Exim Mail Transport Agent

Exim is the Mail Transfer Agent ("MTA"). It is a drop-in replacement for Sendmail.

We are using Exim primarily because it is bundled with Debian, but also because it is very robust, easy to configure, and well documented.

1. Login as the root user.
   [screenshot]

2. Edit the /etc/inetd.conf file.

   # mcedit /etc/inetd.conf
   [screenshot]

   Remark the line that begins with smtp. (High-volume servers should not run Exim from inetd.)

3. Restart the inetd daemon.

   # /etc/init.d/inetd restart
   [screenshot]

4. Run the eximconfig script.

   # eximconfig
   [screenshot]

   Answer the questions as follows:
   [screenshot] Select a number from 1 to 5, from the list above. 1
   [screenshot] What is the 'visible' mail name of your system? bfree.on.ca
   [screenshot] Does this system have any other names which may appear on incoming mail messages? none
   [screenshot] Are there any domains you want to relay? none
   [screenshot] Are there any networks of local machines you want to relay mail for? none
   [screenshot] Which user accounts(s) should system adminstrator mail go to? none
   [screenshot] Is this OK? y

5. Edit the /etc/exim/exim.conf file.

   # mcedit /etc/exim/exim.conf
   [screenshot]

   Change the local_delivery transport to this:

   local_delivery:
     driver = appendfile
     group = mail
     mode = 0660
     mode_fail_narrower = false
     envelope_to_add = true
     return_path_add = true
     directory = /home/${uc:$domain}/${local_part}/Maildir
     maildir_format
   

   Exim will now deliver to maildir instead of mbox.

6. Restart Exim.

   # /etc/init.d/exim restart
   [screenshot]

   Warning: The mail service is now online. Port 25 will be open.