need help with getting Dovecot mail server to work

steve51184 · 03-19-2008, 06:27 PM

i can't seem to send or receive any mail yet :\

is there a good detailed guide for setting up a mail server?

all i want is to forward the emails from 1 of my domains to another address

billymayday · 03-19-2008, 06:30 PM

What MTA (mail transport agent) software are you using or planning to use?

Edit - I'd suggest Postfix if you have no preference

steve51184 · 03-19-2008, 06:40 PM

i have postfix 2.4.5 installed already

billymayday · 03-19-2008, 07:05 PM

There you go - should be a piece of cake.

There are various howtos on the postfix site, but what sort of seup are you thinking of? Postfix is pretty straightforward.

steve51184 · 03-19-2008, 07:10 PM

i setup postfix and devecot together from that guide but i can't send mail (with an account made in ispconfig) so now i'm stuck

billymayday · 03-19-2008, 07:23 PM

Starting point for problems has to be your logs. I wuld think they are in /var/log/maillog, but not sure for Ubuntu. Try what ever you were doing that didn't work and post the relevant section of the log. You may also need to post the output of postconf -n (don't post the whole main.cf)

steve51184 · 03-19-2008, 07:30 PM

/var/log/mail.log = http://paste-it.net/7453/raw/

postconf -n = below

Code:

alias_database = hash:/etc/aliases
alias_maps = hash:/etc/aliases
append_dot_mydomain = no
biff = no
config_directory = /etc/postfix
inet_interfaces = all
mailbox_command = procmail -a "$EXTENSION"
mailbox_size_limit = 0
mydestination = /etc/postfix/local-host-names
myhostname = ubuntu
mynetworks = 127.0.0.0/8
recipient_delimiter = +
relayhost =
smtp_tls_session_cache_database = btree:${queue_directory}/smtp_scache
smtpd_banner = $myhostname ESMTP $mail_name (Ubuntu)
smtpd_recipient_restrictions = permit_mynetworks,permit_sasl_authenticated,reject_unauth_destination
smtpd_sasl_auth_enable = yes
smtpd_sasl_local_domain = mydomainname.com
smtpd_sasl_security_options = noanonymous
smtpd_tls_cert_file = /etc/ssl/certs/ssl-cert-snakeoil.pem
smtpd_tls_key_file = /etc/ssl/private/ssl-cert-snakeoil.key
smtpd_tls_session_cache_database = btree:${queue_directory}/smtpd_scache
smtpd_use_tls = yes
virtual_mailbox_maps = hash:/etc/postfix/mailboxes

billymayday · 03-19-2008, 07:38 PM

Whoa - post relevant lines of logs, not the whole shebang.

Now, first problem is you don't seem to have created the mailboxes database.

postmap /etc/postfix/mailboxes

This creates the mailboxes database from the text file you edited.

Try that and report back, and post in the thread the relevant log entries.

steve51184 · 03-19-2008, 07:44 PM

postmap: fatal: open /etc/postfix/mailboxes: No such file or directory

billymayday · 03-19-2008, 07:50 PM

Then you probably don't want the virtual_malbox_maps line. Do you know where that came from?

steve51184 · 03-19-2008, 07:52 PM

no idea where is came from sorry

after taking it out i got a system email from the server so it can send mail BUT i'm still unable to send or revive my mail

billymayday · 03-19-2008, 07:58 PM

Comment it out and try again.

Also, what domain are using? Assuming it's example.com, you will need to set mydomain, myhostname and mydestination correctly. These should work automatically, but your setting for myhostname could foul things up since I think it needs to be a fully qualified domain name (in this case, ubuntu.example.com, not just ubuntu). Comment out mydestination - the default it picks up should be fine. Try commenting out myhostname as well. If your machine is set up properly you don't need to define these.

steve51184 · 03-19-2008, 09:15 PM

right now i can send mail but not receive it :\

billymayday · 03-19-2008, 09:18 PM

Too easy.

Any more issues, probably start a new thread

steve51184 · 03-19-2008, 09:20 PM

seems i edited my post the same time you replayed anyway..

right now i can send mail but not receive it :\