mdw@git.distorted.org.uk Git - qmail/blob - INSTALL.mbox

   1 The qmail package includes a local delivery agent, qmail-local, which
   2 provides user-controlled mailing lists, cross-host alias loop detection,
   3 and many other important qmail features.
   4
   5 There's one important difference between qmail-local and binmail:
   6 qmail-local delivers mail by default into ~user/Mailbox, rather than
   7 /var/spool/mail/user. It uses mbox format, with lockf locking on systems
   8 that don't have flock (HP/UX, Solaris), and flock locking otherwise.
   9
  10 This file explains how to switch your system to ~user/Mailbox. You
  11 aren't required to do this; for further discussion of /var/spool/mail,
  12 and an explanation of how to continue using binmail for local
  13 deliveries, see INSTALL.vsm.
  14
  15 The basic procedure for switching to ~user/Mailbox is simple:
  16
  17    * Move each /var/spool/mail/user to ~user/Mailbox. For safety, do
  18      this in single-user mode.
  19
  20    * As root, set up a symbolic link from /var/spool/mail/user to
  21      ~user/Mailbox for each user. /var/spool/mail should be mode 1777,
  22      so users will not be able to accidentally remove these links.
  23
  24 A few mail programs are unable to handle symbolic links, so you will
  25 have to configure them to look at ~user/Mailbox directly:
  26
  27    * procmail: Change SYSTEM_MBOX in config.h and recompile; or, with
  28      recent versions, define MAILSPOOLHOME in src/authenticate.c.
  29
  30 An alternative to symbolic links is hlfsd. Consult the documentation for
  31 hlfsd if it is included in your operating system.
  32
  33 If /var/spool/mail is large, you can gain extra speed by configuring
  34 all your mail software to look at ~user/Mailbox directly:
  35
  36    * Most MUAs: Put ``setenv MAIL $HOME/Mailbox'' in your system-wide
  37      .cshrc and ``MAIL=$HOME/Mailbox; export MAIL'' in your system-wide
  38      .profile.
  39
  40    * elm: Change "mailbox" to "Mailbox" around line 388 of newmbox.c and
  41      recompile. (elm looks at $MAIL, but without this change elm will
  42      fail if two users try to read mail simultaneously.)
  43
  44    * pine: Put ``inbox-path=Mailbox'' in your system-wide pine.conf.
  45      (For pine versions more recent than 3.91, see also FAQ 6.2.)
  46
  47    * qpopper 2.2: Change /.mail to /Mailbox in pop_dropcopy.c and
  48      recompile with -DHOMEDIRMAIL in CFLAGS.
  49
  50 Some vendors, in a misguided attempt to solve the security problems of
  51 /var/spool/mail, have made all their mail software setgid mail. After
  52 you move the mailboxes, you can---and, for security, should---remove
  53 those setgid-mail bits.