Setting up an Postfix Email server

subaruwrx · 01-04-2005, 10:30 AM

Ok I thought it woule be easier if I just say out my real life scenrio for a better understanding for you all.

I have install Xebian Linux (based on debian) on an xbox. I intend to setup an postfix email server (on another PC). This email server will not be expose to the Internet, hence it will only use local IP address. I also planning to add spamassassin and clamav on this server.

Questions
1) Is there any guide on setting up postfix email server with spamassassin and clamav you all came across, preferbly if its based on debian?
2) Regarding POP and IMAP, how and what do I need to configure to use any of them? Are they related to the Postfix/MTA?

Thanks.

jmeads · 01-05-2005, 06:46 AM

check out http://www200.pair.com/mecham/spam/s...r20040701.html

subaruwrx · 01-05-2005, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by jmeads
check out http://www200.pair.com/mecham/spam/s...r20040701.html

Thanks. That was a great site!

btw If I want to use POP/IMAP, I have to configure postfix to perform that? Not quite sure how to configure pop/imap email server.

jmeads · 01-05-2005, 08:40 AM

postfix is just a mta, to access your mail via imap etc, you'll need to setup another service

I use dbmail - this is a imap/pop server with a database backend (apt-get install dbmail-mysql), but there's a number of other imap servers available

try

apt-cache search imap

to get a list...

subaruwrx · 01-05-2005, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by jmeads
postfix is just a mta, to access your mail via imap etc, you'll need to setup another service

I use dbmail - this is a imap/pop server with a database backend (apt-get install dbmail-mysql), but there's a number of other imap servers available

try

apt-cache search imap

to get a list...

Actually I still don't quite understand the function of MTA. So if I just set up a Postfix Server, what can it do in a network actually?

zuralin · 01-05-2005, 08:58 AM

An MTA sends and receives mail, however it doesn't provide you with a way for users to access the mail, which is why you need the imap/pop3 server.

subaruwrx · 01-05-2005, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by zuralin
An MTA sends and receives mail, however it doesn't provide you with a way for users to access the mail, which is why you need the imap/pop3 server.

So if I want users to access a local email server (LAN), I need to..

1) Configure imap/pop3 server together with postfix to send and receive mails?
2) Configure the imap/pop3 server and a database to add/remove/edit the email users' username, password, mail storage quota etc?
3) Edit /etc/hosts, C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts to add an entry like "192.168.0.2 emailserver.com.sg" ?

jmeads · 01-05-2005, 10:25 AM

you'll need to configure postfix to send and recieve emails (smtp) make sure its not an open relay, to send emails you may need to relay them though your isp's mail server as often isp's will block outgoing port 25 to stop spam. You need a fixed ip address or use a dns dynamic setup ...

you need to configure your imap / pop server to fetch emails for clients that connect, note that a imap server can't send / deliver emails, it just acts on a email repository...

depending on the imap server you use, you may need to create unix accounts for each email account, otherwise, add users as per the servers docs ( a case of rtfm)

Yes it can be helpful a add an entry into everyones hosts files, but you can either use just an ip on your lan, or use something like a light weight caching name server.

If you want postfix to be able to deliver and recieve mail, you will need to add some dns records, at least

an A record for the machine
a MX record for the A record

and maybe some CNAME records if your running a web server on the same box...

subaruwrx · 01-12-2005, 11:04 AM

Hi, I just installed debian and apt-get postfix, configure one of the option to be "internet".

My main.cf file

Quote:

# See /usr/share/postfix/main.cf.dist for a commented, more complete version

smtpd_banner = $myhostname ESMTP $mail_name (Debian/GNU)
biff = no

# appending .domain is the MUA's job.
append_dot_mydomain = no

# Uncomment the next line to generate "delayed mail" warnings
#delay_warning_time = 4h

myhostname = localhost.localdomain
alias_maps = hash:/etc/aliases
alias_database = hash:/etc/aliases
myorigin = /etc/mailname
mydestination = localhost.localdomain, localhost.localdomain, localhost
relayhost =
mynetworks = 127.0.0.0/8
mailbox_command = procmail -a "$EXTENSION"
mailbox_size_limit = 0
recipient_delimiter = +

cat /etc/mailname gives me localhost.localdomain.com

However, when I tried changing either of /etc/mailname or myhostname to something else (e.g linux.com.sg), I can't mail it out using "mail bla@gmail.com".

Another thing, what exactly is /etc/aliases used for in postfix?

subaruwrx · 01-13-2005, 08:33 AM

Sorry for the mess, please ignore my previous post as I have figured out.

Now, I am able to use postfix to send email to my gmail account, I tried sending to another debian pc with postfix but mail delivery failed. What I did was add the ip and hostname to the /etc/hosts. (e.g 192.168.0.1 debian.server) Then do a "mail subaruwrx@debian.server".

Is it because I need IMAP/POP server to do that? I have downloaded courier-imap and courier-webadmin but how do I access the webadmin to configure courier?

Thanks

subaruwrx · 01-14-2005, 11:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by subaruwrx
Sorry for the mess, please ignore my previous post as I have figured out.

Now, I am able to use postfix to send email to my gmail account, I tried sending to another debian pc with postfix but mail delivery failed. What I did was add the ip and hostname to the /etc/hosts. (e.g 192.168.0.1 debian.server) Then do a "mail subaruwrx@debian.server".

Is it because I need IMAP/POP server to do that? I have downloaded courier-imap and courier-webadmin but how do I access the webadmin to configure courier?

Thanks

bump

subaruwrx · 01-15-2005, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by subaruwrx
Sorry for the mess, please ignore my previous post as I have figured out.

Now, I am able to use postfix to send email to my gmail account, I tried sending to another debian pc with postfix but mail delivery failed. What I did was add the ip and hostname to the /etc/hosts. (e.g 192.168.0.1 debian.server) Then do a "mail subaruwrx@debian.server".

Is it because I need IMAP/POP server to do that? I have downloaded courier-imap and courier-webadmin but how do I access the webadmin to configure courier?

Thanks

bump.

subaruwrx · 01-17-2005, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by subaruwrx
Sorry for the mess, please ignore my previous post as I have figured out.

Now, I am able to use postfix to send email to my gmail account, I tried sending to another debian pc with postfix but mail delivery failed. What I did was add the ip and hostname to the /etc/hosts. (e.g 192.168.0.1 debian.server) Then do a "mail subaruwrx@debian.server".

Is it because I need IMAP/POP server to do that? I have downloaded courier-imap and courier-webadmin but how do I access the webadmin to configure courier?

Thanks

bump

subaruwrx · 01-19-2005, 09:55 AM

I intend to setup an internal postfix + pop3 email server which means the email server will only provide pop3 email for the LAN. This is only a really simple email server that probably setup just to show that it work.

1) How should I configure postfix to this scenario?

2) Which pop3 server do you all suggest to go together with postfix? A really simple and easy to configure pop3 server will do.

3) I read that some email accounts are created as the UNIX account at the email server whereas some just use database like mysql, ldap etc? How do I determine which one to use? I suppose this is dependent on the pop3 server?

Thanks.