3 ms·

That! There is still no default setting for a properly run email server. Gotta configure some 5 different packages worth of 600 settings.

jeroenhd 5y ago
I'm a big fan of Mailcow (https://mailcow.email/ https://mailcow.email/). You can get it running with just docker-compose up, updating is a breeze, and it brings you a fully fledged mail server with tons of good defaults (and tons of other settings you can manage via the web interface). The web mail UI (SoGo) is clearly directed at organisations but it's very pleasant to work with. Their admin interface makes it possible for mere mortals to have a mail server with spam filtering, antivirus scanning, multiple domains, (temporary) mail aliases, catch-alls, batched IMAP-sync from external mail servers, mandatory TLS for incoming and outgoing emails per mailbox, you name it. They even give you all that control if you buy a managed service from them, which is frankly stunning for a small, independent mail service. You still need to copy the necessary DNS records like MX/SPF/DKIM/DMARC records, but the web UI generates them for you and also checks if they're set correctly. It also does some autoconfig for clients like Thunderbird and Outlook and supports ActiveSync. Contacts and calendar are synced through a cut-down version of Nextcloud (not very usable for much else, though) so you can have the necessary *dav sync for IMAP/POP3 clients, but you'd need to set that up manually if ActiveSync isn't available on your client. If you also host other stuff on your server, you may need to add the necessary reverse proxy config and disable the built-in Let's Encrypt support, but if you only use that server for mail then you're fine without. Honestly, Mailcow on a cheap server is good enough that I think most people with some Linux skills can run their own mail server now. Hell, the server even comes with stuff like basic office resource management (like reserving a conference room for a meeting). If you're willing to take the risk of being responsible for backups and such, you could quite comfortably get your family or a small business on Mailcow. Alternatively, mail-in-a-box provides a full setup, including the necessary OS stuff, for a dedicated mail server. I've found that to be using a lot of deprecated technology though, and there's no way to use it if you also host other stuff on your server. They solve the DNS issue by making your servers an authoritative DNS server, which I'm also not too big of a fan of. Nothing too bad, just a different take on the same concept that didn't work well for me.

jeroenhd 5y ago

I'm a big fan of Mailcow (https://mailcow.email/ https://mailcow.email/). You can get it running with just docker-compose up, updating is a breeze, and it brings you a fully fledged mail server with tons of good defaults (and tons of other settings you can manage via the web interface). The web mail UI (SoGo) is clearly directed at organisations but it's very pleasant to work with. Their admin interface makes it possible for mere mortals to have a mail server with spam filtering, antivirus scanning, multiple domains, (temporary) mail aliases, catch-alls, batched IMAP-sync from external mail servers, mandatory TLS for incoming and outgoing emails per mailbox, you name it. They even give you all that control if you buy a managed service from them, which is frankly stunning for a small, independent mail service. You still need to copy the necessary DNS records like MX/SPF/DKIM/DMARC records, but the web UI generates them for you and also checks if they're set correctly. It also does some autoconfig for clients like Thunderbird and Outlook and supports ActiveSync. Contacts and calendar are synced through a cut-down version of Nextcloud (not very usable for much else, though) so you can have the necessary *dav sync for IMAP/POP3 clients, but you'd need to set that up manually if ActiveSync isn't available on your client. If you also host other stuff on your server, you may need to add the necessary reverse proxy config and disable the built-in Let's Encrypt support, but if you only use that server for mail then you're fine without. Honestly, Mailcow on a cheap server is good enough that I think most people with some Linux skills can run their own mail server now. Hell, the server even comes with stuff like basic office resource management (like reserving a conference room for a meeting). If you're willing to take the risk of being responsible for backups and such, you could quite comfortably get your family or a small business on Mailcow. Alternatively, mail-in-a-box provides a full setup, including the necessary OS stuff, for a dedicated mail server. I've found that to be using a lot of deprecated technology though, and there's no way to use it if you also host other stuff on your server. They solve the DNS issue by making your servers an authoritative DNS server, which I'm also not too big of a fan of. Nothing too bad, just a different take on the same concept that didn't work well for me.