932
edits
Changes
Updating lab to re-incorporate configuring MTA.
==OVERVIEW & PREPARATION==
This lab will show you how to set up a Mail User Agent ('''MUA'''), using the mailx package on your '''VM2vm2''' machine, to allow users of that VM to use a locally installed Mail Transfer Agent ('''MTA''') to send and receive e-mails. You will also be able to send a text-based e-mail from your '''VM2 vm2 machine''' to your '''Seneca mail account''' (only to send to an external server, but <u>not</u> receive). You will also learn which Mail Transfer Agent (MTA) is allowing messages how to be sent locally within your VM2 machine and also externally to your Seneca College mail accountmake multiple MTAs in the same network collaborate in sending emails. In addition, you will learn where the message store (MS) is located that stores mail messages until they are viewed and either deleted or transferred to other folders. In order to send e-mail messages '''between your different VMs, a more complex set-up is required''', and will be addressed in the second part of lab4 (lab4b).
The '''diagram''' below shows the layout of the what this lab should be able to accomplish:
* [https://prezi.com/iuk-advzak_o/mail-servers-postfix/ OPS335 Mail Server Notes ] (Course Notes providing Mail Server Concepts)
* [https://prezi.com/dzrouvfsbsps/mail-servers-basic-terms/ Email Servers: Basic Terms] (online slide notes)
* [http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/12/01/how-to-send-email-from-the-linux-command-line/ Mail Send Command] (examples how to send e-mail using mail command)
* [http://www.johnkerl.org/doc/mail-how-to.html#prompt_commands View and Manage Received e-mail Mesages] (Common commands to view and manage received email messages)
* [https://support.google.com/mail/answer/29436?hl=en Reading Full Email Headers] (Explanation of message header information)
* [http://wiki.dovecot.org/MailServerOverview Here's an overview] (common mail server terms)
==INVESTIGATION 1: INSTALL, SET-UP, AND USE THE MAIL USER AGENT ('''MUA''')==
We will be using a simple text-based Mail User Agent ('''MUA''') called '''mailx''' in this lab to '''send and receive mail messages within your VM2 vm2 machine''' and to '''send mail messages to your Seneca e-mail account'''.
'''NOTE:''' Due to the simplicity of this mail server setupand the lack of other DNS servers pointing to your network, and the setup of Seneca College's mail server, you '''<u>cannot</u>''' send Seneca e-mail messages to your '''VM2vm2''' machine.
=== Installing the Mail User Agent (MUA)===
:'''NOTE:''' You can refer to the link below to acquaint yourself on how to send e-mail messages using '''mailx''' application:<br> [http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/12/01/how-to-send-email-from-the-linux-command-line/ Mail Send Command Examples]
===Sending a Mail Message from your VM2 vm2 Machine to your Seneca Email Account===
We will now test to see if your MTA for your VM2 vm2 machine is correctly running by sending email messages from your VM2 vm2 machine to your Seneca e-mail account.
'''Perform the following steps:'''
#Check your Seneca email account to see if you got the email (note that it may take a <u>few minutes to arrive</u>, so you may also wish to try an alternate email account if you have one like gmail, etc). When you do receive that email, make a note of the return address.
#If you did not receive the mail, check the mail logs on your vm2 machine to determine any errors messages that would indicate a mail server setup problem.
#Test Once you have succeeded in sending the first email from your '''Host Machine''' by sending an , send a second email to your Seneca account the same destination using the following command:<br>'''mail -r "hacker.com (Canadian Revenue Agency)" -s "Lab4a - test2" <Your Seneca email address>#Check your Seneca email to see if you got the email. If you did, make a note of the return address. How would you think that including the '''-r''' option could be used by penetration hackers to gain access to a computer system? What sort of steps do you think should be taken to help prevent this type of attack from happening?
===Sending a Mail Message within your VM2 vm2 Machine (vm2)===
We will now test both your MUA (mailx) and MTA (postfix) by sending and receiving e-mail messages on the local VM2 vm2 machine only.
'''Perform the following Steps:'''
#Send an email message locally (i.e. only within) your VM2 vm2 machine by issuing the command:<br>'''mail -s "Lab4a - Local - Test1" <yourSenecaID>'''
#After you type in the body of the mail message, move to an empty line, type period "." and press the ENTER key to send the message.
#Issue the following command to read the mail message you send to yourself:<br>'''mail'''<br><br>'''NOTE:''' You can refer to the link below to view a reference chart on how to read and delete received e-mail messages at the mail command prompt:<br>[http://www.johnkerl.org/doc/mail-how-to.html#prompt_commands Commands to View and Manage Received e-mail Mesages]<br><br>
#Issue the following command: '''cat /var/spool/mail/<yourSenecaID>'''<br>What do you see? What does this show you in terms of where mail is stored on your e-mail server?
#If you received an e-mail message, the message and subject line should appear as a listing in your mail command.<br>If you did not receive a mail message, check your mail server settings, check to see if you mail server is running and also check '''/var/log/maillog''' and '''/var/log/messages'''.
#Type Once you have received the message, type the mail message number that is displayed in your e-mail message list in the prompt and press ENTER. You should be able to confirm the message body that you sent.
#Exit the mail program by typing the letter '''q''' and press ENTER.
#Re-issue the '''mail''' command. What happened?
'''Record steps, commands, and your observations in INVESTIGATION 1 in your OPS335 lab log-book'''
==INVESTIGATION 2: IDENTIFYING A DEFAULT SETUP MAIL TRANSFER AGENT ('''MTA''') FOR SENDING (NO ENCRYPTION)==
=== Email Headers Verify the Postfix Service Status ===
#The '''postfix''' application should be installed by default. If it isn't, install it.
#Postfix is capable of sending email with the default configuration, so start and enable this service, and verify that the postfix service is running.
#Look for the running postfix service in the list of listening ports by issuing the following command:<br><source lang="bash">ss -atnp</source>
#Which service is postfix running? Locate the port used by SMTP, and look for connections with the state LISTEN (i.e. currently listening).
#Write your observations in your lab logbook.
<ol><li value="4">Let's see if it works from other machines. Use nc to connect to vm2 from vm3 and see if it works. If your firewall is set up properly, the nc command should not permit a connection.</li>
<li>Create an iptables rule to allow incoming connections to your SMTP server.</li>
<li>Once you open the port in the firewall, retry the '''nc''' command. You should get a different error this time. This time the problem is that your service isn't listening on the outside interface, it's currently configured to listen only on the loopback (lo) interface.</li>
<li>Add thist rule to your saved script so that it will be loaded automatically from now on.</li>
</ol>
'''Perform the following steps:'''
#'''Right-click''' on Launch in editing session for the mail message that you recently sent with subject line "Lab4a - Header Message".#Within the context menu, select '''View Message Detailspostfix configuration file called: '''/etc/postfix/main.<br><br>cf'''NOTE: If no mail message headers appear, try the previous step again until you see mail message header information.'''<br><br>#To make Change the header information easier value of the following parameter to read, highlite the text, copy and paste into a text editor (like '''gedit''').<br><br>#Below what is an example of header information that was sent by user msaul within their domain name msaul.org:<br><br> <source lang="bash">Receiveddisplayed below: from SN1PR07MB2288.namprd07.prod.outlook.com (10.164.47.158) by DM3PR07MB2284.namprd07.prod.outlook.com (10.164.33.158) with Microsoft SMTP Server (TLS) id 15.1.409.15 via Mailbox Transport; Thu, 18 Feb 2016 15:08:51 +0000Received: from BLUPR07CA088.namprd07.prod.outlook.com (10.160.24.43) by SN1PR07MB2288.namprd07.prod.outlook.com (10.164.47.158) with Microsoft SMTP Server (TLS) id 15.1.409.15; Thu, 18 Feb 2016 15:08:49 +0000Received: from BN1BFFO11FD041.protection.gbl (2a01:111:f400:7c10::1:173) by BLUPR07CA088.outlook.office365.com (2a01:111:e400:8ae::43) with Microsoft SMTP Server (TLS) id 15.1.409.15 via Frontend Transport; Thu, 18 Feb 2016 15:08:49 +0000Authentication-Results: spf=none (sender IP is 142.204.244.22) smtp.mailfrom=msaul.org; senecacollege.ca; dkim=none (message not signed) header.d=none;senecacollege.ca; dmarc=none action=none header.frominet_interfaces =msaul.org;Received-SPF: None (protection.outlook.com: msaul.org does not designate permitted sender hosts)all
<ol><li value="3">We should also set the string that will end up in the 'Received''From: from vm2''' header in messages sent by this server. Change '''mydomain''' to your domain name and '''myorigin''' to '''$myhostname'''.localdomain </li><li>Ensure your hostname is properly set (142including the domain name), otherwise you will need to set the '''myhostname''' parameter.204</li>{{Admon/important|Warning|Make sure there are no other uncommented copies of these parameters in the file.244.22}}<li>Restart the postfix service and confirm (using ss) that the service is now listening on <u>all</u> interfaces (not just loopback) </li><li>Test by BN1BFFO11FD041.mail.protection.outlook.com connecting to it (10.58.144.104using nc) with Microsoft SMTP Server id 15.1.415from your '''vm3''' machine.6 via Frontend Transport; Thu, 18 Feb 2016 15:08:49 +0000'</li></ol>
If both messages arrive, both MTAs are working. If not, use the troubleshooting tools and techniques you have already learned to diagnose and fix the problem.
==COMPLETING THE LAB==
Upon completion of this lab you should have postfix mail servers running on two machines, and starting automatically when they do. These servers must have sent email both ways between each other (from vm2 to vm3, and from vm3 to vm2), and to your seneca email (or other external mail server).
'''Depending on your professor you will either be asked to submit the lab in class, or online. Follow the appropriate set of instructions below'''
===In Class Submission===
Arrange proof that you can send e-mail from your '''VM2vm2''' machine to your '''Seneca College e-mail account''', and than you can '''send and receive e-mail messages between on your VM2 vm2 and VM3 vm3 machines'''.
#Briefly list the students to install the MUA on your server for text-based messaging.
#Briefly list the steps to trouble-shoot your server if you could not send e-mail messages from your VM2 vm2 machine to an external e-mail server.#Write the command to send an e-mail message from your VM2 vm2 to your Seneca College e-mail account.
#What are the commands to issue in the mail prompt to:<ul><li>Read the first e-mail message displayed</li><li>Save the 4th e-mail message to the file pathname: ~/maildir/3.msg.txt</li><li>Delete the 3rd e-mail message displayed</li><li>Exit the mail command prompt and return to the shell</li></ul><br>
#What were the results of sending emails locally on your VM2 vm2 machine? Show log segments to verify your answers.
#List the steps to show your email header to trace the transmission between Mail Transfer Agents among different mail servers.