Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!malgudi!osc.edu!karl.kleinpaste
From: karl.kleinpaste@osc.edu
Newsgroups: comp.mail.sendmail
Subject: Re: Sendmail Errors - HELP!
Message-ID: <1048@malgudi.oar.net>
Date: 18 Mar 91 00:42:24 GMT
References: <1991Mar15.095040.7795@mgc.uucp>
Sender: news@oar.net
Organization: Viento Gigabit Testbed, Ohio Supercomputer Center
Lines: 46
Nntp-Posting-Host: ashley.osc.edu

dave@mgc.uucp writes:
   Every message that goes out via uux/uucp causes sendmail to
   generate a message to the originator like the one shown below. The
   mail actually does go out correctly, so sendmail is telling lies :-(.
   Can anyone give any pointers or tips on where to look?

   >   ----- Transcript of session follows -----
   >554 No ! in UUCP! (dave)

If you have source, look in sendmail/src/deliver.c in the routine
putfromline(), where you will find code of this general flavor:

		bang = index(buf, '!');
		if (bang == NULL)
#if 0
			syserr("No ! in UUCP! (%s)", buf);
#else /* 0 */
			bang = bang; /* NOP */
#endif /* 0 */
		else
		{
			*bang++ = '\0';
			(void) sprintf(xbuf, "From %s  \001d remote from %s\n", bang, buf);
			template = xbuf;
		}

The #if addition is my own, and it shuts off the offending message.

The reason for the diagnostic is that you are generating an origin
address (in this case, the envelope's from, which is used in the UNIX
From_ line) which is probably in domain format, i.e., it lacks any use
of `!'.  For UUCP-bound mail, this is likely an incorrect thing to do;
but it is not something which can afford to be announced with a 4xx or
5xx error code, since that would imply non-delivery, while
putfromline() calmly proceeds with delivery regardless of the problem.
This behavior can cause redelivery loops under some circumstances.

In my own .cf, it is the correct thing to do, since I depend on smail
2.5 as a back-end UUCP mailer to unwrap the domain format into !-path
format for me; it works quite well.

--karl
--
LISTSERV ... doesn't have that "using a lit match to try to find a gas
leak" aspect that having write access to an important mail relay's
sendmail.cf implies...				--jbvb@ftp.com