A simple step-by-step guide to setting up a Linux email server using the most popular free Open Source tools like PostFix, ProcMail, SpamAssassin, ClamAV, and others


In Detail

Many businesses want to run their email servers on Linux for greater control and flexibility of corporate communications, but getting started can be complicated. The attractiveness of a free-to-use and robust email service running on Linux can be undermined by the apparent technical challenges involved. Some of the complexity arises from the fact that an email server consists of several components that must be installed and configured separately, then integrated together.

This book gives you just what you need to know to set up and maintain an email server. Unlike other approaches that deal with one component at a time, this book delivers a step-by-step approach across all the server components, leaving you with a complete working email server for your small business network.

Starting with a discussion on why you should even consider hosting your own email server, the book covers setting up the mail server. We then move on to look at providing web access, so that users can access their email out of the office. After this we look at the features you'll want to add to improve email productivity: virus protection, spam detection, and automatic email processing. Finally we look at an essential maintenance task: backups.

Written by professional Linux administrators, the book is aimed at technically confident users and new and part-time system administrators. The emphasis is on simple, practical and reliable guidance.

Based entirely on free, Open Source software, this book will show you how to set up and manage your email server easily.


What you will learn from this book

You will:

* Install Postfix mail transfer agent and set up an environment to send and receive email messages
* Implement the two standard email retrieval protocol services – POP3 and IMAP – for your mail server using Courier-IMAP
* Configure an easy-to-use open source email client – Mozilla Thunderbird – on your system
* Install and maintain an efficient webmail solution for your clients with SquirrelMail
* Prevent usernames and passwords from being sent in plain text, instead encrypting them to avoid eavesdroppers from intercepting valid account details
* Configure relay permissions for static as well as dynamic IP addresses, and protect your Postfix server from relay abuse
* Create mail filters, sort your incoming mail into separate folders, pre-process your mail, start any programs upon mail arrival and selectively forward certain incoming mail automatically to someone using Procmail
* Automatically filter all the mails for spam by integrating SpamAssassin with your mail server
* Secure your mail server by configuring an email virus scanning system with Clam AV
* Create an ongoing scheduled backup to recover from catastrophic loss of service in case of a major hardware or software malfunction

Approach

The book takes a practical, step-by-step approach to working with email servers. It starts by establishing the basics and setting up a mail server. Then you move to advanced sections like webmail access, security, backup, and more. You will find many examples and clear explanations that will facilitate learning.

Who this book is written for

This book is aimed at technically confident users and new and part-time system administrators in small businesses, who want to set up a Linux-based email server without spending a lot of time becoming expert in the individual applications. Basic knowledge of Linux is expected.