Competent and quick setup of the mail server. Mail Server for Beginners

Mail server, mail server, e-mail server - this is usually called a message forwarding agent in an e-mail forwarding system. It is software that transfers messages from one computer to another. The mail server is usually not visible to the user. The user himself is dealing with another software - an e-mail client.

For example, in the most common configuration, the mail client is Outlook Express. Although the Mozilla client Thunderbird has been used a lot lately. When a user types a message and sends it to a recipient, the mail client interacts with the mail server using the SMTP protocol. The sender's mail server interacts with the recipient's server. On the recipient's server, the message sent to him goes to the mailbox, from which, using the mail delivery agent (MDA), it is delivered to the recipient's client. There are also POP3 and IMAP protocols, which are supported by many mail servers.

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Let's start with what I mean by medium business. I do not know the exact classification and have not looked or checked anywhere. It seems to me intuitively that this is from 10-15 users to 200-300. I will consider the segment up to 100 users, since almost all the time I work exclusively in this niche. The problems and needs of larger companies are not known to me for certain. Although I'm not sure that something will be fundamentally different from 100 people, I think the approaches will be the same, only the hardware is more powerful. Problems of load distribution and clustering here most likely will not arise yet.

We have a small company for several dozen people. We need a mail server. Despite the fact that technology has stepped forward a long time ago, providing a lot of all kinds of communication means, e-mail is still firmly in its positions and is not going to give way to them yet. At the same time, in such a small team, they do not impose great demands on the mail server. Most often, it is enough for the mail to simply work, without any special functional delights. Either a mail client and imap protocol, or a web interface will suffice. It will be good if it will be possible to set up an auto-reply, create shared folders, a unified address book, but you can live without it.

Among all the possible options for the mail service, I single out 3 fundamentally different approaches to the implementation of the necessary functionality:

1. Services based on free Google, Yandex or mail services.
2. Your own mail server based on free software.
3. Exchange server from Microsoft.

Let's take a closer look at each of them.

Free mail from google, yandex and mail.ru

I’ll make a couple of comments right away. I'm not sure if you can register corporate mail for free with Google now. Everyone who signed up before can use it for free, and now only paid subscriptions are available for new users. But this is not fundamental and does not directly relate to the topic of the article. If Google has become completely paid for business, then we will simply exclude it from our list. Yandex and Mail.ru are still definitely free. I myself administered mail domains in google apps and in Yandex. I didn’t work with biz.mail.ru, only I know that something similar is implemented there. Somehow I don't like the company itself since the old days. Although now they seem to have turned to face the users, but Amigo is still alive and well, so they have not turned completely yet.

Let's consider the advantages of these mail services.

1. The most important advantage is that a full-fledged mail is ready immediately after registration. There are no costs for buying hardware and setting up... A more or less advanced user who, according to the instructions on the site, will be able to connect a domain and create mailboxes is enough. And the mail can already be used.
2. Easy to administer and manage users, the web service provides all the necessary equipment for this. They are convenient and intuitive (although not always) understandable.
3. Comfortable and familiar web interface... Everything works quickly, from anywhere with the Internet and a browser. There is a good mobile application.
4. Wide functionality ready right after creating the box. Various filters, mail collectors, good antispam (from Google) and much more.

Like everything, I missed nothing. It would seem that the advantages are obvious and significant. But before drawing conclusions, let's consider the cons.

1. You are not in control of this mail. It doesn't belong to you is not on your servers. You don't know what's going on with her. If you have a very delicate and private correspondence, then suspicions and doubts arise about the use of popular postal services. It may sound paranoid, but this is a real concern for users and business owners and should not be dismissed.
2. You are not immune from system failures and cannot prevent them in any way. And failures, although not often, do happen. Since the services are free, no one will guarantee you anything... And if some kind of force majeure happens and the data disappears, they will simply say sorry. If your own IT structure is not very reliable, the likelihood of technical problems on your personal server will probably be higher. But you can control this and theoretically you can build a system with a level of reliability that satisfies you.
3. Backup methods are not obvious and recovery of mailboxes in such services. There are situations when all letters are deleted from the mailbox. Let's say you can save them in various ways, just by downloading, and then how to return them back to the box, keeping all the dates original?
4. There is no way to analyze incomprehensible situations. For example, you send a letter, but it does not arrive at the addressee. What to do? In the case of cloud mail, you will not do anything, since you do not have any tools to analyze the situation. Just try to send a letter from another mailbox. Sometimes a letter does not come to you, and you cannot understand in any way why it is not there. And it can be trivial in an incorrectly configured filter. This is a common situation when there are many filters, plus if some other forwardings are configured. It can be difficult to understand the situation without access to the server logs.... And if there is a mail server log, then it immediately becomes clear why the letter is not sent, or what happened to it after receiving. You can probably find out if the remote server received your letter or not.
5. There are no easy ways restrict access to mailboxes, for example, only from the local network of the office. Public service mailboxes are always accessible via the Internet. It is possible to solve this problem in google apps through authorization in third-party services. In Yandex and mail, I have not seen the opportunity to implement such functionality.
6. You also need to understand that free cheese is known where it is... It is not completely clear how postal services use the information received from users. Well, if only to show them relevant ads. I think not only for this.

When I first started working about 10 years ago, there was no question of which mail to use in the organization. All set up their mail servers and administer them. At that time, free mail services did not provide any tools for business to manage mail. When such tools began to appear, I thought that soon no one would need their mail servers, since they would no longer make sense. And all my torment (I do not like working with them) with mail servers will become meaningless.

I was given the opportunity to administer domains based on public mail services. After that, the list of minuses written above appeared. And for me personally, these disadvantages outweighed the pros, and now I still set up mail servers myself. Ultimately, it is more convenient and reliable when considered together the pros and cons of use and administration.

The biggest disadvantage I see is the lack of full-fledged mail logs and a good backup scheme. It is inconvenient to analyze problems without logs. It will not be possible to quickly and easily restore a deleted message to its original location, although for open source mail servers this is a simple matter.

Free software based mail server

Let's consider the advantages and disadvantages of your own mail server based on free software. In principle, this includes some paid ones, for example Kerio Mail Server, which is also often used. I think it can also be attributed here, since it provides similar functionality. I am considering all mail servers in aggregate, without highlighting individual representatives. Although in Linux, except for postfix and exim, I personally have not seen anything in production. I always use postfix myself, as I am used to it and know it well. Let's take a closer look at the advantages of such servers.

1. You have complete control over all information that comes by mail and is stored on your server. You can restrict access to mail at your discretion by various technical means. You can centrally configure the rules for deleting, for example, private information in letters, according to various criteria that you yourself can set.
2. The level of availability of the mail service depends only on you. With the right approach, you can provide the reliability you want system operation.
3. Flexible backup system. There are a lot of funds for its organization, including free ones. It all depends only on your needs, skills and capabilities. You can store various slices by dates, by mailboxes, by domains, organize any suitable scheme.
4. Almost unlimited functionality... Within reasonable limits, of course :) You can create mailboxes with the possibility of only local correspondence, you can centrally manage the receipt and sending of mail, maintain your own white and black lists. You can configure various restrictions for mailboxes and domains. You can easily centrally manage duplicate mail of the required mailboxes, do all kinds of forwarding and much more.
5. All server monitoring tools are in your hands. You can deal with any incomprehensible situation, having on hand the logs of the mail server. This service is well logged. I almost never had any problems when it was not clear where the letter went. Most often, traces are found and one can unequivocally say what happened to the letter.

1. Necessary buy or rent equipment to organize your mail server. In the case of a Linux server, the performance requirements will not be large. I usually have enough virtual machines for 4 cores and 4 GB of RAM. Much more important is the disk subsystem. Here, the faster the disks, the better. Don't forget about backup. It also needs hardware resources.
2. Setting up a full-fledged, multifunctional mail server requires at least average knowledge of linux system administration. That is, just an admin-enikey will not work here. Need a specialist with experience... He should have a decent salary. If there is no such administrator on staff, I recommend hiring someone for a one-time setup job. Most often, after setting up, no special work is required to support the server if you do not change the functionality. It is enough just to keep track of free disk space and manage mailboxes via the web panel.
3. Convenience of work through the web interface will be lower than free postal services. Whatever one may say, but the same gmail is implemented very conveniently. Quick searches, filters, sorts, tags, etc. It's really convenient. I am very used to it and cannot use anything else.

Such disadvantages of your mail service seem to me. The most significant for me is the last one. I myself am used to working with mail via the web. I don't like to use email clients, although I have to. Web interfaces to free mail servers in terms of convenience and speed are far from gmail or Yandex, it makes no sense to compare. And nevertheless, I believe that for an average organization this is the most optimal option. An example of setting up such a free mail server is.

Pros and cons of Microsoft Exchange Server

I don't have much experience in administering exchange. I tested it a long time ago when I was deciding which mail servers I would work with. I installed and studied the functionality. Then I once set up a mail server for the organization. They wanted exactly exchange. There were no problems, I quickly set up on numerous guides on the Internet. The threshold for entering the exchange mail server customizers is very low. Even an enikey can handle the basic functionality.

For medium-sized organizations, I consider common calendars to be really useful and difficult to replace functionality. And, of course, the convenience of integrating with AD, if any. And most often there is AD, since I cannot imagine administering a network for more than 20-30 people without Active Directory. I think that it makes no sense to save money here and you need to buy Microsoft Server.

Let's now look at the pros and cons of Microsoft Exchange Server. I warn you again, just in case. I am telling only my vision, there is little experience with the server, so I would like to receive comments on it myself in the comments in order to have a more adequate assessment of this system. Exchange Pros:

1. Great functionality with relative ease of setup. Deploy a server with basic functionality for any admin. Moreover, this basic functionality may be more than that of any assembly under Linux.
2. Integration with Active Directory... You create a new user account and the mailbox is ready for him right away. No special settings are needed if the user has Microsoft Outlook. The connection to the server is configured in a few mouse clicks.
3. Comfortable administration tools in the form of ready-made snap-ins of Windows Server. Everything here is traditional for solutions from Microsoft.

The cons of Exchange Server are the same as the pros for most Microsoft products:

1. Price, price and price again... Microsoft Exchange Server is expensive. It is necessary to count and figure out whether it will be justified to acquire it. To use all the built-in functionality, you will need to buy a Microsoft Office edition with an outlook for each workplace. These are additional costs.
2. Good performance requires much more powerful iron, compared to Linux servers. And to support large mailboxes, for example, 50 gigabytes, you need very powerful hardware. Although such boxes for the same dovecot do not present any particular problems. In exchange, you will most likely use quotas to limit the maximum mailbox size.
3. For a backup, you will most likely have to also purchase decent hardware and paid software... Here I just assume, I really don't know what is needed for a convenient exchange backup. I know paid software from popular vendors. Perhaps there is something free.

My conclusion on Exchange Server is that it is good in almost everything, except for the price. If it was free, I would most likely use it. For quite objective reasons, this is impossible. Good and convenient software does not appear by itself. You need to create it, and on this you need to spend funds that you want to return with a profit.

As of today, given the cost of Microsoft Exchange Server and Microsoft Office, I do not use these Microsoft products. Few are willing to shell out the required amount for a mail server. I would like to take a closer look at Exchange in real conditions, at least 60-80 people, in order to evaluate this server more objectively. But so far such an opportunity has not presented itself.

Conclusion

Let me summarize my reasoning about a mail server for a small average organization. Although the conclusion, I think, is already clear. I myself prefer the second option I described - a mail server based on free software on linux. But I would not discount the other two options. Free mail from public services will be uniquely convenient for a very small team - for 10-15 people. There is no point in fencing your server for such a number.

I would recommend using Exchange Server if you have one and don't mind spending money on its purchase. The product is unambiguously convenient, functional and easy to configure and administer. In simple terms, you need to understand that this is conditional. The configurations can be very complex, but in this case I am considering the entry level.

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Date: 2010-10-12

HmailServer - Free Mail Server for Windows

hMailServer Is a free mail server for Windows. Supports IMAP4, POP3, SMTP, virtual domains, anti-spam, anti-virus, and more. ClamWin, SpamAssassin are integrated.

1) You need to download the latest version of hmailServer from http://www.hmailserver.com/index.php?page=download and start installation

2) We agree with the license agreement

3) Specify where hMailServer will be installed

4) Select the necessary components for installation

5) We choose the way of SQL location and the database itself.

6) Choose and enter a password

7) Enter the password and connect to the mail server control panel

8) The control panel for your server hMailServer

Plutonit.ru - Administration, configuration of Linux and Windows 2009 - 2018

Installing and configuring Mail Server

Installing and configuring a mail server

Installing and configuring a mail server E-mail is a service that allows you to exchange electronic messages through a computer network. The main feature of email is that information is not sent to the recipient directly, but through an intermediate link - an electronic mailbox, which is a place on the server where the message is stored until the recipient requests it. A mail server is a computer program designed to organize the exchange of e-mail between computers. DIY mail server Its main functions are to receive letters from clients and deliver them to addressees. Clients can be both users (a program - an e-mail client) and other mail servers. Users, using a program - mail client (Outlook Express, Thunderbird, etc.), can create letters, send them to the server and collect mail from their mailboxes on the server. Communication between the server and the client takes place using special mail protocols - Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) - when sending letters to the server and Post Office Protocol v.3 (POP3) - when receiving letters from the mailbox. Clients connect to the server through specific ports. For SMTP, the default port is 25, for POP3, port 110. There are various mail servers. As an example, consider installing and configuring the Courier Mail Server. Courier Mail Server is a Windows mail server (e-mail server) for local area networks. It will help you quickly organize the exchange of e-mail on the local network and on the Internet. Courier Mail Server does not require installation on the system. It is enough to download the archive with the program and unpack it into any folder on the hard disk of the computer, which will act as a mail server. You can download a free version of Courier Mail Server 1.56 from the website http://courierms.narod.ru/. A more functional Courier Mail Server 2.05, but already a paid version (1650 rubles for 10 mailboxes, the demo version is limited to only 3 mailboxes), can be found at http://www.courierms.ru/. In this example, we will be setting up and using the free Courier Mail Server 1.56. Advantages of Courier Mail Server 1.56: free ease of installation and removal compact ease of administration low consumption of system resources multithreading convenient graphical shell Russian-language interface and documentation support for an unlimited number of mailboxes The program runs under Windows 9x / ME / NT / 2000 / XP. Setting up the program is quite simple and accessible to the average user. Note: In the example, all computers on the network are running Windows XP. All computers on the network are the same (there are no dedicated server computers). The teacher's computer is named kab39komp8, the student computers are kab39komp1, kab39komp2, etc. All software discussed in this section is installed in the C: \ MyServers \ usr \ local \ folder. If your computers have different names (and this is most likely the case 🙂), then take this into account when setting up the software. You can also choose a folder for your friend to install the program. The CMS comes as a zip archive containing an executable file and documentation. To install the server, create a folder in which it will function, extract the files from the archive to this folder and run the CourierMS.exe application. At the first start, the server will automatically create subfolders and files necessary for its operation inside its folder. Outside of its folder, the server does not make any changes. The Windows registry changes only when it is registered as a service. Courier Mail Server can run as a standard application and also as a Windows service. To start as a Windows service, start the CMS and from the Settings menu, select Start by Service. This will register the Courier Mail Server service in the system. If it starts normally, the server's main window will appear on the screen, and its icon will appear in the System Tray next to the clock. If messages about starting SMTP and POP3 servers appear in the main window and there are no error messages, you can start configuring the server. The next stage of configuring the mail server is reduced to entering local domains. To do this, double-click on the word "domain" and a tab for its settings will open. Enter the name of the computer where the mail server will run. In our example, this is kab39komp8. If you have a computer name, for example, kab39komp5, then enter this name. Any server program implies the input of users who will be served by it. Double click on "accounts" and the account editor will open. The account editor is designed to maintain a list of local users (accounts) of the server. When you create an account, a corresponding mailbox folder is also created. When you delete an account, the mailbox folder is deleted automatically with all its contents. The first time the server is started, a postmaster account is automatically created. Create the required number of accounts for your users. It is enough to create one for each student computer and for the teacher, although you can create a separate hotel account for each student. Each account has the following parameters: Real name: the name of the mailbox owner. Mailbox Name: The name of the mailbox. It is also the username when connecting to the server. Do not use Russian letters and special characters in the mailbox name, because some mailers do not work correctly with them. If the mailbox name is kab39komp2, the local domain is m, then the email address of this user [email protected] kab39komp8. Password: password to connect to the server. We will not change other parameters. We create user accounts by the number of users. You can restrict access to the mail server using the IP filter. Specify the range of IP addresses that are allowed to access. We have it 192.168.1.1-192.168.1.11 (Read about IP addresses and their settings in other articles of this section). In your school, this range may be different, for example, the one that your Internet provider gave you (well, that's another article). Everything! The mail server can be used. You can read about setting up and using other program features in the help (in Russian!). You ask: "how can I use it? How to send and receive letters?" The answer is simple. We will send and receive letters using a mail client program (Outlook Express, Thunderbird, etc.). And how to do this, read the following article:

Configuring email clients to work with email

Electronic mail is a service that allows you to exchange electronic messages through a computer network.

You can work with e-mail using mail program(mail client) installed on the user's computer or using a browser using the web interface.

Mail program(e-mail client, mail client) - software installed on the user's computer designed to receive, write, send, store and process the user's e-mail messages. Mail programs usually provide the user with numerous additional functions for working with mail (selection of addresses from the address book, automatic mailing of messages to specified addresses, etc.).

The simplest email client is Microsoft Outlook Express.

It is included in the standard Windows package (starting with Windows 98) and therefore is available on every computer running this operating system. In Windows Vista, it was replaced by the Windows Mail client. The Bat! Is also very popular among users. and the free email client Mozilla Thunderbird.

In the last article, we looked at how to configure and run a mail server in its class. Now let's start setting up mail clients and testing the work of our local mail.

In order for the mail client to be able to send and receive mail, in its settings you need to specify the addresses of the servers of incoming and outgoing mail, as well as the account parameters for connecting to the mailbox (name and password).

Configuring e-mail clients must be done on all computers of users who need access to e-mail through the mail server.

How to raise a mail server

Service of initial installation and configuration of a mail server on your dedicated physical or virtual server

Setting up, configuring the mail server is carried out taking into account the wishes of the customer, and in accordance with the intended purposes of use.

It is possible to install a mail server according to an individual technical assignment, according to the specified requirements, options, and purposes of use. Or based on one of the ready-made, typical templates for using a mail server.

It is possible to deploy an email server on physical and virtual (vps, vds) servers running Linux (Debian, CentOS, Ubuntu), FreeBSD as well as Windows.

As part of the server installation, the following mandatory settings are made, regardless of additional functions:

Deployment of a mail server can be performed on the basis of one or several (in combination) versions of licensed or open-source software for organizing a mail server.

Licensed software options:

• Microsoft Exchange Server;
• CommunigatePro;
• Kerio MailServer;
• MDaemon;
• Sendmail

Options for software licensed under the GPL (free software) for organizing a mail server:

• Sendmail (included in part of Linux distributions);
• Postfix;
• Qmail;
• Exim;
• RoundCube;
• Afterlogic

It is possible to install software systems for e-mail and collaboration in their capabilities approaching a licensed solution for corporate mail - Microsoft Exchange Server.

The cost of installing and configuring a mail server

Based on one of the existing popular usage patterns:

2 900 rubles5 900 rubles8 900 rublesFrom 18 900 rubles

A small mail server for private use, for a blog, website or small organization.

Used software:

From 1 to 10 mailboxes, 1 mail domain, 1 server ip-address;
filtering of incoming mail (Greylist + SpamAssassin), web interface for accessing mail.

The server can be installed according to this template or according to your (technical specifications), similar in characteristics and complexity.

Installing and configuring a mail server for a small organization or medium web project, for example, according to one of the following popular usage patterns, implying an increased number of mail users, mailboxes and mail domains:

Used software: Exim / Postfix, RoundCube / Afterlogic;

From 1 to 30 mailboxes, up to 2 mail domains, filtering of incoming mail (Greylist + SpamAssassin), web-interface for working with mail, web-statistics of the mail server

Installing and configuring a corporate mail server for a small, medium-sized large organization or web project, for example, according to one of the following popular usage patterns that imply self-managing mailboxes, domains, users, their limits and rights:

Used software:

These software solutions by their characteristics are an alternative to the licensed product Microsoft Exchange Server and provide a full opportunity to independently configure, maintain and manage an unlimited number of mailboxes, mail users, their rights and domains.

The mail server is controlled via the web interface. A complete corporate mail system for the company.

Installation and configuration of a mail server according to the customer's individual specifications.

An example of a possible installation template:

A cluster of two remote physical or virtual mail servers that duplicate or supplement each other's capabilities.

Used software: Exim / Postfix, RoundCube / Afterlogic, etc.

Any required number of mailboxes, users and domains. Self-management of the mail server through the web interface. Working with incoming and outgoing mail from a mail program or via a web interface.

To order and discuss the settings of the mail server, please contact us from the "Contacts" section.

How to create your own mail server?

Kerio develops functional solutions for small and medium businesses.
Kerio MailServer 6 belongs to a new generation of mail servers for corporate networks. The advantage of Kerio MailServer is its cross-platform - it can work in Windows, Linux, Mac OS, FreeBSD operating environments.

When working under Windows, you can use Microsoft Outlook as a mail client, and in a Mac OS environment, Microsoft Entourage. All systems can use the Kerio WebMail web interface. There is also a version of Kerio WebMail Mini designed for installation on handheld computers. Kerio WebMail Mini supports Palm OS, Pocket PC and BlackBerry systems. Mail clients Kerio WebMail and Kerio WebMail Mini are especially convenient for frequently traveling employees, as they allow you to work with mail on a corporate web server from anywhere. The second advantage of Kerio MailServer is the built-in anti-virus and anti-spam module. For a mail server, such functionality is now mandatory, and the integration of these functions within a single product has made it possible to achieve stability in operation and the absence of the need to integrate software from different manufacturers.

mail

Kerio MailServer allows you to receive mail in several ways: via POP3 protocols (with the possibility of SSL encryption), IMAP4 (with the possibility of SSL encryption), using the graphical network interface WebMail (with the possibility of SSL encryption), using smartphones and PDAs, wireless connection using BlackBerry, as well as using e-mail clients Microsoft Outlook 2000 / XP / 2003 for Windows or Microsoft Entourage X / 2004 for Mac OS X. To work with groupware when using Microsoft Outlook, you need to install Kerio Outlook Connector, which is a programming interface e-mail applications (MAPI provider), which replaces the MAPI Provider of Microsoft Outlook.

Replacing Microsoft Exchange with Kerio MailServer retains access to shared calendar events, shared contacts, and tasks available in Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Entourage, and Kerio WebMail. Users can migrate to Kerio MailServer while retaining all group functions such as calendar events.

To automate the migration from Microsoft Exchange Server to Kerio MailServer, the Kerio Exchange Migration Tool function is designed, with which you can migrate data from the following Exchange series servers: Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5, Microsoft Exchange Server 2000, Microsoft Exchange Server 2003. This function imports data blocks “ Users ”,“ E-mail ”,“ Contacts ”,“ Calendar events ”,“ Tasks ”in the corresponding directories of the Kerio MailServer mail server.

Security

The security system includes the ability to use cryptographic traffic protection using SSL, anti-spam filter, anti-virus filter and attachment filter. All filters are managed in one section "Attachment Filters", which simplifies and speeds up the work of the administrator.

Kerio MailServer has two-tier antivirus protection: you can use the integrated McAfee antivirus and an external plug-in antivirus package at the same time. In the event of a failure with updating the databases or renewing the license of one anti-virus, the likelihood of infection is significantly reduced due to the operation of the second. AVG Antivirus 7 ESE (Grisoft), NOD32 Antivirus (Eset Software), eTrust Antivirus (Computer Associates), SAVI Antivirus (Sophos), Avast Antivirus (ALWIL Software), VisNetic / Kaspersky Antivirus (Deerfield), Symantec AntiVirus Scan Engine (Symantec). It is possible to use other anti-virus programs. In case of virus outbreaks, it will be useful that the built-in McAfee antivirus also checks internal corporate mail, which will slow down the spread of viruses inside among employees.

Several methods are used to protect against spam in Kerio MailServer. Supports SMTP authentication by IP address, real-time blacklists, content filtering, sender domain check, Microsoft Caller ID. SPF identification is also supported. In addition, the software allows you to impose restrictions on the number of parallel connections and limit the number of letters per unit of time sent from one address. Kerio MailServer implements technology to combat DHA attacks by slowing responses, interrupting connections, and sending false responses. To enhance security, the product includes backup tools for all inbound and outbound e-mail, address books, calendars, and other collaboration objects, as well as tools for quoting mailbox size, attachment size, and overall message count.

Administration

The server platform is not required to install Kerio MailServer. The Kerio MailServer mail server can be used both as an internal network server and as an Internet mail server. The product has two administration interfaces - Kerio Administration Console and Kerio Web Administration. Kerio Administration Console allows you to manage multiple mail servers and other Kerio Technologies products from one workstation, and remote access is carried out over an encrypted channel. It is a standalone program that can be installed on any supported operating system. The administrator can also delegate authority to users to manage accounts using Kerio Web Administration. User data in Kerio MailServer 6.x can be managed using an internal database or Microsoft Active Directory or Apple Open Directory directory services.

Today, when you can easily get any number of free mailboxes by simply registering an account with Yandex, Mail.Ru and the like, the issue of setting up a mail server does not bother too many users.

However, there are times when it will be useful to know at least some aspects of this issue.

When you need it

There are not so many situations when an ordinary user needs basic knowledge of setting up mail. And nevertheless, any of them can happen at any time:

• If it was decided to switch from browser to dedicated in a separate program. Indeed, in many respects, such clients are preferable: they allow you to combine your email program with an organizer, a notebook, and also more flexibly manage the address book and administer messages.
• There was an unforeseen failure in the mail client, all the settings were lost. And then the installation of a mail server is simply necessary. Setting it up usually does not take much time and effort, but otherwise you can be left without mail for quite a long time.
• Free mailboxes can be destroyed by the administration, and without explanation. Yes, and such a box looks in the eyes of business partners, frankly, undignified. Therefore, you will have to start a dedicated one on the server.
• If the provider offers a separate mailbox, then why not take advantage of this offer.

Configuring Windows Mail Server

Basic email parameters such as DNS, IP data and similar information are provided directly by the ISP.

To start using Windows, you need to either download a client suitable for this operating system, or resort to the help of its built-in clients. First you need to create a new account. As a rule, they are also asked to enter its name, come up with a password and login to enter.

You may need to enable support for Windows Mail Services through the Uninstall / Add Programs panel in the Install E-mail Services Components section.

To create a new mailbox, you will need to come up with a username and password.

In SMTP, you must specify the port number 25, and for the POP3 server - 110. If the provider provides other parameters, you must enter them. In the event that the mail client being used does not imply entering a port number, you need to leave only the address provided by the provider in the "Server for incoming messages" (this can be either POP3 or IMAP) and "Name for the server of outgoing messages" ( usually only SMTP).

Fine-tuning the Windows mail server depends a lot on the mail application used, but the principle of operation will be the same. The difference may lie in the options for the graphical interface and in the menu items.

Switching from free mail to a dedicated client

Sometimes you need to stay on free, but use a separate application as a client. You can show this using the example of mail settings for the Yandex service. The configuration of the mail server will then be carried out with the following parameters.

1. IMAP settings for incoming messages:

• mail server address: imap.yandex.ru;
• specify SSL in the security settings for the connection;
• the port number is indicated as 993.

2. To configure outgoing IMAP messages:

• specify smtp.yandex.ru as the server address;
• in the connection security parameters, you must also set SSL;
• the port number must be set to 465.

3. Regarding the POP3 protocol for sent messages:

• specify pop.yandex.ru as the server address;
• SSL is specified as the security parameters of the used connection;
• the port number is indicated as 995.

4. For outgoing messages sent using the POP3 protocol:

• smtp.yandex.ru is specified as the mail server address;
• SSL is specified again in the security parameters for the connection used;
• the port number is set to 465.

As a username, as well as an address and password, you should set existing addresses and passwords from mail on Yandex.

Setting up the Mail.Ru server

Sometimes you need to find out about the settings of the Mail.Ru mail server. In general, the setting looks exactly the same as described in the case of Yandex mail. But the parameters will look like this:

• full email address (formatted with @, for example [email protected]);
• for the IMAP server, imap.mail.ru is specified;
• smtp.mail.ru is specified for the SMTP server;
• the username is the full email address from an existing mail;
• password is the password used from the mail;
• IMAP: number 993 (for SSL / TLS protocols);
• POP3: number 995 (for SSL / TLS protocols);
• SMTP: number 465 (for SSL / TLS protocols);
• you need to indicate that you want to authorize the server of sent letters, in the authentication parameters - a simple password, without encryption.

In general, the settings are specified exactly the same as in the case of Yandex, but only with the addition of the mail prefix. For other free servers, you should set the same parameters, but with the appropriate prefixes.

As you can see, in general, there is nothing complicated in such a matter as setting up a mail server. Even a novice user can cope with this task. But you can be sure that even in the event of a critical failure, you will not have to remain without mail.

The task of raising your own mail servers using Linux-tools, Apache, SQL and the like requires deeper knowledge in the field of information technology.

Mail server (email server, mail server)- in an e-mail forwarding system, this is usually called a mail transfer agent (MTA). It is a computer program that transfers messages from one computer to another. Typically, the mail server works behind the scenes, while users are dealing with another program - an e-mail client (English mail user agent, MUA).

Organization of your own mail server allows you to more flexibly form a policy for sending and receiving mail messages. Often, the possibilities of a hoster of a mail domain for setting up and processing letters are limited, while ICS filters allow you to simulate many different situations, as well as keep records and statistics of transmitted messages, and much more.

When entering the module, the status of all mail and jabber server services is displayed, the "Disable" button (or "Enable" if the service is disabled). There is also a widget with a choice of basic actions, a graph of mail statistics and mailer's feed, as well as the latest log events.

Settings

The "Settings" tab allows you to define the following parameters of the mail server:

SMTP / POP3 / IMAP port- allows you to change the standard ports for receiving and sending mail messages.

Interfaces for SMTP / POP3 / IMAP- allows you to select the server interfaces, which are used to receive and send mail messages. All interfaces are enabled by default.

The following fields allow you to set the maximum message size (in megabytes), the maximum number of messages from one IP address per minute, the interval between sending attempts, and the minimum and maximum waiting time in the mail queue.

Default relay... Relay - a node engaged in receiving / forwarding messages (e-mail), in this case, ICS acts as its default role. In some cases, you may need to register another server through which the ICS will send mail (for example, in the case of a multidrop mailbox configured on the provider's mail server).

Addresses from which forwarding is allowed is a list of addresses and domain names from which the IKS will always accept mail without greylisting and checking the correspondence of forward and backward records.

Addresses from which forwarding is prohibited- this is a list of addresses and domain names, mail messages from which the IKS will always reject.

RBL blacklists... RBL, Real-time Blackhole List (or DNSBL - DNS blacklist or DNS blocklist) are host lists stored using the DNS architecture system. Usually used to combat spam. The mail server addresses DNSBL and checks for the presence of the client's IP address from which it receives the message. If the answer is positive, it is considered that there is an attempt to receive a spam message. A 5xx (fatal error) error is reported to the sending server and the message is not accepted. In most cases, you do not need to change this list.

Default domain for authorization defines a mail domain that will be automatically substituted during user authorization. If you specify the default domain, users of this domain will be able to authenticate using the mailbox name without specifying a domain.

When creating a box, automatically create folders- contains a list of standard folders created in the mailbox. If necessary, you can change their composition.

Check mail with antivirus Clamav /Dr.Wed / Kaspersky- checking these boxes will signal the mail server to check incoming and outgoing messages for viruses. If the result is positive, instead of the letter itself, the recipient will receive a message about the verification results, and the letter itself will be in an attachment to the message.

Use greylisting... Greylisting is a method of automatically blocking spam based on the fact that the "behavior" of spam software differs from that of regular email servers. If the recipient's mail server refuses to accept the letter and reports a "temporary error", the sender's server must try again later. Spam software usually does not try to do this in such cases. You can enable this mode for enhanced spam checking of mail. After enabling this option, the gray list parameters will become available for editing - the time to ignore the resend (in seconds), the time to wait for the resend (in hours), the time the sender is kept in the whitelist (in days).

Server name for SMTP defines the SMTP Banner Postfix parameter.

Certificate for SMTP / POP3 / IMAP- like other ICS services, the mail server can operate both under a standard protocol, in which data is not encrypted when transferring files (which is unsafe), and over a secure one. For these purposes, SSL certificates are used. By clicking on the […] button, you can assign a certificate previously created in the corresponding module for each protocol.

Use DLP- starts the service of checking e-mail messages by fingerprints of confidential information.

Hard drive for storing mail allows you to move the mail storage to a separate hard drive. By default, mail is stored on the system partition.

Signature for the web interface it is enabled in the mail server settings, for this you need to select the "use signature" checkbox and enter the signature in the window that opens by clicking the "edit html" button, and then save the settings.

The signature can be entered in both wysiwyg and html mode.

Variables in the form [variable name] can be used in the signature, their possible values ​​are indicated below:

Cn - Username ou - The group he is in mail - Mailing address description - Field "description" of the user notes - Field "comment" of the user telephonenumber - Field "phone" of the user title - Field "title" of the user url - Field "Website "user postaladdress" - "Address" field of user pager - "ICQ" field of user ounotes - "description" field of the group he is in

To insert images, the image is encoded in data: url. This is done as follows: using the service http://dataurl.net/#dataurlmaker (or similar), the image is converted to the format , then the resulting text is inserted into the html-code of the signature.

IMPORTANT: the peculiarity of this mechanism in Roundcube is such that a signature is automatically generated only for a new account created after setting up a signature. After generation, it will not be possible to change the signature automatically either, so carefully plan the automatic signature when creating

Download logo for Roundcube- this button allows you to select an image that will be located in the upper left corner of the mail web interface. For example, the logo of your organization.

The last three checkboxes allow you to enable DKIM signature, validate DKIM of incoming messages, and also automatically re-encode message headers to UTF-8.

The address book

Domains and mailboxes

Before adding custom mailboxes, you need to create a mail domain. Go to the "Domains and mailboxes" tab and click the "Add" button → "mail domain". You can name the domain by any non-existent name if the exchange of letters will take place within the corporate network, or set up message forwarding on a real domain registered with your organization. If the "Create DKIM signature" checkbox is selected in the settings, it will be added automatically.

When you double-click on the created account again, it will open with the created DKIM key, which can be copied if necessary.

After that, having selected the created domain, you can add custom mailboxes to it. The server will ask you to enter the mailbox name, password and select the user to whom this mailbox will be assigned. If necessary, you can specify a quota - the maximum reserved space on the IKS hard disk for storing letters from this user. After exceeding this quota, messages for the user will not be accepted. There is no quota by default.

You don't have to create a separate mailbox for each mailing name you need. Instead, you can create a link to the specified mailbox. Then all the letters that come to the box [email protected], will be redirected to a real mailbox [email protected]

Important: when creating mail domains and mailboxes, the corresponding domains and accounts appear in the jabber-server section. The converse is also true.

In order for the mail domain to be accessible from the external network and to exchange data with other external servers, it is necessary to configure DNS records.

After mailboxes are created for users, they can connect to the ICS using mail clients (for example, Mozilla Thunderbird or Microsoft Outlook) or use web interface for mail.

The "Filters" tab is used to process sent and received letters. They process mail according to the following conditions: size, sender, recipient, subject. The condition can be strict or non-strict. The number of conditions can be any, and the filter can process mail both when all the conditions are fully matched, and at the first match. After matching the condition, the filter can delete the message, move it to another mailbox, or make a copy.

In the above example, all letters coming to one address, the size of which is more than 5000 KB, and the subject line contains the expression "not spam" will be copied to another IKS mailbox.

In order to create a new filter, you first need to select the trigger conditions - if all conditions match, any of the conditions, or apply to all messages regardless of the conditions.

You can filter incoming and outgoing emails by subject, sender, recipient and size (in kilobytes). The check for a condition can be strict ("matches with") or not strict ("contains", "starts with", "ends with"), as well as the opposite ("does not contain"). You can assign any number of conditions to one filter.

The last step is to select the action to take after the filter has been triggered. You can move the letter, copy it to another address, or delete it. The first two conditions allow you to enter the name of the mailbox or select it from the list created on the IKS.

For an example of how filters can be configured, see.

Mailing lists are the same filters, but with a simplified interface, in which it is enough to indicate those mailboxes to which the mailing list will be distributed. The mailbox to which the original letter comes in the system should not be set up, since it is a link.

Antispam

To manage mail accounts located on other servers, you can use the ICS function "mail collector". With its help, IKS connects to the specified mail server under the selected username and password and moves or copies the contained mail to the mailboxes of IKS users.

You can specify what to do with messages on the server - collect everything, collect only new ones, leave messages on the server or delete them. The interval of the collector's work and the number of downloaded letters per session are also configured.

It works in two modes - automatic recipient detection and specifying a mailbox for assembly. Automatic detection works if the organization has one external mailbox located on the provider's server, and the rest of the mailboxes serve as its aliases. In other cases, a direct indication of the assembly box is used. That is, in most cases, when creating a collector, you must put the switch in the "Forward to" position.

The mail collector can also be used when an organization uses the so-called "multi-drop" mail method. It consists in the fact that all mail comes to the server of the provider or hoster and is stored there without dividing it into user mailboxes. In this case, when configuring the mail collector, you do not need to change the "recipient" field (the default value in it is the recipient's address). Thus, the collected letters will be automatically distributed depending on the addressee among the mailboxes of the ICS users, and in the absence of such addressees, they will be added to the mailbox selected by default.

Mail queue

This tab shows emails waiting to be sent or which for some reason have not been sent (for example, rejected by the upstream mail server greylisting). When you select any object from the list, you can see the error code for which it was not delivered. You can manage the mail queue using the "Clear Queue" and "Send All" buttons. Also, you can try to send each letter individually or remove it from the queue.

Statistics

To control incoming and outgoing mail traffic, as well as spam and unsolicited messages, you can use the "Statistics" section.

As well as in user statistics, you can apply various filters on the control panel to general information about the ICS mail traffic and display them in the form of a table. The columns in the table vary depending on the filter applied.

The report generator looks a lot like custom statistics. Basic filters can display information about user traffic, grouping them according to the following criteria:

by sender's domains,

by recipient domains,

by mailboxes,

by hours / days / months,

detailing letters;

Magazine

The "Log" tab contains a summary of all system messages from the mail server. The magazine is divided into pages, with the buttons "forward" and "back" you can go from page to page, or enter the page number in the field and switch directly to it.

Log entries are highlighted in color depending on the type of message. Normal system messages are marked in white, errors are marked in red.

There is a search bar in the upper right corner of the module. With its help, you can search the journal for the entries you need.

The log always displays events for the current date. To view events on another day, select the required date using the calendar in the upper left corner of the module.