Fail: The sender is notified that the address doesn't exist

hostpc.com

Verified User
Joined
Aug 2, 2003
Messages
1,178
Location
Schenectady, NY
Question for the experts.

We've got several (if not most) users that have their catch all settings as (set by default)

Fail: The sender is notified that the address doesn't exist


Is there a way to globally change that option to:

Ignore: The email is dropped and completely ignored

by sending a notify that it doesn't exist, it's REALLY clogging some of the mail ques - and seems much more efficient to drop/ignore

is there a global command I can run to change that setting?
 
Ooh good idea most of the bounces will be for spam anyway and the from: lines are forged, creating a bounce TO the bounce.
 
Now I'm confused, according to post #3 at http://forums.cpanel.net/showthread.php?t=30987 , fail is better than ignore. Who's right?
 
Fail is better for ignore for one important reason, if no other.

If someone tries to mail someone at your server but spells their name wrong (perhaps a typo) they'll never know if the email is just dropped; they'll think it arrived.

Perhaps a less important reason is that your mail-server is responsible for all email it accepts; RFCs say it must either deliver it or return it.

While you (and I) may certainly feel it's okay to drop email that we know to be spam, to drop email we've accepted simply because we should never have accepted it in the first place (a) will result in your users inevitably not getting email they should have gotten, but which was neither delivered nor returned, and (b) may get you listed at rfc-ignorant.org.

There's also the perhaps less important reason that well-behaved senders will eventually drop email addresses from which mail gets returned, and will stop sending to them, but won't ever stop sending email that doesn't get rreturned, as they'll presume it's delivered.

Another reason is it will cost more resources to acccept the email and then drop it then to refuse it in the first place, as your server will have to actually go through all the steps of accepting it before dropping it, as opposed to just saying no after it gets the delivery address.

And one last reason... spammers will consider deliverable email (including email that appears to be deliverable because it's not returned) as a completed delivery, so they'll get paid for sending it, and perhaps stay in business longer.

We'll continue to refuse nondeliverable email.

Jeff
 
Another reason is it will cost more resources to acccept the email and then drop it then to refuse it in the first place, as your server will have to actually go through all the steps of accepting it before dropping it, as opposed to just saying no after it gets the delivery address.

While I agree with this to an extent, if the server sent a signal that there was NO USER, rather than sending a return email - and thus leaving a spot in the que - and most likely making it an undeliverable email when the sending email address doesn't exist - it would be better.

Until then, I'd rather not have it que ANOTHER email - I'd rather it be dropped.

I'd like to know where the setting is for changing this default option on new account creation.
 
hostpc.com said:
if the server sent a signal that there was NO USER, rather than sending a return email
Which is exactly how exim notifes the sending server that the user doesn't exist.

It's done that since DA started including the exim.conf file I wrote.

Jeff
 
It's done that since DA started including the exim.conf file I wrote.

Just to clarify, you didn't WRITE it, you modified the existing exim.conf file.

Nonetheless, I'd still like the option.
 
Last edited:
Wrong...

I did NOT start with the original DA exim.conf file.

Of course I didn't write it in a vacuum. My template was the original exim.conf file distributed with exim version 4.

I got ideas from the exim.org website and from the exim book published by UITCambridge.

I did a lot of research and I take full responsibility for every option in the file; I made the decision for every option.

Here's the information from my file header:

<snip>
Portions of this file are taken from the exim.conf file as
distributed with Exim 4, which includes the following copyright
notice:
</snip>

After I wrote it I presented parts of it to the exim-users list for comments, and polished it based on those comments.

I used pieces of the original DA file only to make it work with the DA additions for the files.

Then I presented it to John for his consideration.

I think the shortcut for that is "I wrote it". If you'd like, I'll pass the file and the question on to the author of exim. If he feels I'm stealing his work, I'm sure he'll take the time to reply.

Should I do that?

Jeff
 
Last edited:
Back
Top