Options Manager -- Technical configuration of 'sendmail' on unix OS

Technical configuration of 'sendmail' Tutorial

In this procedure, you will configure your Discus board to send e-mail messages through the "sendmail" program. "sendmail" itself is both a command-line mail program and an SMTP server that sends and receives internet mail. Fortunately, "sendmail" is installed by default onto nearly every unix web server, and it behaves very similarly (for what you need it for) regardless of your operating system and version.

Follow through this tutorial to set up Discus to send its e-mail messages through the "sendmail" program on your unix server.

1. If you have not already done so, navigate to Options Manager ® E-mail and clicked the "Configure E-mail Notification" button. Clicking that button should have popped open a new window entitled "Technical Configuration of Mail Program." (If not, go back to the previous page and read the red paragraph marked "Important" at the top of that page.)

2. In the "Choose Mailing Method" box, check the radio button next to "Command Line Mailer (configure below)." Do not worry about any of the other settings in this section (do not touch any of the text boxes under lower options).

3. Under "Command Line Mailer" you should see orange text indicating a recommended mail program. This is because Discus automatically scans your server to look for "sendmail" in its most common locations.

   • If you see a recommended mail program, make note of the mail program that is recommended and continue.

   • If you do not see a recommended mail program, stop this tutorial and contact your web host (or consult the web host's documentation). You need to find the path to the "sendmail" program on your server in order to continue with this tutorial.

4. In the "Mail Program" box, enter the full path to the sendmail program, as determined either by observing the "recommended mail program" from the orange text or by asking your web host where the mail program is.

5. In the "Beginning of line options" box, enter the two characters:

   -t

   (This flag tells sendmail to look in its "input stream" for recipient addresses, which is a more secure and reliable way to pass e-mail addresses than by including them directly on the command line.)

6. Delete any text from the "End of line options" box, if there is any. Most "sendmail" configurations do not require any end of line options.

7. The "Command line format" box does not matter for sendmail setup. Leave it alone.

8. The "Temporary File" box should be set to "Pipe into program (no temp file)." Change this setting if it is not correct.

9. The "Sending Method" box should be set to "Separate message to each recipient." Change this setting if it is not correct.

10. For the remaining settings, make any needed changes so that your final configuration looks as follows. Note that capitalization is important and that you must enter the trailing colon (:) characters in the text boxes as indicated:

    Caption Selection Box Text Box To: Input stream prefix To: From: Input stream prefix From: BCC: Do not use (leave blank) Subject: Input stream prefix Subject: Reply-to: Input stream prefix Reply-to: BLAT "user" setting: Do not use (leave blank)

11. Under "Test and Save Settings," enter your own e-mail address and click the "Test" button. Wait a few moments and then check your e-mail.

12. When you have successfully received the e-mail message, click the "Save Settings Now" button on the resulting screen. Then click the "Close" button to close the pop-up window. Congratulations on setting up e-mail notification on this server. Assuming your web host does not make any major server configuration changes, you will never have to do this again!

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