Easy to follow howto on setting up a mail server with unlimited users and domains, with IMAP/Pop access, anti-spam, anti-virus, secure authentication, encrypted traffic, web mail interface and more.
Based on an Ubuntu distribution platform, but instructions are distro generic. Examples are run on Amazon AWS ec2, but only for demonstration purposes.
List of different versions of this document.
Brief description of this document.
Which software packages are we using and why.
How to install all packages and which ones.
Post install, what to configure for each section, with full command examples.
Creating the basic stub of data, and how to add your own.
Testing and troubleshooting each element.
If receiving an already setup machine, a list of actions to do to initialize and configure it.
Post working system, detailed instructions on optional features to add.
Amazons' hosting service. Used as examples for this howto.
| Edition | State | Started | Updated | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Released (outdated) | 2004-01 | 2004-02 | Based on Mandrake 9.1. |
| 2nd | Released (outdated) | 2004-02 | 2004-07 | Based on Mandrake 10.x, but valid for all distributions. Very thorough. Includes package description, where to get the sources and binaries, how to build them or which RPMs to use, includes many refrences, etc etc. Starts off with a basic working server, then advances, extends and tightens it in stages. |
| 3rd | Released (outdated) | 2005-05 | 2005-11 | Based on Ubuntu 5.04, Hoary Hedgehog. More concise simplified guide to get an advanced server working quickly. Now includes SASL & TLS integration. |
| 4th | Released | 2005-10 | 2005-12 | Based on Breezy Badger, Ubuntu 5.10. Includes Postgrey |
| 5th | Released (outdated) | 2006-05 | 2006-11 | Based on Dapper Drake, Ubuntu 6.06 LTS. |
| Scrapped | 2006-11 | 2007-10 | Was to be based on Edgy Eft, Ubuntu 6.10 or 7.04. include Domain Key signing. include my mail admin or my catchall aliases admin. | |
| 7th | Released (superseeded) | 2008-04 | 2009-06 | Updated, based on Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Hardy Heron. Using Amazon EC2 as example. (Tested with 8.10 & 9.04 as well) |
| 8th | Released (superseeded) | 2009-05 | 2009-11 | Based on Ubuntu 8.10 (intrepid), then tested with 9.04 (jaunty) & 9.10 (karmic) as well. Using official Ubuntu ec2 as examples. |
| 9th (this) | Released (superseeded) | 2009-11 | 2010-05 | Based Ubuntu 9.10 (karmic) using Canonical's cloud images. Added Roundcube webmail option. |
| 10th | Released | 2009-12 | 2010-06 | Based on Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (lucid) using Canonical's cloud images. |
This is a step by step howto guide to set up a mail server on a GNU / Linux system. It is easy to follow, but you end up with a powerfull secure mail server.
The server accepts unlimited domains and users, and all mail can be read via your favourite clients, or via web mail.
It is secure, traffic can encrypted and it will block virtually all spam and viruses.
Dont take my word for it! Research others opinions and methods. Look at my references, look at Postfix.org's howtos, read the excellent books available (E.g. Kyle's or Hildebrandt's), search the web or read the proper documentation.
If you refer to this howto in your own document, or find useful links, then let me know.
|
If you found this howto very useful, spread the word and help others? If this howto was exceptionally useful why not donate me some beer money? Or buy a postfix book using my amazon affiliate links further down? Or buy a t-shirt from my t-shirt shop? Otherwise send me a Thank You note? |
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UK |
US |
EU |
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Ah the age old distro argument... Thankfully this set up should work on most distros. I used to base this howto on Mandrake(now Mandriva), and I started this new edition on a Gentoo box. But I don't have the patience for Gentoo, nor the money to stay with Mandriva Power editions. Why Ubuntu? Its free, simple and slick. As Ubuntu is derived from debian the installations used here will be apt-get based. Please refer to my other editions for details on RPM or source based installations.
Simple, free and slick. Yup I am a sucker for anything that works easily. Postfix is powerfull, well established, but not too bloated, and is security concious from the start.
My first mail server installtion was with Courier. I have not found a reason to change this as again it is simple, and free.
Although I use Firebird for my application development, (or Hibernate/C-JDBC hybrids), MySQL is well supported for the sort of lookups required in a mail server.
Easy plug in solution for spam, virus checking etc.
Powerfull renowned spam fighting tool.
Free virus scanner that can be trusted and includes update daemon.
Secure and trusted crypthography technology for authentication of SMTP traffic.
Postgrey is an excellent little script to stop 99% of all spam. All it does is on first contact for specific from-to combinations, tells the sender server to try again in a little while, which most spammers cant afford to do. When proper servers try again after a few minutes it lets it through.
Secure and trusted crypthography technology for encryption of SMTP traffic. Not too be confused with client encryption technology like GnuPG and S/MIME. They are covered in the extend section. Formerly referenced as SSL.
Easy to set up php based web mail client. Extensive plugin selection.
Ajaxified prettier web mail client. Not quite as solid as SquirrelMail.
This guide can be installed locally, co-located or in the cloud.
My preference is ec2,
and I provide ec2 based examples,
however it makes no difference where you install your mail server.
Please see software links appendix for further information about these software packages. In that section there is more links to documentation or forums, and viable alternatives, downloadable packages, versions details etc.
Further software and tweaks are discussed in the extension section.
Also review other peoples opinion on these packages via my references.
This section is different for every distribution and for every version.
This howto is based on Ubuntu and its base of debian which uses apt-get. Therefor this section uses apt packages to its fullest.
For other installation method please refer to previous edition's software links and your own distribution for the documention for other ways of installing. My 2nd edition(outdated) has instructions for Mandriva, general RPM and tarball compiling.
To follow the rest of this howto with another distrobution, you need to ensure all your packages have been installed with the same modules, E.g MySQL lookup on postfix and sasl, php in apache etc.
I have set up mail servers using the 32bit and 64bit x86 platforms, and if all the packages are available then other, E.g. Mac platforms should work too.
With installing Ubuntu you have a choice of which base system to install. You may choose server or desktop image or very basic setups. I will assume a server install, but it should not differ.
Or if you have chosen an ec2 based server, you can:
Base it on a Canonical image
Apply my ec2 Ubuntu server suggestions
Use my prebuilt ec2 public images for this postfix mail server
Ps. Please note that after a while Ill stop specifying the use of sudo, as it is up to yourselves if you use it or use a priviliged user, e.g. root.
For assistance with repositories, refer to this article on ubuntu's wiki.
A previous edition discussed repository configuration in more detail.
But basically for this you need main and universe, and I also throw in the other "safe" ones: restricted and multiverse (and partner, when available).
sudo vi /etc/apt/source.list
If main and universe already is listed,
this is a quick find and replace to add the others all over:
:%s/main un/main restricted multiverse un/g
As mentioned in the previous edition you also might want to find a repository closer to your server.
You need to install a whole bunch of packages.
We will install them bit by bit.
But first check your package sources are correctly pointing to main multiverse restricted universe
repositories of your current Ubuntu version.
sudo vi /etc/apt/sources.list
Secondly update your current system:
sudo aptitude update
sudo aptitude safe-upgrade
First we'll install MySQL
sudo aptitude install mysql-client mysql-server
This will prompt you for a root password.
Choose someting wise and remember it!
For purpose of this tutorial I will set it to rootPASSWORD
Then we'll install postfix
sudo aptitude install postfix postfix-mysql
This will prompt you to choose type of email server.
Select internet site
It will also suggest a server name. Correct this if needed.
sudo aptitude install libsasl2-modules libsasl2-modules-sql libgsasl7 \
libauthen-sasl-cyrus-perl sasl2-bin libpam-mysql
sudo aptitude install courier-base courier-authdaemon courier-authlib-mysql \
courier-imap courier-imap-ssl courier-ssl
will prompt you about webdirectories. You can say no to this.
It will also warn you about the certificate location. Ignore it.
sudo aptitude install clamav-base libclamav6 clamav-daemon clamav-freshclam
(Earlier vesions of Ubuntu may use libclamav5)
sudo aptitude install amavisd-new
sudo aptitude install spamassassin spamc
sudo aptitude install postgrey
sudo aptitude install squirrelmail squirrelmail-locales php-pear php5-cli
sudo aptitude install phpmyadmin
Accept apache2 as the web server.
sudo aptitude install shorewall-common shorewall-perl
# for earlier ubuntu versions use package shorewall instead
sudo aptitude install shorewall shorewall-doc
Amazon provides a firewall/ access control for its servers, so not always needed then, but nice to have. And in all others situations; a must have.
I also install a few other packages that I personally prefer.
But nothing todo with the mail server.
sudo aptitude install vim mutt lynx
To find out which packages you may have installed,
you can use for example:
sudo dpkg --list | grep postfix
or
sudo aptitude search postfix
My AMI flurdy-amis/ubuntu-mail-server-clean is based on Canonical's official Ubuntu with these basic mail server packages installed.
Now lets configure a simple mail server using some of the packages installed.
Not essential for an EC2 image. It is essential for a normal server. UFW is bundled with recent Ubuntu distributions, but I still prefer Shorewall for servers.
Basically at first you want to only allow SSH. Then SMTP and IMAP from your IP only.
When you are confident that the mail server is secure, you can open SMTP to the world. If you prefer you can also open IMAP to the world, unless you have a very small client IP range.
Later you may open web access to the webmail and admin gui. This you may also restrict to specific IPs.
By default Shorewall in Ubuntu has an empty set up. You can find the default values for Shorewall in /usr/share/doc/shorwall-common/default-config. And examples in /usr/share/doc/shorwall-common/examples. We will create a basic set up.
First configure which network adapters we are accessing the net.
cp /usr/share/doc/shorewall-common/default-config/interfaces /etc/shorewall/
vi /etc/shorewall/interfaces
net eth0 detect dhcp,tcpflags,logmartians,nosmurfs
Then we will configure network zones
cp /usr/share/doc/shorewall-common/default-config/zones /etc/shorewall/
vi /etc/shorewall/zones
Add the firewall if not there and the internet as a zone.
fw firewall
# loc ipv4
net ipv4
Then if needed to specify hosts you can do it in this file.
E.g. If you wanto specify what is your home IP etc.
cp /usr/share/doc/shorewall-common/default-config/hosts /etc/shorewall/
vi /etc/shorewall/hosts
# loc eth0:192.168.0.0/24
Then set what is the default policy for firewall access.
cp /usr/share/doc/shorewall-common/default-config/policy /etc/shorewall/
vi /etc/shorewall/policy
$FW net ACCEPT
net $FW DROP info
net all DROP info
# The FOLLOWING POLICY MUST BE LAST
all all REJECT info
For safety in case it goes down.
cp /usr/share/doc/shorewall-common/default-config/routestopped /etc/shorewall/
vi /etc/shorewall/routestopped
eth0 0.0.0.0 routeback
You may put in a netmask of your ip range if you are more concerned.
Now for the main firewall rules.
You can find predetermined macro rules for Shorewall in
/usr/share/shorewall.
cp /usr/share/doc/shorewall-common/default-config/rules /etc/shorewall/
vi /etc/shorewall/rules
SSH/ACCEPT net $FW
Once your server is working come back to this step and open up SMTP and Web access to others.
vi /etc/shorewall/rules
Ping/ACCEPT net $FW
# Permit all ICMP traffic FROM the firewall TO the net zone
ACCEPT $FW net icmp
# mail lines
SMTP/ACCEPT net $FW
SMTPS/ACCEPT net $FW
Submission/ACCEPT net $FW
IMAP/ACCEPT net $FW
IMAPS/ACCEPT net $FW
#web
Web/ACCEPT net $FW
Firewall configuring is always risky business,
as it is easy to lock yourself out.
To test the setup syntax, run
shorewall check
Restart it with
/etc/init.d/shorewall restart
Then to switch it on during boot:
vi /etc/default/shorewall
startup=1
For more details on IP Tables and Shorewall, look up its website.
You should put the name of your server in this file
sudo vi /etc/mailname
Could be something like smtp.domain.name,
where domain name obviously is replaced with your domain name.
Now will open the main postfix configuration file:
sudo vi /etc/postfix/main.cf
Debian and Ubuntu already puts in some sensible default values in this file.
You may need to comment some of them out if we put the same in as well.
First specify the name of your server.
# This is already done in /etc/mailname
#myhostname= mail.example.com
Next is the origin which is the domain appended to email from this machine,
this can be your full servername, or domain name.
# myorigin=/etc/mailname
myorigin=example.com
Then decide what the greeting text will be.
Enough info so it is useful,
but not divelge everything to potential hackers.
smtpd_banner = $myhostname ESMTP $mail_name
Next you need to decide whether to send
all outgoing mail via another SMTP server,
or send them yourself.
I send via my ISP's server,
so it has to worry about the queing etc.
If you send it yourself then you are not reliant
on 3rd party server.
But you may risk more exposure and
accidentally be blocked by spam blockers.
And it is more work for your server.
Also many servers block dynamic dns hosts,
so you may find your server gets rejected.
However choose whichever you are comfortable with.
# leave blank to do it yourself
relayhost =# or put it an accessible smtp server
relayhost = smtp.yourisp.com
Next is network details.
You will accept connection from anywhere,
and you only trust this machine
inet_interfaces = all
mynetworks_style = host
Next you can masquerade some outgoing addresses.
Say your machine's name is mail.domain.com.
You may not want outgoing mail to come from
username@mail.example.com, as you'd prefer
username@example.com.
You can also state which domain not to masquerade.
E.g. if you use a dynamic dns service,
then your server address will be a subdomain.
You can also specify which users not to masquerade.
# masquerade_domains = mail.example.com www.example.com !sub.dyndomain.com
# masquerade_exceptions = root
As we will be using virtual domains, these need to be empty.
local_recipient_maps =
mydestination =
Then will set a few numbers.
# how long if undelivered before sending warning update to sender
delay_warning_time = 4h
# will it be a permanent error or temporary
unknown_local_recipient_reject_code = 450
# how long to keep message on queue before return as failed.
# some have 3 days, I have 16 days as I am backup server for some people
# whom go on holiday with their server switched off.
maximal_queue_lifetime = 7d
# max and min time in seconds between retries if connection failed
minimal_backoff_time = 1000s
maximal_backoff_time = 8000s
# how long to wait when servers connect before receiving rest of data
smtp_helo_timeout = 60s
# how many address can be used in one message.
# effective stopper to mass spammers, accidental copy in whole address list
# but may restrict intentional mail shots.
smtpd_recipient_limit = 16
# how many error before back off.
smtpd_soft_error_limit = 3
# how many max errors before blocking it.
smtpd_hard_error_limit = 12
Now we can specify some restrictions.
Be carefull that each setting is on one line only.
# Requirements for the HELO statement
smtpd_helo_restrictions = permit_mynetworks, warn_if_reject reject_non_fqdn_hostname,
reject_invalid_hostname, permit
# Requirements for the sender details
smtpd_sender_restrictions = permit_mynetworks, warn_if_reject reject_non_fqdn_sender,
reject_unknown_sender_domain, reject_unauth_pipelining, permit
# Requirements for the connecting server
smtpd_client_restrictions = reject_rbl_client sbl.spamhaus.org,
reject_rbl_client blackholes.easynet.nl,
reject_rbl_client dnsbl.njabl.org
# Requirement for the recipient address
smtpd_recipient_restrictions = reject_unauth_pipelining, permit_mynetworks,
reject_non_fqdn_recipient, reject_unknown_recipient_domain,
reject_unauth_destination, permit
smtpd_data_restrictions = reject_unauth_pipelining
Further restrictions:
# require proper helo at connections
smtpd_helo_required = yes
# waste spammers time before rejecting them
smtpd_delay_reject = yes
disable_vrfy_command = yes
Next we need to set some maps and lookups for the virtual domains.
# not sure of the difference of the next two
# but they are needed for local aliasing
alias_maps = hash:/etc/postfix/aliases
alias_database = hash:/etc/postfix/aliases
# this specifies where the virtual mailbox folders will be located
virtual_mailbox_base = /var/spool/mail/virtual
# this is for the mailbox location for each user
virtual_mailbox_maps = mysql:/etc/postfix/mysql_mailbox.cf
# and their user id
virtual_uid_maps = mysql:/etc/postfix/mysql_uid.cf
# and group id
virtual_gid_maps = mysql:/etc/postfix/mysql_gid.cf
# and this is for aliases
virtual_alias_maps = mysql:/etc/postfix/mysql_alias.cf
# and this is for domain lookups
virtual_mailbox_domains = mysql:/etc/postfix/mysql_domains.cf
# this is how to connect to the domains (all virtual, but the option is there)
# not used yet
# transport_maps = mysql:/etc/postfix/mysql_transport.cf
You need to set up an alias file.
This is only used locally,
and not by your own mail domains.
sudo cp /etc/aliases /etc/postfix/aliases
# may want to view the file to check if ok.
# especially that the final alias, eg root goes
# to a real person
sudo postalias /etc/postfix/aliases
Next you need to set up the folder
where the virtual mail will be stored.
This may have already been done by the apt-get.
And also create the user whom will own the folders.
# to add if there is not a virtual user
sudo mkdir /var/spool/mail/virtual
sudo groupadd virtual -g 5000
sudo useradd virtual -u 5000 -g 5000
sudo chown -R virtual:virtual /var/spool/mail/virtual
Note: If using Amazon ec2 you may want to move the mail spool to /mnt or an EBS location. You will need to symlink correctly afterwards.
Next we need to set up the files to access the lookups via the database. We will only set up a few now, and the rest later when/if needed:
Edit(create) how to find the users mailbox location
sudo vi /etc/postfix/mysql_mailbox.cf
user=mail
password=mailPASSWORD
dbname=maildb
table=users
select_field=maildir
where_field=id
hosts=127.0.0.1
additional_conditions = and enabled = 1
Create how to find the user id (this step I will eventualy remove)
sudo vi /etc/postfix/mysql_uid.cf
user=mail
password=mailPASSWORD
dbname=maildb
table=users
select_field=uid
where_field=id
hosts=127.0.0.1
Create how to find the group id. (this step I will eventualy remove)
sudo vi /etc/postfix/mysql_gid.cf
user=mail
password=mailPASSWORD
dbname=maildb
table=users
select_field=gid
where_field=id
hosts=127.0.0.1
Create how to find the email alias:
sudo vi /etc/postfix/mysql_alias.cf
user=mail
password=mailPASSWORD
dbname=maildb
table=aliases
select_field=destination
where_field=mail
hosts=127.0.0.1
additional_conditions = and enabled = 1
Create how to find the domains:
sudo vi /etc/postfix/mysql_domains.cf
user=mail
password=mailPASSWORD
dbname=maildb
table=domains
select_field=domain
where_field=domain
hosts=127.0.0.1
additional_conditions = and enabled = 1
As you can see the 3 first are very similar, only the select_field changes. If you specify an ip in hosts, (as opposed to 'localhost') then it will communicate over tcp and not the mysql socket. (chroot restriction). Actually you can avoid using separate uid and guid files as those details are the same for all, but I do anyway. Ps. remember to replace the password with your chosen mail user password.
Now we will need to create the tables for thos lookups just specified. First you need to create a user to use in MySQL for mail only. Then you need to create the database, Take note of your chosen mail username and password. You will need the password you specified for root during MySQL package installation.
# If not already done (in package installation)...
mysqladmin -u root password new_password
# log in as root
mysql -u root -p
# then enter password for the root account when prompted
Enter password:
# then we create the mail database
create database maildb;
# then we create a new user: "mail"
GRANT SELECT,INSERT,UPDATE,DELETE,CREATE,DROP
ON maildb.* TO 'mail'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED by 'mailPASSWORD';
GRANT SELECT,INSERT,UPDATE,DELETE,CREATE,DROP
ON maildb.* TO 'mail'@'%' IDENTIFIED by 'mailPASSWORD';
exit;
Obviously replace mailPASSWORD with your chosen password!
Then you will need to create these tables:
Log in to mysql as the new mail user
mysql -u mail -p maildb
# enter the newly created password
Enter password:
Then run this commands to create the tables:
CREATE TABLE `aliases` (
`pkid` smallint(3) NOT NULL auto_increment,
`mail` varchar(120) NOT NULL default '',
`destination` varchar(120) NOT NULL default '',
`enabled` tinyint(1) NOT NULL default '1',
PRIMARY KEY (`pkid`),
UNIQUE KEY `mail` (`mail`)
) ;
CREATE TABLE `domains` (
`pkid` smallint(6) NOT NULL auto_increment,
`domain` varchar(120) NOT NULL default '',
`transport` varchar(120) NOT NULL default 'virtual:',
`enabled` tinyint(1) NOT NULL default '1',
PRIMARY KEY (`pkid`)
) ;
CREATE TABLE `users` (
`id` varchar(128) NOT NULL default '',
`name` varchar(128) NOT NULL default '',
`uid` smallint(5) unsigned NOT NULL default '5000',
`gid` smallint(5) unsigned NOT NULL default '5000',
`home` varchar(255) NOT NULL default '/var/spool/mail/virtual',
`maildir` varchar(255) NOT NULL default 'blah/',
`enabled` tinyint(3) unsigned NOT NULL default '1',
`change_password` tinyint(3) unsigned NOT NULL default '1',
`clear` varchar(128) NOT NULL default 'ChangeMe',
`crypt` varchar(128) NOT NULL default 'sdtrusfX0Jj66',
`quota` varchar(255) NOT NULL default '',
`procmailrc` varchar(128) NOT NULL default '',
`spamassassinrc` varchar(128) NOT NULL default '',
PRIMARY KEY (`id`),
UNIQUE KEY `id` (`id`)
) ;
The last few fields in the users table are not required, but useful if you extend later.
# To visualise the tables created:
describe aliases; describe domains; describe users;
# then quit mysql
exit;
Next is to edit the MySQL's my.cnf file.
In Ubuntu/debian this is created by default.
In Mandrake I had to manually create a blank one in /etc.
But we need to configure it, so:
sudo vi /etc/mysql/my.cnf
In previous version you needed to comment out this line
#skip-networking
However in todays file the default is to bind the
address to localhost, which is fine.
bind-address = 127.0.0.1
It is very useful at the start to log any SQL calls
that makes it to MySQL. So enable this line:
log = /var/log/mysql/mysql.log
Then in a few weeks comment it out when everything is working,
as it slows mysql down
Restart MySQL to make sure its picking up the new settings.
sudo /etc/init.d/mysql restart
Please refer to previous edition for more explanations. But below is the details of what you need to change.
sudo vi /etc/courier/authdaemonrc
Change to mysql mode.
authmodulelist="authmysql"
Further down enable logging.
DEBUG_LOGIN=2
sudo vi /etc/courier/authmysqlrc
Changed user
MYSQL_USERNAME mail
Changed password to whichever you have chosen
MYSQL_PASSWORD mailPASSWORD
Changed database
MYSQL_DATABASE maildb
Changed users table
MYSQL_USER_TABLE users
Keep commented in crypt pw
MYSQL_CRYPT_PWFIELD crypt
Keep commented out clear pw
# MYSQL_CLEAR_PWFIELD clear
Added maildir
MYSQL_MAILDIR_FIELD concat(home,'/',maildir)
Added where clause
MYSQL_WHERE_CLAUSE enabled=1
Lastly you can have a look at the imapd file, but no changes is needed.
vi /etc/courier/imapd
You now have a basic mail server!
Before continuing to the advanced and secure mail server you must ensure the basic setup works.
This will save you from loads of pain further on.
It is very easy to make typos, miss tiny steps, unclear steps or simple actual errors in this howto.
Insert stub data from data section
Apply advice from test section judicously
Ensure the mail server can receive email correctly first, then try sending.
Once you are positive the mail has been received, the mail folders have been automatically created,
only then you should test if you can actually read the emails before proceding
Ive created an EC2 bundle for this stage: flurdy-amis/ubuntu-mail-server-simple.
Now lets extend this setup with more useful content checks , security and user interfaces.
Amavisd ties together all the different ways of checking email content for spam and viruses.
The defaults are pretty good and also the ubuntu documentation is pretty clear, and recommended.
Here is a tweaked version of it:
Initially we will not enable spam or virus detection! This is so we can get amavis set up to receive, check and pass on emails before we go on and over-complicate it.
All of amavis' configuration files are in /etc/amavisd.
They are now spread across several files in conf.d.
Debian and Ubuntu defaults are now very sensible and spread into
seperate files.
cd /etc/amavis/conf.d
01-debian defaults are fine.
Have a look at less 05-domain_id but dont change anything in it.
Have a look at less 05-node_id but dont change anything in it.
Have a look at less 15-av_scanners but dont change anything in it.
Edit content check file
sudo vi 15-content_filter_mode
Comment out both virus and spam scans. (Default).
# #@bypass_virus_checks_maps = (
# \%bypass_virus_checks, \@bypass_virus_checks_acl, \$bypass_virus_checks_re);
# @bypass_spam_checks_maps = (
# \%bypass_spam_checks, \@bypass_spam_checks_acl, \$bypass_spam_checks_re);
Have a look at less 20-debian_defaults but dont change anything in it.
25-amavis_helpers defaults are fine.
30-template-localization defaults are fine.
Edit user file
sudo vi 50-user
In the middle insert:
@local_domains_acl = qw(.);
$log_level = 2;
$syslog_priority = 'debug';
$sa_kill_level_deflt = 8.0; # triggers spam evasive actions
$final_spam_destiny = D_PASS;
# $final_spam_destiny = D_DISCARD;
We have now setup amavis to scan and pass along incomming email. Next we will setup postfix to talk to amavis.
vi /etc/postfix/master.cf
Append these lines to the end of the file
(make sure they are not already present).
(Note the -o lines have spaces in front of them.
amavis unix - - - - 2 smtp
-o smtp_data_done_timeout=1200
-o smtp_send_xforward_command=yes
-o disable_dns_lookups=yes
-o max_use=20
127.0.0.1:10025 inet n - - - - smtpd
-o content_filter=
-o local_recipient_maps=
-o relay_recipient_maps=
-o smtpd_restriction_classes=
-o smtpd_delay_reject=no
-o smtpd_client_restrictions=permit_mynetworks,reject
-o smtpd_helo_restrictions=
-o smtpd_sender_restrictions=
-o smtpd_recipient_restrictions=permit_mynetworks,reject
-o smtpd_data_restrictions=reject_unauth_pipelining
-o smtpd_end_of_data_restrictions=
-o mynetworks=127.0.0.0/8
-o smtpd_error_sleep_time=0
-o smtpd_soft_error_limit=1001
-o smtpd_hard_error_limit=1000
-o smtpd_client_connection_count_limit=0
-o smtpd_client_connection_rate_limit=0
-o receive_override_options=no_header_body_checks,no_unknown_recipient_checks
Also add the following two lines immediately below the "pickup" transport service:
-o content_filter=
-o receive_override_options=no_header_body_checks
and then added to main.cf
sudo vi /etc/postfix/main.cf
content_filter = amavis:[127.0.0.1]:10024
Enable scanning by ClamAV of amavis' temporary files.
sudo adduser clamav amavis
This should be it to get amavis working.
If emails are picked up by amavis and
passed back to postfix then it looks okay.
Next is to uncomment the anti virus and anti spam lines
in
sudo vi 15-content_filter_mode
@bypass_virus_checks_maps = (
\%bypass_virus_checks, \@bypass_virus_checks_acl, \$bypass_virus_checks_re);
@bypass_spam_checks_maps = (
\%bypass_spam_checks, \@bypass_spam_checks_acl, \$bypass_spam_checks_re);
But do that after the next section (SpamAssassin).
When things are working we will turn down logging level,
and start bouncing/discarding spam.
sudo vi /etc/amavis/conf.d/50-user
@local_domains_acl = qw(.);
$log_level = 1;
$syslog_priority = 'info';
$sa_kill_level_deflt = 8.0; # triggers spam evasive actions
#$final_spam_destiny = D_PASS;
$final_spam_destiny = D_DISCARD;
The default config of spam assassin is okay. You could refer to previous edition for more configuration options.
You do need to tell SpamAssassin to start smapd on boot.
vi /etc/default/spamassassin
ENABLED=1
One configuration option you could tweak is to enable Bayes and auto learning.
vi /etc/spamassassin/local.cf
ClamAV does not need setting up. Configuration files are in /etc/clamav, but they are automatically generated, so do not edit.
By default freshclam, the daemon that
updates the virus definition database, is run 24 times a day.
That seems a little excessive, so I tend to set that to once a day.
sudo dpkg-reconfigure clamav-freshclam
It will also ask if you want it to be daemon (yes) and which server is closest to you.
If needed, the command below will redefine the configuration with a lot of questions.
Not needed unless you need to configure.
sudo dpkg-reconfigure clamav-base
The default config of postgrey is okay.
However you need to tell Postfix to use it.
sudo vi /etc/postfix/main.cf
And then edit the recipient restrictions:
smtpd_recipient_restrictions = reject_unauth_pipelining, permit_mynetworks, permit_sasl_authenticated,
reject_non_fqdn_recipient, reject_unknown_recipient_domain, reject_unauth_destination,
check_policy_service inet:127.0.0.1:10023, permit
You can tweak whitelisting in /etc/postgrey.
You can tweak postgrey configuration by tweaking /etc/default/postgrey.
E.g. delay, auto whitelisting, or reject message.
POSTGREY_OPTS="--inet=10023 --max-age=365"
You know have an advanced mail server. You can use this, but Id recommend continuing. However this is a good point to test the set up so far and to insert some data in the db.
Ive created an EC2 bundle for this stage: flurdy-amis/ubuntu-mail-server-spam.
Stopping hackers, phishers, spammers, your boss and your neighbour from accessing your server or the traffic in between is important, and easily done.
Normal email traffic between clients and servers are in open plain text. That includes passwords and content of emails.
SASL secures the actual authentication (login), by encoding the passwords so that it can not be easily intercepted. The rest of the emails are however in clear plain text.
SASL can be a royal pain to set up,
especially as it does not support storing encrypted passwords by default in Ubuntu.
Therefor my previous editions described how to
configure SASL using plain text passwords in the database.
Obviously this is not ideal, so there are ways to combine SASL and storing encrypted passwords. In the future the packages that comes with Ubuntu may support the password_format configuration option for SASL. But until then you can configure SASL to ask PAM to compare the passwords:
Install packages if not all installed already:
sudo aptitude install sasl2-bin libpam-mysql libsasl2-modules libsasl2-modules-sql
Enable postfix to access SASL files:
sudo adduser postfix sasl
Create sasl files accessibly even by chrooted Postfix:
sudo mkdir -p /var/spool/postfix/var/run/saslauthd
Add SASL configurations to Postfix:
sudo vi /etc/postfix/main.cf
# SASL
smtpd_sasl_auth_enable = yes
# If your potential clients use Outlook Express or other older clients
# this needs to be set to yes
broken_sasl_auth_clients = no
smtpd_sasl_security_options = noanonymous
smtpd_sasl_local_domain =
Modify these existing configurations:
# Add permit_sasl_authenticated to you existing smtpd_sender_restrictions
smtpd_sender_restrictions = permit_sasl_authenticated, permit_mynetworks,
warn_if_reject reject_non_fqdn_sender, reject_unknown_sender_domain,
reject_unauth_pipelining, permit
# Add permit_sasl_authenticated to you existing smtpd_recipient_restrictions
smtpd_recipient_restrictions = reject_unauth_pipelining, permit_mynetworks,
permit_sasl_authenticated, reject_non_fqdn_recipient, reject_unknown_recipient_domain,
reject_unauth_destination, check_policy_service inet:127.0.0.1:10023, permit
Change how SASLAUTHD is run:
sudo vi /etc/default/saslauthd
# Toggle this to yes
START=yes
# Switch this to be under postfix's spool
# And add -r so that the realm(domain) is part of the username
OPTIONS="-r -c -m /var/spool/postfix/var/run/saslauthd"
Tell postfix how to interact with SASL:
sudo vi /etc/postfix/sasl/smtpd.conf
pwcheck_method: saslauthd
mech_list: plain login cram-md5 digest-md5
log_level: 7
allow_plaintext: true
auxprop_plugin: mysql
sql_engine: mysql
sql_hostnames: 127.0.0.1
sql_user: mail
sql_passw: aPASSWORD
sql_database: maildb
sql_select: select crypt from users where id='%u@%r' and enabled = 1
(When SASL is working you can remove the log_level line.)
Tell the pam how to to authenticate smtp via mysql:
sudo vi /etc/pam.d/smtp
These must be on 2 lines only, but I have broken them up for easier to read.
auth required pam_mysql.so user=mail passwd=aPASSWORD
host=127.0.0.1 db=maildb table=users usercolumn=id passwdcolumn=crypt crypt=1
account sufficient pam_mysql.so user=mail passwd=aPASSWORD
host=127.0.0.1 db=maildb table=users usercolumn=id passwdcolumn=crypt crypt=1
In addition to tailing var/log/mail.log and /var/log/mysql/mysql.log it is quite usefull to tail the auth.log as well when testing SASL.
tail -f /var/log/auth.log
Restart postfix and saslauthd to enable SASL for sending emails.
sudo /etc/init.d/saslauthd restart
sudo /etc/init.d/postfix restart
I tend not to have SASL for my courier authentication,
as I enforce TLS for all my clients.
However if you have a more lenient access policy which is wise if you have many users,
then you may want SASL in Courier as well:
sudo vi /etc/courier/imapd
This may already be avaiable as a commented out line. If not replace the current line by adding UTH=CRAM-MD5 AUTH=CRAM-SHA1 so it resembles something like this: (Again on one line)
IMAP_CAPABILITY="IMAP4rev1 UIDPLUS CHILDREN NAMESPACE
THREAD=ORDEREDSUBJECT THREAD=REFERENCES SORT QUOTA AUTH=CRAM-MD5 AUTH=CRAM-SHA1 IDLE"
sudo /etc/init.d/courier-authdaemon restart;
sudo /etc/init.d/courier-imap restart
Encrypting the traffic stops anyone else listening in on your email communications. And is very recommended. There are different types of communication to encrypt: The data traffic between your email applications and the server when you read emails or when you send emails, and communication between other email servers and your server.
For the encryption of reading emails, it is Courier you need to configure. For sending, and beetwen server encryption it is Postfix.
To encrypt you need certificates. Ubuntu creates some for you for which you can use while setting up the server. However before you go live, it is recommended to create your own with your proper domain name etc. Please refer to previous edition for more detail.
vi /etc/postfix/main.cf
There are already some TLS settings in the default debian/ubuntu version of this file.
I moved these to the end, for clarity, but that is up to you.
# TLS parameters
#smtp_use_tls = no
smtp_tls_security_level = may
#smtpd_use_tls=yes
smtpd_tls_security_level = may
#smtpd_tls_auth_only = no
smtp_tls_note_starttls_offer = yes
smtpd_tls_loglevel = 1
smtpd_tls_received_header = yes
smtpd_tls_session_cache_timeout = 3600s
tls_random_source = dev:/dev/urandom
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:${data_directory}/smtpd_scache
#smtp_tls_session_cache_database = btree:${data_directory}/smtp_scache
Next we have a look at the master.cf file.
vi /etc/postfix/master.cf
By default only the normal smtp service is enabled,
which is fine.
But I prefer to enable submission (port 587),
so that clients can use it, and I can restrict them to TLS only.
Also enabled smtps service (port 465),
for some compatebility with some older clients (outlook express etc).
submission inet n - n - - smtpd
-o smtpd_sasl_auth_enable=yes
# if you do not want to restrict it encryption only, comment out next line
-o smtpd_tls_auth_only=yes
# -o smtpd_tls_security_level=encrypt
# -o header_checks=
# -o body_checks=
-o smtpd_client_restrictions=permit_sasl_authenticated,reject_unauth_destination,reject
-o smtpd_sasl_security_options=noanonymous,noplaintext
-o smtpd_sasl_tls_security_options=noanonymous
# -o milter_macro_daemon_name=ORIGINATING
smtps inet n - - - - smtpd
-o smtpd_tls_wrappermode=yes
-o smtpd_sasl_auth_enable=yes
-o smtpd_tls_auth_only=yes
-o smtpd_client_restrictions=permit_sasl_authenticated,reject
-o smtpd_sasl_security_options=noanonymous,noplaintext
-o smtpd_sasl_tls_security_options=noanonymous
# -o milter_macro_daemon_name=ORIGINATING
Again Ubuntu has created a certificate for you, but if you want to create your own,
especially for a properly named server, then do this.
cd /etc/courier
openssl req -x509 -newkey rsa:1024 -keyout imapd.pem \
-out imapd.pem -nodes -days 999
For more details review last edition.
Then you need to edit
vi /etc/courier/imapd-ssl
By default Ubuntu already points to you certificate
TLS_CERTFILE=/etc/courier/imapd.pem
Modify this if needed.
Also you if want to restrict IMAP users to SSL/TLS only toggle this setting to 1.
IMAP_TLS_REQUIRED=1
For maximum compatability it is not wise to restrict to TLS only for the traffic between servers. As this means not all valid emails sent by others can reach your server. However enabling them the option to encrypt is a good idea.
Be aware that the emails are not encrypted on your machine, nor on the server. For this type of client encryption, please refer to previous edition for more on GnuPG.
In some situations SASL and TLS do not play well together. Those situations are in combinations of storing encrypted passwords, using MD5 authentication over encrypted traffic. I recommend, insisting on TLS traffic with your authenticating clients, which then negates the need for SASL.
You know have an advanced secure mail server. Now is another good point to test the set up so far and to insert some data in the db.
Ive created an EC2 bundle for this stage: flurdy-amis/ubuntu-mail-server-secure.
Using among others the https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Squirrelmail as an updated reference.
If you prefer the prettier Roundcube, but less powerfull (at the moment), the follow the Roundcube section in the extention section.
You may need to enable web access in the firewall. Check the firewall configuration if this neccessary.
You need to copy a SquirrelMail configuration to apache.
sudo cp /etc/squirrelmail/apache.conf /etc/apache2/sites-available/squirrelmail
And enable with this:
sudo ln -s /etc/apache2/sites-available/squirrelmail /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/500-squirrelmail
Or as Florent recommends, use:
sudo a2ensite squirrelmail
You may accept the default apache configuration where squirrelmail is folder in all sites. But I prefer virtual hosting. But you dont need to do these next steps.
sudo vi /etc/apache2/sites-available/squirrelmail
Comment out the alias.
# alias /squirrelmail /usr/share/squirrelmail
Uncomment the virtual settings.,
and insert your servers name.
# users will prefer a simple URL like http://webmail.example.com
If you have apache SSL enabled in apache, then you can also
uncomment the mod_rewrite section for further security.
Reload apache to activate changes.
First test if ok.
sudo apache2ctl -t
Then reload it.
sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 reload
You can now go toyourdomain.com/squirrelmail/ or mail.yourdomain.com if you chose virtual host. This should show a squirrel mail page. Log in wont work yet though.
sudo squirrelmail-configure
Initially change nothing. You can customize more afterwards. You can browse, and exit sub menues by typing R.
Type 2 to edit server settings. Type A to edit IMAP settings.
Type 8 to edit server software.
Enter courier.
courier
Now they say using TLS over localhost is a waste of time.
But I do anyway.
Type 7 to edit secure IMAP.
Type Y to enable it.
Type 5 to edit IMAP port.
Enter 993
Type S to save your changes. Hit Enter.
Type Q to exit.
You can now go to yourdomain.com/squirrelmail/ or mail.yourdomain.com if you chose virtual host. This should show a squirrel mail page. Log in will now work. (Except you may not have defined users, check data section. And they may not have received an email which also means you can not view any IMAP info.)
Please refer to previous edition for more detail. E.g. creating address books and user preferences.
You may need to enable web access in the firewall. Check the firewall configuration if this neccessary.
You need to copy a phpMyAdmin configuration to apache.
sudo cp /etc/phpmyadmin/apache.conf /etc/apache2/sites-available/phpmyadmin
And enable with this:
sudo ln -s /etc/apache2/sites-available/phpmyadmin /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/400-phpmyadmin
Or as Florent recommends, use:
sudo a2ensite phpmyadmin
You may choose to restrict phpMyAdmin to a spefic virtual host.
If so you need to, edit
sudo vi /etc/apache2/sites-available/phpmyadmin
and comment out the alias.
And insert the alias into a virtual host configuration.
For this example we are not.
Reload apache to activate changes.
First test if ok.
sudo apache2ctl -t
Then reload it.
sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 reload
You can now go to http://yourdomain.com/phpmyadmin/, and login with the mail user. You can use it as it is, but I recommend securing it a bit more.
One simple way is adding apache's .htaccess login requirement.
Further restrictions can be restricting to a specific virtual host. Or renaming the folder. Purely ubfuscating, but simple.
Or using the example in the webmail section, and adding SSL requirement to the connection. Or disabel mysql root's access via phpMyAdmin.
Please refer to previous edition for example on htaccess, and mysql user restriction.
You know have a finished mail server. This is as far as the main guide goes. Hope it was clear enough to follow.
Now it is time to insert data, and to test how it works.
Feel free to extend it with my suggestions further down.
Ive created an EC2 bundle for this stage: flurdy-amis/ubuntu-mail-server-webmail.
Required domains and users
Example domains and users
Adding template
So we got a fully set up mail server... Well no, there is no users, domains, no nothing!
Okay, first you need add some default data, some which are required, some which make sense.
Then we'll add your own users and domains.
First the required domains for local mail
# Use phpMyAdmin or command line mysql
INSERT INTO domains (domain) VALUES
('localhost'),
('localhost.localdomain');
Then some default aliases. Some people say these are not needed, but I'd include them.
INSERT INTO aliases (mail,destination) VALUES
('postmaster@localhost','root@localhost'),
('sysadmin@localhost','root@localhost'),
('webmaster@localhost','root@localhost'),
('abuse@localhost','root@localhost'),
('root@localhost','root@localhost'),
('@localhost','root@localhost'),
('@localhost.localdomain','@localhost');
Then a root user.
INSERT INTO users (id,name,maildir,crypt) VALUES
('root@localhost','root','root/', encrypt('apassword') );
Now lets add some proper data.
Say you want this machine to handle data for the fictional domains of "blobber.org", "whopper.nu" and "lala.com".
Then say this machine's name is "mail.blobber.org".
All email to lala.com is to be forwarded to whupper.nu.
INSERT INTO domains (domain) VALUES
('blobber.org'),
('mail.blobber.org'),
('whopper.nu'),
('lala.com');
INSERT INTO aliases (mail,destination) VALUES
('@lala.com','@whupper.nu'),
('@mail.blobber.org','@blobber.org'),
('[email protected]','postmaster@localhost'),
('[email protected]','abuse@localhost'),
('[email protected]','postmaster@localhost'),
('[email protected]','abuse@localhost');
You also have two users called "Xandros" and "Vivita".
INSERT INTO users (id,name,maildir,crypt) VALUES
('[email protected]','xandros','xandros/', encrypt('apassword') ),
('[email protected]','vivita','vivita/', encrypt('anotherpassword') );
INSERT INTO aliases (mail,destination) VALUES
('[email protected]','[email protected]'),
('[email protected]','[email protected]');
You want all mail for whooper.nu to go to xandros (catchall).
INSERT INTO aliases (mail,destination) VALUES
('@whopper.nu','[email protected]');
There is also a "Karl" user, but he does want all mail forwarded to an external account.
INSERT INTO aliases (mail,destination) VALUES
('[email protected]','[email protected]');
So what does each of these lines actually do? Well the domains are pretty straight forward.
The users are as well, it requires four fields. ID is the email address of the user, and also its username when loggin in, described later on. NAME is optional description of the user. MAILDIR is the name of the folder inside /var/spool/mail/virtual. It must end in a /, otherwise it wont be used as a unix maildir format. CRYPT is the encrypted text password to use.
The alises are the interesting part. Lets start from a top down view to see how emails get delivered:
Say an email arrives addressed to "[email protected]".
Postfix looks up domains and say whopper.nu is an domain it listens to.
Postfix then looks up aliases and searches for a row where the mail field matches "[email protected]".
None does so it next searches for "@whopper.nu", which is the way to specify catch all others for that domain.
It finds one row and its destination is "[email protected]".
It then searches for "[email protected]" and finds one, which destination is the same as the mail, therefor it is the final destination.
It then tries to deliver this mail. The look up says blobber.org is a local mail so it looks up users for a matching id and delivers it to its maildir.
Lets try "[email protected]".
Postfix looks up domains and it is an domain it listens to.
First lookup does not find this user, but the next finds the catchall "@lala.com". But its destination is another catchall, "@blobber.org".
This means Postfix will look for "[email protected]". This address is not found either, nor is a catchall for blobber.org. Therefor this address is not valid and the message will be bounced.
Any mail arriving for "[email protected]" or "[email protected]", gets forward to an external address of "[email protected]". So forwarding is simple. I tend to use a subdomain for all my friends addresses as easily I forget what their real addresses are, and I use different email clients all the time.
I also added the required aliases of postmaster and abuse to
blobber.org and whopper.nu.
The catchall for lala.com means they are not required for that domain.
Another useful alias to add is root,
as often you get admin mail from e.g cron jobs within
those domains etc.
Other often used aliases are info, sysadmin, support, sales,
webmaster, mail, contact and all.
But they are also honeypots for spam,
so just include the ones you think you will need.
So to add a new domain to the system, You do this, replacing the italics with relevant data:
INSERT INTO domains (domain) VALUES ('domain.tld');
INSERT INTO aliases (mail,destination) VALUES
('@domain.tld','email@address'),
('[email protected]','email@address'),
('[email protected]','email@address');
And to add a new user to the system, do this:
INSERT INTO users (id,name,maildir,clear) VALUES
('email@address','short description','foldername/',encrypt('password'));
INSERT INTO aliases (mail,destination) VALUES
('email@address','email@address');
A selection of useful sql statements, if you are not using an admin/manager program to maintain your email domains and users.
Find domains without a catchall
#Remember some might be disabled
SELECT dom.domain
FROM domains dom
LEFT JOIN aliases al
ON CONCAT( '@', dom.domain ) = al.mail
WHERE al.mail is null
OR al.enabled = 0
ORDER BY dom.domain ASC
SELECT al.*
FROM aliases al
LEFT JOIN domains dom
ON dom.domain = SUBSTRING(al.mail,LOCATE('@',al.mail)+1)
WHERE dom.domain is null
OR dom.enabled = 0
ORDER BY al.mail ASC
SELECT al.*
FROM aliases al
LEFT JOIN domains dom
ON dom.domain = SUBSTRING(al.destination,LOCATE('@',al.destination)+1)
WHERE dom.domain is null
ORDER BY al.enabled, al.destination ASC, al.mail ASC
SELECT al.*
FROM aliases al
WHERE SUBSTRING(al.mail,LOCATE('@',al.mail)+1) = 'domain.tld'
ORDER BY al.enabled, al.mail ASC
select *
from domains d
join aliases a
on a.mail like concat( '%','@',d.domain)
and a.enabled = 1
where d.enabled = 1
and d.domain like '%foobar%'
order by d.domain,a.mail
If you mistakenly or intentially skipped past sections, you may have missed an important step in your configuration, which my guide pressumes you have followed.
99% of all problems is spelling errors or typos you entered while following this guide. Sorry, but it just happens. Often it can be trivial, such as a space at the end of the configuration line which was not expected etc. Or not understanding my example where it is a multi line entry.
Yes, I make a lot of mistakes. Nothing wrong in that, but I hope I have corrected most over time. Any new sections are however at risk... :)
It is obviously entirely up to you how you set up your system. But the more you deviate from this guide, the more likely incompatibilties or confusion will arrise.
If you run a different version or even distrobution to this guide, then some things will be different. Small issues, such as default values and significant things such as path differences etc. Some sections in this guide are not always thouroughly tested with every new release of Ubuntu, but these differences gets pointed out by people for me.
Don't try the full blown mail server before the basics are working.
Got to blame it on something or someone.
What steps to think of when testing.
It is very helpfull to test early in this set up, to establish if the first sections are working as expected.
So when you only have your very basic postfix and mysql up: Test it!
That way you know that bit worked and can rule it out of any future problems.
Don't wait till you complicated and mudded the water after amavis, courier etc is added.
By constantly testing if you can send and receive you can tick off and black box each section as working, and immidietly spot issues.
Testing how things work is often about isolating the problem first. So by using the steps of testing early above, you can see which step caused the problem.
Also if you can't log into your webmail it is often nothing to do with the webmail section that is causing the problem. Often postfix itself is broken etc.
As part of the isolating the problem rule, you most of the time test in order, and test each section thus isolating the problem. This would then quickly isolate the problem when e.g. such as above issues of reading emails via the webmail. This would be in order:
Access: Can I get(ssh) to the box, and is there a firewall issue?
Database: Is the database up, do my application reach it?
Postfix: Can I send email by command line, do I receive emails via telnet?
Content checks: Do they cause a problem?
Courier: Can I read emails?
Webmail: And last but not least does the web integration work?
Assisting in isolating the problem, you often have to disable options and applications. Such as turn of postgrey or content checks to make sure emails to get delivered.
Previous editions do have some more detail on how to achieve this
Essential to monitor what actually happens, and tailing specifically the mail and mysql log.
/var/log/system.log
/var/log/mail.log
/var/log/mysql.log
/var/log/apache2/access.log
In one window:
tail -f /var/log/mail.log
And in another window:
tail -f /var/log/mysql.log
In a third or more do your actual configuration or testing.
The previous editions has detail on switching services off untill time to test them.
It also details locking down your server from spammers untill finished testing.
You can also switch on more messages for when the firewall is rejecting connections.
Add info to all REJECT, BOUNCE and DROP policies.
sudo vi /etc/shorewall/policy
such as:
net all DROP info
There is no point in tailing the mysql log if query debugging is not turned one.
By default it is not.
However in this guide I do switch it on,
in case that was missed switch it on now:
sudo vi /etc/mysql/my.cnf
Make sure this is not commented out
log = /var/log/mysql/mysql.log
As mentioned in the setup , switching on debugging for Courier is easy:
sudo vi /etc/courier/authdaemonrc
DEBUG_LOGIN=2
You can also debug amavis:
sudo vi /etc/amavis/conf.d/50-user
And perhaps bump it up if already debugging:
$log_level = 2;
When testing a mail server, telnet is alpha & omega. You use it to simulate real mail servers to test responses by your mail server.
First you test it on the server to exclude firewall and network issues.
Then you test it from another machine to simulate an actual other mail server.
Once these are working you can use proper email clients, however 99% I just use mutt locally when I need to test if a server is working.
Lets assume:
You have followed my guide up to basic configuration at least
You have entered data into the database
The services MySQL and Postfix are running.
If testing a fuller stack, then amavis, postgrey, clamav-daemon, spamassassin etc must also be running.
Try this locally on the server first, then try from another machine once it is working locally.
Lets try and send a message to [email protected]
(replace with your own user in this setup, or use postmaster@localhost)
from [email protected]
(again replace with a real email address you use that is not associated with this server.)
telnet localhost 25
# Open the hand shake with ehlo and the server name you are connecting from...
# Change mail.example.com to something valid eg your servername
EHLO mail.example.com
# The mail server will then dump out some details about its capabilities, e.g.
>250-mail.flurdy.net
>250-PIPELINING
>....
>....
# then say who is the sender of this email
MAIL FROM: <[email protected]>
> 250 Ok
# then say who the mail is for
RCPT TO: <[email protected]>
> 250 Ok
# then enter the keyword data
data
> 354 End data with <CR><LF>.<CR><LF></LF></CR></LF></CR>
# enter message bodyand end with a line with only a full stop.
blah blah blah
more blah
.
> 250 Ok; queued as QWKJDKASAS
# end the connection with
quit
> 221 BYE
If while you were doing this you were tailing the /var/log/mail.log you would see some activities and if any errors occured. (You should probably get some complaints about missing headers as we skipped most...)
If while you were doing this you were tailing the /var/log/mysql.log as well you really should have seen some activity otherwise you have a problem.
If you see any errors (or worse no activity) in these log files, this is what you need to fix! For common problems and solutions check the previous edition.
However if no errors popped up, and the folder /var/mail/virtual/xandros now exists then your server can receive emails!
You need to make sure you can first receive emails as above
The services MySQL and Postfix are running.
Basically you just tested that above,
but we need double check if it can send out to other servers.
Again we will first test locally, which should work,
then remotely which introduces many possible problems.
telnet localhost 25
# Open the hand shake with ehlo and the server name you are connecting from...
# This time it has to be the name of your server
EHLO mail.example.org
# The mail server will then dump out some details about its capabilities, e.g.
>250-mail.flurdy.net
>250-PIPELINING
>....
>....
# then say who is the sender of this email, which is a local user
MAIL FROM: <[email protected]>
> 250 Ok
# then say who the mail is for which is an external address e.g. gmail etc.
RCPT TO: <[email protected]>
> 250 Ok
# then enter the keyword data
data
> 354 End data with <CR><LF>.<CR><LF></LF></CR></LF></CR>
# enter message bodyand end with a line with only a full stop.
blah blah blah
more blah
.
> 250 Ok; queued as QWKJDKASAS
# end the connection with
quit
> 221 BYE
We have to assume receiving works above so no need to tail mysql's logs. However if any rejection errors occured in the mail.log then you have an error.
However if no errors occured and you see in the log something like this:
Dec 17 10:25:45 servername postfix/smtp[12345]: 12345678: to=<[email protected]>, relay=127.0.0.1[127.0.0.1]:10024,
delay=15, delays=15/0.01/0.02/0.11, dsn=2.0.0, status=sent (250 2.0.0 Ok, id=12345-09, from MTA([127.0.0.1]:10025):
250 2.0.0 Ok: queued as 1234567)
Then the sending emails work!
You need to make sure you can first receive emails as above
You need to make sure you can send emails as above
You need to make sure you have received an email and the folder /var/mail/virtual/xandros exists
The services MySQL, courier-authdaemon and courier-imap are running.
There is not too much you can test via telnet for courier.
But you can check if it is up and you can connect to it.
telnet 127.0.0.1 10024
Trying 127.0.0.1...
Connected to 127.0.0.1.
Escape character is '^]'.
220 [127.0.0.1] ESMTP amavisd-new service ready
The rest you would have to test via a proper email IMAP client.
Brief hints if you receive a ready setup machine (or EC2 AMI), and what then to check and to customize it to your setup.
Stop services
Restrict firewall
Change passwords
Check configurations
Set machine name
Certificates
Start and test services
Insert data
Reload postfix
Open firewall
Test
First stop services so they wont accidentally do something.
sudo /etc/init.d/postfix stop
sudo /etc/init.d/courier-imap-ssl stop
sudo /etc/init.d/courier-imap stop
sudo /etc/init.d/courier-authdaemon stop
sudo /etc/init.d/mysql stop
sudo /etc/init.d/amavisd stop
sudo /etc/init.d/spamassassin stop
sudo /etc/init.d/clamav stop
Check what the firewall rules are.
vi /etc/shorewall/rules
Refer to the .
Restrict to just SSH access for now.
Next the passwords needs to be changed. For both the system and mysql.
Check which users are defined on the system.
cat /etc/passwd
Apart from all the system ones,
there should probably be none (if EC2 AMI) or
just your user if it is a standard Ubuntu install.
If there are some users, you need to change
their passwords.
Next we check whom got SSH access.
If there was any users defined,
check their home folders for ssh keys.
cat /home/username/.ssh/auth*
Remove any you do not expect to be there.
Next check if and which specific users has been defined
for SSH access in
vi /etc/ssh/sshd
Usually this is fine.
First you need to change the root mysql user.
If none has been set do this
mysqladmin -u root password new_password
Otherwise do this and you will be prompted for the old password
mysqladmin -u root password new_password -p
Then the default mail user as well.
If you know the old password
mysqladmin -u mail password new_password -p
Otherwise log into mysql as root:
mysql -u root -p
Enter new root password specified above, then:
update mysql.user set password=password('apassword') where user='mail';
flush privileges;
You may need to revisit the top of MySQL section
to re-grant the mail use rights on the database.
If you do not know the old root password, you have to restart mysql without grant rights. Google it... :)
Update postfix mysql configuration files with the new password.
sudo vi /etc/postfix/mysql*
password=apassword
Update courier's authmysql file with the new password as well.
sudo vi /etc/courier/authmysqlrc
MYSQL_PASSWORD apassword
You should scan the postfix, courier, etc. configurations to check if they match what you expect.
Now you need to define your machine name,
e.g. something like smtp.yourdomain.com.
You need to define it in
sudo vi /etc/mailname
And then your domain name in
sudo vi /etc/postfix/main.cf
under the mydomain setting
myorigin=yourdomain.com
It could also be smart to check what the unix hostname is specified
as
hostname
This can be reset by
sudo hostname smtp.yourdomain.com.
All though this does not have to be the same as your postfix mail server name.
You may want to speficiy some hosts in hosts file as well,
sudo vi /etc/hosts
127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost
127.0.0.1 smtp.yourdomain.com smtp
You could go along with the generated certificates (if they are there, default for Ubuntu). Or if you could create new ones with the correct machine name in them. Especially if this a mail server used by many, and authenticiy is important. Follow the TLS certificate instructions for Postfix and Courier.
Next you need to start your mail services and test them.
sudo /etc/init.d/mysql start
sudo /etc/init.d/spamassassin start
sudo /etc/init.d/clamav start
sudo /etc/init.d/amavisd start
sudo /etc/init.d/postfix start
sudo /etc/init.d/courier-imap-ssl start
sudo /etc/init.d/courier-imap start
sudo /etc/init.d/courier-authdaemon start
So test tjenestene via testing section.
Insert your mail domains, aliases and users using the data section.
Some times there are test data already in the database. Remove them.
E.g.;
mysql -u mail -papassword maildb
delete from domains where domain = 'bar.com';
delete from aliases where mail = '[email protected]';
Then open up the firewall, follow the world access bit in the firewall configuration. Voila. Up and running. Well we hope.
Please refer to previous edition for how and why you can extend this mail server.
By now you should have a fully working system. No point extending and complicating it untill then. What next? There are many ways to extend the server, to create your own powerfull customized version.
Some of these sections can be brief as they are not core to this howto.
With MX backup loosing emails are unlikely.
Normally if someone sends an email destined for you, their server will try and connect to your server. If it can't reach your server for whatever reason ( it is down, dns issues, there is network problems, or just too busy ), the other server will back off and try again in a bit. How many and for how long it will try again is determined by the sending server. Some of them are not very patience, and it will report undelivered after only a few attempts. So you would have lost that email.
If you had specified a backup MX, this email may not have been lost. Upon first failure to connect to your server, the sender would see if there is any alternative server to send to. So it connects to your backup mx server. This server spools and queues your message and will try at intervals to send the message to you. It too will though eventually give up.
What is the difference? Simple, you (or whoever controls the backup mx ) is in control how long and often to try connecting to your machine. So if you have a reasonable values and your server is not down for weeks, no mail is lost.
How to implement it? First edit the DNS records again, and add a backup mx with a higher value.
# your server details
domain.tld IN MX 10 your.mailserver.name.tld
# new backup server
domain.tld IN MX 20 your.backupserver.name.tld
CREATE TABLE `backups` (
`pkid` smallint(6) NOT NULL auto_increment,
`domain` varchar(128) NOT NULL default '',
`transport` varchar(128) NOT NULL default ':[]',
`enabled` smallint(6) NOT NULL default '1',
PRIMARY KEY (`pkid`),
UNIQUE KEY `domain` (`domain`)
);
Then still on the backup server, edit main.cf and add these:
relay_domains = mysql:/etc/postfix/mysql_backups.cf
transport_maps = mysql:/etc/postfix/mysql_transport.cf
You may choose to have this as the last line in the file, as you may use small cron jobs to modify this ip address, if you don't have a permanent static address. It should contain your IP addres, hence if you do not have a very static IP address, that you need to automatic editing if the postfix file.
proxy_interfaces = 1.2.3.4
If someone comes with a better way, then let me know.
Next create this file /etc/postfix/mysql_backups.cf
user=mail
password=apassword
dbname=maildb
table=backups
select_field=domain
where_field=domain
hosts=127.0.0.1
additional_conditions = and enabled = 1
Next create this file /etc/postfix/mysql_transport.cf
user=mail
password=apassword
dbname=maildb
table=backups
select_field=transport
where_field=domain
hosts=127.0.0.1
additional_conditions = and enabled = 1
You noticed I added a transport lookup. This is a field in both the domain and the backup tables. In domains it is used to determine how to deliver the email, ie either virtual (correct) or local (not used in this howto). When backing up servers, your also need to specify in the transport field how to connect to the correct servers.
Say you are backiup for a friends server, mail.friend.com, for the domains of friend1.com and friend2.com. So you should insert this into your backup table.
INSERT INTO backups (domain,transport)
VALUES ('friend1.com' , ':[mail.friend.com]' ),
('friend2.com' , ':[mail.friend.com]' );
The :[] tells to connect directly to this server, not doing any more look ups for valid MX servers.
This shouls now work fine. Further tweaking of the queue values, review these and modify as appropiate. Shorter warning times are good for the sender, so that they realise the email has not arrived yet, but may also be annoying. Tradeoffs.. Look in the first main.cf configurations for ways to do so.
Here is rough backup script to backup your configurations and mail folders. You may want to backup the folders seperatly as they can quickly grow to GBs. Adding this to a cronjob automates this process. Be aware that you should stop postfix and courier while backing up the mail folders. And that if they have grown large, that this may take some time.
tar czf mail-config.xxxxx.tgz /etc/postfic /etc/courier /etc/spamassassin /etc/clamav /etc/amavis /etc/mysql/my.cnf
tar czf mail-fold.xxxx.tgz /var/spool/mail/virtual
mysqldump -u mail -papassword -t maildb > data.sql
mysqldump -u mail -papassword -d maildb > schema.sql
tar czf mail-data.xxx.tgz schema.sql data.sql
tar cf mail.xxxxx.tar mail-*.xxxxx.tgz
You may combine a full backup with a intermediate update of what has changed recently only.
tar --newer-mtime "2005-01-01"
Further security features is using Microsoft's Sender ID or Pobox's SPF. I'd use SPF as there is much argument over Sender ID.
www.microsoft.com/mscorp/safety/technologies/senderid/
SPF should limit who can send mail on behalf of your domains, and is an open design. I do recommend SPF, with some reservations, detailed below.
While Microsoft is not always entirely evil, as sometimes they do nice things and make some useful software, I would prefer not to be locked into their Sender ID technology.
The pobox site has some nice SPF generation tools to setup your SPF configuration. Probably best to use theirs.
But the way I have my setup, is generally one domain with detailed SPF, then all other domains just with an SPF alias to it. e.g:
Main domain DNS TXT field:
"v=spf1 a mx a:myserver.example.com include:aspmx.googlemail.com include:gmail.com ~all"
The important elements are:
I list the mail servers and websites associated with this domain (the a and mx bit).
I then specifically list the name of a server I may send mail from applications automatically using addresses within this domain.
As you can see I also use Google Apps with this domain, thus tell SPF to also allow all mail servers associated with google mail.
Then for most of the other domains I would use this DNS TXT field:
"v=spf1 a mx include:example.com ~all"
The important elements are:
I list the mail servers and websites associated with this domain
Then I tell SPF to also allow all mail servers associated with my main domain (example.com).
And for all these I use ~all!
Ps. Some domains I have added an even stricter SPF, as these are domains that will never send an email.
It is worth noting about SPF, that you should leave the decision to whether to reject or allow the email to the mail servers. Therefor using -all instead of ~all is not a good choice. Leave it to the SPAM scoring by the receiving server, like SpamAssasin does it. You then minimise the risk of false positives.
One of the reason I do discourage -all use, is that SPF has a distinct problem:
It does not like email forwarding or use of backup MX!
Consider this: Your address of [email protected] sends a joke email to a few friends.
One of these is [email protected].
Trixie's email address is actually an alias and forwards the email to her private webmail account on hotmailnot.com.
Now if your domain, hoopa.com, have a strict SPF set up, which only allows emails to be sent by its mail server. And you/the mail admin has added -all to the SPF, which tells other server to reject emails not from your server. This you think makes sense, spammers can not use your domain for spoof emails.
So what happens: bellbell.org receives the email from lulu, and possible checks the SPF, which is OK, and forwards it on to hotmailnot.com.
However if hotmailnot.com also checks SPF, it will receive the email from bellbell.org, check the SPF to see bellbell.org's mail server is allowed to send emails on behalf hoopa.com. SPF will say No!, and with the -all, hotmailnot.com email server will reject the email!
2nd scenario if lulu email trixie directly at hotmailnot.com, but hotmailnot.com main mail server was down, and email was sent to the backup mx server. When the main server came online again, and the backup spooled the email back to it, the SPF would again fail as the hoopa.com's SPF would not mention hotmailnot.com backup mx as an allowed mail server.
Solution:
Of course you can not list all possible forwarding / backup mx email server that your domain's users might at some point email!
I simple just use the ~all option. Which simple say it is not the expected server, but probably ok.
And if this is added to a scoring by the receiver, then the accumulated spam score might be enough to reject dodgy emails.
Reporting spam to Pyzor, Razor and SpamCop, for collaboration in spam fighting.
More detail on SpamCop is here.
You can implement white and black lists to explicitly allow or block domains and users.
You have already visited the option of a blackhole list of known open relays in the postfix configuration.
You can implement further lists inside Postfix or SpamAssassin. Amavisd-new already has a few well known white/black listed items in its config files. SpamAssissin also as a feture to automaticly learn white lists.
Adding support for GnuPG and S/MIME increases indiviual security.
This is not implemented on the postfix server side, as this totally a client side option.
However SquirrelMail has a GnuPG option. It is a plugin that can be downloaded from their website. Which can then be enabled via SquirrelMail's config script.
Here is how to create a GnuPG key pair.
# check you have not already got a key
gpg --list-keys
# then create one
gpg --gen-key
To import GnuPG into Evolution; in your settings/preferences edit your account settings and add you private key under the security tab. The private key is found via listing the GnuPG keys as above, then it is the 8 characters after the "sub 1024g/" bit of you key.
To use GnuPG with Thunderbird you need to install EnigMail.
S/MIME is another way to encrypt and/or sign messages. You can create you own certificate or use known organizations like Thawte. (Thawte was originally set up by the Ubuntu founder)
If people change addresses, a bounced message stating so if people send email to the old address is quite useful. To implement this in postfix, frst create a lookup table in the database.
CREATE TABLE `relocated` (
`pkid` smallint(6) NOT NULL auto_increment,
`oldadr` varchar(128) NOT NULL default '',
`newadr` varchar(128) NOT NULL default '',
`enabled` tinyint(1) NOT NULL default '1',
PRIMARY KEY (`pkid`),
UNIQUE KEY `oldadr` (`oldadr`)
) ;
Then add this to /etc/postfix/main.cf
relocated_maps = mysql:/etc/postfix/mysql_relocated.cf
The create this file /etc/postfix/mysql_relocated.cf
user=mail
password=apassword
dbname=maildb
table=relocated
select_field=newadr
where_field=oldadr
hosts=127.0.0.1
Then if [email protected] has changed address to [email protected]:
INSERT INTO relocated (oldadr,newadr)VALUES
('[email protected]','[email protected]');
If anyone sends an email to [email protected], they will get a message back stating he has changed address to [email protected].
If SASL didn't work, or you are using clients which dont support it, the Pop-Before-SMTP is an easy way around that issue, so that people externally can still securly send mail via your server.
Refer to my 2nd edition on Pop-before-SMTP setup.
Trying out a few admin software might make you life easier, if phpMyAdmin gets to crude. Quick search
More to come later.
Postfix have now features to auto reply to an email, while still delivering it to its alias.
If you use catch alls, which are useful for some domains, then eventually some addresses will be target for spam. You can then either stop the catch all, or stop indivdual addresses.
By implementing a lookup and adding this restriction to smtpd_recipient_restrictions accomplises this.
check_recipient_access mysql:/etc/postfix/mysql_block_recip.cf,
smtpd_recipient_restrictions = permit_mynetworks, permit_sasl_authenticated, \
check_recipient_access mysql:/etc/postfix/mysql_block_recip.cf, \
reject_non_fqdn_recipient, reject_unauth_destination, \
check_relay_domains
Beware of the order is important here, if any options says ok before check_recipient_access it will ignore it.
Next create mysql_block_recip.cf to lookup addresses. Either create a another table, or add a blocked field to aliases table.
For some users with restrictions on bandwidth, you may wish to control how much mail is sendt out. Postfix has long refused to implement these features, out of ideolocial beliefs that mail servers should not be restricted. However there are some ways around this. More to come later.
Rich Brown has written a howto on adding Mailman, a mail list program, to my howto. Click here to read it.
Do note it is not part of my howto, so do not contact me regarding it. And although I think it is fine, I can't guarantee it will work.
If you do need assistance or need to talk about it, contact Rich via his howto or use the forums for this howto.
If you want a simple mailling list, it can be implemented by simply seperating aliases in the destination field in the aliases table with a comma.
INSERT INTO aliases (mail,destination) VALUES
( '[email protected]' , '[email protected],[email protected],[email protected]' );
Currently writting this one...
I have for various reasons integrated some Google Apps hosted domains into my mail server. And you can still have good control over the addresses by using your server with Google Apps.
More information on Google Apps.
Some already have their domain's email hosted with Google.
Some people prefer Google's web based interface.
Temporary Migrations.
Include Google's security features on top of yours.
The easiest and simples solution is not to have a domain MXed to your server, and simply alias email to those domains. eg All email to joeblogs.co.uk hosted on your server are forwarded to joeblogs.com hosted with google.
You may set up your own server to simple be a mail server backup (mx) for a domain hosted with google. If you are the first priority in the MX details of the DNS, you still have some control, but not all will obey the priority listing. E.g. spammers, but some valid senders as well.
However the one I use and the option where you are most in control is to keep you server as the only MX server in the DNS. And only forward certain aliases onto Google after all your servers checks. Other aliases and user can just use your mail server if you prefer. I will explain how to do this in the next steps.
You only put your mail server as the mx for the domain in question. Google will complain about this, as it will not be able to verify that email is setup correctly. Ignore this as it will still accept emails.
You setup you aliases as normal. However you domain table needs tweaking. This is because otherwise your server will just forward the email to itself. You can actually specify aliases in the domain table.
Example:
Your domain is bloggs.com.
Joe wants to use gmail.
Mary does not.
to be done
to be done
There are some items you should consider when integrating Google Apps.
Privacy
First there is the privacy issue.
This is the same as if you were using Google Apps only or GMail.
Google can and will read your email.
However probably not a person, but they will use it for commercial reasons,
E.g. showing relevant ads.
Some people really hate this part and refuse to use Google's mail products.
However I trust them a little bit, and do use it.
Spam
If you forward spam, then consider your own servers reputation.
Should be okay though.
SPF
If you use SPF for your domain,
consider that both your server and google will receive and send mail
on behalf of that domin.
Google internally
Be aware Google think they host you domain.
So if others inside google, or using google hosted apps or GMail,
if they email you, the email may not go via your email server,
but directly to the Google Apps for your domain.
That could be an issue if not all aliases you have use Google Apps.
This needs to be tested more though.
Especially as it may only be an issue if Google's servers are part
of you domains MXs.
Villu have documented swapping in Maildrop for virtual transport and automatically deliverin spam to a spam folder. (And links to a post about vacation messaging)
Please read his post here.
As an alternative to SquirrelMail, Roundcube has a more modern feel to it. It is however not got the long testing track record of SquirrelMail, and is not yet a 1.0 release version. However if you prefer its very much more appealing interface then follow these easy steps:
You may optionally want to uninstall SquirrelMail:
sudo aptitude remove squirrelmail squirrelmail-locales
Then install Roundcube
sudo aptitude install roundcube roundcube-mysql
It will ask you if you want to configure its database access, answer yes, then select mysql. Then it will ask for the root mysql uses password, which it will create a roundcube mysql user and ask for its desired password.
This will create a symblink in /etc/apache2/conf.d/ to /etc/roundcube/apache.conf. Edit this file.
sudo vi /etc/roundcube/apache.conf
Depending on your setup you may want to move those Alias commands at the top to your virtual hosts configuration, or for this example enable them here for all hosts.
# Uncomment them to use it or adapt them to your configuration
Alias /roundcube/program/js/tiny_mce/ /usr/share/tinymce/www/
Alias /roundcube /var/lib/roundcube
Next edit the configuration file
sudo vi /etc/roundcube/main.inc.php
Modify these lines for added security and ease of log in:
$rcmail_config['default_host'] = 'ssl://localhost:993';
$rcmail_config['smtp_server'] = 'ssl://localhost';
$rcmail_config['smtp_port'] = 465;
# keep as default or change to your mail server name
$rcmail_config['smtp_helo_host'] = 'mail.example.com';
$rcmail_config['create_default_folders'] = TRUE;
There are other tweaks and security features you can enable such as:
$rcmail_config['sendmail_delay'] = 1;
But perhaps concentrate on getting the basics working firtst...
Save, exit and reload Apache to enable these aliases for Roundcube to work
sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 reload
Then go to your roundcube installation depending where and how
you modified those Aliases, e.g. at
http://mail.example.com/roundcube.
That should be it
You can obviously modify and tweak further. One thing that may be usefull is to have the Roundcube Apache Alias on different virtual hosts, and configure username_domain in main.inc.php to append different email addresses, or configure the default_host to different mail server depending on virtual host... More details on the Roundcube Wiki.
If you have any suggestions to other ways of extending
a postfix server, then fire off a mail to me via
the contact form further down.
(Or rather, Id prefer that you write down the extension, and let me know the link! :))
Easy to use. Anyone can use, not just big companies. Very useful. Tools are command line but simple. Firefox extensions work well. Recommended.
I find it very usefull. Basically it is a colo hosting environment. Some may use it as for Saas, ie single scalable application in the cloud, but I use it as a hosting environment for complete servers.
I have made a separate tips and howto on the use of ec2 for general server needs. Hope it will be useful for people.
Different images to launch for different needs. Good way to scale backup MXs if needed. Can script backup to S3 of mail dirs etc.
If you plan to use EC2 to follow this howto, then familiarise yourself with EC2 first. Check the links further down, e.g. my tips.
Once competent enough on EC2, launch the latest official Ubuntu ec2 image or one of Eric Hammond images. You can cheat by using my other images, but you should really know how the whole server was built by starting from the bottom.
When using EC2 images, be aware of security groups as they restricts access to your server on top of the firewall. Initially you will need SSH (22) access, quite soon you will need SMTP and IMAP ports opened, 25,143,465,587 and 993, and eventually webserver ports of 80 and 443. Read here for tips on securing AMIs.
Also do not terminate your instances without backing up your machine. This you can do by either create your own image. Or backup certain data if you got an image to instantiate from. Back up to S3 or your local machine. Create images only now and then. Backup configurations, database, maildirs more regularily.
Note: You may need to remove my ssh key from root or ubuntu user's authorized_keys2 file. They should not be present, but may be, so please check?
2nd Note: Spamhaus.org lists amazons ec2 ip ranges as dynamic, thus many mail servers will reject emails from it. (Including other people using this howto.) But Spamhaus has a simple web page to remove ips, which they link to in rejection messages. Simple look in your logs, click on the link on follow the instrucions: basically fill in your ip, email and state its for a mail server. Then Spamhaus will remove your IP from their database.
3rd Note: Amazon has extended this spam limitations, so if you have a busy mail server, follow their FAQ entry for removing mail throttling.
4th Note: This fix needs to applied to the instances buildt on an early 8.04 base. This is not a problem with the later Hammond or any Canonical based images.
4th Note: Images based on Canonical's offical Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala to come soon...
Public AMIs to use as base:
(
Images with strike through them are no longer recommended.
Their are fine for experimenting and testing,
but should not be used for permanent "live" servers
)
| AMI | Description | S3 Name | Ubuntu version |
Extended from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
ami-1515f67c |
Base install: Canonical's Official Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic 32bit US |
canonical-cloud-us/ubuntu-karmic-9.10-i386-server-20091027.1 |
9.10 Karmic |
|
|
|
|
8.10 Intrepid |
|
ami-c4f615ad |
Base install: Alestic Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Hardy 32bit US |
alestic/ubuntu-8.04-hardy-base-20091011 |
8.04 LTS Hardy |
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8.04 LTS Hardy |
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ami-4132d428 |
Clean with all packages installed but no configuration |
flurdy-amis/ubuntu-mail-server-clean-20090529-2 |
8.10 Intrepid |
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8.04 LTS Hardy |
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ami-eb39df82 |
Just mysql, postfix and courier configured |
flurdy-amis/ubuntu-mail-server-basic-20090604-1 |
8.10 Intrepid |
ami-4132d428 (Clean Canonical) |
ami-8541a4ec |
Just mysql, postfix and courier configured |
flurdy-amis/ubuntu-mail-server-simple-080504-1 |
8.04 LTS Hardy |
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ami-9941a4f0 |
Including anti spam and anti virus |
flurdy-amis/ubuntu-mail-server-spam-080504-1 |
8.04 LTS Hardy |
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ami-395fba50 |
Including TLS and SASL encryption and authentication |
flurdy-amis/ubuntu-mail-server-secure-080527-2 |
8.04 LTS Hardy |
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ami-275fba4e |
With webmail and admin enabled |
flurdy-amis/ubuntu-mail-server-webmail-080527-1 |
8.04 LTS Hardy |
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ami-xxx |
With back up mx |
flurdy-amis/ubuntu-mail-server-backup-xxx |
8.04 LTS Hardy |
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ami-xxx |
With back up mx only |
flurdy-amis/ubuntu-mail-server-backup-only-xxx |
8.04 LTS Hardy |
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If you have a comment or question about the ec2 images, please discuss it in the forums? If you notice a security problem, or I have not cleaned the images properly please let me know?
alestic, ubuntu ec2 images
Ivar Abrahamsen, an IT Senior Consultant from Norway. Specialising in developing and integrating middleware application systems. Mainly open source and Java based technology stack. Recently moved back to Oslo, Norway after 15 years in Manchester.
Remember I have stood on the shoulders of giants. I just ended up with a system that worked for me, and decided to document its evolution.
Before contacting, have you?:
Read this document properly? Followed it step by step?
(While we can not insist on the same setup for everyone,
assistance is easier and more likely if less customised)
Applied the solutions provided in the test section?
Read the forums for solutions already posted?
Read the FAQ?
Tailed the mail.log? It usually tells you what the problem is!
Tailed the mysql.log? If nothing happens there it should indicate something...
Include a short dump of the mail.log with your post. (Remember to anonymise the servernames, email adresses & definetly passwords!)
Use the Ubuntu forums! :)
Here is a thread on this specific mail server howto.
And another one by me which is also used..
Please participate in the forums.
If you see an issue you also have, contribute with more information.
And even better if it something you may know how to solve, please let people know.
And especially, if you post a problem, then solve it, let people know what the solution was! (and not just that you solved it...)
I am rubbish in replying to emails, and the forums are read and answered by people whom know a lot more about Postfix than me.
Questions sent to me directly may not be answered for a while or at all unfortunetly.
Not to be rude, but in attempt to reduce the volume of emails I receive please consider the following:
If you simply want advice please use the forum.
My references and the people whom follow the forums and the postfix mailling lists are much more knowledgable than me.
People whom follow the forums and the postfix mailling lists are much more likely to reply than me.
I am a firm believer in: Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime. (Playing far too much Civ was not all wasted..)
So if you have any questions,
problems with using this guide,
or any other issues with this guide,
please use the forum.
Then it is also an available archive for others to find solutions in the future.
Any technical difference of opinion, please use the forum.
Interested in Postfix, or got a technical query about it? Considered the postfix mailling lists.
If you made / found an extensions to this tutorial, Fantastic! Please let me know, and Ill link to it. And shout at me, if I am slow in doing so. :)
Any clear technical mistakes by me in this guide, then let me know, but perhaps discuss it first in the forums?
If you find any spelling mistakes or broken links, please let me know.
Thank you messages are very appreciated however! Actually it makes my day. :)
(People whom buy a T-shirt of me makes my week.. ;p )
If you still want my advice or hire me:
You may hire me as a consultant via www.eray.co.uk.
You may hire me to set up a complete server for you via www.eray.co.uk.
In the end I am contactable via flurdy.com/contact :)
However :
Do remember my fishing analogy.
I do not appreciate people whom wants shortcuts and ask me to set their server up for them, especially for free.
Nor do I find it amusing when people have not even followed my suggested steps, and/or not tested properly and ignored the logs etc.
Email servers are important and potentially dangerous,
so you really need to learn how it works, and how to tweak it.
Main reason: Because you can.
Other good reasons:
Basically it leaves you in complete control,
to expand, customize and tweak your mail server to your needs.
You are not dependant on 3rd party providers,
limited by their technology contraints or your budgets.
With your own mail server you can add as many aliases,
users and domain as you'd like,
be as restrictive or open about security, virus, spam,
file sizes etc as you prefer.
And is it is well known, frequently updated, open source application stack,
you can also trust the software you use.
When I set up my first email server I used a mix of other howtos on the net. And they were so helpfull that I though I would contribute back with my experience. And it has been useful as a recipe script for myself every time I need to install/update a server.
A less angelic reason is that back in 2003 I was setting up mail server for a few friends and collegues. Soon I was getting more request, and being a lazy programmer, I thought.. "Why don't I write a howto and let them do it themselves..." Soon it was listed on postfix.org and I was getting thousends of hits and lots of emails. (blessing in disguise)
Or rather why no new edition or updates for two years?
Well basically no time or need to do so, so basically lazyness...
My last edition was written two years ago,
and was pretty complete and thorough so my inclination
to write a new one has been low, especially as
my own mail server had not changed since then either.
But then my server started crashing so I upgraded it to Ubuntu 8.04 which went pretty smooth, but with a few tweaks. So time for another edition.
This time I expanded reliability to include the possibility of running backup mx servers using Amazon's Elastic Computing Cloud. Note, however this is an optional extra at the end.
New references
Please refer to the previous edition for a list of urls and suiteable downloads. However most are unneccessary with decent package manager.
I used to distinguish differences, which were available in a previous edition.
Please refer to the previous edition for a complete lists of downloads that are available.
Brief list of latest changes.
2010-02-15: Redid SASL secure authentication section.
2009-12-16: Expanded test section with text from older editions and new babble.
2009-11-25:
Bumped to edition 9!
And added Roundcube as webmail client.
2009-11-11: Updated to work with 9.10 Karmic Koala.
2009-06-04: made basic server image available on ec2. based canonical's official ec2 ami.
2009-06-02: made clean server image available on ec2. based canonical's official ec2 ami.
2009-05-29: changed contact section.
2009-05-29: started 8th edition
Used to refer to all changes, but got too long. A previous edition contains such a list.
Spell check!
Remove uid and guid
Create backup mx AMI
Please refer to the previous edition for some old todos....
There is not yet an extensive FAQ.
But please, most of the frequent questions have been asked and answered in the forums.
Most are also unneccessary as following the test section will have solved them.
Some question that frequently get sent to me, which first of all should have been asked in the forums and has been answered there many times, which then I tend to ignore are:
This is due to many things. Most are due to skipping too fast forward, ignoring test sections etc.
Answers:
Does postfix work?
No point trying to run before you can crawl.
Send emails to recipients on your server,
tail mail.log to see if everything is okay.
Often mysql is not configured properly, check the mysql logs for activity.
Have they ever received an email?
If not they can not log into squirrelmail
as the email folders will not yet exist.
Does Courier work?
If it doesn't then you have still got some more setup to do.
If all above is okay, then it may be a problem with your Squirrelmail setup.
Check empty spaces in squirrelmail mysql setup. More details in test section.
Mentioned many times in this guide and forums.
Answers:
Have they received an email?
If not they you can not log into squirrelmail
as the email folders will not yet exist.
When receiving their first email,
postfix will create all the neccessary folders.
If it does not your postfix setup is broken.
There is a program that creates the folders for you.
I do not recommend it,
as basically your postfix setup is broken
if no folders are created, and you better fix it instead.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 License.