[freeside] Freeside 1.4.1rc3 svc_forward export issues

[Stephen Bechard]

> Sure, we'd be happy to have you involved in the development of the 1.5
> series.
> 
> We've been through two iterations of aliasing/forwarding stuff (first
> svc_acct_sm, now svc_forward), and I don't think either has modeled what
> we're looking for very well.  I think we should step back and come 
> up with a reasonable design first.

I would be glad to help out with the development.
I am still trying to learn how to use cvs to checkout 
and update files, but just haven't had the time to
get comfortable with it.

I have several features/options that I currently use 
in my Freeside installation that I haven't updated
the diffs yet.    One of these days... ;)

In reference to the aliasing/forwarding stuff...

Here is some food for thought.

I think there are really two pieces here instead of one.
(these references are based on Sendmail, but most all
 mail servers have similar feature sets)

1.) There are local aliases and forwarding:

 This should be able to handle the aliases and forwarding
 of the user that actually have accounts on the system
 in the master password file or aliases for the system's
 main domain.
 
 such as dealing with the following:
 
 System alias file:
 aliasname:     localuser1
 aliasname2:    localuser1, localuser2

 User .forward files:
 $HOME/localuser1/.forward remoteuser1 at remotedomain1.tld

2.) There are virtual aliases and forwarding:

 This should be able to handle the aliases and forwarding
 of the user that might or might not have a local account
 in the master password file. Depending on if they actually
 pick up their mail from this server. This should also be
 able to accept error codes or messages for entries. We 
 use a catchall that generates a bounce error to reduce on
 the amount of Spam for people trying to walk the domains.

 such as dealing with the following:

 Virtuser table file:
 alias1 at virtualdomain1.tld localuser1
 alias2 at virtualdomain1.tld remoteuser1 at remotedomain1.tld
 alias3 at virtualdomain1.tld localuser2
 @virtualdomain1.tld       ERROR:nouser 550 No such user here
 alias1 at virtualdomain2.tld remoteuser2 at remotedomain2.tld
 @virtualdomain2.tld       localuser3
 alias2 at virtualdomain3.tld remoteuser3 at remotedomain3.tld
 @virtualdomain3.tld       remoteuser7 at remotedomain3.tld


Comments:

svc_forward seems better suited for the .forward files as these 
must all have a local account to work correctly and that is what
Freeside is having you do prior to having that user in the source
pull down list. There just needs to be a way to add system aliases
or maybe a svc_aliases...

The svc_domain catchall is a good place for the global virtual
alias, but it needs to export the settings to the remote server.
Maybe there could be a extension to this which would allow you
to add or configure other aliases and tie them back to the domain.
Maybe a svc_domain_forward that just ties the src and dst back to 
the domain svcnum, where the src and dst are just text fields.

I know most of this is probably obvious to you all, but I wanted 
to let you know what I was thinking and see if you had already
gone down this path before...

If this is something that you think might work for Freeside, then
let me know and I will see what I can come up with.

Thanks,
Steve