Protocol Action: SMTP Service Extension for Returning Enhanced Error Codes to Proposed Standard

[The IESG <[e-mail]>]

  The IESG has approved the Internet-Draft "SMTP Service Extension for
  Returning Enhanced Error Codes" <draft-freed-smtperror-01.txt> as a
  Proposed Standard. The IESG contact persons are Keith Moore and
  Harald Alvestrand.


Technical Summary

 This extension to the SMTP protocol allows an SMTP server to indicate
 to an SMTP client that certain of its reply messages contain enhanced
 mail system status codes as defined in RFC 1893.  This in turn allows
 the SMTP client to include those codes in the per-recipient Status
 field of RFC 1894 delivery status notifications (DSNs).

 The RFC 1893 mail system status codes allow for more precise error
 indications than the reply codes traditionally used by SMTP.  These
 status codes are already in use by MTAs that generate RFC 1894
 delivery status notifications, for errors detected locally by those
 MTAs.  This extension allows such status codes to be included in DSNs
 for errors reported by a remote server using SMTP.

Working Group Summary

 This protocol was not reviewed by an active IETF working group.
 However, the mailing list associated with the former NOTARY working
 group was asked to review two proposals for reporting RFC 1893 status
 codes.  The responses were significantly in favor of this proposal.
 In addition, the author of this proposal has revised it in response to
 comments received from the NOTARY list.

Protocol Quality

 Keith Moore reviewed the protocol for IESG.