[ale] odd email issue

[Lightner, Jeff]

This is what I said about environment.  You believe you're using
Sendmail - but what if root is seeing a Postfix installation and trying
to use that?   There are many things that can be configured in email
setups.   For example here I have some servers using "smarttable" so
that emails sent from one domain relay out a host we have Sendmail
running on but all other email relays out our Exchange host.

However, as I suggested before it may be something more simple like a
missing or different variable.   Sometimes you're not having the problem
you think you're having - you're instead having an earlier problem that
is causing the one you're troubleshooting.   Going back to basics often
helps and the first thing I'd do in your situation is do the environment
comparison.   You could also look through /etc/mail files to see what
special setup root has as opposed to the other user (or vice-versa).
Maybe you have an alias setup that you don't realize?

Also even if the Sendmail daemon is LISTENing only on localhost that is
different than when you send an email from within the host.  When you
send an email it kicks off another Sendmail process to do the send and
that one may not be restricted to localhost as you think.

-----Original Message-----
From: ale-bounces at ale.org [mailto:ale-bounces at ale.org] On Behalf Of
Geoffrey Myers
Sent: Wednesday, June 15, 2011 12:25 PM
To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts
Subject: Re: [ale] odd email issue

Lightner, Jeff wrote:
> Since you have the issue running it as root from CLI then it makes
sense
> it has same issue from root cron.   Try running it in your user cron
> instead.  (i.e. as your normal user run "crontab -e" and add the job
> there.)
> 
> If that works then it may still have to do with environment
differences
> between root and your normal user.   If you're becoming root by doing
> "su -" try doing "su" without the dash instead - that way your root
> session inherits the original user's environment instead of invoking
> root's environment.  If the command then works from CLI as root then
you
> know it is an environmental difference.

How is it possible that root could be using a different outgoing mail 
server?  Sendmail is configured for localhost only.  This is the part 
that is confusing to me.

> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ale-bounces at ale.org [mailto:ale-bounces at ale.org] On Behalf Of
> Geoffrey Myers
> Sent: Wednesday, June 15, 2011 9:51 AM
> To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts
> Subject: Re: [ale] odd email issue
> 
> Lightner, Jeff wrote:
>> Is the cron job you're running the user's cron or root's cron?
> 
> root cron.
> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: ale-bounces at ale.org [mailto:ale-bounces at ale.org] On Behalf Of
>> Geoffrey Myers
>> Sent: Wednesday, June 15, 2011 9:20 AM
>> To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts
>> Subject: Re: [ale] odd email issue
>>
>> Geoffrey Myers wrote:
>>> David Tomaschik wrote:
>>>> On Wed, Jun 15, 2011 at 8:52 AM, Geoffrey Myers
>>>> <lists at serioustechnology.com> wrote:
>>>>> Robert Coggins wrote:
>>>>>> On 6/15/2011 8:11 AM, Geoffrey Myers wrote:
>>>>>>> So, I've got sendmail configured so it uses localhost for
sending
>> email.
>>>>>>>    As a normal user I can send email like this:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> date|mail email at domain
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Yet, I've recently configured /etc/aliases to send root email to
>> my
>>>>>>> personal email address:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> root:           email at domain
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> But I get delayed email messages from 1and1, my domain host for
>> these
>>>>>>> emails because my machine name (centsovm.serioustechnology.com)
> is
>> not
>>>>>>> valid.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> So, how is this possible?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>> Maybe it has something to do with not being able to contact that
>>>>>> server.  I cannot resolve that address.
>>>>> The issue is, when I send it from the command line, it is
> apparently
>>>>> using my localhost.  When the cron job runs and redirects email
via
>>>>> /etc/aliases, it appears to be using the mail server for my
hosting
>> company.
>>>>> Why the inconsistency?
>>>>>
>>>>> Really, how is this even possible?
>>>> Do you have sendmail configured to use a relayhost?  Would you mind
>>>> putting headers from the two different emails on a pastebin
> somewhere
>>>> for comparison?
>>> No relayhost.  I'll see if I can get some useful header info.  What 
>>> baffles me is it appears that this one machine uses localhost from
> the
>>> command line and my hosting company mail server for cron output.
>>>
>>> How is that even possible?
>> Here's more to this oddity.  I run this on the command line as my
> normal
>> user:
>>
>> date|mail user at domain
>>
>> where I'm sending email to my email address.  Comes through fine.
>>
>> If I do the same thing as root, the email does not come through.
>>
>> ????
>>
>>
>>
> 
> 


-- 
Until later, Geoffrey

"I predict future happiness for America if they can prevent
the government from wasting the labors of the people under
the pretense of taking care of them."
- Thomas Jefferson
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