SMTP Server Authentication
In order to prevent unauthorized people from using your E-mail server to send their messages, your Virtual Private
Server requires that anyone sending E-mail through your server has a valid E-mail address and password for your server.
Until recently, your Virtual Private Server relied on the POP before SMTP
method, which used a file named relayers.db to store the originating IP address and username of anyone who sucessfully used
POP to check their e-mail. If a message came to the SMTP server from a stored IP address and username, the SMTP server would
deliver the message without any problems. While this method is effective, there are some weaknesses in it, including the
inconvenience of managing the relayers database.
SMTP-Auth
SMTP-Auth is the new standard for E-mail server authentication, and provides better security with no management hassles. The
way SMTP-Auth works is to incorporate a username/password authentication system into the SMTP server itself. This effectively
eliminates the need to maintain a database of authenticated POP users, which reduces the hassle of maintenance and the
associated security risks.
As a transitional step, both POP before SMTP and SMTP-Auth are built in to your Virtual Private Server, although we strongly
recomend you switch to the new system as soon as possible. Because some older E-mail client programs do not support the SMTP-Auth
system, you may need to upgrade your E-mail client software during this transitional period.
Usage
SMTP-Auth is easy to use because it requires no maintenance on the server-side. All new Virtual Private Server accounts
activated after January 16, 2003 will have SMTP-Auth and POP-before-SMTP enabled. Any Virtual Private Servers activated prior
to January 16 will remain using their original POP-before-SMTP settings until you change them. The
Sendmail M4 Macros include pre-built configuration files for using either
SMTP-Auth only or both SMTP-Auth and POP-before-SMTP. Because POP-before-SMTP will only be supported for a limited time, we
strongly recomend transitioning all your accounts to using the new system as quickly as possible.
Configuring your E-mail Client Program to use SMTP-Auth
Different E-mail client programs will require different steps to enable SMTP-Auth. See our
E-mail Client Configuration pages for instructions on how to configure your
client to use SMTP-Auth.
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