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#! rnews 2983 bsd Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.carno.net.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!lucy.swin.edu.au!news.rmit.EDU.AU!goanna.cs.rmit.edu.au!news.apana.org.au!cantor.edge.net.au!news.teragen.com.au!news.access.net.au!news.mel.connect.com.au!munnari.OZ.AU!news.ecn.uoknor.edu!news.wildstar.net!news.ececs.uc.edu!news.kei.com!news.texas.net!news.maxwell.syr.edu!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.bbnplanet.com!cam-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!howland.erols.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!saluki-news.wham.siu.edu!slip106.termserv.siu.e du From: jimd@slip106.termserv.siu.edu (Jim Dutton) Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc Subject: Re: [Q] POP: virtual clients? Date: Sun, 02 Feb 1997 20:50:31 CST Organization: Southern Illinois University Lines: 40 Sender: NNTP@slip106.termserv.siu.edu Message-ID: <23e8bf14.u8t20e.452cd@slip106.termserv.siu.edu> Reply-To: jimd@slip106.termserv.siu.edu NNTP-Posting-Host: slip106.termserv.siu.edu Comment: AmigaNOS v2.9p In-Reply-To: <5cudt2$4qr@news.wco.com> (from Jesse Monroy <jmonroy@wco.com>) (at 1 Feb 1997 03:39:14 GMT) Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:35304 Hi Jesse, on Feb 1 you wrote: > : Jesse Monroy (jmonroy@wco.com) wrote: > : : I'm checking to see if any of the packages for FreeBSD can have > : : virtual clients. By this I mean, NOT virtual email domains, but > : : users that can collect their email (with a pop3 client) and not > : : have a login account on the machine. > : : > mcurry@fred.net wrote: > : Why don't you make the login accounts, but disallow shell access? > : > This has already been suggested and it is not > an acceptable solution. SOMEwhere along the line, there has to be some kind of userid/password authentication done. By default, the /etc/passwd database is used. One alternative would be to implement Kerberos and a "Kerborized" POP3 daemon AND "kerborized" Sendmail. A properly installed setup could then allow for user usage of a host running a POP3 server without them necessarily having an entry in /etc/passwd. You would need (probably) source code to the POP3 server and insert a couple of lines where the "normal" userid/password checking takes place, to try again (when the "normal" process fails) using a specific Kerberos security server (and attendent database). The default Sendmail would also have to be modified. This could be a LOT of work for JUST POP3, and/or a small number of users. There may be commercial mail system package which include POP3 support, and has its own, independent authentication system which bypasses the need for a (server) host userid. If none of the above are cost effective, then the "create a user with a null shell and no home directory" method may be what is needed. Remember that POP3 is just one half of the mail transaction, and both halves are going to require user authentication, somehow. Also, Sendmail and POP3 will need to run as the specified user to create the /var/mail/<user> file (ie; the "mailbox") and process it.