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Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!ptsfa!lll-lcc!pyramid!batcomputer!mitch
From: mitch@batcomputer.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
Subject: Re: SMTP <-> DECNET Mail Forwarding
Message-ID: <1258@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu>
Date: Wed, 3-Jun-87 14:08:12 EDT
Article-I.D.: batcompu.1258
Posted: Wed Jun  3 14:08:12 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 6-Jun-87 04:17:28 EDT
References: <870529105450.010@nmfecc.arpa>
Reply-To: mitch@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu.UUCP (Mitch Collinsworth)
Distribution: world
Organization: Program of Computer Graphics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Lines: 36
Summary: A good start, but not enough

In article <870529105450.010@nmfecc.arpa> MCCALPIN%FSU.MFENET@NMFECC.ARPA writes:
>Thanks for the many helpful replies.  I got the system working by the following
>tricks:
>        (1) I turned off the : to . conversion in the sendmail.cf files
>            of the SMTP (non-gateway) machines.
>            (I have never seen the : used in an ARPANET address, maybe it
>             is an old syntax)
>        (2) I added a rule in the gateway machines sendmail.cf like         
>                # Mail-11 rules
>                R$+::$+@gateway_name    $@$1::$2        # strip gateway name
>
>Now from SMTP to DECNET goes like:
>                decnet_node::user_name@ultrix_gateway
>and mail from DECNET to SMTP goes like
>                ultrix_gateway::"user_name@unix_node"
>Amazingly enough, REPLY works in both directions.
>I just hope that I don't need that : to . translation when our gateway comes 
>up on the ARPANET in a few months....

I have gone through essentially the same steps as you and have run into one
additional problem that you will face when you get on ARPANET.  How does
someone send mail to your VMS machine from a SMTP machine that you don't
manage?  You haven't taken out their : to . translation, so if they use the
:: syntax, their own machine will mess up the address before it ever gets to
your ultrix gateway.

My approach was to put all my VMS users in the alias list on the ultrix
machine.  Obviously this would be a pain in the behind for a large site,
but our department isn't so big that it's a major hassle.  Outside users
are told to address mail for VMS users to user@ultrix-gateway.  The gateway
finds the user in the alias list and forwards it via mail-11 to the proper
VMS machine.

-Mitch Collinsworth
 Program of Computer Graphics
 Cornell University