Email with Postfix, Dovecot and MySQL on Debian 6 (Squeeze)

12/6/2019
Email with Postfix, Dovecot and MySQL on Debian 6 (Squeeze)
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» Email with Postfix, Dovecot and MySQL on Debian 6 (Squeeze)
Email with Post x, Dovecot and
MySQL on Debian 6 (Squeeze)
Updated Friday, June 1, 2018 by Linode
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Deprecated
This guide has been deprecated and is no longer being maintained.
The Postfix Mail Transfer Agent (MTA) is a high performance open
source e-mail server system. This guide will help you get Postfix
running on your Debian 6 (Squeeze) Linode, using Dovecot for
IMAP/POP3 service and MySQL to store information on virtual
domains and users. This guide is largely based on Christoph Haas’s
great ISP-style Email Server with Debian-Lenny and Postfix 2.5 guide
(http://workaround.org/ispmail/lenny) and HowtoForge Groupware
Server With Group-Office, Postfix, Dovecot And SpamAssassin On
Debian Lenny (5.0) (http://www.howtoforge.com/groupware-serverwith-group-office-postfix-dovecot-spamassassin-on-debian-lenny), with
some packages omitted.
It is assumed that you have followed the steps outlined in our getting
started guide (/docs/getting-started/). All configuration will be
performed in a terminal session; make sure you’re logged into your
Linode as root via SSH.
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NOTE: Please read all of the information presented in this guide
carefully. There are many files and commands that will need to be
edited as part of the setup process: please do not simply copy and
paste the example blocks.
Set the Hostname
Before you begin installing and configuring the components described
in this guide, please make sure you’ve followed our instructions for
setting your hostname (/docs/getting-started#setting-the-hostname).
Issue the following commands to make sure it is set properly:
hostname
hostname -f
The first command should show your short hostname, and the second
should show your fully qualified domain name (FQDN).
Install Required Packages
Issue the following commands to install any outstanding package
updates:
apt-get update
apt-get upgrade
Issue the following command to get the required packages installed on
your Linode:
apt-get install postfix postfix-mysql postfix-doc mysql-client mysql-server dov
This will install the Postfix mail server, the MySQL database server,
the Dovecot IMAP and POP daemons, and several supporting
packages that provide services related to authentication. You will be
prompted to choose a root password for MySQL; make sure you select
a strong password comprised of letters, numbers, and nonalphanumeric characters. Write this password down and keep it in a
safe place for later reference.
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(751-postfix-courier-mysql-01-mysql-root-password.png)
Next, you’ll be prompted to select the type of mail server configuration
you want for your Linode. Select “Internet Site” and continue.
(752-postfix-courier-mysql-02-mail-server-type-2.png)
Now you’ll need to set the system mail name. This should be a fully
qualified domain name (FQDN) that points to your Linode’s IP
address. This example uses an example organization’s domain. You
should set the reverse DNS for your Linode’s IP address to the fully
qualified domain name you assign as the system mail name, while
other domains you wish to host email for will be handled later through
virtual domain setup steps.
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(753-postfix-courier-mysql-02-mail-server-type-3.png)
This completes the initial package configuration steps. Next, you’ll set
up a MySQL database to handle virtual domains and users.
Set up MySQL for Virtual Domains
and Users
Start the MySQL shell by issuing the following command. You’ll be
prompted to enter the root password for MySQL that you assigned
during the initial setup.
mysql -u root -p
You’ll be presented with an interface similar to the following.
Welcome to the MySQL monitor. Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 40
Server version: 5.1.49-3 (Debian)
Copyright (c) 2000, 2010, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
This software comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY. This is free software,
and you are welcome to modify and redistribute it under the GPL v2 license
Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the current input statement.
mysql>
Issue the following command to create a database for your mail server
and switch to it in the shell:
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CREATE DATABASE mail;
USE mail;
Create a mail administration user called mail_admin and grant it
permissions on the mail database with the following commands.
Please be sure to replace “mail_admin_password” with a password
you select for this user.
GRANT SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE ON mail.* TO 'mail_admin'@'localhost' IDEN
GRANT SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE ON mail.* TO 'mail_admin'@'localhost.local
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
Create the virtual domains table with the following command:
CREATE TABLE domains (domain varchar(50) NOT NULL, PRIMARY KEY (domain) );
Create a table to handle mail forwarding with the following command:
CREATE TABLE forwardings (source varchar(80) NOT NULL, destination TEXT NOT NUL
Create the users table with the following command:
CREATE TABLE users (email varchar(80) NOT NULL, password varchar(20) NOT NULL,
Create a transports table with the following command:
CREATE TABLE transport ( domain varchar(128) NOT NULL default '', transport var
Exit the MySQL shell by issuing the following command:
quit
Check that MySQL is set up to bind to localhost (127.0.0.1) by looking
at the file /etc/mysql/my.cnf . You should have the following line in the
configuration file:
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/etc/mysql/my.cnf
bind-address = 127.0.0.1
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This is required for Postfix to be able to communicate with the
database server. If you have MySQL set up to run on another IP
address (such as an internal IP), you will need to substitute this IP
address in place of 127.0.0.1 during the Postfix configuration steps.
Please note that it is not advisable to run MySQL on a publiclyaccessible IP address.
If you changed MySQL’s configuration, restart the database server
with the following command:
service mysql restart
Next, you’ll perform additional Postfix configuration to set up
communication with the database.
Con gure Post x to work with
MySQL
Create a virtual domain configuration file for Postfix called
/etc/postfix/mysql-virtual_domains.cf with the following contents. Be sure
to replace “mail_admin_password” with the password you chose
earlier for the MySQL mail administrator user.
1
/etc/postfix/mysql-virtual\_domains.cf
user = mail_admin password = mail_admin_password dbname = mail
query = SELECT domain AS virtual FROM domains WHERE
domain=‘%s’ hosts = 127.0.0.1
Create a virtual forwarding file for Postfix called /etc/postfix/mysqlvirtual_forwardings.cf with the following contents. Be sure to replace
“mail_admin_password” with the password you chose earlier for the
MySQL mail administrator user.
1
/etc/postfix/mysql-virtual\_forwardings.cf
user = mail_admin password = mail_admin_password dbname = mail
query = SELECT destination FROM forwardings WHERE source=‘%s’
hosts = 127.0.0.1
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Create a virtual mailbox configuration file for Postfix called
/etc/postfix/mysql-virtual_mailboxes.cf with the following contents. Be
sure to replace “mail_admin_password” with the password you chose
earlier for the MySQL mail administrator user.
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/etc/postfix/mysql-virtual\_mailboxes.cf
user = mail_admin password = mail_admin_password dbname = mail
query = SELECT CONCAT(SUBSTRING_INDEX(email,
<‘@’>,-1),‘/’,SUBSTRING_INDEX(email,<‘@’>,1),‘/’) FROM users
WHERE email=‘%s’ hosts = 127.0.0.1
Create a virtual email mapping file for Postfix called /etc/postfix/mysqlvirtual_email2email.cf with the following contents. Be sure to replace
“mail_admin_password” with the password you chose earlier for the
MySQL mail administrator user.
1
/etc/postfix/mysql-virtual\_email2email.cf
user = mail_admin password = mail_admin_password dbname = mail
query = SELECT email FROM users WHERE email=‘%s’ hosts =
127.0.0.1
Set proper permissions and ownership for these configuration files by
issuing the following commands:
chmod o= /etc/postfix/mysql-virtual_*.cf
chgrp postfix /etc/postfix/mysql-virtual_*.cf
Next, create a user and group for mail handling. All virtual mailboxes
will be stored under this user’s home directory.
groupadd -g 5000 vmail
useradd -g vmail -u 5000 vmail -d /home/vmail -m
Issue the following commands to complete the remaining steps
required for Postfix configuration. Please be sure to replace
“server.example.com” with the fully qualified domain name you used
for your system mail name.
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postconf
postconf
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postconf
postconf
postconf
postconf
postconf
postconf
postconf
postconf
postconf
postconf
postconf
postconf
postconf
postconf
postconf
postconf
postconf
postconf
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'myhostname = server.example.com'
'mydestination = server.example.com, localhost, localhost.localdoma
'mynetworks = 127.0.0.0/8'
'message_size_limit = 30720000'
'virtual_alias_domains ='
'virtual_alias_maps = proxy:mysql:/etc/postfix/mysql-virtual_forwar
'virtual_mailbox_domains = proxy:mysql:/etc/postfix/mysql-virtual_d
'virtual_mailbox_maps = proxy:mysql:/etc/postfix/mysql-virtual_mail
'virtual_mailbox_base = /home/vmail'
'virtual_uid_maps = static:5000'
'virtual_gid_maps = static:5000'
'smtpd_sasl_auth_enable = yes'
'broken_sasl_auth_clients = yes'
'smtpd_sasl_authenticated_header = yes'
'smtpd_recipient_restrictions = permit_mynetworks, permit_sasl_auth
'smtpd_use_tls = yes'
'smtpd_tls_cert_file = /etc/postfix/smtpd.cert'
'smtpd_tls_key_file = /etc/postfix/smtpd.key'
'virtual_create_maildirsize = yes'
'virtual_maildir_extended = yes'
'proxy_read_maps = $local_recipient_maps $mydestination $virtual_al
virtual_transport=dovecot
dovecot_destination_recipient_limit=1
This completes the configuration for Postfix. Next, you’ll make an SSL
certificate for the Postfix server that contains values appropriate for
your organization.
Create an SSL Certi cate for Post x
Issue the following commands to create the SSL certificate (the
openssl command spans two lines, but should be entered as a single
command):
cd /etc/postfix
openssl req -new -outform PEM -out smtpd.cert -newkey rsa:2048 -nodes -keyout s
You will be asked to enter several values similar to the output shown
below. Be sure to enter the fully qualified domain name you used for
the system mailname in place of “server.example.com”.
Country Name (2 letter code) [AU]:US
State or Province Name (full name) [Some-State]:New Jersey
Locality Name (eg, city) []:Absecon
Organization Name (eg, company) [Internet Widgits Pty Ltd]:MyCompany, LLC
Organizational Unit Name (eg, section) []:Email Services
Common Name (eg, YOUR name) []:server.example.com
Email Address []:[email protected]
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Set proper permissions for the key file by issuing the following
command:
chmod o= /etc/postfix/smtpd.key
This completes SSL certificate creation for Postfix. Next, you’ll
configure saslauthd to use MySQL for user authentication.
Con gure saslauthd to use MySQL
Issue the following command to create a directory for
saslauthd
:
mkdir -p /var/spool/postfix/var/run/saslauthd
Make a backup copy of the
following command.
/etc/default/saslauthd
file by issuing the
cp -a /etc/default/saslauthd /etc/default/saslauthd.bak
Edit the file
below.
1
/etc/default/saslauthd
to match the configuration shown
/etc/default/saslauthd
START=yes DESC=“SASL Authentication Daemon” NAME=“saslauthd”
MECHANISMS=“pam” MECH_OPTIONS=“” THREADS=5 OPTIONS=“-c
-m /var/spool/postfix/var/run/saslauthd -r”
Next, create the file /etc/pam.d/smtp and copy in the following two lines.
Be sure to change “mail_admin_password” to the password you chose
for your mail administration MySQL user earlier.
1
/etc/pam.d/smtp
auth required pam_mysql.so user=mail_admin
passwd=mail_admin_password host=127.0.0.1 db=mail table=users
usercolumn=email passwdcolumn=password crypt=1 account sufficient
pam_mysql.so user=mail_admin passwd=mail_admin_password
host=127.0.0.1 db=mail table=users usercolumn=email
passwdcolumn=password crypt=1
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Create a file named /etc/postfix/sasl/smtpd.conf with the following
contents. Be sure to change “mail_admin_password” to the password
you chose for your mail administration MySQL user earlier.
1
/etc/postfix/sasl/smtpd.conf
pwcheck_method: saslauthd mech_list: plain login allow_plaintext: true
auxprop_plugin: mysql sql_hostnames: 127.0.0.1 sql_user: mail_admin
sql_passwd: mail_admin_password sql_database: mail sql_select: select
password from users where email = ‘%u’
Set proper permissions and ownership for these configuration files by
issuing the following commands:
chmod o= /etc/pam.d/smtp
chmod o= /etc/postfix/sasl/smtpd.conf
Add the Postfix user to the sasl group and restart Postfix and
saslauthd by issuing the following commands:
adduser postfix sasl
service postfix restart
service saslauthd restart
This completes configuration for saslauthd . Next, you’ll configure
Dovecot to use MySQL for IMAP/POP3 user authentication.
Con gure Dovecot
Edit the file /etc/postfix/master.cf and add the dovecot service to the
bottom of the file.
1
/etc/postfix/master.cf
dovecot unix - n n - - pipe
flags=DRhu user=vmail:vmail argv=/usr/lib/dovecot/deliver -d \${recipient}
Issue the following command to make a backup copy of your
/etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf file.
cp -a /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf.bak
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Replace the contents of the file with the following example, substituting
your system’s domain name for example.com.
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/etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf
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protocols = imap imaps pop3 pop3s log_timestamp = “%Y-%m-%d
%H:%M:%S “ mail_location = maildir:/home/vmail/%d/%n/Maildir
ssl_cert_file = /etc/ssl/certs/dovecot.pem ssl_key_file =
/etc/ssl/private/dovecot.pem
namespace private {
separator = . prefix = INBOX. inbox = yes
}
protocol lda {
log_path = /home/vmail/dovecot-deliver.log auth_socket_path =
/var/run/dovecot/auth-master postmaster_address =
[email protected] (mailto:[email protected])
mail_plugins = sieve global_script_path = /home/vmail/globalsieverc
}
protocol pop3 {
pop3_uidl_format = %08Xu%08Xv
}
auth default {
user = root
passdb sql {
args = /etc/dovecot/dovecot-sql.conf
}
userdb static {
args = uid=5000 gid=5000 home=/home/vmail/%d/%n
allow_all_users=yes
}
socket listen {
master {
path = /var/run/dovecot/auth-master mode = 0600 user = vmail
}
client {
path = /var/spool/postfix/private/auth mode = 0660 user = postfix group =
postfix
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}
}
}
MySQL will be used to store password information, so
/etc/dovecot/dovecot-sql.conf must be edited. Issue the following
command to make a backup copy of the existing file.
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cp -a /etc/dovecot/dovecot-sql.conf /etc/dovecot/dovecot-sql.conf.bak
Replace the contents of the file with the following example, making
sure to replace “main_admin_password” with your mail password.
In This Guide:
1
/etc/dovecot/dovecot-sql.conf
 RSS feed
(https://www.linode.com/docs/index.xml)
driver = mysql connect = host=127.0.0.1 dbname=mail user=mail_admin
password=mail_admin_password default_pass_scheme = CRYPT
password_query = SELECT email as user, password FROM users
WHERE email=‘%u’;
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Dovecot has now been configured. You must restart it to make sure it
is working properly:
service dovecot restart
Now check your /var/log/mail.log to make sure dovecot started without
errors. Your log should have lines similar to the following:
1
/var/log/mail.log
Jun 13 17:01:58 li263-140 dovecot: Dovecot v1.2.15 starting up (core
dumps disabled) Jun 13 17:01:58 li263-140 dovecot: authworker(default): mysql: Connected to 127.0.0.1 (mail)
Before testing dovecot, you must change the permissions on
/etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf to allow the vmail user to access them:
chgrp vmail /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf
chmod g+r /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf
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You can test your POP3 server to make sure it’s running properly by
issuing the following command.
telnet localhost pop3
You should see output similar to the following in your terminal:
Trying 127.0.0.1...
Connected to localhost.localdomain.
Escape character is '^]'.
+OK Dovecot ready.
Enter the command “quit” to return to your shell. This completes the
Dovecot configuration. Next, you’ll make sure aliases are configured
properly.
Con gure Mail Aliases
Edit the file /etc/aliases , making sure the “postmaster” and “root”
directives are set properly for your organization.
1
/etc/aliases
postmaster: root root: [email protected]
(mailto:[email protected])
After modifying this file, you must run the following commands to
update aliases and restart Postfix:
newaliases
service postfix restart
This completes alias configuration. Next, you’ll test Postfix to make
sure it’s operating properly.
Testing Post x
To test Postfix for SMTP-AUTH and TLS, issue the following
command:
telnet localhost 25
While connected to Postfix, issue the following command:
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ehlo localhost
You should see output similar to the following, with the line “250STARTTLS” included:
Trying 127.0.0.1...
Connected to localhost.localdomain.
Escape character is '^]'.
220 hostname.example.com ESMTP Postfix (Debian/GNU)
ehlo localhost
250-hostname.example.com
250-PIPELINING
250-SIZE 30720000
250-VRFY
250-ETRN
250-STARTTLS
250-AUTH PLAIN LOGIN
250-AUTH=PLAIN LOGIN
250-ENHANCEDSTATUSCODES
250-8BITMIME
250 DSN
Issue the command quit to terminate the Postfix connection. Next,
you’ll populate the MySQL database with domains and email users.
Setting up Domains and Users
Please note that you’ll need to modify the DNS records for any
domains that you wish to handle email by adding an MX record that
points to your mail server’s fully qualified domain name. If MX records
already exist for a domain you would like to handle the email for, you’ll
need to either delete them or set them to a larger priority number than
your mail server. Smaller priority numbers indicate higher priority for
mail delivery, with “0” being the highest priority.
We’ll use the MySQL shell to add support for the domain
“example.com”, which will have an email account called “sales”. You
should substitute one of your domains for “example.com” in these
statements, along with a strong password for the “password” entry in
the second SQL statement.
mysql -u root -p
USE mail;
INSERT INTO domains (domain) VALUES ('example.com');
INSERT INTO users (email, password) VALUES ('[email protected]', ENCRYPT('passw
quit
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You’ll need to send a welcome message to new email accounts before
they can be accessed via IMAP or POP3. This is because the
mailboxes for new users won’t be created until an email is received for
them. To send a welcome message from the command line, you may
use the mailx utility. Issue the following command to send the
message.
mailx [email protected]
Press Ctrl+D to complete the message. You can safely leave the field
for “CC:” blank. This completes the configuration for a new domain
and email user.
Given the possibility for virtual hosting a large number of virtual
domains on a single mail system, the username portion of an email
address (i.e. before the @ sign) is not sufficient to authenticate to the
mail server. When email users authenticate to the server, they must
supply their email clients with the entire email address created above
as their username.
Check Your Logs
After you have sent the test mail, you’ll want to check your error logs
to make sure the mail was delivered. First check your mail.log located
in /var/log/mail.log . You should see something similar to the following:
1
/var/log/mail.log
Jun 13 17:05:40 li263-140 postfix/cleanup[5435]: E7AA723FD2:
message-id=<[email protected]
(mailto:[email protected])> Jun
13 17:05:40 li263-140 postfix/qmgr[5349]: E7AA723FD2: from=
<[email protected] (mailto:[email protected])>,
size=376, nrcpt=1 (queue active) Jun 13 17:05:41 li263-140
postfix/pipe[5439]: E7AA723FD2: to=<[email protected]
(mailto:[email protected])>, relay=dovecot, delay=0.24,
delays=0.08/0.01/0/0.15, dsn=2.0.0, status=sent (delivered via dovecot
service) Jun 13 17:05:41 li263-140 postfix/qmgr[5349]: E7AA723FD2:
removed
Next you should check the Dovecot delivery log located in
/home/vmail/dovecot-deliver.log . The contents should look similar to the
following:
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1
/home/vmail/dovecot-deliver.log
2011-06-13 17:05:41 deliver([email protected]
(mailto:[email protected])): Info: msgid=
<[email protected]
(mailto:[email protected])>:
saved mail to INBOX
Now you can test to see what the users of your email server would see
with their email clients.
Test the Mailbox
To test the
[email protected]
mail box, navigate to the mailbox directory
and type the following command:
/home/vmail/example.com/sales/Maildir
find
You should see output similar to the following:
.
./dovecot.index.log
./dovecot-uidvalidity
./cur
./tmp
./dovecot-uidvalidity.4df67ba5
./new
./new/1307999141.M4912P5440.hostname,S=452,W=464
./dovecot-uidlist
Now you can test using a mail client. When configuring your local
email client, use the full email address for the mailbox you wish to
connect to as the username. You may use mutt for this test. It is not
installed by default so you may need to install it ( apt-get install mutt ).
Type the following command to view user’s mail:
mutt -f .
You may be prompted to create the root mailbox. This is not required.
If you see an e-mail in the inbox, you’ve successfully configured
Postfix, Dovecot, and MySQL to provide email services for virtual
domains and users on your Linode. Please consult the “More
Information” section for additional resources that may prove useful in
the administration of your new email server.
https://www.linode.com/docs/email/postfix/email-with-postfix-dovecot-and-mysql-on-debian-6-squeeze/
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Email with Postfix, Dovecot and MySQL on Debian 6 (Squeeze)
More Information
You may wish to consult the following resources for additional
information on this topic. While these are provided in the hope that
they will be useful, please note that we cannot vouch for the accuracy
or timeliness of externally hosted materials.
Postfix MySQL Howto
(http://www.postfix.org/MYSQL_README.html)
Postfix SASL Howto
(http://www.postfix.org/SASL_README.html)
Dovecot Documentation Wiki (http://wiki.dovecot.org/)
MySQL Documentation (http://dev.mysql.com/doc/)
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(https://www.linode.com/community/questions/)
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Email with Postfix, Dovecot and MySQL on Debian 6 (Squeeze)
This guide is published under a CC BY-ND 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0)
license.
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19/19