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Thread ID: 45206 2004-05-14 00:39:00 setting up a mail server tbacon_nz (865) Press F1
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236427 2004-05-14 00:39:00 I'm getting very confused (not unusual!), or maybe I'm using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

My backup software (Novabackup 7.1) has the facility to email notifications when backups are complete etc. It gives you the chance for up to 5 retries, with a few seconds between each one. So if I'm not actually connected when the attempt is made, I get no notification :(

So what I need is to be able to send email "internally" without being connected. So I guessed I would need to set up a mail server. I've tried several feeware ones, and am having real problems with terminology.

Novabackup requires a "SMTP Server Name" - usually smtp.ihug.co.nz

However in the mail server software there are post offices, mailboxes, domains, etc etc and I am find ing very difficult to decide what is what and what I should be telling Novabackup.

Can anyone point me to a simple FAQ/newbie guide for al this stuff?

Or am I building this huge edifice for a very minor issue that could be solved some other way?

TIA

Tony Bacon
tbacon_nz (865)
236428 2004-05-14 00:44:00 edit - "feeware" -> "freeware" tbacon_nz (865)
236429 2004-05-14 01:44:00 With mail server software, the SMTP server name will be the name of the PC that the mail server is installed on. And the same for the POP3 server name.

What are the freeware mail server software packages that you have tried?
CYaBro (73)
236430 2004-05-14 05:07:00 One solution for you might be old hardware with Linux - Sendmail for SMTP and Qpopper for pop3. Not very hard to set up for simple internal use. JohnD (509)
236431 2004-05-14 06:06:00 >One solution for you might be old hardware with Linux

True, but maybe a bit OTT just so I can receive 2 emails a day from my backup software :D

I've tried Mercury Mail, MailEnable, Postcaster, SMTP Server and 602 LAN Manager. They all to some degree assume you know what you are doing. Mercury has had the clearest explanations, but even then I can't get it all to hang together. I suspect there is some basic piece of understanding that I am missing. I need to:

Set up the Mail server
Set up NovaBackup so it sends mail to the right place
Set up Outlook so it gets mail from the right place.

I never seem to be able to get more than two (any two!) of those requirements working at once.
tbacon_nz (865)
236432 2004-05-14 06:19:00 have you had a look on the net for specific how-to's for each software option? i'm sure some geeks out there will have written how-to's for the more popular software options? Pete O'Neil (250)
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