E-mail

While trying to debug a postfix authentication issue in Debian 6, I had to use testsaslauthd to test things out:
testsaslauthd -s smtp -u foo@example.com -p test

only to get the following error:
connect() : No such file or directory 0

This is apparently because a lot of people (and authors) follow the same guide for configuring postfix and saslauthd. One of the steps missing is to symlink and saslauthd directory to a location within postfix. To fix:

The following are some tools I'd like to note down that are handy when it comes to checking server configurations and security:

I just finished setting up postfix on a Debian 6 machine. All is peachy. However, when I checked my mail logs to see how things were going I noticed a number of entries for messages being sent from smmsp@example.com to root. Checking root's mail led to messages with the following content:
/usr/share/sendmail/sendmail: line 880: /usr/sbin/sendmail-msp: No such file or directory

If you manage websites that involve user registrations, I'm sure you have come across users who use services such as mailinator to register. While these services are definitely handy, the users who use them generally tend to be spammers or those that don't necessarily plan to stay on at your website. The following is a list of sites / services / domains that provide services similar to mailinator, and have found their way into my block list.

1. 2prong.com
   • miquosoft.com
2. 10minutemail.com

I was about to educate a co-worker on some of the better practices to follow while communicating on the Internet, and being the generous chap that I am, decided to share these invaluable nuggets of my infinite wisdom with you lot. So, here goes:

1. Format: Never send e-mails in HTML format. Always use plain-text only.
2. Subject: Always use a descriptive subject line. Subject lines such as "Hi" and "Please help" will get your behind flamed.