Call for email server help (kind of OT)

[David Fletcher]

On Tuesday 18 November 2008 14:15:27 Donn wrote:
> Hi,
> I find myself with a new domain and a server. I have got all kinds of
> things working but I cannot figure-out email. Can anyone give me the 'big
> picture' so that I can go grep the details?
>
> 1. People need to be able to send mail to blah at mydomain.xyz where
> mydomain.xyz is my new domain on my virtual server.
When postfix is first installed it asks for you to tell it what the basic 
installation type is. I made a mistake with mine, which unlike yours is not 
receiving mail from the Internet. To get it to run from the top again, I 
think I had to uninstall it and delete the configs from /etc. I'm now outside 
of my personal experience, but if you've got a server with a fixed IP address 
you should be able to get something called an MX record to direct email 
directly into your server.

You will then need to get postfix to sort your incoming mail into user mail 
boxes. This again is outside my experience but you might like to read up on 
mail aliases or maybe procmail.

> 2. I need to be able to fetch and read this mail from kmail at home (not on
> the server).
Try dovecot. Mine is set to work over SSL through port 995. This is blocked by 
my employer's firewall outgoing, though, so I use other means. Maybe somebody 
else can comment on using port 110 with TLS? Is it as secure as SSL?

If you want to use web mail, try squirrelmail, which works through apache. 
Again, make sure it's working over ssl.

> > 3. I need to be able to send a reply from kmail at home such that it will 
> seem to come from my server -- i.e. sent from mydomain.xyz
Be very, VERY careful about accepting mail from outside for forwarding. Don't 
be an open relay. You will need to implement Authenticated SMTP to do this. 
Easier to just use your ISP's SMTP server and set your default reply-to 
address in kmail.

>
> On the server, I have installed Postfix and Courier, so far.
>
> I have been googling and reading docs but just can't get this right. They
> all jump into ssl and spam and anti-virus stuff so fast and I can't even
> squeak a line of text through yet!
I know, it's not easy. I don't really know what I'm doing in depth. My home 
server was set up mostly using WebMin for ease, but I find I can't remember 
how it works. I'm now working through it again with a lab rat machine at 
work, doing it manually, and KEEPING NOTES! I'm using Notecase for this. Make 
sure you get the latest version (from sourceforge?).

Dave