Sendmail, 3rd Edition

Chapter 25. The H (Headers) Configuration Command

All mail messages are composed of two distinct parts: the header (containing information such as who the message is from) and the body (the actual text of the message). The two parts are separated from each other by a single blank line (although there are exceptions, which we will cover). The header part used by sendmail was originally defined by RFC822 (with clarifications contained in RFC1123), and most recently defined in RFC2822. These three documents detail the required syntax and contents of most header lines in mail messages. Many other RFCs define other headers, but in this chapter we will discuss header lines as they relate specifically to sendmail, referencing other RFCs as necessary.

When sendmail receives a mail message, it gathers all the header lines from that message and saves them internally. Then, during queueing and delivery, it re-creates them and augments them with any new ones that might be required either by the configuration file or by sendmail’s internal logic.