# Error installing SSMTP



## nx (Jul 17, 2012)

I can't install the ssmtp port:


```
cd /usr/ports/mail/ssmtp/ && make install replace clean
```

this gives error:


```
Couldn't fetch it - please try to retrieve this...
```

So I tried:


```
make distclean
```

and got the same error.

Then I tried:

1. 
	
	



```
rm -f distinfo
```
2. 
	
	



```
make makesum
```

and got the same error.

I downloaded the distfile from the Debian site:


```
fetch http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/pool/main/s/ssmtp/ssmtp_2.64.orig.tar.bz2
```

and after extracting to a dir and:

1. 
	
	



```
./configure
```
2. 
	
	



```
make
```
3. 
	
	



```
make install replace clean
```

I get this result with error at the end:


```
/usr/bin/install -c -d -m 755 /usr/local/sbin
/usr/bin/install -c -s -m 755 ssmtp /usr/local/sbin/ssmtp
/usr/bin/install -c -d -m 755 /usr/local/man/man8
/usr/bin/install -c -m 644 ./ssmtp.8 /usr/local/man/man8/ssmtp.8
/usr/bin/install -c -d -m 755 /usr/local/etc/ssmtp
/usr/bin/install -c -m 644 ./revaliases /usr/local/etc/ssmtp/revaliases
./generate_config /usr/local/etc/ssmtp/ssmtp.conf
hostname: illegal option -- -
usage: hostname [-fs] [name-of-host]
*** Error code 1

Stop in /usr/ports/mail/ssmtp/temp/ssmtp-2.64.
```

ssmtp.conf isn't generated but all other dir's/files before it are.

Does this imply the port can't be fetched because it has been removed as it has a hostname related error in its configure file?

More importantly - what are my options to install ssmtp?

My goal is to replace sendmail on a web server with ssmtp, which will forward mail to a mail server that has been successfully built using the PurpleHat guide here:


```
http://www.purplehat.org/?page_id=4
```

While I'm here, as I'm a noob with email servers - if anyone has setup forwarding mail to a mail server like in the link (Dovecot, Postfix, ... using SSL,TLS) - your advice would be appreciated.


----------



## SirDice (Jul 17, 2012)

Copy the file you downloaded to /usr/ports/distfiles/ and see if it's the file the port wants.


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## nx (Jul 17, 2012)

Thanks, I forgot to mention that the first thing I did was fetch the file from the debian site to the distfiles dir, but in my haste I didn't notice the version difference.

The debian site file is ssmtp_2.64, but the port version failing to be fetched is ssmtp_2.61, which http://www.freshports.org/mail/ssmtp/ shows was released between 2004 and '09.

Should I try to install an older version like 2.62.3, and if so will I have to use portdowngrade to do this?

I'm trying to install ssmtp on a freebsd 9 server I setup 3 days ago, and I have updated ports in the last 2 days.


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## izotov (Jul 17, 2012)

nx said:
			
		

> Thanks, I forgot to mention that the first thing I did was fetch the file from the debian site to the distfiles dir, but in my haste I didn't notice the version difference.
> 
> The debian site file is ssmtp_2.64, but the port version failing to be fetched is ssmtp_2.61, which http://www.freshports.org/mail/ssmtp/ shows was released between 2004 and '09.
> 
> ...


Which version do you want to install?
If it is the latest (2.64) then you already have the distfile in place; you may still need to upgrade your port to the latest version as well (considering ports-mgmt/portsnap is already installed):
`# cd /usr/ports
# portsnap fetch extract mail/ssmtp
# cd mail/ssmtp
# make install clean`
If you want an older version (e.g. 2.61) - what I would not recommend - you need to use ports-mgmt/portdowngrade. In this case you need to download the distfile for that version as well.


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## nx (Jul 17, 2012)

Thanks... 

and OMG my bad... I forgot I'm installing ssmtp on my 8.2 box not the 9, the latter which I've been working on for the last 3 days.

No surprise the 8.2 is looking for an older version of ssmtp.

Thanks all!

(Time to sleep .)


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## SirDice (Jul 17, 2012)

All versions of FreeBSD use the same ports tree. It just means your 8.2 box has an old ports tree that needs updating.


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## nx (Jul 17, 2012)

Yeah... the 8.2 has been shelved for a while! :r

I think it's going to be quicker to clone the 9 and install ssmtp on that rather than wait for 16k+ patches etc to be downloaded before the ports tree is updated.

Unless there's a quicker way to update the ports tree?


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## SirDice (Jul 17, 2012)

First time is going to take a little while. If you regularly run portsnap(8) it won't have to do that many changes.


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## nx (Jul 17, 2012)

Thanks all for the quick replies and help!


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