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From: Kathryn Barrett <kathrynb@oreilly.com>
Subject: "sendmail Cookbook" Released by O'Reilly
Date: Wed, 7 Jan 2004 00:07:56 GMT

Timesaving Recipes Ease sendmail Configuration Woes
O'Reilly Releases "sendmail Cookbook"
                
Sebastopol, CA--More often than not, the words "sendmail configuration"
strike dread in the hearts of sendmail and system administrators--and not
without reason. sendmail configuration languages are as complex as any
other programming languages, but used much more infrequently--only when
sendmail is installed or configured. The average system administrator
doesn't get enough practice to truly master this inscrutable technology.

Fortunately, there's help. The "sendmail Cookbook" (O'Reilly, US $44.95)
by Craig Hunt provides step-by-step solutions for the administrator who
needs to solve configuration problems quickly. Suppose you need to
configure sendmail to relay mail for your clients without creating an open
relay that will be abused by spammers. A recipe in the Cookbook shows you
how to do just that. No more wading through pages of dense documentation
and tutorials to create a custom solution--just go directly to the recipe
that addresses your specific problem.

The fact that the "sendmail Cookbook" provides quick answers to common
problems is of critical importance to system administrators, says Hunt.
"The one thing that most system administrators do not have enough of is
time," he explains. "They're swamped with other work and have very little
time to devote to sendmail. They certainly don't have time to read a
book-length tutorial or study the details in a sendmail reference.  This
book is for the busy administrator who needs to solve a problem fast."

Each recipe in the "sendmail Cookbook" outlines a configuration problem,
presents the configuration code that solves that problem, and then
explains the code in detail. The discussion of the code is critical
because it provides the insight administrators need to tweak the code for
their own circumstances.

"Readers should understand that the recipes in this book are complete
solutions," Hunt notes. "Some cookbooks show an individual command outside
of the context of a fully functioning program and describe how that
command solves the stated problem. Readers then need to integrate that
command into their own programs to test the effect of the command on the
program.  Because m4 sendmail configurations are short enough for a recipe
to contain a complete configuration, this book can take a different
approach--a reader can literally type in the recipe exactly as shown in
the book to produce a complete, operational configuration that can be
tested as described in the discussion section following the recipe. This
means that readers can evaluate the effect without modifying the server's
real configuration."

The "sendmail Cookbook" begins with an overview of the configuration
languages, offering a quick how-to for downloading and compiling the
sendmail distribution. This is followed with a baseline configuration
recipe upon which many of the subsequent configurations, or recipes, in
the book are based. Recipes in the following chapters stand on their own
and offer solutions for properly configuring important sendmail functions
such as:

-Delivering and forwarding mail
-Relaying
-Masquerading
-Routing mail
-Controlling spam
-Strong authentication
-Securing the mail transport
-Managing the queue
-Securing sendmail

"sendmail Cookbook" is more than just a new approach to discussing
sendmail configuration. The book also provides lots of new material that
doesn't get much coverage elsewhere--STARTTLS and AUTH are given entire
chapters, and LDAP is covered in recipes throughout the book. But most of
all, this book is about saving time. Pick up the "sendmail Cookbook" and
say good-bye to sendmail dread.

Additional Resources:

Chapter 2, "Delivery and Forwarding," may be read free online at:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/sendmailckbk/chapter/index.html

For more information about the book, including Table of Contents, index,
author bio, and samples, see:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/sendmailckbk/

For a cover graphic in JPEG format, go to:
ftp://ftp.ora.com/pub/graphics/book_covers/hi-res/0596004710.jpg

sendmail Cookbook
Craig Hunt
ISBN 0-596-00471-0, 408 pages, $44.95 US, $65.95 CA
order@oreilly.com
1-800-998-9938
1-707-827-7000
http://www.oreilly.com

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