using .forward to forward mail

[Marten Post]

I want to use a .forward file to forward e-mail to an e-mailaddress.
The .forward file looks like:

\unixuser
user@planet.nl

When an e-mail is send to the unixusers e-mailaddress the folowing entries are made in the sendmail logfile:

May 12 13:29:03 chinook sendmail[10822]: NAA10822: from=, size=2052, class=0, pri=32052, nrcpts=1, msgid=<20050512111638.3F743108@mg5.megaplex.nl>, proto=ESMTP, relay=mail.gemnet.nl [192.168.109.118]
May 12 13:29:04 chinook sendmail[10827]: NAA10822: to=\unixuser, delay=00:00:11,xdelay=00:00:01, mailer=local, stat=Sent
May 12 13:29:25 chinook sendmail[10827]: NAA10822: to=user@planet.nl, delay=00:00:32, xdelay=00:00:21, mailer=relay, relay=[192.168.109.119] [192.168.109.119], stat=Service unavailable
May 12 13:29:28 chinook sendmail[10827]: NAA10822: NAA10827: DSN: Service unavailable

The mail is not beeing forwarded.
What is wrong?

[Naveej.K.A]

Hi,

check if the mails are getting queued??

#mailq

check whether sendmail is running??
#ps -ef |grep sendmail


start sendmail by

#/sbin/init.d/sendmail start

Regards,
Naveej

[Naveej.K.A]

Hi,

You can also check whether the DS macro is configured in the sendmail.cf and that your 192.168.109.119 (possible relay ) is reachable(ping) from the server.

Regards,
Naveej

[Marten Post]

Sendmail is working fine we recieve mail and we can send mail. The only thing I can't get working forwarding e-mail to an external e-mailaddress.
The only diferance I see is in a line where mail is send is the characters <> are on the beginning and on the end of the e-mailaddress where the mail is send to.

See example (I changed te e-mailddress).

May 12 16:13:49 chinook sendmail[18715]: QAA18713: to=, delay=0
0:00:06, xdelay=00:00:06, mailer=relay, relay=[192.168.109.119] [192.168.109.119
], stat=Sent (Ok: queued as 2D7011E1401)

When the .forward is used these characters are missing.

[Steven E. Protter]

delay=00:00:32, xdelay=00:00:21, mailer=relay, relay=[192.168.109.119] [192.168.109.119], stat=Service unavailable

That message indicates that the relay server 192.168.109.119 is not permitting relay.

That server must explicitly permit the server with the .forward files to relay to it. The instructions for correcting this situation vary depending on what OS the relay server is running.

If it is a unix server, the /etc/mail/access file will need an entry like this:

IP_of_this_unix_server RELAY


Then it will need its sendmail configuration database updated. There is a hpux script for that posted at

http://www.hpux.ws/buildmail.hpux.text

This version is tested with sendmail 8.11 and hpux 11i v1.

A Linux version is available and I can develop a 8.13 sendmail version for HP-UX if needed.

SEP

[Marten Post]

The sender gets the folowing reply:

----- The following addresses had permanent fatal errors -----
"name@isp.nl"
(expanded from: unixuser)

----- Transcript of session follows -----
... while talking to [192.168.109.119]:
>>> RCPT To:
<<< 554 : Sender address rejected: Access denied
554 Service unavailable

Again I changed the real addresses.

[Naveej.K.A]

Hi Marten,

I beleive that the mails coming to name@isp.nl is coming to unixuser which is getting forwarded to user@planet.nl, right??


Can you check by sending a mail by loggin as unixuser to user@planet.nl??
If all goes well, its either the problem with .forward (delete and create it again) or with the settings on 192.168.109.119 which does a domain check for all the mails.

Regards,
Naveej

[Marten Post]

Well reading your anwers I think the settings on 192.168.109.119 don't allow forwarding. We don't manage this server, so I think we have to live with it.
Thanx anyway.

[Marten Post]

The relay server 192.168.109.119 does not allow forwarding. We don't manage this server.