Email Configuration

@jungleg:

So I'm new here in linode and want to setup POP email accounts at my domain. I have Webmin installed and running.

What would you recommend in terms of program to do this? Qmail? Postfix?

Thanks!

JungleG

Neither Qmail nor postfix are pop servers….

So those two are out – :shock:

Any other suggestions?

I like either Dovecot or Cyrus.

@mcowger:

@jungleg:

So I'm new here in linode and want to setup POP email accounts at my domain. I have Webmin installed and running.

What would you recommend in terms of program to do this? Qmail? Postfix?

Thanks!

JungleG

Neither Qmail nor postfix are pop servers….

True, you probably already have sendmail on your system, as it comes default for most Linux distributions. I think sendmail sucks horribly but it will probably serve your needs well enough (just stay on top of all of the security fixes that will invariably become necessary as time goes on).

For a POP server, I recommend Courier … it's a really nice one. If you want you can use the whole Courier suite and do away with sendmail too. But if you just want a POP server, Courier can do just that part.

The best thing is, Courier understands Maildirs too, so when you finally get sick of sendmail and move onto something more modern (I would recommend Postfix, I use qmail myself but if I had to do it over again I would use Postfix), Courier will support the more modern maildir format on your server already.

I second the vote for Courier. I don't use its POP now, but I do use it for IMAP (which I also recommend). I've got it working with Postfix and maildir, and it's a dream. Combine with IMP or another Web-based IMAP reader for best results.

@bji:

True, you probably already have sendmail on your system, as it comes default for most Linux distributions. I think sendmail sucks horribly but it will probably serve your needs well enough (just stay on top of all of the security fixes that will invariably become necessary as time goes on).

If you are just starting out, it is seriously worth the extra effort to replace Sendmail with Postfix as your MTA. Having used both, it's really no contest - Sendmail is a real pain, Postfix is easy to set up and easy to keep secure.

I use Courier for POP and IMAP.

You're talking about sendmail, postfix and others, but noone mentions exim? I'm trying to use exim (see my post on this) but that's only because I know we're using that at work. How do exim compare with the rest of the pack?

Thanks for the tips – I'll try Courier, just downloaded it -- seems pretty good.

I'll use it with Sendmail for now until I get my bearings.

JungleG

@robertburen:

You're talking about sendmail, postfix and others, but noone mentions exim? I'm trying to use exim (see my post on this) but that's only because I know we're using that at work. How do exim compare with the rest of the pack?

I use exim personally…I think its even easier to setup than postfix.

Ok, now I'm thumping my head into a wall – Courier's configure is returning an error - it can't find OpenSSl's c_rehash script….

I dowloaded and installed the latest OpenSSL, and copied c_rehash to /usr/local/bin, but it still can't find the script.

Where should I put this script?

Thanks!

JungleG

@jungleg:

Ok, now I'm thumping my head into a wall – Courier's configure is returning an error - it can't find OpenSSl's c_rehash script….

I dowloaded and installed the latest OpenSSL, and copied c_rehash to /usr/local/bin, but it still can't find the script.

Where should I put this script?

Thanks!

JungleG

Hm, I didn't have that problem when I installed Courier. Are you building an RPM like you should be? My first piece of advice to any newbie sysadmin: ALWAYS use packages when they are available. Even if you have to build the package yourself as you (I think) have to do with Courier, it's really very easy, just rpmbuild -ta …

Pehaps /usr/local/bin isn't in the path of the shell that you are building Courier in?

Sorry I don't have too much else to offer as I never had this problem with Courier. Perhaps you can search on google for "courier c_rehash" if you haven't already …

Thanks for the tip, bji. I am learning more and more thanks to people like you.

Unfortunately I got an error – bash: rpmbuild: command not found (?)

I have rpm version 4.2

@jungleg:

Thanks for the tip, bji. I am learning more and more thanks to people like you.

Unfortunately I got an error – bash: rpmbuild: command not found (?)

I have rpm version 4.2

You didn't mention what distribution you were using, I assumed that it was RedHat … rpmbuild is a RedHat-specific command. If you are not using RedHat then you cannot build RPM packages and you have no choice but to build a non-package-format install of Courier. This is why I use RedHat, personally - I find that things are just more likely to work under RedHat because it's "what everyone uses" (not entirely true but true enough). I find that if a project out there supports only one package format, it will be RPM. Next most popular would be Debian packages. And after that … well, I've heard that Gentoo includes quite a bit of stuff, but you have to compile everything yourself which I think is ass-backwards.

At any rate, could you please let us know what distribution you are using? And, have you done the google search or looked on the Courier site for possible clues?

If its RedHat, why not use the pop server that comes as standard? I'm running RedHat 9 small including a pop server. My memory may be wrong here but I don't recall installing anything for pop.

I couldn't even tell you what software it is. It writes 'ipop3d' in the logs.

Ross

@jungleg:

Thanks for the tip, bji. I am learning more and more thanks to people like you.

Unfortunately I got an error – bash: rpmbuild: command not found (?)

I have rpm version 4.2

For Red Hat:

apt-get install rpm-build

-Chris

@tetranz:

I couldn't even tell you what software it is. It writes 'ipop3d' in the logs.

Ross

It's the WU imap/pop2/pop3 software, the RPM is 'imapd'. It works, but there's better stuff out there.

I am using RedHat 9 – finally decided to go with PostFix - FetchMail - Ipop3d.

I am trying to setup these and I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks all for your help.

JungleG

Well, I've learned so much from the guys at the Linode Chat…

I have my email working perfectly, and it's not so complicated after you know what you're doing.

I finally got it working just with PostFix and iPop3d.

When I have a chance, I'll investigate further to use IMAP (probably Courier).

Thanks,

JungleG