Hi,

This is about vsnl's new smtp authentication settings. ..... ..... what to do with linux or even what sort of authentication they were using.

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So how do I go about ascertaining what changes I need to make in my config ?

You only need to make changes in the SMTP settings in your mail client. 1) Set the outgoing SMTP server as smtp.vsnl.net 2) Switch on outgoing server authentication 3) If the client doesn't automatically use the POP login & password for SMTP also, you need to manually put these in. 3a) Make sure you put in the FULL email address as the username, not just the login. I had hell until I figured this out - and the helpdesk didn't know about this. 3b) If you need to set authentication type in your client use "LOGIN" not "PLAIN" or "CRAM-MD5". What these are called depend on your client. Just try sending a test mail to yourself with each possible authentication type till it works :-)

Chirag Wazir http://chirag.freeshell.org