How to set up a linux mail server

OK heres my plans....

I want to set up a linux box outside my firewall and point my mx records to that box.

I have an exchange server that I will use to pop that box.

Now my questions are, what software should I use for this?

What Version of linux I should use?

How difficult will this be for a noob?

I was planning on using fedora thats about as far as I have gone.

If any one has a start to finish guide that would be great. I want to have a spam blocker, firewall, and virus protection on the email.

I have 180 email addresses on my exchange box.

Thanks for your help.

The guide here is pretty good

http://www.geocities.com/scottlhende...pamfilter.html

We use somthing similar to filter email before forwarding it to our exchange server (~250 mailboxes).

I would recommend you place this box behind your firewall and forward the external ip (the MX ip) to the spamfilter box.

HTH

Mad

I want to set up a linux box outside my firewall and point my mx records to that box.

correct

I have an exchange server that I will use to pop that box.

Ick ... Secondly, don't "pop that box", set the external machine to forward all it's mail to the internal exchange machine (i.e. forward)

Now my questions are, what software should I use for this?

Postfix+SpamAssassin+Amavisd+(insert virus scanner here -- I use ClamAV)

What Version of linux I should use?

You shouldn't. You should use OpenBSD Barring that though, I'd go with Debian, slackware, or something that doesn't take the "install everything but the kitchen sink" approach... Fedora's "Minimal" install is 500MB ... I would call that a lot of things, but minimal isn't one of them.

How difficult will this be for a noob?

I'd say medium to high difficulty level.

I was planning on using fedora thats about as far as I have gone.

See earlier comment

If any one has a start to finish guide that would be great. I want to have a spam blocker, firewall, and virus protection on the email.

As a matter of fact ...

hey i got a fedor walkthourgh of mail server is it the same for mandrake 9.2?

It's iffy, but I would wager "no". Scripting, directory trees, and package versions used are very different. These alone would cause more problems then it is worth. However, if you do it once on one Linux distribution it's not hard to figure out how to do it in another. I recommend you doing it first on Fedora, then when done, doing it on Mandrake. Yet again, as stated above, I would highly recommend using a UNIX distribution. It's easier on the system and promotes more power for the cause.

Originally posted by DarkNess200 hey i got a fedor walkthourgh of mail server is it the same for mandrake 9.2?

Could you send me the link for that?

Thanks

Originally posted by kccobra Could you send me the link for that? Thanks

heres your site http://www.siliconvalleyccie.com/linux-hn/sendmail.htm

Or you can take the easy way out like i did and installed SME server 6.0. Contribs.org have taken over the free version of it. It will install on a hard drive, it is very easy to follow, and there is a script for it that someone has done that will download and install anti-virus, anti-spam and secure email (encrypted POP3.SMTP and IMAP). It has also a web, ftp, samba (can be setup as domain controller). May take the fun out of learning, but saves a lot of time if you need to get a mail server up and running quickly and without any fuss.

Here's the iso

http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/dis...1-20040316.iso

Here is the script
just put this in the root directory and run it from there, it will do the rest

#!/bin/sh

#clear screen
clear

#reminder to log script output
echo ""
echo "If you'd like you can log the output of this script for review later:"
echo "Before typing 'sh smeplus.sh' type 'script smeplus.log'"
echo "...and after the script is complete type 'exit'"
echo ""
echo "You can hit CTRL+C now if you want to stop and do that"
echo "...or press any key to continue"
read answer


#deleting old download log file - if exists - so errors don't show up again
rm -f /root/plus/plus.log

#make download directory
mkdir -p /root/plus
cd /root/plus

###########
#downloads#
###########

#download status bar
clear
echo "Downloading files...Please be patient, 100MB? of downloads"
echo "[-----------------------]"
echo -n "["

#download lazy admin toos and userpanel
mkdir -p /root/plus/lat-userpanel
cd /root/plus/lat-userpanel
wget -nc -nd -S http://sme.swerts-knudsen.com/downlo...0-1.noarch.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://sme.swerts-knudsen.com/downlo...0-3.noarch.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://sme.swerts-knudsen.com/downlo....02-1.i386.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://sme.swerts-knudsen.com/downlo....06-1.i386.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
cd /root/plus
echo -n "."

#download Antivirus script
wget -nc -nd -S http://sme.swerts-knudsen.dk/downloa...rus_install.sh -a /root/plus/plus.log
echo -n "."

#download Spamfilter script
wget -nc -nd -S http://sme.swerts-knudsen.com/downlo...ter_install.sh -a /root/plus/plus.log
echo -n "."

#download php script
wget -nc -nd -S http://contribs.org/contribs/ergozd/....9-3upgrade.sh -a /root/plus/plus.log
echo -n "."

#download openssh
mkdir -p /root/plus/openssh
cd /root/plus/openssh
wget -nc -nd -S http://sme.swerts-knudsen.com/downlo...-1es1.i386.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://sme.swerts-knudsen.com/downlo...-1es1.i386.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://sme.swerts-knudsen.com/downlo...-1es1.i386.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
cd /root/plus
echo -n "."

#download openssl
mkdir -p /root/plus/openssl
cd /root/plus/openssl
wget -nc -nd -S http://sme.swerts-knudsen.com/downlo...-1es1.i386.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://sme.swerts-knudsen.com/downlo...-1es1.i386.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://sme.swerts-knudsen.com/downlo...-1es1.i386.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
cd /root/plus
echo -n "."

#download webmail
mkdir -p /root/plus/webmail
cd /root/plus/webmail
wget -nc -nd -S http://sme.swerts-knudsen.com/downlo...4dm.noarch.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://sme.swerts-knudsen.com/downlo...-02.noarch.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://sme.swerts-knudsen.com/downlo...-04.noarch.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://sme.swerts-knudsen.com/downlo...-05.noarch.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://sme.swerts-knudsen.com/downlo...1dm.noarch.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://sme.swerts-knudsen.com/downlo...1dm.noarch.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://sme.swerts-knudsen.com/downlo...1es.noarch.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://sme.swerts-knudsen.com/downlo...1es.noarch.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://sme.swerts-knudsen.com/downlo...1es.noarch.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://sme.swerts-knudsen.com/downlo...s00.noarch.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
cd /root/plus
echo -n "."

#download phpmyadmin
mkdir -p /root/plus/phpmyadmin
cd /root/plus/phpmyadmin
wget -nc -nd -S http://contribs.org/contribs/nightsp...-11.noarch.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
cd /root/plus
echo -n "."

#download awstats script
mkdir -p /root/plus/awstats
cd /root/plus/awstats
wget -nc -nd -S http://sme.swerts-knudsen.dk/downloa...all_awstats.sh -a /root/plus/plus.log
cd /root/plus
echo -n "."

#download apache and dependancies
mkdir -p /root/plus/apache
cd /root/plus/apache
wget -nc -nd -S http://mirror.datapipe.net/norlug/re...orlug.i386.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://mirror.datapipe.net/norlug/re...orlug.i386.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://mirror.datapipe.net/norlug/re...orlug.i386.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://mirror.datapipe.net/norlug/re...orlug.i386.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://mirror.datapipe.net/norlug/re...orlug.i386.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://mirror.datapipe.net/norlug/re...orlug.i386.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://download.fedoralegacy.org/red...1.3.2.i386.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
cd /root/plus
echo -n "."

#download mysql script
wget -nc -nd -S http://contribs.org/contribs/ergozd/...ySQL-4_0_21.sh -a /root/plus/plus.log
echo -n "."

#download misc. updates
mkdir -p /root/plus/updates
cd /root/plus/updates
wget -nc -nd -S http://sme.swerts-knudsen.dk/downloa...1.1-4.i386.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://www.dungog.net/sme/files/601u...1.1-4.i386.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://sme.swerts-knudsen.dk/downloa...0-es1.i386.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://sme.swerts-knudsen.dk/downloa...2.5-1.i386.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://sme.swerts-knudsen.dk/downloa...2-1.noarch.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://sme.swerts-knudsen.dk/downloa....3.at.i386.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/dis...1es26.i386.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
cd /root/plus
echo -n "."

#download securemail
mkdir -p /root/plus/securemail
cd /root/plus/securemail
wget -nc -nd -S http://www.pagefault.org/code/e-smit...1dc.noarch.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://www.pagefault.org/code/e-smit...2dc.noarch.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://www.pagefault.org/code/e-smit...2dc.noarch.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://www.pagefault.org/code/e-smit...2dc.noarch.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://www.pagefault.org/code/e-smit...2dc.noarch.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
cd /root/plus
echo -n "."

#download modindex
mkdir -p /root/plus/modindex
cd /root/plus/modindex
wget -nc -nd -S http://contribs.org/contribs/gzartma...1-2.noarch.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://contribs.org/contribs/gzartma...5-2.noarch.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
cd /root/plus
echo -n "."

#download fetchmail pop3 contrib
mkdir -p /root/plus/fetchmail
cd /root/plus/fetchmail
wget -nc -nd -S http://www.schirrms.net/files/perl-C...-08.noarch.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://www.schirrms.net/files/smeser...-02.noarch.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
cd /root/plus
echo -n "."

#download dungog contribs
mkdir -p /root/plus/dungog
cd /root/plus/dungog
wget -nc -nd -S http://www.dungog.net/sme/files/dung...1-5.noarch.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://www.dungog.net/sme/files/dung...0-3.noarch.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://www.dungog.net/sme/files/sme-...0-1.noarch.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
cd /root/plus
echo -n "."

#download windows update cache manager
mkdir -p /root/plus/cache
cd /root/plus/cache
wget -nc -nd -S http://contribs.org/contribs/erantru....03-1.i386.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://contribs.org/contribs/erantru....16-1.i386.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://contribs.org/contribs/erantru...0-3.noarch.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
cd /root/plus
echo -n "."

#download dhcp to dns synchroniser
mkdir -p /root/plus/dhcp-dns
cd /root/plus/dhcp-dns
wget -nc -nd -S http://www.activeservice.co.uk/sme/c...rc1.noarch.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
cd /root/plus
echo -n "."

#download dhcp manager
mkdir -p /root/plus/dhcpmanager
cd /root/plus/dhcpmanager
wget -nc -nd -S http://www.developit.fr/FichePratiqu....24-1.i386.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://www.developit.fr/FichePratiqu...6.0-3.i386.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
wget -nc -nd -S http://www.developit.fr/FichePratiqu...4-7.noarch.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
cd /root/plus
echo -n "."

#download print spooler manager
mkdir -p /root/plus/sacolprng
cd /root/plus/sacolprng
wget -nc -nd -S http://contribs.org/contribs/saco/sm...6-1.noarch.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
cd /root/plus
echo -n "."

#download mail log analyser
mkdir -p /root/plus/sacoisoqlog
cd /root/plus/sacoisoqlog
wget -nc -nd -S http://contribs.org/contribs/saco/co...-05.noarch.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
cd /root/plus
echo -n "."

#download rootkit hunter
mkdir -p /root/plus/rkhunter
cd /root/plus/rkhunter
wget -nc -nd -S http://contribs.org/contribs/dthomas...8-1.noarch.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
cd /root/plus
echo -n "."

#download raidmonitor
mkdir -p /root/plus/raid
cd /root/plus/raid
wget -nc -nd -S http://contribs.org/contribs/dmay/mi...1-5.noarch.rpm -a /root/plus/plus.log
cd /root/plus
echo -n ".]"

clear
echo "Downloading Complete"
echo ""
echo "Now verifying download process completed with no errors"
echo ""
IS_ERROR=`pic /root/plus/plus.log | grep -c ERROR`

if [ $IS_ERROR -ge 1 ]; then
echo "Oh darn, it seems that $IS_ERROR file(s) failed to download, please review"
echo "/root/plus/plus.log, and edit the script as necessary."
echo ""
echo "Please update the Wiki page on contribs.org if a link is dead because of a"
echo "new version - This script was written and maintained by people like you :-)"
echo ""

else
clear
echo "All files were downloaded successfully, cross your fingers, take a deep breath"
echo "...and if you dare press any key to continue"
read answer
echo ""
echo "Are you sure? This could really screw up your server - press any key again"
echo "if this is a fresh install of SME 6.0.1-01 and you understand this may not"
echo "work as intended, is not an official update and may impair you from easily"
echo "updating to newer official versions of SME Server."
read answer

##############
#installation#
##############
clear
echo "Beginning Installation..."
echo ""
cd /root/plus/lat-userpanel
rpm -Uvh *.rpm
cd /root/plus

lat-procmail -c "*|enabled|no|some|normal"

sh antivirus_install.sh

sh spamfilter_install.sh

sh php4.3.9-3upgrade.sh

cd /root/plus/openssh
rpm -Uvh *.rpm
/sbin/e-smith/expand-template /etc/ssh/sshd_config
/sbin/e-smith/signal-event remoteaccess-update
cd /root/plus

cd /root/plus/openssl
rpm -Uvh *.rpm
cd /root/plus

cd /root/plus/webmail
rpm -Uvh e-smith-imp-1.10.0-04dm.noarch.rpm
rpm -Uvh imp-3.2.5-01dm.noarch.rpm
rpm -Uvh horde-2.2.5-1dm.noarch.rpm
rpm -Uvh turba-1.2.2-1es00.noarch.rpm
rpm -Uvh kronolith-1.1.2-1es.noarch.rpm
rpm -Uvh mnemo-1.1.2-1es.noarch.rpm
rpm -Uvh nag-1.1.1-1es.noarch.rpm
rpm -Uvh e-smith-kronolith-0.8.1-02.noarch.rpm
rpm -Uvh e-smith-mnemo-0.8.0-04.noarch.rpm
rpm -Uvh e-smith-nag-0.8.0-05.noarch.rpm
/sbin/e-smith/signal-event post-upgrade
cd /root/plus

cd /root/plus/phpmyadmin
rpm -Uvh e-smith-phpmyadmin-2.6.0-11.noarch.rpm
cd /root/plus

lat-ibays -a -c "awstats | awstats ibay | admin"

cd /root/plus/awstats
sh install_awstats.sh
cd /root/plus

cd /root/plus/apache
rpm -Uvh *.rpm
cd /root/plus

sh MySQL-4_0_21.sh

cd /root/plus/updates
rpm -Uvh *.rpm
cd /root/plus

cd /root/plus/securemail
rpm -ihv e-smith-securemail-6.0.1-01dc.noarch.rpm \
e-smith-smtp-authentication-6.0.1-02dc.noarch.rpm \
e-smith-ssl-imap-6.0.1-02dc.noarch.rpm \
e-smith-ssl-mailfront-6.0.1-02dc.noarch.rpm \
e-smith-ssl-popd-6.0.1-02dc.noarch.rpm
cd /root/plus

cd /root/plus/modindex
rpm -ivh e-smith-mod_perl-0.0.1-2.noarch.rpm
rpm -ivh e-smith-modindex-0.0.5-2.noarch.rpm
cd /root/plus

#double bounce email deletion - from sme.swerts-knudsen.com
mkdir -p /etc/e-smith/templates-custom/var/qmail/control
echo devnull > /etc/e-smith/templates-custom/var/qmail/control/doublebounceto
/sbin/e-smith/signal-event email-update
/etc/init.d/qmail restart

cd /root/plus/fetchmail
rpm -Uvh perl-CGI-FormMagick-0.89-08.noarch.rpm
rpm -Uvh smeserver-fetchmail-1.3.4-02.noarch.rpm
cd /root/plus

cd /root/plus/dungog
rpm -Uvh *.rpm
cd /root/plus

cd /root/plus/cache
rpm -Uvh perl-Net-Telnet-3.03-1.i386.rpm
rpm -Uvh perl-TimeDate-1.16-1.i386.rpm
rpm -Uvh sme-cache-windows-1.0-3.noarch.rpm
cd /root/plus

cd /root/plus/dhcp-dns
rpm -Uvh sme-dhcp-dns-0.9-rc1.noarch.rpm
cd /root/plus

cd /root/plus/dhcpmanager
rpm -Uvh perl-Net-Ping-2.24-1.i386.rpm
rpm -Uvh wol-0.6.0-3.i386.rpm
rpm -Uvh e-smith-dhcpmanager-1.4-7.noarch.rpm
cd /root/plus

cd /root/plus/sacolprng
rpm -Uvh smeserver-lprng-monitor-0.0.6-1.noarch.rpm
cd /root/plus

cd /root/plus/sacoisoqlog
rpm -Uvh saco-mitel-isoqlog-0.1-05.noarch.rpm
cd /root/plus

cd /root/plus/rkhunter
rpm -ivh *.rpm
cd /root/plus

cd /root/plus/raid
rpm -Uvh *.rpm
cd /root/plus


/sbin/e-smith/signal-event post-upgrade

echo "The script is complete :-)"
echo "Now type 'exit' to stop recording the script output and review smeplus.log"
echo "Then to reboot type '/sbin/e-smith/signal-event reboot'"

fi

That's the "easy way"?

Easy and it works.

Hello friends,
I am hitting my head in the wall trying to set up sendmail server. I already posted my problem. But still the problem is on the desk. Can u plz send me the details how you configured sendmail in linux ?
It would be a great help.
Thanks in advance.

Originally posted by tanveer Hello friends, I am hitting my head in the wall trying to set up sendmail server. I already posted my problem. But still the problem is on the desk. Can u plz send me the details how you configured sendmail in linux ? It would be a great help. Thanks in advance.

If your wanting to setup a mail server, checkout my link above to SME Server 6.0 iso and the script that will install anti-virus and anti-spam. The iso is about 350 MB in size so you will need cable or adsl to download it. Once you download the iso, burn it to a disc, this is a bootable disc, so you will need to have your computer to boot up with the cdrom as the first drive.

Just follow the install instructions, 'warning' this will wipe all data from the hard drive. After you have finished installing the software, if your using a windows client, you will need a program called winscp and putty, you can use winscp to copy the .sh script to the root directory, and then use putty, which is a ssh command line program for windows, to execute the .sh file. This will then download and install updates, anti-virus and anti-spam.

Originally posted by fotoguy Easy and it works.

hey fotoguy, could you post a link to that so it could be copy/pasted as the links in this forum get truncated and you can not just copy/paste that awsome scrip as the URLs are missing the middle section.

Or edit your post and enclose the script in code blocks ...

I don't know how to do code blocks, so I tracked down another updated udate script, from contribs.org heres the link, i think this one is better than the one i posted

http://contribs.org/modules/phpwiki/...date%20scripts