1POST(8)                     System Manager's Manual                    POST(8)
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NAME

6       post - deliver an nmh message
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SYNOPSIS

9       /usr/libexec/nmh/post [-help] [-version] [-alias aliasfile] [-filter
10            filterfile] [-nofilter] [-format | -noformat] [-mime | -nomime]
11            [-msgid | -nomsgid] [-messageid localname | random] [-verbose |
12            -noverbose] [-watch | -nowatch] [-width columns] [-mts smtp |
13            sendmail/smtp | sendmail/pipe] [-sendmail program] [-server
14            servername] [-port portname/number] [-sasl] [-nosasl] [-saslmech
15            mechanism] [-user username] [-tls] [-initialtls] [-notls] file
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DESCRIPTION

18       post  is  the  default program called by send to deliver the message in
19       file to local and remote users.  In fact, most of the features  attrib‐
20       uted to send in its manual page are performed by post, with send acting
21       as a relatively simple preprocessor.  Thus, it is post which parses the
22       various  header  fields, appends a “Date:” line, and interacts with the
23       mail transport system.  post will not normally be  called  directly  by
24       the  user, but can be replaced by the user with a postproc profile com‐
25       ponent that will have file as its final  argument.   See  mh-profile(5)
26       for more information on postproc.
27
28       post  searches  the  “To:”,  “cc:”,  “Bcc:”,  “Fcc:”, and “Resent-xxx:”
29       header lines of the specified message for destination addresses, checks
30       these  addresses  for  validity,  and  formats them so as to conform to
31       ARPAnet Internet Message Format protocol, unless the -noformat flag  is
32       set.   This  will  normally  cause “@local-site” to be appended to each
33       local destination address, as well as any local return addresses.   The
34       -width  columns  switch can be used to indicate the preferred length of
35       the header components that contain addresses.
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37       If a “Bcc:” field is encountered, its addresses will be used for deliv‐
38       ery,  and  the  “Bcc:”  field  will be removed from the message sent to
39       sighted recipients.  The blind recipients will receive an entirely  new
40       message  with  a  minimal  set of headers.  Included in the body of the
41       message will be a copy of the message sent to the  sighted  recipients.
42       If -filter filterfile is specified, then this copy is filtered (re-for‐
43       matted) by mhl prior to being sent to  the  blind  recipients.   Alter‐
44       nately, if the -mime switch is given, then post will use the MIME rules
45       for encapsulation.
46
47       The -alias aliasfile switch can be used to specify  a  file  that  post
48       should  read  aliases  from.  More than one file can be specified, with
49       each being preceded by -alias.  In any event, the primary alias file is
50       read first.
51
52       The  -msgid  switch  indicates  that  a  “Message-ID:”  or “Resent-Mes‐
53       sage-ID:” field should be added to the header.
54
55       The -messageid switch selects the style used  for  the  part  appearing
56       after  the  @ in “Message-ID:”, “Resent-Message-ID:”, and “Content-ID:”
57       header fields.  The two acceptable options are localname (which is  the
58       default),  and  random.   With  localname,  the local hostname is used.
59       With random, a random sequence of characters  is  used  instead.   Note
60       that  the  -msgid  switch  must  be enabled for this switch to have any
61       effect.
62
63       The -verbose switch indicates that the user should be informed of  each
64       step of the posting/filing process.
65
66       The  -watch  switch  indicates  that  the  user would like to watch the
67       transport system's handling of the  message  (e.g.,  local  and  “fast”
68       delivery).
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70       Under  normal  circumstances, post uses the “From:” line in the message
71       draft as the identity of the originating mailbox.  A  “From:”  line  is
72       required  in  all  message  drafts.  By default the message composition
73       utilities such as comp, repl and  mhmail  will  automatically  place  a
74       “From:” line in the message draft.  There are two ways to override this
75       behavior, however.  Note that  they  apply  equally  to  “Resent-From:”
76       lines in messages sent with dist.
77
78       The  first  way is to supply a “Sender:” line.  The value of this field
79       will be used as the originating mailbox identity  when  submitting  the
80       message  to the mail transport system.  If multiple addresses are given
81       in the “From:” line, a “Sender:” line is required.   If  an  “Envelope-
82       From:”  line  is  supplied  when  multiple  addresses  are given in the
83       “From:” line, a “Sender:” header will be generated using the  value  of
84       the “Envelope-From:” line, if the “Envelope-From:” line is not blank.
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86       The second way is to supply a “Envelope-From:” line.  The value of this
87       field will be used as the originating mailbox identity when  submitting
88       the  message to the mail transport system.  This will override both the
89       value of the “From:” line and a “Sender:” line (if  one  is  supplied).
90       The  “Envelope-From:”  line  is  allowed  to have a blank value; if the
91       value is blank, then the mail transport system will  be  instructed  to
92       not  send  any bounces in response to the message.  Not all mail trans‐
93       port systems support this feature.
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95       The mail transport system default is defined in  /etc/nmh/mts.conf  but
96       can be overridden here with the -mts switch.
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98       If nmh is using sendmail/pipe, as its mail transport system, the -send‐
99       mail switch can be used to override the default sendmail program.
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101       If nmh is using the SMTP MTA, the -server and  -port  switches  can  be
102       used  to override the default mail server and port.  The default server
103       is set with servers in /etc/nmh/mts.conf, and the default port is  sub‐
104       mission, 587.
105
106       If  nmh  has  been  compiled  with  SASL support, the -sasl and -nosasl
107       switches will enable and disable the use of  SASL  authentication  with
108       the  SMTP  MTA.  Depending on the SASL mechanism used, this may require
109       an additional password prompt from the user (but the netrc file can  be
110       used  to  store  this  password,  as  described  in mh-profile(5).  The
111       -saslmech switch can be used to select a particular SASL mechanism, and
112       the  -user switch can be used to select an authorization userid to pro‐
113       vide to SASL, other than the default.  The credentials profile entry in
114       mh-profile(5) describes the ways to supply a username and password.
115
116       If  SASL  authentication is successful, nmh will attempt to negotiate a
117       security layer for session encryption.  Encrypted data is labelled with
118       `(sasl-encrypted)'  and `(sasl-decrypted)' when viewing the SMTP trans‐
119       action with the -snoop switch.  Base64-encoded  data  is  wrapped  with
120       `b64<>'.   (Beware that the SMTP transaction may contain authentication
121       information either in plaintext or easily decoded base64.)
122
123       If nmh has been compiled with TLS support,  the  -tls  and  -initialtls
124       switches  will  require  the  negotiation of TLS when connecting to the
125       SMTP MTA.  The -tls switch will negotiate TLS as  part  of  the  normal
126       SMTP protocol using the STARTTLS command.  The -initialtls will negoti‐
127       ate TLS immediately after the connection has taken  place,  before  any
128       SMTP  commands  are  sent or received.  Encrypted data is labelled with
129       `(tls-encrypted)' and `(tls-decrypted)' when viewing the SMTP  transac‐
130       tion  with  the  -snoop  switch.   Base64-encoded  data is wrapped with
131       `b64<>'.  (Beware that the SMTP transaction may contain  authentication
132       information  either in plaintext or easily decoded base64.)  The -notls
133       switch will disable all attempts to negotiate TLS.
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135       If port 465 is specified and none of the  TLS  switches  were  enabled,
136       -initialtls  will  be  implied  if TLS support was compiled in.  Though
137       port 465 for SMTPS (SMTP over SSL) was deregistered by IANA in 1998, it
138       is still used for that service.
139
140       post  filters  out  header lines with names beginning with “Nmh-” (case
141       insensitive) from the message draft.   Those  lines  are  reserved  for
142       internal nmh use.
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FILES

145       /etc/nmh/mts.conf          nmh mts configuration file
146       /etc/nmh/MailAliases       global nmh alias file
147       /usr/bin/refile            Program to process Fcc:s
148       /usr/libexec/nmh/mhl       Program to process Bcc:s
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PROFILE COMPONENTS

151       post does not consult the user's .mh_profile
152

SEE ALSO

154       mhmail(1),  send(1),  mh-mail(5),  mh-alias(5),  mh-profile(5), mh-tai‐
155       lor(5)
156
157       Standard for the Format of ARPA Internet Text Messages (RFC 822)
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DEFAULTS

160       `-alias' defaults to /etc/nmh/MailAliases
161       `-format'
162       `-nomime'
163       `-nomsgid'
164       `-messageid localname'
165       `-noverbose'
166       `-nowatch'
167       `-width 72'
168       `-nofilter'
169

CONTEXT

171       None
172

BUGS

174       “Reply-To:” fields are allowed to have groups in them according to  the
175       RFC 822 specification, but post won't let you use them.
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179nmh-1.7.1                         2016-10-17                           POST(8)
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