RFC 1891 (rfc1891) - Page 1 of 31
SMTP Service Extension for Delivery Status Notifications
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
Network Working Group K. Moore
Request for Comments: 1891 University of Tennessee
Category: Standards Track January 1996
SMTP Service Extension
for Delivery Status Notifications
Status of this Memo
This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
improvements. Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
and status of this protocol. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
1. Abstract
This memo defines an extension to the SMTP service, which allows an
SMTP client to specify (a) that delivery status notifications (DSNs)
should be generated under certain conditions, (b) whether such
notifications should return the contents of the message, and (c)
additional information, to be returned with a DSN, that allows the
sender to identify both the recipient(s) for which the DSN was
issued, and the transaction in which the original message was sent.
Any questions, comments, and reports of defects or ambiguities in
this specification may be sent to the mailing list for the NOTARY
working group of the IETF, using the address
[email protected]>. Requests to subscribe to the mailing
list should be addressed to [email protected]>.
Implementors of this specification are encouraged to subscribe to the
mailing list, so that they will quickly be informed of any problems
which might hinder interoperability.
NOTE: This document is a Proposed Standard. If and when this
protocol is submitted for Draft Standard status, any normative text
(phrases containing SHOULD, SHOULD NOT, MUST, MUST NOT, or MAY) in
this document will be re-evaluated in light of implementation
experience, and are thus subject to change.
2. Introduction
The SMTP protocol [1] requires that an SMTP server provide
notification of delivery failure, if it determines that a message
cannot be delivered to one or more recipients. Traditionally, such
notification consists of an ordinary Internet mail message (format
defined by [2]), sent to the envelope sender address (the argument of
Moore Standards Track