I'm trying to setup postfix and qpopper on a private home LAN. I'm not really trying to setup a live internet mail server. I just want to send mail from one computer in the house up to my postfix server then receive the mail from a pop3 client on a second computer in the house.

I think I'm pretty close. The mail leaves PC #1 and arrives at the postfix server. I can see the messages setting in the queue.

When I try to receive the mail from PC#2 nothing is downloaded. I can see from the server log file that PC#2 is contacting the server but no messages are downloaded.

What has me puzzled is the log file posted below:

- - - - - - - - - - Start of Log - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sep 1 20:58:00 suse postfix/postfix-script: starting the Postfix mail system
Sep 1 20:58:00 suse postfix/master[4880]: daemon started -- version 2.2.9, configuration /etc/postfix
Sep 1 20:58:00 suse postfix/qmgr[4895]: CF66B16945: from=<howard@vaf.com>, size=1486, nrcpt=1 (queue active)
Sep 1 20:58:00 suse postfix/qmgr[4895]: F1F6219F86: from=<howard@vaf.com>, size=1494, nrcpt=1 (queue active)
Sep 1 20:58:00 suse postfix/qmgr[4895]: DAC8328549: from=<scott@vaf.com>, size=1497, nrcpt=1 (queue active)
Sep 1 20:58:30 suse postfix/smtp[4897]: connect to mx3.business.mindspring.com[198.185.2.70]: Connection timed out (port 25)
Sep 1 20:58:30 suse postfix/smtp[4899]: connect to mx3.business.mindspring.com[198.185.2.71]: Connection timed out (port 25)
Sep 1 20:58:30 suse postfix/smtp[4898]: connect to mx1.business.mindspring.com[198.185.2.67]: Connection timed out (port 25)
Sep 1 20:58:49 suse popper[4903]: (v4.0.8) Servicing request from "office.vaf.com" at 192.168.1.199 [pop_init.c:1239]

- - - - - - - - - - End of Log - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The log makes several references to mx3.business.mindspring.com

It looks like something is trying to resolve an MX record for my home server out on the live internet? If so, this is not what I intended. I want the entire transaction confined to my home LAN.

Do I need to edit a host file or something so that my pop3 clients can download the mail successfully?

postfix is trying to deliver the message to "vaf.com":
http://www.dnsstuff.com/tools/lookup...af.com&type=MX

I assume vaf.com isn't your domain name. If it isn't, stop using it. Use "localdomain". You need to make the name of your "domain"/mailserver unique, and not something someone is using on the internet.

make your postfix server have a name like "office". On both computers edit /etc/hosts. e.g.:
192.168.1.199 office.localdomain office

You don't need domain names for an internal setup. Address your mail to howard@office, not howard@office.vaf.com. That way the name resolution will fail rather than trying to deliver your messages to a third party.

Good Luck,
-c

okay. i changed the hosts file as you suggested. now the mx errors are gone.

however, my client (outlook express on windows xp) still does not download mail.

the server is named suse. the client workstation is named office. i can ping the machines by name. with the modified hosts files the names are resolved properly and i can see that the client is contacting the server from the log file.

should outlook express login to the pop3 server as "username@suse" or "username@suse.localdomain" or something else?

thanks in advance.

Can you post your main.cf?

Do you have relay_host = smtp.example.com set?

Try surrounding it or any SMTP servers you have listed in transport with brackets [] so the Postfix server doesn't do an MX lookup on the domain.