On 12/1/21 23:56, Marc Shapiro wrote:
>
> On 12/1/21 10:10, Ludovic Bellière via Dng wrote:
>> If you do not need your mail system to talk to the world, then you
>> should
>> replace exim with something that is a lot simpler to use and
>> configure. I would
>> suggest msmtp (https://marlam.de/msmtp/) as its configuration is a
>> lot more
>> simpler to the neophyte. If you want to keep exim4, I would then
>> suggest to nuke
>> the existing configuration and start from scratch with `dpkg-reconfigure
>> exim4-config'. Extended information should be available at
>> https://wiki.debian.org/Exim
>>
>> Exim4 being a software designed to handle large amount of emails, it
>> may be out
>> of scope for your personal usage. While, as I said, msmtp is a lot more
>> accessible through its minimalist approach: you only need a file with
>> a dozen of
>> lines for it to function properly.
>>
>> While I do use it, I wouldn't be able to help you with exim4, the
>> software is
>> way too large and complex for my own understanding. I mainly rely on
>> dpkg-reconfigure and hope nothing breaks. And while msmtp is easier to
>> understand, changing software can itself be a source of immeasurable
>> pain. So,
>> if in doubt, you should probably rely on dpkg-reconfigure.
>>
>> Cheers,
>>                 Ludovic
>>
>>
>> On Wed, 01 Dec 2021, Marc Shapiro via Dng wrote:
>>
>>> This is very likely the problem, as I now have version 4.94.2-7
>>> installed.  I know virtually nothing, however, about how MTAs do
>>> their work.  Where and how do I make these config changes. I use
>>> Thunderbird for mail coming from outside the local network. Exim is
>>> only used for local transport (such as e-mail from cron jobs).
>>>
>>>
>>> Marc
>
> I looked into some of the other options and I do not recall why I
> decided against them.  It may have been when I thought that I was
> going to use the MTA for more than just local mail.
>
> In any case, I have run `dpkg-reconfigure exim4-config' using the
> defaults from when I set it up originally.  I am hoping that doing so
> with the new exim4 installed will correct the configuration issues.
>
> When I ran `dpkg-reconfigure exim4-config' I got the error about the
> paniclog being non-zero size, but I expected that.  I truncated the
> paniclog and ran `dpkg-reconfigure exim4-config' again, this time with
> no errors.
>
> I have sent myself an e-mail from 'root' but have not received it.  I
> will probably try shutting down the system and rebooting, to see if
> that gets things back in order after the reconfig.

No luck.  I rebooted and got the paniclog error during the boot. After
booting, I stopped exim4, deleted the paniclog, and restarted exim4.  It
created a paniclog containing the following:


2021-12-02 00:06:48 1mmEkA-00009l-Jr == marc@??? R=local_user
T=mail_spool defer (-1): Tainted '/var/mail/marc' (file or directory
name for mail_spool transport) not permitted
2021-12-02 00:06:48 1msgsb-0002NH-Cv == marc@??? R=local_user
T=mail_spool defer (-1): Tainted '/var/mail/marc' (file or directory
name for mail_spool transport) not permitted
2021-12-02 00:06:49 1mrJnB-00026m-53 == marc@??? R=local_user
T=mail_spool defer (-1): Tainted '/var/mail/marc' (file or directory
name for mail_spool transport) not permitted
2021-12-02 00:06:49 1msCJK-0007YK-Pi == marc@??? R=local_user
T=mail_spool defer (-1): Tainted '/var/mail/marc' (file or directory
name for mail_spool transport) not permitted
2021-12-02 00:06:49 1momA3-00054k-DE == marc@??? R=local_user
T=mail_spool defer (-1): Tainted '/var/mail/marc' (file or directory
name for mail_spool transport) not permitted


How do I convince exim4 that /var/spool/marc is an acceptable file name
for mail_spool transport?


Marc