How to Use the FidoNet/Internet Gateways ======================================== I. Sending from FidoNet => Internet To send mail FROM a FidoNet Node TO someone on an Internet or UUCP site. What you must know: 1) The site name of the Internet node the user is on. 2) The login name or mail alias (the mailbox name) that the user you want to send to uses there. 3) The FidoNet address of the UUCP Gateway. A list of gateways which have been tested and approved by the Hostmaster is available by File-Requesting magic-name 'GATEWAYS' from 1:1/31. (If you don't know the address of the nearest gateway, use 1:1/31) You should get the first two pieces of information from the person that you want to send mail to. With these bits of information do the following steps: 1) Go to the Net-Mail area of the FidoNet node. 2) Enter a message addressed to the UserName "Uucp" at the address of the gateway node. Do *NOT* address it to "SysOp" or to "postmaster" to get it thru the gateway! NOTE: The most common error is that the UserName in the FidoNet Header is NOT "Uucp". Some software will add trailing spaces to the UserName. The gateway software will not tolerate this anomaly. 3) The very FIRST line must contain the Internet address in the format: To: username@machine.domain followed by a BLANK line. (The "To:" is MANDATORY and must begin in column 1 of the body.) There must be nothing else on that line! Do NOT include the (Full Name) which the message coming FROM the Internet may contain. Do NOT use bang!path type addresses on messages going thru 1:1/31 as they will probably NOT be interpreted properly. The "smart-host" which 1:1/31 relies on knows how to handle BITNET addresses if given in the form 'user@machine.BITNET'. Do NOT enclose the address in "quotes", and do NOT enclose it in . Those are special notations which only the Internet side of the gateways understand. You *cannot* send from a FidoNet address to another FidoNet address via the Internet gateway. The gateway *will* BOUNCE any messages where the destination ends in '.z#.fidonet.org'. Any E-mail destined for addresses which contain the strings 'listserv', 'ftpmail', 'bitftp', or 'majordomo' are automatically *BLOCKED* from going thru the gateway and will be returned to the sender. Although these may be valid Internet addresses, sending to such processors are *severly* frowned upon. NOTES: ----- The gateway at 1:1/31 can also handle the message properly if you put the Internet address in the User_Name field of of the FidoNet header (addressed to 1:1/31). There is no need to use the usual UFGATE style addressing. The gateway software we run will take care of all those logistics for you. Mail coming from the Internet via 1:1/31 will most likely already have the 'user@machine.domain' address in the FidoNet Header. In most cases, you need only use your normal 'reply' mechanism, sending the message back to the same UserName at 1:1/31. Some software will strip everything after the '@' sign, leaving an un-replyable message. In that case, you'll need to re-address your reply to 'Uucp' and copy the address from the "From:" line into the "To: user@machine.domain" line at the TOP of your reply. The gateway software will contain the correct return-address in your message. There is NO need to specify your return-address in the body of your message. Your message will be from 'User.Name@fNODE.nNET.zZONE.fidonet.org'. 4) Enter the rest of your message as you normally would. When you're finished, save it and it will be sent to your friend automagically. 5) Any other problems, please consult your local SysOp or send mail to the Postmaster of the Gateway node. (In the case of 1:1/31, please send to "postmaster".) 6) This document describes how your message must appear upon ARRIVAL at the gateway. If you are using an off-line reader, please consult your SYSOP, not the 'postmaster'. ---------------------------------------------------- II. Sending from Internet => FidoNet To send mail from an Internet Site TO a user that calls a Fido-Net system.: What you must know: 1) The node number of the Fido-Net system that your friend calls. 2) The *exact* UserName s/he logs in with. With these bits of information do the following (assuming that you are sending a NEW message and NOT just replying to a message you received). The address of a FidoNet Node looks like this: 1:107/309.0. Usually the 1: and .0 are left off, but they are there by default. (In Europe it is 2: and in the Pacific Basin it is 3:) That address can be translated as "Zone 1, Net 107, FidoNode 309, Point 0." or f309.n107.z1.fidonet.org - the "Fully Qualified Domain Name" of a FidoNode. Another example is 1:107/309.2 which would be written as p2.f309.n107.z1.fidonet.org (since there is a point number other than 0, we have to specify it). Note also that we are only using zone 1. This will also work for zones 2 and 3, just use z2 or z3 as appropriate. Note that FidoNet systems usually use a "Firstname Lastname" logon. You will need to express that as First.Last, using a DOT in place of the SPACE. Addresses can be interpreted as: First.Last@[p###.]f###.n###.z#.fidonet.org where: ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ | | | | | | `------`--- domain | | | | | `---- Zone number (IMPORTANT) | | | | `-------- Net number | | | `------------- Node number | | `------------------- Point number (optional) | `------------------ User's LAST Name `------------------------ User's FIRST Name The Point number need only be used if non-zero. The Domain Name Server (DNS) on the Internet for the .fidonet.org domain will tell your server the IP-address of the MX-receiver for the gateway node that is handling traffic for that particular "Net" within FidoNet. (For those Nets that do NOT have a gateway with an MX-receiver, traffic will be routed to the MX-receiver for 1:1/31. The message is gated and routed via the FidoNet backbone for routing to the local Net.) Burt Juda hostmaster@fidonet.fidonet.org ----- eof -----