as i am new to linux, i wish to know more about setting up mail servers such as SMTP servers, POP servers, IMAP servers,. i also wish to know what is dovecot and how am i going to cofigure it or is it already configured as default?

i am currently using red hat enterprise linux 4 currently.

That's a BIG set of questions.

Let's start out with more details, such as your distribution, release, what you'd like to accomplish, and how much patience you have.

i don't quite understand what you mean. i only can tell you that my time is short as i did to do a submission based on this.

So are you trying to setup a mail server on your RH4 system? For yourself? Others? How many users? What types of clients will they use? Etc, etc. etc.

Your questions are too broad - you'll get plenty of information just by looking at the RH site under their help and support section for your release.

I would recommend reviewing some of the how-to's for your project. there are several sites that have complete walk-thru instructions on how to configure a mail server using postfix and Dovecot, (or Courier / Cyrus for IMAP ond POP3 functionality depending on your needs)

Mr. C is correct you should define your needs first.

Do you want just a basic mail server ?
Do you want the server to block SPAM (Spam assassin / Dspam) ?
Do you want to Scan mail for viruses (ClamAV) ?
Do you plan on hosting more than one domain on a single server (virtual domains) ?
Do you want Webmail access (Squirrel webmail / Other) ?
etc..

After you determine what you need there are a lot of resources available.

http://www.howtoforge.com/howtos/email/postfix

http://www.howtoforge.com/virtual-us...ysql-centos4.5

http://www.hughesjr.com/index2.php?o...do_pdf=1&id=14

http://www.postfix.org/docs.html

That's a start.

When following the how-to's they typically have steps in them to TEST the system as you progress, to ensure things are working properly thus far. do not skip those steps, or keep moving forward until the tests are successful.