1POST(8)                      [nmh-1.2-20070115cvs]                     POST(8)
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NAME

6       post - deliver a message
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SYNOPSIS

9       /usr/libexec/nmh/post [-alias aliasfile] [-filter filterfile] [-nofil‐
10            ter] [-format | -noformat] [-mime | -nomime] [-msgid | -nomsgid]
11            [-verbose | -noverbose] [-watch | -nowatch] [-width columns]
12            [-sasl] [-saslmech mechanism] [-user username] file [-version]
13            [-help]
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DESCRIPTION

16       Post  is  the  default program called by send to deliver the message in
17       file to local and remote users.  In fact, most of the features  attrib‐
18       uted to send in its manual page are performed by post, with send acting
19       as a relatively simple preprocessor.  Thus, it is post which parses the
20       various header fields, appends “From:” and “Date:” lines, and interacts
21       with the mail transport system.   Post  will  not  normally  be  called
22       directly by the user.
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24       Post  searches  the  “To:”,  “cc:”,  “Bcc:”,  “Fcc:”, and “Resent-xxx:”
25       header lines of the specified message for destination addresses, checks
26       these  addresses  for  validity,  and  formats them so as to conform to
27       ARPAnet Internet Message Format protocol, unless the -noformat flag  is
28       set.   This  will  normally  cause “@local-site” to be appended to each
29       local destination address, as well as any local return addresses.   The
30       -width  columns  switch can be used to indicate the preferred length of
31       the header components that contain addresses.
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33       If a “Bcc:” field is encountered, its addresses will be used for deliv‐
34       ery,  and  the  “Bcc:”  field  will be removed from the message sent to
35       sighted recipients.  The blind recipients will receive an entirely  new
36       message  with  a  minimal  set of headers.  Included in the body of the
37       message will be a copy of the message sent to the  sighted  recipients.
38       If -filter filterfile is specified, then this copy is filtered (re-for‐
39       matted) by mhl prior to being sent to  the  blind  recipients.   Alter‐
40       nately, if the -mime switch is given, then post will use the MIME rules
41       for encapsulation.
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43       The -alias aliasfile switch can be used to specify  a  file  that  post
44       should  take  aliases  from.  More than one file can be specified, each
45       being preceded with -alias.  In any event, the primary  alias  file  is
46       read first.
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48       The  -msgid  switch  indicates  that  a  “Message-ID:”  or “Resent-Mes‐
49       sage-ID:” field should be added to the header.
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51       The -verbose switch indicates that the user should be informed of  each
52       step of the posting/filing process.
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54       The  -watch  switch  indicates  that  the  user would like to watch the
55       transport system's handling of the  message  (e.g.,  local  and  “fast”
56       delivery).
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58       Under  normal  circumstances,  post  constructs the “From:” line of the
59       message from the user's login name, the full name from the GECOS  field
60       of  the  passwd file, and the fully-qualified name of the local machine
61       (or the value of “localname” in  mts.conf,  if  set).   An  example  is
62       “From: Dan Harkless <dan@machine.company.com>”.  There are four ways to
63       override these values,  however.   Note  that  they  apply  equally  to
64       “Resent-From:” lines in messages sent with dist.
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66       The  first  way is GECOS-based username masquerading.  If the “masquer‐
67       ade:” line in mts.conf contains “mmailid”,  this  processing  is  acti‐
68       vated.  If a user's GECOS field in the passwd file is of the form “Full
69       Name <fakename>” then “fakename” will be used  in  place  of  the  real
70       username.  For instance, a GECOS field of “Dan Harkless <Dan.Harkless>”
71       would  result  in  “From:   Dan   Harkless   <Dan.Harkless@machine.com‐
72       pany.com>”.  Naturally if you were doing something like this you'd want
73       to set up an MTA alias  (e.g.  in  /etc/aliases)  from,  for  instance,
74       “Dan.Harkless” to “dan”.
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76       The  second  way  to override default construction of “From:” is to set
77       the $SIGNATURE environment variable.  This variable overrides the  full
78       name  from  the  GECOS field, even if GECOS-based masquerading is being
79       done.  This processing is always  active,  and  does  not  need  to  be
80       enabled from mts.conf.
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82       The  third way is controlled by the “user_extension” value of “masquer‐
83       ade:” line of mts.conf.  When that's  turned  on,  setting  the  $USER‐
84       NAME_EXTENSION  environment  variable  will  result  in its value being
85       appended the  user's  login  name.   For  instance,  if  I  set  $USER‐
86       NAME_EXTENSION  to  “+www”,  my “From:” line will contain “Dan Harkless
87       <dan+www@machine.company.com>”  (or  “Dan.Harkless+www”  if  I'm  using
88       mmailid  masquerading  as well).  Recent versions of sendmail automati‐
89       cally deliver all mail sent to user+string to user.  qmail has a  simi‐
90       lar  feature  which  uses  '-' as the delimiter by default, but can use
91       other characters as well.
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93       The fourth method of address masquerading is to specify a “From:”  line
94       manually  in  the  message  draft.   It will be used as provided (after
95       alias substitution), but normally, to  discourage  email  forgery,  the
96       user's  real address will be used in the SMTP envelope “From:” and in a
97       “Sender:” header.  However, if the “masquerade:” line of mts.conf  con‐
98       tains  “draft_from”,  the  SMTP  envelope  “From:” will use the address
99       given in the draft “From:”, and there  will  be  no  “Sender:”  header.
100       This is useful in pretending to send mail “directly” from a remote POP3
101       account, or when remote email robots give improper  precedence  to  the
102       envelope  “From:”.  Note that your MTA may still reveal your real iden‐
103       tity (e.g.  sendmail's “X-Authentication-Warning:” header).
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105       If nmh has been compiled with  SASL  support,  the  -sasl  switch  will
106       enable  the use of SASL authentication with the SMTP MTA.  Depending on
107       the SASL mechanism used, this may require an additional password prompt
108       from  the  user  (but the “.netrc” file can be used to store this pass‐
109       word).  -saslmech switch can be used to select a particular SASL mecha‐
110       nism,  and  the  the -user switch can be used to select a authorization
111       userid to provide to SASL other than the default.
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113       Currently SASL security layers are not supported for SMTP.  nmh's  SMTP
114       SASL  code will always negotiate an unencrypted connection.  This means
115       that while the SMTP authentication can  be  encrypted,  the  subsequent
116       data  stream  can not.  This is in contrast to nmh's POP3 SASL support,
117       where encryption is supported for both the authentication and the  data
118       stream.
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FILES

122       /etc/nmh/mts.conf          nmh mts configuration file
123       /etc/nmh/MailAliases       global nmh alias file
124       /usr/bin/refile            Program to process Fcc:s
125       /usr/libexec/nmh/mhl       Program to process Bcc:s
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PROFILE COMPONENTS

129       post does NOT consult the user's .mh_profile
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SEE ALSO

133       mhmail(1), send(1), mh-mail(5), mh-alias(5), mh-tailor(5), Standard for
134       the Format of ARPA Internet Text Messages (RFC-822)
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DEFAULTS

138       `-alias' defaults to /etc/nmh/MailAliases
139       `-format'
140       `-nomime'
141       `-nomsgid'
142       `-noverbose'
143       `-nowatch'
144       `-width 72'
145       `-nofilter'
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CONTEXT

149       None
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151       “Reply-To:” fields are allowed to have groups in them according to  the
152       822 specification, but post won't let you use them.
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156MH.6.8                            1 Jul 2003                           POST(8)
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