SMTP help

[caveman_piet]

Help - I have to check/monitor a smtp server
in a Linux and M$ environment.
Things like finger etc. seems not to work.
I tried using telnet to port 25 - but as telnet
as a console program (under windows) can't be
redirected I'm stuck.
Surfing around - most people having the same
problem is using "expect" or something similiar.
Started using "expect" but I'm not sure exactly
howto or what to do.

Is there another and "cheap" way to check
whether a SMTP server is active?
(Cheap - like in time!!   )

TX in advance.    

PS. I installed quake3 using
linuxq3apoint-1.31.x86.run
Do I need something else installed - it comes
back with "Sys_Error: Couldn't load default.cfg"
 when running "quake3".
I've never before installed games on Linux
or even played quake    
But the kids want to see it / play it.

[voidmain]

telneting to port 25 is the appropriate way to test your SMTP service.  What OS are you trying to get SMTP running on?  If Linux, what distro and version?  I have several SMTP servers running various versions of RedHat (plus my own customizations).  I can probably help you out.  If you are trying to get SMTP working in Windows then I will not be able to help you (well I could, but I won't).

As far as Quake3, I don't have a default.cfg on my system.  Don't know where that message could be coming from. And the method used for installing Quake is unique to quake.  That's not how programs are normally installed.  So it takes careful following of included directions (and maybe some help from the quake forums if you hit a snag).

[caveman_piet]

Tx voidman -
RH 6.22 and 7.1 - but they are not the problem
as IT WORKS!!!! Using telnet and some scripts
in a cron job with no hassles.
All the monitoring we're doing from Linux and
Unix is very straight forward. Hell - it's
so bloody easy I'm ashamed of charging (sic)
the client - wellll not really  

It's actually the effen M$ shit that gives me
problems. And the worst of it - the SMTP server
is running on Novell 3.1. (Not that I have
anything against Novell).

I can get the "Expect" running upto a point -
but I get lost in understanding when to "expect"
some input and if that doesn't arrive - how to
timeout - seeing as the server must be down.
(By the way - I'm now testing a full cygwin
install on M$2000 - what a beauty! reminds me
of what M$ could have done)  :mad:  

Anybody? any suggestions - maybe example exp code
if u can?

As for the quake - its installed on RH 7.3 running
on my 1.5gz ASUS A7VI-VM mobo with a built in
S3 savage-pro. Maybe something like the GL module
is missing? or some such?

[voidmain]

So the SMTP server is on Netware and not Linux?  I'm confused. And instead of writing your own scripts to monitor SMTP you should look into "Big Brother" or "Netsaint" monitoring/paging systems. I've used them for years now and they really work well and are designed to run on Linux/UNIX servers.  

They not only can monitor smtp/http/ftp/telnet/disk/procs/ssh/etc/etc but an infinite number of other things as you can write your own modules.  I have installed this at several companies and they all love it. It's web based and has a nice web based monitoring and email/pager paging system.