[rt-users] Question about SMTP in an upgrade from 4.0 to 4.2

[Alex Vandiver]

On Thu, 2013-10-31 at 16:16 -0400, Chris Hall wrote:

> If I'm reading this right, am I to understand that after the upgrade
> I'll no longer be able to send mail out via an external smtp server?
> Is there any way around that?

The "smtp" setting could cause silent mail loss.  Specifically, because
it attempts to deliver immediately, and only once, if the outgoing mail
server is unavailable at the moment RT attempts to send mail, that mail
would be dropped.  The "smtp" option also did not support all of the
core mail-sending features that the "sendmailpipe" method allows.

The correct solution is to install a local MTA, which can be configured
to relay the mail to the original SMTP host.  This provides a durable
mail spool in case the remote SMTP server is inaccessible.  The local
MTA does not need to be configured to accept mail locally if that is not
how you wish RT to operate.
 - Alex