Audience

The sendmail Cookbook is intended for everyone who configures the sendmail software running on a Unix computer. This obviously includes the sendmail administrator who runs the mail server and the system administrators who are responsible for running Unix computers, but it also includes any user who maintains the sendmail configuration on a desktop Unix system. The Unix workstation on your desk probably involves you in system administration tasks. If those tasks include sendmail configuration, this book is for you.

We assume that you have a good understanding of computers and their operation, and that you're generally familiar with sendmail configuration. If you're completely new to Unix, this book is not for you. Likewise, if you are an expert in sendmail administration, this book might not be suitable. If you fall anywhere between these two extremes, however, you'll find this book has a lot to offer.

A cookbook will help you cook a decent meal, but a cookbook will not turn you into a four-star chef. Likewise, this book provides effective solutions to common sendmail configuration problems, but it won't make you a sendmail guru. Complete mastery of a subject as complex as sendmail requires more than recommended solutions to common problems. The full range of sendmail information takes a reference and a tutorial in addition to a cookbook. The best and most complete sendmail reference is sendmail by Bryan Costales with Eric Allman (O'Reilly). Not surprisingly, my favorite sendmail tutorial is Linux Sendmail Administration , by Craig Hunt (Sybex). If your job requires you to become a sendmail guru, you probably need all three of these books.