RE: [cobalt-developers] SMTP Relaying on Cobalt

["malcolm wild" <cobaltsec@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I don't want to offend you or stand up for Cobalt
(its much more comfortable to sit on the fence ;)

However...

to address your questions:

I agree you can by cheaper 1U systems with Webmin and run most of the
features, we all know that. But the Cobalt is built to shield the novice
webmaster/end user from the complexities of the OS.
If you are so confident in your abilities and so scathing about Cobalts,
then your product choice was possibly wrong, (not cobalts fault) Answer: go
out and buy a $500 pc and FreeBSD if you want.

These Lists are User groups not ABuser groups, many people (novices &
experts alike) need to share there knowledge to tackle the day to day tasks
of sysadmin.  It does benefit anyone if issues are not addressed in a
benefial format ,(ie don't slag stuff off! it does help anyone, however if
you find a bug/issue then please inform us all.)

RE your SMTP relay issue.
#########################
this brings into question your ability to run ANY system securely.
I quote..."We dutifully entered domain names for 'all'
ISPs in our country into the E-mail service setup."
Are you insane???? You've enabled ANY anon user to relay mail thro' your
box! You'll only need one spammer to swallow all your bandwidth allowance
and take out your box. Resulting in getting dropped by hoster, the domain of
the server and the entire classC being barred :(
Fix it quick!
If you must use an SMTP service on the box i would suggest using the PKG POP
before SMTP that will only allow members with a valid user/passwd to access
the SMTP service (see the knowledge base)

Re VIRTUAL E-MAIL USERS
#######################
A brain wave may have shown that username INFO@xxxxxx then another username
INFO@xxxxxx both try to add INFO into the /etc/passwd file. ALL systems
require a unique username.
A tip is to assign a username to every account for the clients.
IE use the first 4 characters of the domainname and the first three
characters of the users full name
in the is case we could use:
V1MIK and add an alias of mike@xxxxxx and INFO@xxxxxx (and @www.v1.com if
the catch all account)
V2JOH and add an alias of john@xxxxxx and INFO@xxxxxx (and @www.v2.com if
the catch all account)

I hope that helps guide you and if you want to slag someone/thing of ensure
that your RIGHT, you CAN prove it, you HAVE tried ALL other methods of
addressing your issues.


And yes we run: RaQ2/3/4
Linux RedHat
Sun Solaris
Win2000
So i understand the pros and cons of each system.

Welcome to the learning curve,
"we have two ears and one mouth so we should do twice as much listening as
talking."
Here endith the lesson :)

Malc

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-----Original Message-----
From: cobalt-developers-admin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:cobalt-developers-admin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Metin
Ozsavran
Sent: 25 March 2001 21:22
To: cobalt-developers@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [cobalt-developers] SMTP Relaying on Cobalt


Hi Everybody,

Its been a week since I rented a Cobalt RaQ-3. So far its
proving to be an extremely risky move. Below is a copy of
the message I send to support people at the ISP where
I rented the Cobalt from.

There is something called Webmin, which runs circles around
Cobalt's pretty web GUI. If there is any engineering pride
at Cobalt, they have to either provide updated software,
or provide how-to manuals for that.

1. Kernel Updates. Current version gives root access to
ordinary users. See sendmail.org.
2. PHP4 and mod_perl, Python, etc. Even the Perl version
is old.
3. Sendmail updates. Mail is the most importand application.

Only 1 (one) half-decent engineer is enough to keep this
software up to date. Now that Cobalt is sold to Sun, they
should be able to hire that engineer, and fire the clowns.

Nobody can expect people will buy RaQ-4s, just to get
updates free software. They'll just go install OpenBSD on
an old PC.

And yup, the only reason I rented that cobalt is the
hard disk, memory, and bandwidth capacities. Nothing
about superior Cobalt Engineering, unfortunately.

What is the value added Cobalt claims to provide here?
A PC in a 1U box? Many companies sell 1U PC cases.
Anybody can build that at home. Oh, maybe its the face
plate?? Or the ability to enter IP numbers from the
cool LCD panel?  Well that is really no use to me.
However, I will talk forever having paid the first
month's rent.

Metin.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Sir/Madam,

While trying to setup e-mail accounts on my raq3 (#45132),
I had to face these age old questions:

1. HOW DO YOU SOLVE THE SMTP RELAYING?
--------------------------------------
Users get a "550 - Relaying Denied" error while trying to send
messages. Although: we dutifully entered domain names for "all"
ISPs in our country into the E-mail service setup. This is because
ISPs have many POPs which use different IP blocks. Now, it is mind
boggling that nobody loaded sendmail 8.10+ which uses Cyrus-SASL
for simple password based SMTP authentication. This POP-before-SMTP
scheme is utterly passe and pathetic; however, we seem to not have
that either. Cobalt refers but not supports it??? What is that???
What are we supposed to do to let our users simply send e-mail???
I want my latest stable sendmail 8.11.3 with Cyrus-SASL SMTH AUTH
please. I am not gonna ask customers to please POP-before-SMTP!!

2. HOW DO YOU SOLVE VIRTUAL E-MAIL USERS?
-----------------------------------------
How do I create info@xxxxxx and info@xxxxxx? The cobalt GUI
says "user info already exists" Now do I actually go and edit/create
virtusers.db for sendmail? I don't wanna break the stupid GUI you
know. What is the exact procedure to create working users whose
e-mail names coincide please??

These problems are solved years before elsewhere. Its so funny they
exists behind the jazzy face of a Cobalt RaQ. I would be happy to
direct my flames to head of engineering at Cobalt, if you have the
e-mail. Or I might just use Usenet, or ISP hosting lists.

Anyway, looking forward to hear from you ASAP please.

Kind Regards,

Metin Ozsavran,
TurkNet.

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