LFCS Question #43: Real Exam Question with Answer & Explanation

Question

What is true regarding the command sendmail?

Options

• AWith any MTA, the sendmail command must be run periodically by the cron daemon.
• BAll MTAs, including Postfix and Exim, provide a sendmail command.
• CThe sendmail command prints the MTAs queue history of which mails have been sent
• DIt is only available when the sendmail MTA is installed.

Explanation

Many different Mail Transfer Agents (MTAs), such as Postfix and Exim, provide a compatibility layer that includes a sendmail command. This ensures that applications expecting the traditional Sendmail interface can still submit mail regardless of the underlying MTA.

Common mistakes.

• A. The sendmail command is typically used for submitting mail, not for periodic cron tasks to manage the queue; the MTA's daemon handles queue processing.
• C. The sendmail command, when used with parameters like -bp (or via mailq), can list the current contents of the mail queue, but it does not print a history of sent mails.
• D. This is incorrect because other MTAs commonly provide a compatible sendmail command for interoperability, even if the actual Sendmail MTA is not installed.

Concept tested. MTA sendmail command compatibility

Reference. https://www.postfix.org/sendmail.8.html

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