Question : using /etc/hosts instead of mx records from DNS

Hi,

How can I configure sendmail v8.11.1 to use /etc/hosts file for dns lookup
instead of using mx records from DNS ?
sendmail v8.11.1 is installed on hp-ux.
Thanks.

Regards,
denshir

Answer : using /etc/hosts instead of mx records from DNS

You can't...not the way you're thinking.

If you want to tell sendmail to ignore MX records, then use a mailertable. This feature is described in this PAQ --> http://www.experts-exchange.com/Networking/Email_Groupware/Sendmail/Q_21322113.html

It still preferable to let DNS do the work of resolving the FQDN to an IP address. Using mailertable lets you tell sendmail to ignore MX while still using DNS.

Note that sendmail v8.11.1 is very old, and has a number of documented and unpatched vulnerabilities. I hope this server is not connected to the Internet - sooner or later you're likely to find yourself on some blacklists once spammers find you're running such an old version. Latest is v8.13.5, and you really shouldn't be running anything older than v8.12.10 if the machine is accessible from the Internet.