[Mailman-Developers] Mailman and Submission port

[Ian Eiloart]

--On 29 November 2009 21:07:28 -0500 Barry Warsaw <barry at python.org> wrote:

> On Nov 29, 2009, at 8:55 PM, Stephen J. Turnbull wrote:
>
>> I still don't think it's a good idea until we've checked that most
>> popular OS distros supply all their MTAs configured to accept on port
>> 587, and we had better have a bullet-proof autoconfigurator for it.
>> MTA issues are the biggest FAQ that we don't have a good canned answer
>> for, and this is not going to make them fewer without a lot of
>> "cooperation" from MTA packagers.
>
> That would be good to know.  Maybe someone would like to contribute a
> script that did a bit of probing and spit out a sample configuration file?

Autoconfiguration shouldn't be too hard. Mailman has to be configured with 
a hostname. There are three options for the port:

custom configuration
587
25

Mailman can test the connectivity of each in turn, on the first message 
that it sends. Cache the port number on success. This should be run-time 
autoconfiguration, not install time autoconfiguration. That way, the 
configuration can cope with a change of host name. If a port becomes 
unavailable, then alternate ports could be tested...

Other mail clients do this, including Apple Mail and MS Outlook, when 
configuring new accounts.

Am I right in thinking that all the mail is typically routed through a 
local MTA?

>> On this family-oriented channel, I think it is best not to describe
>> the pain this will cause cPanel and Plesk clients.
>
> IWBNI those folks would engage with us early (or, hmm, at all?) so that
> we could at least understand their requirements.
>
> -Barry
>



-- 
Ian Eiloart
IT Services, University of Sussex
01273-873148 x3148
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