Date: Thu, 9 Jan 1992 17:55:23 EST Reply-To: Node Management Sender: Node Management From: Larry Snodgrass Subject: registering a MAIL server To: "Matt Madison" There has been a lot of discussion lately about mailers and the :servers1 tag. Hopefully this will answer a lot of questions (an probably generate new ones). Members of EARN and NETNORTH don't need to worry about this but there is a shortened description of the :servers1 tag you might find helpful. NEWTAGS DESCRIPT is still the definitive specification. In pursuing the recent CREN board decision to require BSMTP-compliant mailer for each BITNET node which uses the INTERBIT gateways, we've discovered that several sites already have this capability but have not publicized it to the network. If your site is already capable of sending and receiving BSMTP-compliant mail (i.e. you have a Mail Transfer Agent such as PMDF, MX, VM Mailer, UCLA/Mail, etc.) and you want to continue to use the INTERBIT gateways, this fact must be registered in a :servers1 tag in your node entry or entries. The :servers1 tag describes the network services provided by "server" software to the node in which the tag appears. Currently the only valid server that may be defined is a MAIL server. The following is a description of the :servers1 tag and a description of how to prepare a job to send to UPDATE@BITNIC to add or modify the :servers1 tag to your node entry or entries. :servers1. This tag defines the network services provided to this node by software server programs such as Mail Transfer Agents. The format of the data on this tag is: :servers1.serverid(type,formats,classes,attributes,contacts) An example of a typical :servers1 tag is: :servers1.MAILER@BITNIC(MAIL,PU,M,BSMTP,P_POSTMAST) The various parts of the tag are explained below: serverid : MAILER@BITNIC type : MAIL formats : PU class : M attrib : BSMTP contacts : P_POSTMAST serverid The network address of the server in the form "userid@node". You must specify both the "userid" and the "node". "MAILER" is the recommended "userid" for both PMDF and the VM Mailer. type The type of server. Currently the only valid type is "MAIL". formats The NJE file formats accepted by this server, which depend on the mailer software itself. Most mailers accept files in PUNCH format. To indicate PUNCH format specify "PU". "PU" is the default. Other formats are described in NEWTAGS DESCRIPT. classes The NJE file classes accepted by this server. The valid classes are the letters A-Z or numbers 0-9. Class "M" files are recognized as mail and class "M" is the default. attributes The attributes for this server. The attributes of a mail server are the MTA to MTA protocols accepted by this mail server. The valid attributes are: BSMTP RFC822 OUTONLY BSMTP is the default. contacts This is the tag name(s) which define the person n responsible for the server software and who is to be contacted in case of problems with this server. This tag must be defined in the node entry or in a higher level site or member entry. If you would like to accept all the defaults simply specify: :servers1.MAILER@node(MAIL,,,,) If you have a mail server on one node which serves other nodes then you can add a :servers1 tag to the other node entries and reference the mail server at the first node. For example, if you have nodes ABC and XYZ and have a mail server on ABC which serves node XYZ also then you would add a :servers1 tag to node XYZ and specify "MAILER@ABC" as the serverid. The file "NEWTAGS DESCRIPT", available from the nearest NETSERV, describes the :servers1 tag in more detail, as well as all other tags in BITEARN NODES. Once you have decided how to define the :servers1 tag for your node entry or entries you must submit an update request to UPDATE@BITNIC. The following is an example of an update job to add or modify the :servers1 tag for the node XYZ (case does not matter). modify node xyz :servers1.MAILER@XYZ(MAIL,PU,M,BSMTP,P_POSTMAST) or modify node xyz :servers1.MAILER@XYZ(MAIL,,,,) You can submit this job by using electronic mail or as a file. For more information about updating your node entry using UPDATE@BITNIC refer to the document UPDATE PROCEDUR from LISTSERV@BITNIC. For questions about the :servers1 tag reply directly to me, SNODGRAS@BITNIC. Larry Snodgrass -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return-Path: <@vms.ecs.rpi.edu:NODMGT-L@UGA.BITNET> Received: from ECS02 (ECS02::MAILER) by MDMVS (MX V3.0A) with SMTP (DECnet); Thu, 09 Jan 1992 18:16:59 EST Received: from ubvm.bitnet (MAILER) by RPIECSVX (MX V3.0A) with BSMTP; Thu, 09 Jan 1992 18:17:31 EST Received: by UBVM (Mailer R2.07) id 8978; Thu, 09 Jan 92 18:14:06 EST