(no subject)

[noahgibbs]

I've sent out another volley of DHP reminder notices. I'm using sendmail for it, which should be straightforward, I hope.

Not sure how to collect any bounce notifications that happen, though.

Anybody know if there's a way to say in the mail headers where the errors should get sent to?

Thanks to plambert for the suggestion of method to use.

Comments

[stollman.livejournal.com]

1) What machine did you send it from? (we will call it foo)
2) What is your userid on that machine? (we will call it bar)

Bounces should go to bar@foo; the problem comes in if you ran your script as a user other than yourself, or if the foo machine isn't set up properly and it ends up sending things like "angelbob@localhost".

More information about the exact method you used to send things would be helpful; feel free to email me.

[angelbob.livejournal.com]

The problem is that the sending machine is not currently set up to receive mail. I don't know what it'll do with it, but it seems most likely that it will currently bounce it as invalid.

[xarnix.livejournal.com]

There is of course the Reply-To: header, but I'll leave it to somebody else to work out what the likelihood is of bounces going to A) the envelope address, B) the From: address, C) the Reply-To: address, or D) other addresses I haven't thought of.

[stollman.livejournal.com]

When you say it's not set up to receive mail, do you mean:

A) It doesn't know a valid name for itself, and isn't sending somebody elses name instead.
- Like "angelbob@myhouse.local", "angelbob@localhost", or "angelbob@"
or
B) It's sending something valid, like angelbob@linuxbox.angelbob.com, but
B1) There are no DNS pointers for linuxbox.angelbob.com, or
B2) linuxbox.angelbob.com isn't running a daemon listening on port 25.

Or is it some other problem entirely?

If it's A, any mail already sent isn't going to bounce properly, but users might be able to reply to it if you gave it a valid "From:" line.

If it's B1, it's just a DNS change. If it's B2, you have to set up Sendmail or some equivilent to be able to receive. In either of those cases, you can fix it now and most of the bounces will get to you, even if they bounced already. This is because DNS issues or connection-refused type problems tend to result in a wait and retry behavior, and most mail servers won't give up for several days.

[selkiediver.livejournal.com]

Just a reminder that all midgard addresses are bouncing until xthread straightens things out with his ISP. Please don't drop us from the list!

[japlady.livejournal.com]

Got you AIM message about this... nope, sorry dude, there is no reminder about the DHP in my mailbox.....

Wanting another back rub!

[dryadgrl]

Hey this is Briana.
Do you have my contact info yet? I'd like to be on that list.

[angelbob.livejournal.com]

B1 and B2 are both effectively true, I believe. B2 might not be, but I doubt it's currently configured reasonably. There's a valid "Reply-To:" line which goes to my Yahoo address which is picking up at least some bounce-type stuff.

I should probably change the "From:" line to something valid but unrelated to my machine (like my Yahoo or Google address), though I think that'd increase the hazard of the mail appearing to be spam.

The "just a DNS change" isn't an easy option since I'm going through SpeakEasy, and I don't currently run my own DNS for any domain.

[angelbob.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm already using that. It sorta works in some cases, but not really.

[angelbob.livejournal.com]

nope, sorry dude, there is no reminder about the DHP in my mailbox.....

D'oh. Sounds like I'm gonna need to try this again.

Wanting another back rub!

Are you free Monday (like, tomorrow) evening?

sure

[japlady.livejournal.com]

Well HOPEFULLY the car guy will fix my transmission tommorow, but I'm not holding my breath. And since I have no car I'm captive in my home.

So yes, I'm free. Also, keep in mind 9:15 am Teusday is PP YET again, are you still going to be in my support network?, and if yes, are you going to want to crash here or with B rather than having to shlep home and then drive back here the next morning?

Re: sure

[angelbob.livejournal.com]

Yup, I remember the PP visit, and I'm planning to be there. I could certainly crash there if that's reasonable. Otherwise I'll probably head back to Fremont in between. It's not all that far and you're right off 237.

[angelbob.livejournal.com]

I do, and I'll add you. Sorry for not doing so sooner. I'll post when I've sent out the next volley of reminders.

Re: sure

[japlady.livejournal.com]

Either way, I would probably end up putting one of us on the floor (that bed is TOO tiny to comfortably sleep two) but it would be cool, always wanted to do the just keep talking till we fall asleep thing.

Re: sure

[angelbob.livejournal.com]

Sounds good to me. I do just fine on the floor, especially if I can get a pillow.

[stollman.livejournal.com]

Officially, it's supposed to always be A. (for bounces)

There's an "Errors-To:" header that some software uses, and some software respects, but it's not part of any internet standard, and the more recent RFCs actually discourage its use.

Not all software has the capability to see the envelope sender; consider an MTA that strips it off before giving it to another MTA; or a bounce generated by an MUA for some reason (no, it's not a spam filter. My address really is invalid, I swear!). In that case they nearly always use the From: address, but some will use Reply-To: or Errors-To: if present.

The best strategy is always this: Ensure that envelope From and header From: are the same, that they point to an address that can actually receive mail, and that both Errors-To: and Reply-To: are missing.

[vvvexation.livejournal.com]

On the bright side, I actually got the invite this time. :-)

[rightkindofme.livejournal.com]

Still no invite for me. :(