Weasel         (Peter Moylan's POP3 and SMTP daemon)
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Last updated 2006-03-12
Current version: 1.76

     NOTE 1: Some of the Setup windows are increased in
     size compared with older versions, and this might
     cause windows to go partly off-screen.  If this is
     a problem for you, see the "Troubleshooting" section
     of the Weasel manual.

     NOTE 2: Starting with version 1.643, the rules for
     running filters have been changed.  Your existing
     filters, if any, must be altered if you are upgrading
     from a version earlier from 1.643.  See README.FILTERS
     and WEASEL.INF for the details.

     The filters on the "Weasel filters" web page on my
     web server have been altered to conform to the new
     rules.  For the benefit of people who
     are continuing to run older versions, the old filters
     have been moved to a "pre1643" subdirectory of the
     ftp directory that holds Weasel filters.

     NOTE 3: The present version of Weasel is fairly
     tolerant of changes that you make (using SETUP.EXE)
     while the server is running.  Nevertheless, there is
     always some risk involved in making parameter changes
     while the server is still running.  Minor changes
     (e.g. adding a new user) cause no real problem.  Major
     changes (e.g. changing from single-domain mode to
     multidomain mode, or vice versa) can create a situation
     where the server is trying to access directories that
     have been deleted, or similar major complications.
     For such changes, I recommend shutting down Weasel while
     making the changes, and restarting it only after you
     have closed the Setup notebook.

     NOTE 4: Although I attempt to provide support for past
     versions of Weasel, I cannot provide such support forever.
     As from now, I can no longer guarantee to support versions
     with version number lower than 1.00.  If you have an old
     version, now is the time to upgrade.

This is shareware, which is fully functional for hosting a
single domain but which requires registration if you wish to
host multiple domains.  Pricing and similar details
are covered in the documentation file WEASEL.INF.  The
multidomain features are covered in WEASELPRO.INF.

Why would you want a POP3/SMTP server?  Well, basically you need
this (or something similar) if you want to set up e-mail accounts
for more than one person on your computer.  Weasel has enough
power to act as the mail server for a good-sized office or ISP,
but the installation and configuration have been kept simple
enough that it should be usable even on a home system by someone
with no prior experience of running a server.  In other words,
it is designed to be equally useful for professional or private use.

In the professional case, Weasel does well on high traffic
levels.  I have only vague anectodal evidence for that assertion,
but it does appear that Weasel has been used as a replacement
for mail servers running on other operating systems.  One of
the advantages of OS/2 and eCS over their competitors is that
they do threading more efficiently than those competitors, and
Weasel takes full advantage of that feature.  You can probably
expect Weasel to handle higher traffic levels than Unix sendmail,
on processors of similar speed.  You can certainly expect it to
out-perform the painfully slow servers provided by the company
that is trying to take over the PC world.

One problem with private use is that a mail server, to be useful,
requires that your computer be on-line most of the time, or
that you can arrange to get mail relayed from a machine that
is on-line most of the time.  Otherwise your correspondents
will be left with lots of bounced mail.  Weasel does have provision
for handling the dial-up case, but for best performance you
really need a DSL or cable connection, or (even better) a true
ethernet connection.

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QUICK INSTALLATION

 1. Unzip the distribution file into a directory of your choice,
    for example D:\Servers\Weasel. If you are upgrading from an
    earlier version, use the same directory so that your existing
    settings will be preserved.  (Or, if you want to use a new
    directory, copy your old WEASEL.INI into the new directory.)

 2. Optionally, you may run the file makefolder.cmd that you will
    find after unzipping.  This creates some desktop objects.
    The folder of desktop objects is useful but not essential,
    and no harm will be done if you subsequently move or delete it.

 3. If you are upgrading from an earlier version, run the
    Setup program. This will update older options to the current
    standard.

 4. Read the file Weasel.INF as far as the 'Installation' section.
    This will tell you how to set up the server with one user
    account.

 5. Once you have the server running and tested, read the rest
    of Weasel.INF to see how to create additional user accounts,
    how to create aliases, and how to configure the various
    other options.

 6. If you want to host multiple mail domains, you will also
    need to read the supplementary manual WEASELPRO.INF.

The utilities Setup and VIOSetup do essentially the same job.  Once
you have decided which one of these you prefer, you can delete or
ignore the other.  Note, however, that VIOSetup does not support
the newer options (in particular, it does not support multidomain
configurations), and I am considering dropping support for the
text-mode VIOSetup in some future version.

Take a look at the "tools" directory for some extra utilities
included with Weasel.  Note that I am gradually removing
the utilities from the Weasel main distribution, and making them
available separately via my website.  This is because many of the
tools are of interest only to a subset of Weasel users.

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FEEDBACK

To tell me about errors, desired features, etc., send e-mail
to peter@ozebelg.org.

To find out about new releases, you can join a mailing list - see
the manual for details.

--
Peter Moylan                                 peter@ozebelg.org
http://www.pmoylan.org/

