I just set up my first ever email server and I’m proud of myself! 😊 Do you have any advice to avoid common problems? I mean something beginners often do that they shouldn’t. Thanks!
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You’re in for a world of hurt. Email security is a pain in the ass. I used to do this full time and I’m so glad I don’t have to anymore.
Not trying to discourage you, it’s fun, it’s cool, but it can be a real PITA.
I run my own email server, but I use an outbound relay. I mostly get the good parts of self-hosting (having full control over storage of my emails) without the annoying parts (dealing with server reputation for sending emails).
That’s true, but only initially. Once you get SPF/DKIM right, that you domain name grows a few years old (enough to be considered established) and that you nailed your configuration, there is no issue anymore. I’ve been running my own Postfix on a Pi in my home for about 5 years, and It Just Works ™. The only maintenance I do is updating the software (done when updating the rest of the OS), and I don’t get shadowbanned mails anymore, even when sending to outlook.com (which is. by far, the worst peer when self-hosting emails).
EDIT : by the way, fun fact : it seems not as related to IP reputation as it’s often said (well, unless the IP has bad reputation, of course). I changed my ISP late last year (thus changed my IP), I was very afraid I would lose my good reputation and have to start over with getting my mails shadowbanned, and… nothing happened. My mails just got delivered as usual. So I bet the domain name is at least as important as the IP.
Not trying to discourage you
Well, that’s exactly what it sounds like :/
Don’t listen to him OP, running your own email server is not “a world of hurt”.
The initial configuration involves quite a few things (DNS records, DKIM, spam filters, …) But it’s definitely manageable. And when all this is setup, you don’t have to touch it anymore, it just works!
I’ve been doing it for years now, and I’m not going back ! Congratulations on doing it, and good luck on keeping it running!
Take it from someone who’s got over 15 years experience in the field… Or not. Your call :)
As someone who also has 15+ years of experience in the field and is currently infosec management, it’s not that bad. Certainly not something I’d say “you’re in for a world of hurt” about like somebody just bought a bad timeshare.
Especially if you’re not hosting production email for a company and you’re not leaving the server as an open relay, it isn’t very painful at all.
You could also be less condescending, but as you said: your call. :)
Wasn’t intending to come off condescending. IMO exposing your internal network to the internet without a proper firewall is a risk, one I wouldn’t take unless I had a DMZ and a dedicated VLAN.
In addition, you’d have to be on top of patch management. And when you do that, there’s a chance of something breaking too. My preference is not to have to muck around troubleshooting my own email server when a patch window goes bad since that’s what I deal with all day anyway. There will always be zero days, I’ll just pawn that off the the big boys.
All of that is inherent in self hosting anything publicly accessible. You wouldn’t start off a reply to someone setting up openvpn with “you’re in for a world of hurt,” would you?
I’ve also been doing that for ~10 years. It’s not the easiest service to run, but it’s definitely not the one I had the most issues with. I would agree that in the professional field, there isn’t much advantage to host it yourself, and I would advise going with hosted services in this case. But on a selfthosted community forum I see no reason to say such things to a new user trying it out, especially if they don’t plan to host other people mailboxes.
I’d say the difficulty depends mostly on the stack you decide to run. I’ve tried Microsoft Exchange, which is very complex, postfix which is okay once you get the hang of the config file syntax, and opensmtpd which is delightful to configure given its simplicity. Docker also helps tremendously compared to what was available 15 years ago.
Actually delivering emails into inbox is another difficult aspect, but now there are just so many good resources to learn from that you can easily figure out what to do.
Congratulations! A mail server is quite demanding in terms of initial setup, but it’s also very rewarding !
Here are a few pointers I can give you:
- Using a good domain is important, some provider block entire TLDs for cheap domains (eg. .tk or .pw). I learnt it the hard way…
- Set your MX records to A records, not CNAME
- Ensure your PTR records match your A records for the mail server
- Learn about SPF and DKIM
- Set them up, and verify with mxtoolbox
- Use the
ip4:and/orip6:selectors for SPF - Setup a spamfilter (I like spamassassin)
- Leave it all running for a few weeks/months
- Publish a DMARC policy on your DNS, and verify with mxtoolbox
This should limit a lot your likeliness to end up in spam folders (which is usually the hardest part about running your mail server)
What’s the reason for using IPs instead of domain names for SPF and MX?
Because it’s the simplest form of mechanism for SPF, and the most understandable in my opinion.
aandmxmechanisms are justip4/ip6with extra resolving steps and more complex rules. For a selfhosted setup where you only have a single IP address, this is the most straightforwardAs an example, try to guess which one of these SPF records will or will not pass SPF, given that the IP address sending emails is 1.2.3.1:
$ORIGIN domain.tld. $TTL 1d @ SOA pluto.domain.tld. admin.domain.tld ([…]) NS pluto.domain.tld. NS saturn.domain.tld. MX 10 mx.domain.tld. A 1.2.3.5 TXT "v=spf1 a -all" TXT "v=spf1 mx -all" TXT "v=spf1 ip4:1.2.3.1 -all" jupiter A 1.2.3.1 pluto A 1.2.3.2 saturn A 1.2.3.3 venus A 1.2.3.4 mx CNAME jupiter.domain.tld.
Try using this and sent it a test mail: https://www.mail-tester.com/
It’ll check blacklists, configuration, DNS and mail content itself for any issues
Cool, a bit basic but a good start. Getting 10/10 on that should be considered the baseline for having a working email solution for personal use. It verifies DMARC but ignores DNSSEC and DANE which are newer improvements to help prevent spoofing.
This test is pretty hardcore and full disclosure I don’t pass it myself fully yet, and I’ve spent considerable time learning and testing so it’s not a small task.
I’ve got 10 out of 10 😃
Mail-tester is just for outbound deliverability, nothing else. DNSSEC is really just for security practices. That doesn’t really effect outbound deliverability though which is always a bigger concern for me.
I don’t really agree. DANE, which builds on DNSSEC, will most likely be used to deny email outright or at least spam mark it in the near future. It provides much needed trust and security to a tool that in many ways is less secure than sending a physical letter. All it really needs is critical mass such that people are forced to implement it or risk their business critical email not reaching its recipient.
I’ve never seen a message denied for DNSSEC. It may be a thing they do in the future, I do think all domains should use it but it’s not something that’ll deny a message.
Mail tester is good, and I’ll add MX Toolbox which can also check a lot of other DNS settings, and help with email deliverability.
Make sure you are not an open relay.
If you also sent mail, make sure you have setup dkim and spf and dmarc
Let’s hear the details! How did you do it?
Docker container with exposed ports. The container has postfix and rspamd for spam mitigation and some useful scripts for postfix management such as creating accounts, wiping data etc. Actually it comes preconfigured, the only thing you have to do is:
- configure environment variables so it meets your needs
- generste dkim key and set is as DNS record
- set revDNS to the IP address
- setup SPF (which is one, short DNS record)
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Of course! It’s called docker-mailserver. It has extensive documentation, so it all becomes easy! 😃
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On a VPS, as my provider does not allow me to set the revDNS which is required for sending emails. I mean it isn’t actually required but most services like Gmail will drop your emails.
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Hmmm. I wonder what your password is? 😁
1234, of course!
Just kidding 😅 I use long, random passwords for each service, not reusing them ofc!
Well done! I tried again last week (3rd try) and gave up when I realised I would need a static ip to get myself off spam blocklists
You’re better off using a hosting service where they allow you to change your PTR records. A static IP is the very beginning of your problems, you will likely be unable to send traffic on port 25 because residential ISPs block it.
If you really want control of your email server on your own network you can set up an SMTP relay using a hosting service and configure your local mail server to use it.
Here’s something to get your started: https://community.mailcow.email/d/1275-the-ultimate-guide-to-run-your-own-smtp-relay-server
Nah I’m out bro. Hosting plenty of stuff already and email is pretty critical
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If you have trouble where the email you send gets binned as spam by recipients, set up a SMTP server using aws SES and send through there instead.
