Okay, I figured most of this stuff out.   Neither of my two machines was
receiving mail because port 25 was closed on each machine.   I think I
figured out my unqualified name problem too.  At least everything appears to
be working properly now.

Man, this is addictive!


> I have a quick question regarding mail on a simple NetBSD network.   Here's
> a description:
> 
> I have two computers each running NetBSD 2.x., and I think I have everything
> setup properly for these two machines to connect to each other.   I have
> configured /etc/hosts on both machines and both machines are running
> virtually identical (some of the commented lines are different) /etc/hosts
> files.   My host /etc/host files look like this:
> 
> 127.0.0.1 localhost localhost.
> 192.168.1.100 alpha
> 192.168.1.101 beta
> 192.168.1.1 router
> 
> 
> The names following the IP addresses is each machine's respective host name.
> Example:  Computer with hostname of "alpha" is at IP address 192.168.1.100.
> 
> I have also configured my /etc/rc.conf file so that it looks like this
> (rc.conf file on beta sets "beta" as the hostname):
> 
> hostname="alpha"
> domainname=""
> defaultroute="192.168.1.1"
> 
> Since it is just two computers networked to each other, is it really
> necessary to specify a domain name?   The IP address 192.168.1.1 is my
> router.
> 
> I have configured my /etc/resolv.conf file to look like this:
> 
> nameserver 192.168.1.1
> lookup file bind
> 
> I configured /etc/resolv.conf to use the address of my router as a
> nameserver.   My router forwards dnsqueries to the nameservers of my ISP.
> Everything works flawlessly in this configuration.
> 
> Okay, so here's the problem:
> 
> When either computer boots and starts sendmail, I get an error message
> saying that the name (alpha), or (beta), as the case may be, can not be
> qualified.   Also, when I use the mail utility to send a quick message from
> one computer (alpha) to the other (beta) the message is returned as
> undeliverable.   Am I missing something here?
> 
> If I telnet to alpha from beta, or vice versa, the name is resolved and the
> telnet connection is made.   So what am I missing that is causing the big
> sendmail conundrum?
> 
> Do I need to define a domain name and setup a local DNS server in order for
> these two machines to be able to send mail to each other?   I was hoping
> that it wouldn't be necessary to do all of that.
> 
> Any guidance will be greatly appreciated.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> William
> 
>