Mail Server Configuration Lab - Zacham17/my-tech-journal GitHub Wiki

Brief Summary

  • In this lab, I configured a mail server with the postfix mail service.

Notes/Steps

  • I set the hostname and network configuration for the mail01 VM using the nmtui tool
  • I edited variables in the postfix main.cf configuration file to work in accordance with my network and domain. The variables that I edited along with example values are:
  myhostname = mail.example.com
  mydomain = example.com
  myorigin = $mydomain
  inet_interfaces = all
  mydestination = $myhostname, localhost.$mydomain, localhost, $mydomain
  mynetworks = 192.168.0.0/24, 127.0.0.0/8
  home_mailbox = Maildir/
  • I installed dovecot using the command yum install dovecot to add POP3 and IMAP to the server.
  • I used the command ``lsof -i -n``` to show open listening ports and display the protocol name
  • I edited variables in the dovecot dovecot.conf configuration file to work in accordance with my network and domain. The variables that I edited along with example values are:
protocols = imap imaps pop3 pop3s
mail_location = maildir:~/Maildir
pop3_uidl_format = %08Xu%08Xv
# Required on x86_64 kernels
login_process_size = 64
  • I added an A Record on the domain server for mail01
  • I added an MX Record on the domain server for mail01
  • I ran nslookup and typed set q=mx and entered my domain name to see that I properly set up the MX record for mail01.

New Terms

  • SMTP(Simple Mail transfer Protocol) is a protocol used to send and receive mail messages and uses TCP port 25.
  • Postfix is a mail server that I used in this lab
  • Dovecot is an IMAP and POP3 server.
  • IMAP is Internet message access protocol. It lets you log into different email clients or webmail interfaces and view the same emails. It also stores email on the server instead of having to download them onto your computer. It uses port 143.
  • POP3 stands for Post Office Protocol. It allows you to download emails from your inbox onto your computer and then the emails are removed from the mail server. It uses port 110.
  • The command ps -ef is used to list all the running processes on the system.
  • An MX(Mail Exchange) Record is necessary for the delivery of email to an address.

Questions

The following are questions that I had during the lab:

  • What is the benefit to using both POP3 and IMAP services on the mail server instead of just one, and is it necessary?
  • Qill emails just appear in the \Maildr directory or will emails be received somewhere else?