28.7. Setting Up to Send Only

[Leslie Jensen]

Hello list.

I've just set up ssmtp for the first time after using sendmail as an 
outgoing mailer for several years.

Using chapter 28.7 in the handbook

https://www.freebsd.org/doc/handbook/outgoing-only.html

The instructions are clear but I missed some information that had been 
useful to me.

I'd like to suggest that mention of which information must be present in 
the ssmtp.conf file. In the present text it says can be configured.

For example in my case these values had to be changed. For the first two 
there was no doubt, the third was by trial and error.

root=yourrealemail at example.com
mailhub=mail.example.com
hostname=_HOSTNAME_


I think it will be helpful to others to mention how ssmtp actually runs. 
There's no service to start, it's nice, but from the text it's not clear 
how ssmtp runs and that changes to the configuration files are 
immediate. Nice to know I think.


Following the first part of chapter


    28.4. Changing the Mail Transfer Agent

I could disable sendmail. I think it should be mentioned earlier in 
chapter 28.7 before one starts installing ssmtp.

My suggestion is to move the line

"Make sure to disable Sendmail, including the outgoing mail service. See 
Section 28.4.1, "Disable Sendmail" 
<https://www.freebsd.org/doc/handbook/mail-changingmta.html#mail-disable-sendmail> 
for details."

To before installation of ssmtp.

Maybe some mention of ssmtp in chapter 28.4.2?


These are my 10 cents.

Please feel free to use if you find it productive.

Thanks

/Leslie