Howdy all

i keep getting these errors and im not sure why

May 13 16:32:33 broken postfix/smtpd[8521]: _sasl_plugin_load failed on sasl_auxprop_plug_init for plugin: sql
y 13 17:00:20 broken postfix/smtpd[8664]: _sasl_plugin_load failed on sasl_auxprop_plug_init for plugin: sql

System Events
=-=-=-=-=-=-=
May 13 16:32:33 broken postfix/smtpd[8521]: sql_select option missing
May 13 16:32:33 broken postfix/smtpd[8521]: auxpropfunc error no mechanism available
broken postfix/smtpd[8664]: sql_select option missing
May 13 17:00:20 broken postfix/smtpd[8664]: auxpropfunc error no mechanism available

and so forth.. any ideas?

sasl is an authentication method, and is a pig to get working right. You will probably need it or similar if you are logging on from home to your server to retrieve mail. I use http://popbsmtp.sourceforge.net/ instead.

A little further explanation: traditionally SMTP servers limited the ability to send e-mail through them by specifying "trusted" IP subnets. So you're company's SMTP server would usually be setup to allow anyone on the intranet to send through it. Or an ISP would allow whatever IP addresses they hand out to send through their SMTP servers.

But there are obvious problems with this: What about mobile users? They would have to change their SMTP settings constantly depending on what network they're on. Spyware was the nail in the coffin as it quickly learned to flood whatever open SMTP it could find.

So then there's SASL. A bloated authentication layer that had the audacity to put "Simple" in the title. It allows SMTP to use usernames and passwords like any other modern Internet protocol.

I use Postfix+MySQL+SASL+ClamSMTP on a Debian Sarge machine, and it wasn't trivial to setup. Although now it works beautifully and handles thousands of e-mails a day without fail.

I'm not going to provide links because a simple Google search for Postfix and whatever your having problems with will return tons of relevant results. Also, the Postfix mailing list is quite good and the archives contain just about any question you could think of.

One hint: Take Postfix out of its default chroot environment. Sure its a "huge" security risk, but it makes life much much easier.

Anyway, I'm rambling and probably not helping, so please post more details about what your setup (or intended setup) is like if you want further help.

ok well.. i did google my problems but i couldnt make heads or tails of the google stuff.. lots of stuff relating to other stuff that i couldnt work out.

for sasl setup, it should check against the mysql database that contains everything such as usernames/passwords. (im doing a postfix-mysql setup). umm config file is as follows for the main.cf
<start config file>
# See /usr/share/postfix/main.cf.dist for a commented, more complete version

smtpd_banner = $myhostname ESMTP $mail_name (Debian/GNU)
biff = no

# appending .domain is the MUA's job.
append_dot_mydomain = no

# Uncomment the next line to generate "delayed mail" warnings
#delay_warning_time = 4h

myhostname = mail.our-lan.com
alias_maps = hash:/etc/aliases
myorigin = /etc/mailname
mydestination = localhost
mynetworks = 127.0.0.0/8
mailbox_command =
mailbox_size_limit = 0
recipient_delimiter = +
virtual_alias_maps = mysql:/etc/postfix/mysql-virtual_forwardings.cf mysql:/etc/postfix/mysql-virtual_email2email.cf

virtual_mailbox_domains = mysql:/etc/postfix/mysql-virtual_domains.cf
virtual_mailbox_maps = mysql:/etc/postfix/mysql-virtual_mailboxes.cf
virtual_mailbox_base = /home/vmail
virtual_uid_maps = static:5000
virtual_gid_maps = static:5000
smtpd_sasl_auth_enable = yes
broken_sasl_auth_clients = yes
smtpd_recipient_restrictions = permit_mynetworks, permit_sasl_authenticated, reject_unauth_destination
smtpd_use_tls = yes
smtpd_tls_cert_file = /etc/postfix/smtpd.cert
smtpd_tls_key_file = /etc/postfix/smtpd.key
</end config file>

let me know if there is others u need
cheers
Nathan