This chapter describes how to use OpenVMS MAIL and ALL-IN-1 Mail with MultiNet.
MultiNet enhances OpenVMS Mail so you can send and receive mail across the network.
When you use OpenVMS Mail to send mail to a host outside your VMScluster, the message is sent via SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol). For this reason, you must specify the address so that SMTP accepts the mail correctly. The format for the address is:
To: SMTP%"recipient@destination"
The string SMTP and the destination system name are not case-sensitive; that is, you can type them in either uppercase or lowercase letters. The destination recipient specification may be case- sensitive, however, depending on the destination system's software. On some UNIX systems, ROOT and root specify two different user names (and hence different electronic mail addresses).
If the address contains an apostrophe, enter the address with either \' or \s as shown in the following example formats:
To: SMTP%"Thomas.O\'Malley@example.net"
To: SMTP%"Thomas.O\sMalley@example.net"
For the address <Thomas.O'Malley@example.net>.
To: SMTP%"\'recipient@destination"
or
To: SMTP%"\srecipient@destination"
If the address is on a local DECnet network, use this format:
To: SMTP%nodename::username
If the address is on a remote DECnet network, you may use this format:
To: SMTP%"'nodename::username'@destination"
Note! MultiNet assumes that an address containing a double colon (::) is a DECnet address. If an address contains a double colon and is not a DECnet address, SMTP does not handle it correctly.
If you know the recipient's IP address, but not the host name (or if the host name is not registered in the Domain Name System), specify the recipient address as follows:
To: smtp%"recipient@[aa.bb.cc.dd]"
aa.bb.cc.dd is the destination system's IP address in dotted-decimal form. You must specify the IP address in square brackets.
The OpenVMS Mail utility also allows you to specify an addressee on the command line:
$ MAIL filename addressee
To use this form of the command with MultiNet, you must enclose the address in quotes (and you must double all existing quotes), as follows:
$ MAIL filename smtp%"recipient@destination"
The following example shows the user sending mail using the OpenVMS MAIL utility to a user named John Smith with a user name of "johns" on system SALES.EXAMPLE.COM.
$ MAIL
MAIL>SEND
To: SMTP%"johns@sales.example.com"
Subj: This is a test message.
Enter your message below. Press Ctrl/Z when complete, or
Ctrl/C to quit:
Hi John, this is a test of the MultiNet extension to the VMS MAIL utility.
Ctrl/Z
MAIL>EXIT
$
You receive network mail as you would all other mail in the VMS MAIL utility. The following example shows the user "WHORFIN" reading an SMTP mail message sent by the user "johns."
$
New mail on node KAOS from SMTP%"johns@sales.example.com" "John
Smith"
$ MAIL
You have 1 new message.
MAIL>READ/NEW
#1 03-15-2015 10:05:40.79
From: SMTP%"johns@sales.example.com" "John Smith"
To: WHORFIN
CC:
Subj: Re: This is a test message.
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2015 10:04:50 EST
From: johns@sales.example.com (John Smith)
Message-Id: <891120100450.77@SALES.EXAMPLE.COM>
Subject: Re: This is a test message.
To: whorfin@example.com
X-Vmsmail-To: SMTP%"whorfin@example.com"
Glad to see your test worked.
This is my response.
MAIL>EXIT
MultiNet allows a system to have multiple names-or host aliases-with respect to electronic mail delivery. You can specify the host alias you want to use by defining the MULTINET_SMTP_FROM_HOST logical name. The alias you choose must be one of the SMTP host name aliases registered on the system (see the translation of the logical name MULTINET_SMTP_HOST_NAME and the contents of the file MULTINET_HOST_ALIAS_FILE). If the alias you use is unknown, the setting of MULTINET_SMTP_FROM_HOST is ignored.
The host alias feature allows users from different administrative units within an organization to have their return address reflect the name of their unit, even though mail for all units is handled by one system.
Note! You can control the envelope by using the MULTINET_SMTP_ENVELOPE_FROM_HOST logical. In MultiNet v4.4 or higher this can be configured via MULTINET CONFIGURE/MAIL.
MultiNet supports both system-wide and per-user mail aliases. Using these aliases, you can refer to electronic mail addresses with names that are meaningful to you. Per-user mail aliases are kept in the file SMTP_ALIASES. in your login directory.
The format for alias entries is:
alias: real_address[,...];
alias is an alphanumeric string and real_address is an electronic mail address. You can specify multiple addresses by separating them with commas (,). The alias definition may span multiple lines, if needed, and must always be terminated with a semicolon (;).
For example, a local user may have a user name of JB134A, but you want to send mail to him as john. Add the following line to your SMTP_ALIASES. file:
john: jb134A;
Aliases are repeatedly translated until no more translations are found. You can circumvent the repeated translations by including a leading underscore (_) in the real_address. For example, this definition causes mail to be forwarded and delivered locally:
fnord: fnord@somewhere.else.edu, _fnord:
This section explains how to use the mail subsystem under ALL-IN-1 to send mail to and receive mail from users on remote systems.
To send mail to a user on a remote system, specify an ALL-IN-1 e-mail address in the format:
recipient@destination@SMTP
@SMTP indicates to the ALL-IN-1 mail subsystem that the message should be given to the SMTP/MR gateway facility for eventual handling by the MultiNet SMTP mail system.
Note! The string SMTP and the destination system name are not case-sensitive; that is, you can type them in either uppercase or lowercase letters. However, the destination recipient specification may be case-sensitive, depending on the destination system's software. On some UNIX systems, ROOT and root specify two different user names (and hence different electronic mail addresses).
You receive network mail as you would all other mail in the ALL-IN-1 mail subsystem. Contact your system manager for the correct syntax for remote users; frequently, the proper syntax is:
yourname@A1.yourdomain