Topic: MX backup ?

[sonny]

Hi!

Is it possible to run a e-mail server that ONLY acts as a MX-Backup...
So that whes the "master" mail server comes online, the mail reciwed by the backup mail server automaticly "sends" the mail return to the master server ??

If it is possible, what do i need to install / make changes to
I run an 5.5 in production, with sprox 30 domains on, but now i have a frind who nedes a MX-backup.... can i act as this for him ?

[Mats Karlsson]

I think you are looking for the "store and forward" funktionality.

You don't need e-smith for this and I think most smtp implementations support this funktionality. I know this is possible and how to do it in exim but I'm unshure how to modify Qmail and e-smith templates as well.

Maybe an search engine like google could provide you with some help:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=qmail+store+and+forward

Maybee someone else can hook up on this and help ?


/Mats

[Bob Minteer]

I needed to do this recently, when a broadband connection to one of my friends' networks went down.   I configured my e-smith box to accept email for his domains in a store and forward fashion.   As long as you have the ability to edit the DNS records for the domains, it should work fine.

All you need to do is make sure that the hostnames are in the /var/qmail/control/rcpthosts file.

I did this by adding a fragment in:

/etc/e-smith/templates-custom/var/qmail/control/20hostmxbackup

The content should be something like:

# - - - - - -
# 20hostmxbackup
#
# These are the hosts that I will accept mail for
#
foreigndomain1.com  <-- substitute for your actual domain names.
foreigndomain2.com
#
EOF- - - - -

I expanded the template:

/sbin/e-smith/expand-template /var/qmail/control/rcpthosts

Then, you need to make sure the domains' DNS records (mine are at no-ip.com) indicate your backup server's address with a higher MX number than the main mail server for that domain.

The result is that mail received for any non-local domains will be forwarded by qmail at the first opportunity.

I was thinking that a panel snap-in would be good for this sort of thing, but then again, how often does anyone need this sort of thing?

regards...

   Bob