How to setup a personal mail server with Postfix and Dovecot
May 21st, 2013
The instructions were tested on Fedora 17, most RedHat distributions should be very similar and it should at least give you an idea for other distros.
Install the required software:
# yum install postfix dovecot
Check that Postfix supports Dovecot SASL:
# postconf -a cyrus dovecot
Edit /etc/postfix/main.cf, add at the top of the file:
inet_interfaces = all # list of domains receiving mails on this server, remember to set the MX record in their DNS virtual_alias_domains = domain1.com, domain2.com virtual_alias_maps = hash:/etc/postfix/virtual mynetworks_style = host # add the ips that are always allowed to relay to mynetworks list mynetworks = 127.0.0.0/8 # use reject_rbl_client to specify RBLs (simple anti-spam measure) smtpd_recipient_restrictions = permit_mynetworks permit_sasl_authenticated reject_unauth_destination reject_rbl_client sbl-xbl.spamhaus.org reject_rbl_client bl.spamcop.net smtpd_sasl_type = dovecot smtpd_sasl_path = private/auth smtpd_sasl_auth_enable = yes
Create/edit /etc/postfix/virtual and add a couple of email aliases:
john@domain1.com myaccount office@domain1.com myaccount
Compile the aliases table:
# postmap /etc/postfix/virtual
Restart the postfix service, for minor changes in the configuration file you can also use:
# postfix reload
Uncomment the postfix smtp-auth settings in /etc/dovecot/conf.d/10-master.conf
# Postfix smtp-auth unix_listener /var/spool/postfix/private/auth { mode = 0666 }
Edit /etc/dovecot/conf.d/10-mail.conf and set mail_location:
mail_location = mbox:~/mail:INBOX=/var/mail/%u
Restart dovecot.
This should be enough for a couple of email accounts for your domains, accessible by POP3 and IMAP.