1POST(8) System Manager's Manual POST(8)
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6 post - deliver an nmh message
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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
16
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 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.
36 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 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 The -msgid switch indicates that a “Message-ID:” or “Resent-Mes‐
53 sage-ID:” field should be added to the header.
54 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 The -verbose switch indicates that the user should be informed of each
64 step of the posting/filing process.
65 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).
69 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 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.
85 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.
94 The mail transport system default is defined in /etc/nmh/mts.conf but
96 can be overridden here with the -mts switch.
97 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.
100 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 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 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 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.
134 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 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.
143
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
149
151 post does not consult the user's .mh_profile
152
154 mhmail(1), send(1), mh-mail(5), mh-alias(5), mh-profile(5), mh-tai‐
155 lor(5)
156 Standard for the Format of ARPA Internet Text Messages (RFC 822)
158
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
171 None
172
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.
176nmh-1.7.1 2016-10-17 POST(8)