---
name: "qmail-remote"
section: "8"
platform: "linux"
package: "qmail"
version: "1.06-6.2~deb10u1"
release: "Debian 10 (Buster)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/qmail-remote"
---

# qmail-remote(8)

send mail via SMTP

## NAME

qmail-remote - send mail via SMTP

## SYNOPSIS

**qmail-remote** *host* *sender* *recip* \[ *recip ...* \]

## DESCRIPTION

**qmail-remote** reads a mail message from its input and sends the message to one or more recipients at a remote host.

The remote host is **qmail-remote**'s first argument, *host*. **qmail-remote** sends the message to *host*, or to a mail exchanger for *host* listed in the Domain Name System, via the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). *host* can be either a fully-qualified domain name:

```
     silverton.berkeley.edu
```

or an IP address enclosed in brackets:

```
     [128.32.183.163]
```

The envelope recipient addresses are listed as *recip* arguments to **qmail-remote**. The envelope sender address is listed as *sender.*

Note that **qmail-remote** does not take options and does not follow the **getopt** standard.

## TRANSPARENCY

End-of-file in SMTP is encoded as dot CR LF. A dot at the beginning of a line is encoded as dot dot. It is impossible in SMTP to send a message that does not end with a newline. **qmail-remote** converts the UNIX newline convention into the SMTP newline convention by inserting CR before each LF.

It is a violation of the SMTP protocol to send a message that contains long lines or non-ASCII characters. However, **qmail-remote** will happily send such messages. It is the user's responsibility to avoid generating illegal messages.

## RESULTS

**qmail-remote** prints some number of  *recipient reports,* followed by a *message report.* Each report is terminated by a 0 byte. Each report begins with a single letter:

- r

  Recipient report: acceptance.

- h

  Recipient report: permanent rejection.

- s

  Recipient report: temporary rejection.

- K

  Message report: success. *host* has taken responsibility for delivering the message to each acceptable recipient.

- Z

  Message report: temporary failure.

- D

  Message report: permanent failure.

After this letter comes a human-readable description of what happened.

The recipient reports will always be printed in the same order as **qmail-remote**'s *recip* arguments. Note that in failure cases there may be fewer recipient reports than *recip* arguments.

**qmail-remote** always exits zero.

## CONTROL FILES

- *helohost*

  Current host name, for use solely in saying hello to the remote SMTP server. Default: *me*, if that is supplied; otherwise **qmail-remote** refuses to run.

- *smtproutes*

  Artificial SMTP routes. Each route has the form *domain**:**relay*, without any extra spaces. If *domain* matches *host*, **qmail-remote** will connect to *relay*, as if *host* had *relay* as its only MX. (It will also avoid doing any CNAME lookups on *recip*.) *host* may include a colon and a port number to use instead of the normal SMTP port, 25:

  ```
     inside.af.mil:firewall.af.mil:26
  ```

  *relay* may be empty; this tells **qmail-remote** to look up MX records as usual. *smtproutes* may include wildcards:

  ```
     .af.mil:
     :heaven.af.mil
  ```

  Here any address ending with **.af.mil** (but not **af.mil** itself) is routed by its MX records; any other address is artificially routed to **heaven.af.mil**.

  The **qmail** system does not protect you if you create an artificial mail loop between machines. However, you are always safe using *smtproutes* if you do not accept mail from the network.

- *timeoutconnect*

  Number of seconds **qmail-remote** will wait for the remote SMTP server to accept a connection. Default: 60. The kernel normally imposes a 75-second upper limit.

- *timeoutremote*

  Number of seconds **qmail-remote** will wait for each response from the remote SMTP server. Default: 1200.

## SEE ALSO

[addresses(5)](/addresses/5.md), [envelopes(5)](/envelopes/5.md), [qmail-control(5)](/qmail-control/5.md), [qmail-send(8)](/qmail-send/8.md), [qmail-smtpd(8)](/qmail-smtpd/8.md), [qmail-tcpok(8)](/qmail-tcpok/8.md), [qmail-tcpto(8)](/qmail-tcpto/8.md)