1 = E-Mail Integration = 2 3 To act as a part of an e-mail system, imip-agent provides a number of programs 4 that may be invoked by mail transfer agents (MTAs) upon sending or receiving 5 messages. In order to uphold portability and to minimise configuration issues, 6 these programs need only be registered as simple mail handlers or transports, 7 thus potentially supporting a wide range of MTAs. 8 9 Once imip-agent has processed a message, it may then deliver it to its 10 intended recipient. The mail storage systems that may receive messages from 11 imip-agent need only support the delivery mechanisms used by imip-agent. 12 Otherwise, few constraints should be imposed by each kind of system on the 13 other. 14 15 == MTAs == 16 17 Currently, imip-agent supports [[http://exim.org/|Exim]] and 18 [[http://www.postfix.org/|Postfix]], although this support should be readily 19 broadened, and offers configuration resources for these supported systems so 20 as to allow imip-agent to be deployed within existing mail-sending and 21 delivery infrastructures. 22 23 {{{#!table 24 || '''Identifying Recipients''' || '''Integrating imip-agent''' || '''Notes''' 25 == 26 '''Exim''' 27 || Routers identify recipients of mail that shall be handled by imip-agent 28 || Transports invoke imip-agent programs 29 || Exim is widely deployed as the default MTA for Debian. Consequently, it is 30 .. desirable to support this software in imip-agent. 31 == 32 '''Postfix''' 33 || Virtual aliases identify recipients of mail that shall be handled by 34 .. imip-agent 35 || Transports invoke imip-agent programs 36 || Postfix is also widely deployed and is sometimes preferred by administrators. 37 }}} 38 39 == Identification of Recipients == 40 41 In principle, any mechanism supported by the MTA can be used to identify 42 recipients; imip-agent does not employ identification mechanisms of its own. 43 Thus, the task of identifying recipients is one of MTA configuration, with the 44 following mechanisms tested: 45 46 {{{#!table 47 '''Identification Mechanisms''' || '''Tested with...''' 48 == 49 [[/LDAP|LDAP]] || Exim, Postfix 50 == 51 [[/Simple|Simple (list-based identification)]] || Exim, Postfix 52 }}} 53 54 === The Calendar System Address === 55 56 Since imip-agent may send messages on behalf of calendar users, the address 57 it uses to do so must be recognised by the MTA. This may be done by adding 58 an entry to the `/etc/aliases` file such as the one defined in the 59 `conf/aliases.example` file: 60 61 {{{ 62 calendar: root 63 }}} 64 65 More suitable routing can be defined as desired. See the `MESSAGE_SENDER` 66 setting defined in the `config.py` file described in the 67 [[../Configuration|configuration guide]]. 68 69 == Invoking the Agent Programs == 70 71 Regardless of identification or delivery mechanisms, the imip-agent software 72 must be integrated into the mail processing pipeline so that messages can be 73 interpreted and processed. This is done by configuring the MTA's 74 [[/Transports|transport mechanisms]]. 75 76 == Delivery == 77 78 To deliver messages to their ultimate recipients after having processed them, 79 imip-agent currently employs either local SMTP connections or 80 [[https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2033|LMTP]]. There is nothing in principle 81 preventing imip-agent from also supporting other common delivery mechanisms, 82 however. 83 84 {{{#!table 85 '''Delivery Mechanisms''' || '''Tested with...''' 86 == 87 [[/LocalSMTP|Local SMTP]] || Exim, Postfix 88 == 89 [[/LMTP|LMTP]] || Exim, Postfix 90 }}}