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klugenratte
09-10-2002, 06:41 PM
For our organization we currently use an outsourced e-mail provider that supplies a very small amount of disk space, ~1MB for each user. As a result we frequently max out our disk space when a user goes on vacation.

All users (~150) are on Windows based systems using Outlook 2000 or XP for e-mail. Upper management is extremely resistant to change, so moving to a different client e-mail app is out of the question. Especially since they've already paid for all those Outlook licenses.

What I need to do is set up a relay server that will download all users' e-mail messages on a regular basis (checking for new messages every few minutes). Users' would check the relay server for their new messages (using Outlook) rather than connecting directly to the outsourced e-mail server. Outgoing mail will still be sent directly through the outsourced SMTP server and will not touch the relay server.

I have not been able to locate any documentation that will walk me through the process of setting up such a server. Being an extreme Linux newbie (I've been a Windows SysAdmin for several years becuase Windows paid the bills), I do not have a strong enough background in Linux to hack my way through-it without guidance. In fact, I've read so much documentation that I am now more confused than ever and don't even know where to start.

Can someone please help me out: Tell me what I need, where to go for docs, translate terms to be newbie-friendly, etc?

I have set up a Linux file server and a couple Linux workstations using Red Hat Linux 7.1 and Mandrake 8.2, so I'm not completely blind, but I'm still very new to Linux.

Thanks.

fancypiper
09-10-2002, 06:51 PM
Common e-mail tools:
sendmail (http://www.sendmail.net/) - postfix (http://www.postfix.org/) - sends mail to local users (and internet when configured correctly)
fetchmail (http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/fetchmail/) - gets mail from internet pop accounts
procmail (http://www.procmail.org/) - sorts and delivers into separate mailboxes
mutt (http://www.mutt.org/) - mail client that sucks less than all the others
Email the Linux Way (http://www.mandrakeuser.org/docs/connect/index.html#mtuw)
Suresh Ramasubramanian's email guide (http://www.hserus.net/dlhowto.html)
The Linux Mail User HOWTO (http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Mail-User-HOWTO/index.html)
The Linux Electronic Mail Administrator HOWTO (http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Mail-Administrator-HOWTO.html)