SNDDST: Caution on return address

[rob@xxxxxxxxx]

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When you use SNDDST to send email you are not prompted for the sender's
email address.  This is constructed from one of two methods.

First method - Individually tailored
WRKDIRE
Find your directory entry.
2=Change
F19=Change name for SMTP
Fill out SMTP user id, in my case rob
Fill out SMTP domain, in my case dekko.com
This will not adversely affect your use of the directory for SNADS, etc

Second method - Changing if for your whole iSeries.  CAUTION - DANGER -
CAVEAT!
This method was suggested to me by IBM and was not supposed to have any
negative ramifications.  But we'll get back to the fallacy of that.
CFGTCP
12. Change TCP/IP domain information
Change your host name, in my case dekko
Change your domain name, in my case com
Traditionally we used our iSeries name for the host name and our Microsoft
network domain name for the domain name.
They will be appended with a period in between them when used to send
email, in my case dekko.com
You must then
10. Work with TCP/IP host table entries
and enter a entry for this combination.  In my case dekko.com
I made the assumption that this had to point to the local iseries.  This
assumption was in error.  Our email server was on another iSeries.  Thus
this iSeries could no longer send out email to the other iSeries because
it would go to itself.  I thought of changing the address to the other
iSeries, but our email has a failover system and when the primary is down
then I would be hosed.  Perhaps I could have sent it to our outside
address and then let the router handle it.  That I should have tried.

Why should you care?
1)  Email addresses with invalid senders are a bear to reply to.  The
workaround has been to say something like 'Do not reply to this address
but instead use...'
2)  Our new paging company started rejecting our email because it was an
invalid email domain.  Perhaps other customers and vendors were doing so
but I didn't happen to be checking QMSF, and other joblogs, closely to
catch that.


Rob Berendt
--
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Benjamin Franklin