail when you try to use SMTP with an outside mail server because they don't want their customers generating spam. Or virus-laden customer computers connecting to open relays for the same purpose. But typically as long as you're connected to their service you are able to use their mail server with no problem, since it's very traceable in case you become a spammer (wittingly or no). You might need to adjust the sender email address to be your account with your ISP rather than a made-up name or another domain that you use outside your ISP. For example, even if I preferred to use john@smith.com, my ISP may not let me send mail through their mail server with that as the "from" address (reply-to is different). In that case I'd have to use "myname@comcast.net" as "ZM_FROM_EMAIL". Since one doesn't reply to ZM notifications anyway, I don't think it would make a difference to the user...?

In my area, AT&T DSL users are blocked from using outside SMTP servers (you have to use the AT&T's server) but that's not the case with Comcast. It depends on your ISP.

ktheking · Post by **ktheking** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 12:13 pm

You were right. Forget about the estmp stuff ... I forgot the most important rule in IT : simplicity (ockham's razor : if you have multiple solutions for a problem ,the good one is the simpelest one : http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/OCCAMRAZ.html)

This is what I had to do :

I just had to fill in trough the GUI ,in the field ZM_EMAIL_HOST (options,email) the name of my provider's smtp server (smtp[or relay].xxxx.xxx) .
And in the field ZM_FROM_EMAIL ,an email address ending with my provider's location ( blablabla@xxxxxxx.xxx ).

Thanks for the replies ...

1 step closer to complete ZM box.