As your FreeBSD system comes "out of the box"[TM], you should be able to send E-mail to external hosts as long as you have /etc/resolv.conf setup or are running a name server.
If you want to have mail for your host delivered to your specific host,there are two methods:
- Run a name server ( man -k named ) and have your own domain smallminingco.com
- Get mail delivered to the current DNS name for your host. Ie: dorm6.ahouse.school.edu
No matter what option you choose, to have mail delivered directly to your host, you must be a full Internet host. You must have a permanent IP address. IE: NO dynamic PPP. If you are behind a firewall, the firewall must be passing on smtp traffic to you. From /etc/services
smtp 25/tcp mail #Simple Mail TransferIf you want to receive mail at your host itself, you must make sure that the DNS MX entry points to your host address, or there is no MX entry for your DNS name.
Try this
newbsdbox# hostname newbsdbox.freebsd.org newbsdbox# host newbsdbox.freebsd.org newbsdbox.freebsd.org has address 204.216.27.xx
If that is all that comes out for your machine, mail directory to root@newbsdbox.freebsd.org will work no problems.
If instead, you have this
newbsdbox# host newbsdbox.freebsd.org newbsdbox.FreeBSD.org has address 204.216.27.xx newbsdbox.FreeBSD.org mail is handled (pri=10) by freefall.FreeBSD.orgAll mail sent to your host directly will end up on freefall, under the same username.
This information is setup in your domain name server. This should be the same host that is listed as your primary nameserver in /etc/resolv.conf
The DNS record that carries mail routing information is the Mail eXchange entry. If no MX entry exists, mail will be delivered directly to the host by way of the Address record.
The MX entry for freefall.freebsd.org at one time.
freefall MX 30 mail.crl.net freefall MX 40 agora.rdrop.com freefall HINFO Pentium FreeBSD freefall MX 10 freefall.FreeBSD.org freefall MX 20 who.cdrom.com freefall A 204.216.27.xx freefall CNAME www.FreeBSD.org
Freefall has many MX entries. The lowest MX number gets the mail in the end. The others will queue mail temporarily, if freefall is busy or down.
Alternate MX sites should have separate connections to the Internet, to be most useful. An Internet Provider or other friendly site can provide this service.
dig, nslookup, and host are your friends.