This section presents a step-by-step procedure for generating your PMDF configuration files using the command line PMDF automatic configuration utility. Although typically PMDF-MTA configurations are instead generated using the web-based PMDF automatic configuration utility described in Section 3.2, there is also a command line pmdf configure mta utility that provides an alternative for PMDF-MTA configuration for sites for whom web configuration is inconvenient.

1. Configuration of PMDF should be done by root to ensure that the necessary privileges are available to create the configuration files. If you are not logged in as root, do so now.
2. Begin the configuration procedure by invoking the PMDF configuration utility as follows, assuming that you have /usr/bin in your search path:

   # cd /pmdf/table # pmdf configure mta

3. The configuration procedure will optionally print out detailed explanations of each prompt as it proceeds. Unless you are familiar with the procedure, you should enable the detailed output.
4. The answers to all the prompts are logged to a file in the /pmdf/table directory. After the first configuration, pmdf configure can use the answers to the previous run as the default answers. The utility will ask:

   Do you want to use answers from the previous run as defaults?

   Answer YES if you want to have your previous answers presented as default answers. You may use the backslash character, \, to clear a default answer.

5. If this is the first time that PMDF has been configured on this system, the configuration utility will ask if you would also like to configure the PMDF Dispatcher. (The PMDF Service Dispatcher is a resident process that listens for incoming TCP/IP connections on various ports and matches those incoming connection requests to various servers, e.g., the multithreaded SMTP server, a POP3 server, an IMAP server, an HTTP server, etc. See PMDF System Manager's Guide for a more detailed discussion of the purpose and function of the PMDF Service Dispatcher.) You should answer YES.
6. If this is the first time that the Dispatcher has been configured, the utility will ask if you would also like to configure PMDF POP and IMAP mailbox servers.
7. Once you have completed running pmdf configure, type out or print out the checklist file, /pmdf/table/pmdf.checklist for an MTA configuration, and complete the configuration by following the steps outlined in the checklist.
8. Note that if this is your initial configuration of PMDF, the configuration utility will ask at the end of its other tasks whether you want to invoke the pmdf configure dispatcher utility at that time. You may either answer YES and perform the Dispatcher configuration then and there, or else answer NO and then configure the Dispatcher as a separate step subsequently, by issuing the command

   # pmdf configure dispatcher

   
   Note that if this is your initial configuration of the PMDF Service Dispatcher, the configuration utility will ask at the end of its other tasks whether you want to invoke the pmdf configure mailbox_servers utility at that time. You may either answer YES and perform the Mailbox Servers configuration then and there, or else answer NO and then configure the Mailbox Servers as a separate step subsequently. The Mailbox Servers are usually configured using the web-based configuration utility, as in the later portion of the example in Chapter 5. Alternatively, however, the Mailbox Servers may be configured on the command line via:

   # pmdf configure mailbox_servers