Precompiled var-qmail packages

Installing a var-qmail package has five effects:

the qmail uids and gids are created if necessary;
qmail, dot-forward, and fastforward are installed in /var/qmail;
/var/qmail/rc is created to invoke dot-forward and the operating system's normal /var/spool/mail delivery agent;
/var/qmail/alias/.qmail-default is created to use /etc/aliases from fastforward; and
the qmail config-fast script is run, to set up normal machine-specific defaults in /var/qmail/control.

Running qmail

A var-qmail package does not set up qmail to receive and deliver mail. A user has to follow the instructions in /var/qmail/doc/fastforward/ALIASES and in /var/qmail/doc/INSTALL starting at step 9:

create /etc/aliases if it does not exist;
run /var/qmail/bin/newaliases to create /etc/aliases.cdb;
remove sendmail if necessary;
link /usr/{lib,sbin}/sendmail to /var/qmail/bin/sendmail;
run /var/qmail/rc, now and after a reboot;
start qmail-smtpd on port 25, now and after a reboot, through inetd or tcpserver.

There is an aftermarket of third-party qmail-run packages that automate this process. Here are some problems faced by the authors of qmail-run packages:

Removing sendmail: How is the sendmail daemon killed? Is there any risk to user processes? How is the sendmail queue flushed? How is the sendmail binary disabled?
Editing boot scripts: How is /var/qmail/rc added to the boot scripts? Are the boot scripts always in a safe state if the power goes out? If there is a sendmail invocation, how is it identified and removed?
Editing /etc/inetd.conf: How is qmail-smtpd added to /etc/inetd.conf? Is /etc/inetd.conf always in a safe state if the power goes out? If there is an existing smtp line, how is it identified and removed?

Of course, these aren't problems for an operating system that includes qmail as the default MTA.

qmail-run packages can also make extra links from /usr/bin and /usr/sbin into /var/qmail/bin:

Normal users run datemail, dot-forward, elq, fastforward, maildir2mbox, maildirmake, maildirwatch, mailsubj, newinclude, pinq, printforward, printmaillist, qail, qmail-inject, qmail-showctl, qmail-tcpto, setmaillist, setforward, and sendmail.
System administrators run newaliases, qmail-newmrh, qmail-newu, qmail-pw2u, qmail-qread, qmail-qstat, and qmail-tcpok.

Building a var-qmail package

Here's what I do to put a var-qmail package together:

Download qmail 1.03. Remove -s from conf-ld. Compile and install. Strip the binaries in /var/qmail/bin.
Download, compile, and install dot-forward.
Download, compile, and install fastforward.
Make an empty directory for the binary package. Move there.
Copy /var/qmail/{boot,doc,doc/*,bin,man/*}/*.
Create an add-group script. ``add-group $group'' uses OS utilities to add $group to /etc/group.
Create an add-account script. ``add-account $account $group $home'' uses OS utilities to add $account to /etc/passwd with group $group and home directory $home.
Copy idedit, install-big, and config-fast from the qmail source directory.
Copy BIN.Makefile from the qmail source directory to Makefile.
Edit the last several lines of Makefile to handle the system's grep, hostname, and binmail.
Find the byte positions of auto_uid* and auto_gid* in install-big, qmail-lspawn, qmail-queue, qmail-rspawn, qmail-showctl, and qmail-start in the qmail source directory, using nm and system-specific knowledge. List the byte positions on the idedit lines in Makefile.
Copy BIN.README from the qmail source directory to README.
Edit README to show the compilation environment.
chmod 644 *.
chmod 755 idedit install-big config-fast add-group add-account.