Every mail server on the Internet should have a domain name that identifies that server on the global network. An Internet E-mail address consists of a system domain name and a user name (also called a mailbox name, or an account): user_name@domain_name
Note: Any domain name should contain at least one dot sign (.)
When you use Internet E-mail, your system cannot use any domain name you want: the domain name should be registered with the global Domain Name System, which allows message routing to the proper systems based on the recipient domain names. If your domain name is not registered, nobody can send you any E-mail or reply to your messages.
There are several methods that can be used to connect your CommuniGate Server to the Internet, and the domain name of your system may depend on the method used.
If your network (or at least your Server computer) is always connected to the global TCP/IP network, you should use the CommuniGate SMTP module to send and receive mail. To use the SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol), your Server computer should have a domain name assigned. The DNS (Domain Name Server) maintained by your network provider or your network administration should contain so-called MX records that link your domain name to your Server computer network address (the IP address). When any SMTP mail system has some mail for you, it uses the global Domain Name Service to get the network address of your Server. When the address is obtained, that system connects directly to the SMTP module on your Server and transfers the mail. See the CommuniGate SMTP module manual for the details.
Note: the domain name of your system is not the domain name of your provider.
Note: if you already have an SMTP mail system and you want your CommuniGate Server to exchange messages with it, the domain name of the server cannot be the same as the domain name assigned to your old mail system. The CommuniGate SMTP module is a full-featured mail server, and it needs its own domain name. Since each SMTP mail system should have its own network address, and only one network address can be assigned to a computer in the current version of the MacOS TCP/IP software, the CommuniGate SMTP module cannot be used (at least, in the mail receiving mode) on the same computer as some other SMTP mail system.
Dial-up TCP/IP links can be established using some PPP or SLIP module for Macintosh TCP/IP software. Or, you may have a dial-up router on your Ethernet network. Please read the Dial-up Connections and E-Mail document to learn about all available methods to exchange mail via dial-up links.
If your system has its own domain name, you can use SMTP feeds or a unified domain-wide POP account as described in that document. Enter the domain name assigned to your system into the Internet Domain Name field of the General Settings dialog box.
When you have only few users registered with your Server, you may postpone registering your own domain name. In this case, your provider maintains one or several mailboxes for you on the provider host. Thus your E-mail addresses look like: mailbox_name@provider_domain_name .
The Post Office Protocol (POP) allows your system to connect to the provider system and retrieve messages from your mailboxes at the provider host(s). These mailboxes on a remote host are also called POP accounts. The CommuniGate POP module implements this protocol, and you should install it along with the SMTP module if your incoming mail is stored in POP mailboxes on the provider system.
When you do not have a domain name assigned to your system, and you use POP accounts on the provider host, you should enter the provider domain name as the Server own Internet Domain Name in the General settings. It is recommended to register the CommuniGate users with the names of POP accounts (it is not required, but it simplifies user setup a lot). When users are registered, those who have POP accounts should enter them in their User Settings. The Server running the CommuniGate POP module connects to the provider hosts(s) periodically, retrieves mail from all POP mailboxes the users have specified, and puts retrieved mail into user In Boxes. See the CommuniGate POP manual for the details.
This solution creates the following problem: when you send mail to anybody having an E-mail account with the same provider (i.e. an account with the same domain name), the CommuniGate Server processes that user address as a CommuniGate user name (since the Server assumes that it serves the entire domain). To solve this problem, consult with your network provider to get an alias name for their domain. Usually, if the provider domain name is abc.com, there is an alias mail.abc.com for that domain. If such an alias exists, use that alias as your Server Internet Domain Name.
An alternative way is to use a fictitious domain name for your system (cgate.abc.com, even if the cgate.abc.com does not exist), and tell all CommuniGate users to enter their POP accounts not only in the POP Account settings, but in their Special From: settings, too. In this case messages sent by the CommuniGate users will have their POP account names in the From fields, so replies will be directed to their POP mailboxes.
- Sample:
- The CommuniGate Server has only three registered users: Susan Jackson, Mark Smith, and James Bond. The system does not have its own domain name, but each user has a POP account on the provider.com host: sjackson@provider.com, msmith@provider.com, and jbond@provider.com.
- The system administrator should enter some domain name in the General Settings, such as cgate.provider.com.
- Susan Jackson should open her User Settings and put sjackson@provider.com in the Special From field. Then she should switch to the POP Account panel and specify sjackson@provider.com as her POP account on a remote host. She should also put the account password there and specify how often that POP account should be polled).
- The other users should configure their User Settings in the same way.
- If Susan sends a message to msmith@provider.com, the CommuniGate Server will dial out and connect to the Internet. The CommuniGate SMTP module will send a message to the provider host provider.com which will store the message in its msmith account. Later the CommuniGate POP module will check the msmith@provider.com account, retrieve the message from there, and store it in Mark Smith's In Box.
- To avoid such a loop in transferring messages between CommuniGate users, the system administrator should enter the following lines in the CommuniGate Router:
- <sjackson@provider.com> = Susan_Jackson
- <msmith@provider.com> = Mark_Smith
- <jbond@provider.com> = James_Bond
- Now messages the CommuniGate Users send to each other will be delivered directly, without going through the provider host and POP accounts.
Many providers charge for each POP account they create for you on their system. When the number of your CommuniGate users grows, you should consider obtaining your own domain name and using either a Domain-Wide POP account, or SMTP mail receiving.
If neither a full-time nor a dial-up TCP/IP link is available, you can use Internet mail with the UUCP (unix-to-unix copy) protocol. The CommuniGate UUCP module implements this protocol over regular modem links. Your network provider should assign a domain name to your system and register that name with the global Domain Name Service. The provider should also assign a UUCP system name to your system. These names are not the same, so be sure to get them both, as well as other UUCP connection information. Enter the assigned domain name into the CommuniGate General settings, and the UUCP system name - into the UUCP module Service settings. See the CommuniGate UUCP module manual for the details.