NAME
makehosteddomains - Build a database of hosted domains
SYNOPSIS
makehosteddomains
DESCRIPTION
makehosteddomains rebuilds the contents of the
/etc/courier/hosteddomains.dat database from the contents of
/etc/courier/hosteddomains. This can be either a file or a directory.
If it´s a directory, the contents of all the files in this directory
are simply concatenated. The makehosteddomains script must be run in
order for any changes to /etc/courier/hosteddomains to take effect.
The function of /etc/courier/hosteddomains is very similar to the one
of /etc/courier/locals. Both configuration files specify a list of
domains that are considered to be local domains - domains whose
mailboxes are stored locally.
The difference is that domains listed in /etc/courier/locals are
removed from addresses before their mailbox is looked up. For example,
if the domain "example.com" is listed in /etc/courier/locals, then the
address <user@example.com> is delivered to a local mailbox named
"user". If this domain is listed, instead, in
/etc/courier/hosteddomains, then the address <user@example.com> is
delivered to a local mailbox named "user@example.com". Usually you
would use /etc/courier/locals to specify domains that correspond to
your local system accounts, that are looked up in your system´s
password database. The /etc/courier/hosteddomains file is usually used
when you have database-based virtual domains, that are maintained via
an LDAP or a MySQL server. The Courier mail server´s LDAP and MySQL
authentication modules will use the full E-mail address to query the
LDAP or MySQL server for the location of the local mailbox that
correspond to the E-mail address. The Courier mail server´s authuserdb
authentication module can also use full E-mail addresses.
Contents of hosteddomains
The file /etc/courier/hosteddomains simply contains a list of domains,
one per line, for example:
domain.com
example.org
Each domain can optionally be followed by a single tab character, in
order to specify an alias for a domain, for example:
domain.com
mail.domain.com<TAB>domain.com
example.com<TAB>domain.com
First, we list the domain "domain.com" as a hosted domain. Then, we
also list the domain "mail.domain.com", which is an alias for
domain.com. The Courier mail server will take any address of the form
<address@mail.domain.com>, rewrite it as <address@domain.com>, and
attempt to deliver the mail to a local mailbox for that name. The third
entry does the same for "example.com"; mail addressed to
<address@example.com> is delivered to the local mailbox
<address@domain.com>.
alias@hosteddomain
This is a special local mail delivery rule for hosteddomain-listed
domains. This rule allows the Courier mail server accept mail to any
address@hosteddomain, where "hosteddomain" is a domain listed in the
hosteddomains file, but there is no corresponding account for
address@hosteddomain. To provide delivery instructions for any
non-existing address in a hosteddomain-listed domain:
1) Create the local address alias@hosteddomain. For example, if the
hosteddomains file contains "example.com", create the local account
alias@example.com. This should be a normal account, with its own home
directory, userid and groupid.
2) Create $HOME/.courier-default file in this account, containing the
delivery instructions. See the dot-courier(5)[1] manual page for
available delivery instructions.
NOTE that alias@example.com must be a real account, not a mail alias.
If you want to forward alias@example.com to another address, put
forwarding instructions in the .courier-default file. However,
alias@example.com can be a clone of another account (with the same home
directory, userid, and groupid).
“WILDCARD DNS”
Wildcard DNS is supported for hosteddomains by placing a single period
character before the domain name. For example, the hosted domain entry
“.domain.com” will cause the Courier mail server to accept mail for
“anything.domain.com”.
The Courier mail server will accept mail for
<address@any.thing.domain.com> and attempt to deliver it to the local
mailbox <address@any.thing.domain.com>, and if that fails then attempt
to deliver the mail to the local mailbox <address@.thing.domain.com>,
then finally <address@.domain.com>
Note
There is a period after the ´@´ character. If you want all mail for
“any.thing.domain.com” to be delivered as though it were sent to
“domain.com”, you should define an alias for the domain, for
example:
domain.com
.domain.com<TAB>domain.com
SEE ALSO
esmtpd(8)[2].
NOTES
1. dot-courier(5)
[set $man.base.url.for.relative.links]/dot-courier.html
2. esmtpd(8)
[set $man.base.url.for.relative.links]/esmtpd.html