G+_Ben Reese Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 I recently bought a domain name and am wanting to setup my own mail server (if Hillary can do it, it can't be that difficult). Does anyone have a good place to start? I found this excellent tutorial (https://samhobbs.co.uk/raspberry-pi-email-server) for setting up Dovecot, Postfix, and other add-ons on a Pi, but I'm now thinking Time Warner is blocking the ports for SMTPS and IMAP. I know Gmail will let me use my own domain, but it's $5 per account per month - there's really no reason when I can buy hosting on a VPS for $5/month and host multiple accounts with multiple aliases per account. Gmail will also let you send email from another email account if you can provide the SMTP server, so I'm not opposed to a mail server that only forwards and hosts the SMTP. Ultimately I'd like to setup a home "cloud" server for mail, docs, file sharing, and maybe even a pier to pier social network. The mail server seems to be the most difficult part so far though, so I'm starting with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Ben Reese Posted October 27, 2015 Author Share Posted October 27, 2015 Oh, and so platforms.... I'd prefer Linux based (such as Raspberry Pi or hosted server), but I have IIS available on Windows Server too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Stephen Bertoni Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 Time Warner has never blocked SMTP ports around here. As long as you don't mind using a smart host for outgoing mail you should be good to go. Don't have a link handy for setting it all up, but I will recommend postfix as an MTA. Good docs, and straightforward setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Stephen Bertoni Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 This looks usable: https://www.linode.com/docs/email/postfix/postfix-smtp-debian7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Ben Reese Posted October 27, 2015 Author Share Posted October 27, 2015 Stephen Bertoni?, I'll try again to see if SMTP is blocked here. Forums sound hit or miss plus a lot of people who don't understand ("I have no problems connecting to an IMAP or SMTP service when at home"....). It seems Postfix probably is the way to go then so I'll keep pursuing that. I think that Linode article might be reverse from what I want... That's for connecting Postfix to an external SMTP service, but I'd want to host the SMTP service that others can connect to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Stephen Bertoni Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 You'll need to connect to an external mail server for outgoing mail though Ben Reese? Incoming mail shouldn't be a problem with Time Warner. Or you could get a business class account from TW. Maybe things have changed with Time Warner but I did this for years and they never gave a rat's rear end that I was running an MTA. ;) Good luck with it all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Joshua Hamlett Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 You will also probably want a static IP address, which would also probably require a business account. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Ben Reese Posted October 27, 2015 Author Share Posted October 27, 2015 Joshua Hamlett?, Namecheap actually has a dynamic DNS updater, so a static IP isn't necessary. It's also been discussed that most dynamic IPs are fairly static as it is - there's really no benefit to the ISP to change your IP unless they want to make a home server more difficult to maintain. I don't think mine has changed since I got a new modem 6+ months ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Ben Reese Posted October 27, 2015 Author Share Posted October 27, 2015 I did a port scan on my Pi then checked my port forwarding settings on the router again. I had the wrong port for IMAPS and I wasn't forwarding SMTP yet - only SMTPS. After updating the IMAPS entry and adding SMTP, a port scan showed all 3 working!! Woo hoo!! https://goo.gl/photos/fTeZBsp3tpgDKmcV6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Travis Hershberger Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 I have a DigitalOcean droplet. They're an advertiser so they have a $10 credit by entering TWIT in the billing section. 30 day trial + $10 credit on a $5/month service! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Michael Heinz Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 I would recommend against setting up your own server these days. Yes it's easy - trivial, even. The problem is that many large email domains automatically reject mail that doesn't come from a large, established email provider. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Stephen Bertoni Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 I dunno about that Michael Heinz but almost all will reject residential IP addresses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Michael Heinz Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 Yup. But even virtual servers hosted by a well known provider can run into trouble. There's also the problem of having to keep the server up to date - residential or not. http://www.epolk.com/microsoft-outlook-blocking-email-from-our-mail-server/ http://www.geekwire.com/2015/why-you-shouldnt-try-to-host-your-own-email/ There's also a ton of google hits about google themselves blocking all email coming from small businesses, claiming they're spamming when they're actually individual replies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Stephen Bertoni Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 Both links are mostly irrelevant. It's quite possible to halfass a mail server setup, but it's not trival or easy to properly set up or maintain an MTA. Just noticed the talk about static vs. dynamic IP. Around here at least, Time Warner changes my IP address about once a year. Not a biggie unless you have a NIC die or decide to change NICs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Eddie Foy Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 I have my email server on a Synology NAS Was fairly easy to set up. I use a VPS as a relay for outgoing only since SpamHaus will flag a Dynamic IP (no PTR record) ITs handling 2 domains (though incorrectly. They should be virtual from what I've read for multiple domains) Funny thing, once I did the VPS relay, I wasn't flagged by Spamhuas, but Microsft flagged me as spam. I had no probs with a customer until I set up the relay. MS was cool about removing my block. Then of course there is the whole SPF/DKIM/DMARC to set up once the basics are done. Static vs dynamic IP not all that important. The MX record point to the A record (usually). So even a DynDNS could work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_David Dennis Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 I had the same problem with Spamhaus blocking the email server that is a part of my VoIP server. I still have not resolved that. I'm not sure what a VPS is, maybe someone could clue me in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Eddie Foy Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 David Dennis VPS is a virtual private server. In a nutshell its a server on the web running as a VM (like most internet servers these days) I pay about $40 a year for a ubuntu server with about 3GB monthly bandwidth (that's a lot of outgoing email for me) It has a dedicated IP and I think 2 or 4 IPv6. (but after the BSides Raleigh talk, by Earl Carter, IPv6 looks like a hacker's dream) Its also nice to have a system 'outside' to test things. Port scan your house, etc. I typically just ssh into it and do my thing. (screen is a very good buddy for that) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_David Dennis Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 Thanks Eddie Foy. I'm going to look into this to resolve my problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Ben Reese Posted October 28, 2015 Author Share Posted October 28, 2015 40/yr isn't bad, but 3 GB a month seems pretty limiting for anything other than email. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Eddie Foy Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 Its just outgoing email. I don't use .1% of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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