My VPS image (Debian 6) comes pre-installed with sendmail as the MTA. I will use this server as a web server, and maybe other usages but not as a mail server. I want to remove as many unneeded services as possible to save resources. Can the MTA be safely removed? What are the consequences?
Linux – Is an MTA Required
debiandebian-squeezeemail-serverlinuxsendmail
Best Answer
One consequence of removing the MTA is that mail generated by the system itself (usually sent to root), for example by Cron, Logwatch, rkhunter and others cannot be be delivered.
So yes, an MTA is an integral part of any Unix-like system and I doubt Debian will let you uninstall the MTA without complaining and suggesting an alternative. But it's not a big deal. By default in Debian even
sendmailwill only listen on 127.0.0.1 and relay mail only locally, so there is no real security risk here.