11.9 Configuring a Linux Mail Client
Having installed configured and started the
Postfix system
it is now time to set up a mail client so that you can send and receive
email
messages.
For this example we are going to use the Evolution
email
client as the example. Evolution is a powerful email client that is
styled to a
large extent on the Microsoft Outlook tool.
When you first start up Evolution (which can be
run
from the command-line or from the GNOME
Desktop menu) for the first time you will be presented with a set up
wizard
that will take you through the configuration process.
The Identity screen will ask for information about
your
email account. You will need to provide the following information:
- Your
full name (what gets displayed in the “From” field
of the email client of any person who receives email from you.
- Your email
address. Typically you will use domain that
was set up in the main.cf file. For example [email protected].
Once you have filled in these fields click “Next”
to proceed
to the next stage of configuration which is where we tell Evolution how
to pick
up received mail. The default configuration for Postfix is to place
email in a
/var/spool/mail/<login id>. For example if your log in ID on the
system is
john your email will be placed in a file called /var/spool/mail/john.
On the Evolution “Receive Mail” screen, therefore,
we need
to change the “Server Type” to “Standard UNIX mbox spool or directory”.
The
wizard should then fill in the correct location of the mailbox for your
account.
The final step is to tell the Evolution mail
client how to
send mail. Press “Forward” on the “Receive Mail” screen to move to the
“Sending
Mail” setup screen. On this screen change the “Server Type” to SMTP and
set the
“Host” field to the same setting used for the myhostname option in the
/etc/postfix/main.cf file.
All being well you should now be able to send and receive
mail. If you encounter any problems check the mail log file on your
system as
described earlier and you should be able to perform an internet search
for the error
message to find many places where the solution is described.
