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List:       tmda-users
Subject:    Integrating TMDA with XAMS
From:       JLM <JLM939 () hotmail ! com>
Date:       2003-07-31 19:50:56
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Hi folks,

I am in the process of building a mail server environment, and I would like
to include TMDA as part of the system. Following are the planned components,
along with versions:

Mac OS X Server 10.2.6 on dual-processor Xserve
Apache 2.0.47 / PHP 4.3.2 / Perl 5.8
XAMS 0.0.13   [see: http://www.xams.org/]
Exim 4.20
Courier IMAP/POP 2.0.0
MailScanner 4.22-5
SpamAssassin 2.50
TMDA 0.81
tmda-cgi 0.10
tmda-ofmipd (if needed)

While most of the above components should be familiar, some of you may not
be aware of XAMS. As described on the xams.org site, it is "an application
suite for managing e-mail accounts for multiple domains in a virtual hosting
environment, using a simple set of web pages coded in PHP." Other
information about XAMS, which may be useful as background reference when I
get to my eventual questions below, includes:

XAMS capabilities
    * Manage any number of domains, mailboxes and aliases.
    * Delegate the management of domains to resellers.
    * Impose quotas on mailbox sizes on a per-domain and per-mailbox basis.
    * Users can change their own mailbox passwords and other settings.

XAMS infrastructure
    * XAMS manages domains and accounts in a MySQL database, entirely
separate from your Unix system environment.
    * Ties together and integrates with Exim and Courier IMAP/POP to make a
coherent virtual hosting solution for e-mail
    * Mail is written to /private/var/mail/_SITENAME_/_USERNAME_/MESSAGEID

Currently, all of the above pieces are in place except for TMDA and
tmda-cgi. For the last week, I have been lurking on the TMDA list, reading
all the documentation/FAQ/etc on the TMDA site, and initiating multiple
dialogues with the XAMS lead developers. My goal is to integrate TMDA into
the rest of the system, assuming that is possible.

Going over the TMDA install process, I came up with several issues I see as
far as getting TMDA to work in the XAMS environment. There are likely to be
others that I have missed. I would sincerely appreciate any and all input.

1. The main issue I see is that the XAMS maildir looks a bit different than
a standard maildir: it inserts the site name in between /mail/ and
/_USERNAME_/. The TMDA "Pre-Configuration" and "Server Configuration"
section talks about a lot of files that are stored in ~/.tmda/, but I get
the feeling that putting /.tmda/config and .forward files in the
/private/var/mail/My Virtual Host Site/myuser/ directory isn't going to mesh
with the way that either TMDA or XAMS operates. If you feel this assumption
is wrong or if you need more information to answer this, please let me know.

2. Assuming my intuition above is correct, is there any flexibility on the
part of TMDA as to where the relevant configuration data (whitelists,
blacklists, user prefs, etc.) can be stored? Is it possible to somehow store
TMDA's information in a custom directory? [Tangent: While XAMS stores most
of its virtual user data in MySQL, this data is also replicated to a
localdomains.cdb file to avoid excessive MySQL lookups (and to prevent DoS
vulnerability). Unfortunately, the 24 byte/record limit probably precludes
using the CDB to store TMDA whitelist and other configuration information.]

3. Integrating MailScanner into the XAMS set-up looks like this... Exim
receives mail and puts it in /var/spool/exim_incoming. MailScanner checks
this queue every few milliseconds and processes its anti-virus/SpamAssassin
options on mail it finds there before putting "clean" mail into
var/spool/exim_outgoing. Another Exim process then takes this outgoing mail
and delivers it. (The first Exim process listens on port 25 and only puts
mail into the exim_incoming queue, while the second Exim process doesn't
listen on port 25 and only delivers mail.) How will this set-up affect the
installation instructions for TMDA? Assuming the above TMDA config data
issues can be solved, are there any other changes that need to be made to
get TMDA to work in an XAMS/MailScanner environment using two Exim processes
as described above?

I am new to both XAMS and TMDA, so in many ways I kind of feel like an
English-speaking interpreter in between a Japanese fellow and a Chinese
fellow: I don't understand how either XAMS or TMDA operates well enough to
determine what changes need to be made on which ends. While getting these
two to play nicely may or may not be a difficult task, they really are both
terrific solutions, and it would be great if we (XAMS developers, TMDA
developers, and I) could work together to make the two products interoperate
successfully.

[I apologize for the length of this message. The intent was to be
considerate and provide as much detail as possible, but perhaps I went
overboard.  ;) ]

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Sincere thanks in advance,

Justin

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