Convert the mail server

[Renjus]

Hi

We are looking to change the present working mail server HP unix in to Linux 4.8

What are steps dat we has to do in both server, if any one knows please help us

Linux 4.8 server status,after instalation, only telnet is enabled

[Matti_Kurkela]

This may not be a simple task.

"Linux 4.8" is ambiguous - what is the name of the Linux distribution? RedHat, SuSE, Debian, something else?

The first step would be understanding the old mail server configuration. Is the old server using HP-UX default sendmail, or something else? (an optional Sendmail upgrade from software.hp.com? Postfix? Some other mail server software?)

Where are the user mailbox files/directories and how are they accessed? (IMAP? POP? Mail directory NFS-exported to all unix/Linux systems on site? Some database?)

If Sendmail is used, is it in HP-UX default configuration?

Compare the main configuration file /etc/mail/sendmail.cf to the HP-UX factory default configuration file /usr/newconfig/etc/mail/sendmail.cf. Note any differences, and find out what they mean.

Also review the other configuration files in /etc/mail. Find the things you need to migrate to the new server. You may find some old configurations that nobody knows about any more: find out if they are really needed or not, and document them. Migrate only what's really needed.

The next step is to choose the mail server program in your new server. Most Linux distributions have multiple choices: at least Sendmail and Postfix are available, often also Exim and maybe Qmail too.

I would prefer Postfix: it has good documentation freely available (see www.postfix.org).

If you choose Sendmail, get the "Sendmail" book from O'Reilly: in my opinion, it is *essential* for Sendmail administrators.
(The book is huge, but don't be scared. Most of it is reference documentation: in most cases, you only have to really read only the first few chapters, then use the Table of Contents to find the parts you need in the reference section.)

Even if you choose Sendmail as your new mail server software, you cannot just copy the configuration file from HP-UX to Linux: when HP integrated sendmail to HP-UX, they developed a customized configuration file that is tailored to HP-UX.

In HP-UX, some (very limited) customizations can be made directly to /etc/mail/sendmail.cf and they will automatically be preserved when sendmail patches are installed; but in some Linux distributions, the (machine-friendly) sendmail.cf may be autogenerated from a (human-friendly) sendmail.mc file each time a patch is installed. So if you need a custom configuration, you should probably learn to use sendmail.mc in the new system.

Once you know all this, you can begin to design the real migration steps.

MK

[Renjus]

k