Virtual Mail Server on CentOS 5
 

Hi,

I've been working with Linux for servers for about 4 years, but have never really had to set up a mail server before. I am now tasked with this, and despite my own efforts, I can't really seem to get anything working.

I'm using CentOS 5, and the mail server needs to do POP/IMAP as well as SMTP, and needs to support multiple domains. Evidently this is a really tricky thing to set up.

Can anyone recommend software to do this and the simplest way to get it all up and working? All the guides I've seen look to be hugely overcomplicated, and I'm wondering if it really is quite that complex...

Any feedback or help would be great.

Cheers,
James

it's not a case of being over complicated, more than a case of being modular. you don't install a "Mail server" you would install an smtp server, an imap server ,a webmail server etc... which all then just so happen to work well together using common formats. just brek down what you want to do into smaller pieces. I would personally suggest using postfix for smtp and dovecot for imap and pop3.

Hi,

Cheers for the response. How does Dovecot handle storage, and how would I go about managing mailboxes and domains with Dovecot? I'm looking for something which is backed onto MySQL for management, as I will be adding new email accounts via a web application.

dovecot can read most mailbox types, i would suggest Maildir when used with postfix. authentication can certainly be backed off the mysql if you wish to do it that way. some useful info here http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_Secure_..._using_Dovecot