Sendmail or sSMTP on every server?

[SoreGums]

I have a few gentoo boxes doing all sorts of things all of them need to send email out sometime.

I'm wondering if I should go the sendmail route...

The reason for this is I need to send "FROM" different domains and users on every box depending on the situation.
However none of these FROM address are users of the system (system accounts).
It's all web apps and things like that.

I've been using sSMTP via a Google Apps account and its good because Google doesn't really go down and can look after trying again and such. However the from address is not what I want it to be...

Input appreciated on the following options, or other options I'm not thinking about. Also this is purely outgoing - these boxes don't receive email.

• Sendmail on all machines configured to look after e-mail on their own, rety if failed etc
• Sendmail on each machine sending email via a central sendmail gateway (what if something happens to this gateway though? unconnectable etc)
• sSMTP can do all this just needs to be configured with proper FROM address somewhere?

O the other bit is sSMTP blocks things from continuing - I want the emails to be sent when they make it and I don't need immediate confirmation that it got sent. I just need the mail system to say "got it, its good, will send" then if it doesn't get sent it because the remote host is down or invalid email etc and I can check failed stuff and what have you...

Thanks :)

[erik258]

like configuring services on servers and the like? how about one central mailhub? postfix can

• rewrite the address to be that of your domain
  
• avoid open relays and insane or insecure configuration by default
  
• send your mail off through a proxy, like the one your ISP probably provides to you, from a domain provided by you, your ISP, or an external account
  
• recieve mail from and/or to all your computers at once, at the domain and not per particular host.
  

so can sendmail, but postfix is a pretty good balance between configurability (plain text configuration files, with sane defaults) and ability (can do just about anything).

to get true mailhub functionality, though, I think you might have to use DNS MX records too.

oh yeah; computers on the network don't need a MTA of their own, just a submission agent.

you can keep all your mail centralized (back that stuff up!), CC (or just forward) it to gmail if you like, or collect external accounts like gmail instead and harvest all your mail together into one inbox (fetchmail).

you can then use procmail to sort it if you like.
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[SoreGums]

Ok thanks,

This isn't some home job thing either... I mean these boxes are dedicated servers in data centres. As in More then one - I have servers in 4 different Data centres..

What I'm also trying to do is NOT "rely" on someone else. Like in the above your suggesting a reliance on an ISP mail server - that's not what I'm after here :)

Also its not just one domain sending email its as many domains as I need to send as.

I need to be able to stamp the envelope FROM and that's who its FROM so when the email arrives the FROM address is what I said it is... not sent-by, mailed-by, or any other from related field, its just needs to be FROM and that's that.

I get that sendmail is massive and all that and it'll take quite a lot to configure. This is also what I'm seeking opinions on. It's just that sendmail does it all (and everything works with sendmail) - and there are other packages like Postfix and such that do a lot of what sendmail does. What I need to do I've put down and am open to what people have to suggest - If I read "send via your ISP and it'll rewrite to your domain" I interpret that as something I'm not after. It needs to be any domain I send FROM and stand on its own - not go via my "ISP".

Thanks though - there are somethings I've got from what you said ;)

ALSO this is a PURE OUTGOING deal as well - I'm not wanting to receive any e-mail on these boxes, just get e-mail off the boxes...

[erik258]

[SoreGums]