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TICKET ARCHIVE -> Multi-virtual Domain Mail Server On 10.4.2 (not Server)

Markis224 - Oct 28, 2005 - 8:11 pm

Hello,

I'm trying to set-up a mail server on my mac-mini before I ship it off to be co-located. I've tried to look on-line for tutorials or other resources but have gotten only part of the answers I need to have it fully secure. This is what I'm using so far:

Webmin/Usermin/Virtualmin to create accounts
Postfix/Dovecot for the SMTP/POP3/IMAP servers
Procmail/Spamassassin/Vipul's Razor/ for pre-scanning the email messages for spam/viruses

I've used Postfix Enabler but it seems to use UW IMAP (I think) and it seems to conflict with Webmin/Usermin/Virtualmin when modifying the config files, plus I don't see an easy way to set-up Spam/Anti-virus scanning and many users on multiple domains.

I mostly need help with the configuration files for the programs I'm using with the Webmin tools so nothing gets corrupted if I add a domain using Virtualmin. I want to set-up Usermin so clients can add/delete/modify their email accounts. Otherwise I probably could find the information via Linux set-ups for modifying the original configuration files. Unfortunately Tiger 10.4 doesn't put things in default locations and using DarwinPorts and Fink also complicates the process for finding where things are located.

The information I found most helpful so far have been Mac OS Tiger Unleashed book and this article on fighting spam on OS X Server http://developer.apple.com/server/fighting_spam.html (which uses Cyrus instead of Dovecot - haven't found a stable Cyrus for 10.4 on-line yet). I prefer not to buy OS X Server since there seems to be some conflict between Webmin and the OS X Server GUI with conflict files.

Thanks,
Mark

BjarneDM - Oct 30, 2005 - 5:13 am

1) you really need to destinguish much more between SMTP and POP3/IMAP. These are *completely* separate servers that are just communicating with each other.

2) Postfix and virtual domamins:
http://www.postfix.org/docs.html
They seem to prefer a combination of Postfix+MySQL+Cyrus, but you ought to be able to replace Cyrus with Dovecot.
The low-down of it is that you probably will have to compile support for MySQL into Postfix. That's *not* done in the Mac OS X Client version of Postfix. The version of Postfix installed (2.1.5) is behind the current (2.2.5) release. None of the versions you can install from 3rd parties has MySQL support built-in as far as I can see. But try installing them and then run 'postconf -m' to see what options you have

3) Dovecot
How did you get it? From source or DarwinPorts.

4) Postfix Enabler
Skip it - not suitable for what you want

5) MySQL
It's not installed on Mac OS X Client from Apple. You'll have to get it from 3rd party (DarwinPorts, Fink, MySQL) or compile it yourself. If the information from MySQL - http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/...os-x-10-x.html - on how they've compiled it is correct, you'll *NOT* be able to use their version as it's missing the shared libraries.

6) DarwinPorts
You can specify where it installs itself. If you specify '/' it installs on top of Mac OS X overwriting what you have there. A good idea might be to get *everything* from DarwinPorts and use that for your purposes. But you'll still have problems with Postfix+MySQL which will mean either modifying the portfile or overwriting the DarwinPort installation with your own compiled version

I've gone my own way and have compiled Apache2, PHP5, MySQL5 and Postfix from source in combination with libraries from DarwinPorts and installed these in /Library.
I'm presently looking at the POP3/IMAP situation, but haven't been experimenting with these yet. My startingpoint was what you can get from http://www.serverlogistics.com/downloads.php, but as these packages are way beyound the latest releases, i chose to go my own way.

I'm in the process of upgrading my webadmin page - http://webadmin.mathiesen.info/ (at present in danish only - but understandable for english speaking). At present the information on my homepage is rather outdated, as I've been doing some heavy experimentation on PHP5 and DarwinPorts in particular to get *everything* into PHP5

Let me know what help you need; Bjarne

Markis224 - Oct 31, 2005 - 12:39 pm

1) I realize that Postfix and Dovecot are two separate servers, but I need to have them configured so they use the same mail storage scheme.

2) I have MySQL, but I don't know if I want it to handle email. Dovecot seems to prefer maildir as a method of storing emails and I was thinking of using LDAP for the user database. I can configure Postfix to use MySQL in Webmin, but will Dovecot require to create a MySQL user for each POP3/IMAP account? I really don't want to have a bunch of MySQL accounts to manage. I also don't know if I want MySQL handling mail since my web pages rely fairly heavily on MySQL with PHP.

3) I downloaded Dovecot from DarwinPorts.

4) I agree.

5) I downloaded the ServerLogistics version of MySQL a while back mainly because their PHP4 wasn't compatible with MySQL 5.0. I like ServerLogistics build of PHP because it includes all the modules I like. I didn't want to have to find all of them and build them from scratch. ServerLogistics makes it easy to install Apache2, PHP4, and MySQL and it just works out of the box (one less thing I have to worry about when trying to focus on developing PHP apps).

6) I currently have DarwinPorts to install in /SW so it doesn't conflict/overwrite current OS X libraries and have figured out where the configuration files live for when I try to configure Webmin.

I really don't need help finding all the packages to install or building the packages from scratch. My need is to configure Webmin to use Spamassassin with Razor as a go between Postfix and Dovecot so I can create accounts in Virtualmin and have everything work without having to go into the CLI to adjust the configuration files. I also need my clients to be able to use Usermin to add/delete/modify email accounts without me having to help them (so Webmin needs to be configured correctly).

BjarneDM - Oct 31, 2005 - 1:59 pm

re 1) OK - but I've unfortunately seen too many people having problems with seeing them as separate servers in my job as assistant stundent helper at a University Course. As to them needing to have the same mail storage scheme, that's a necessity - otherwise it's like one party speaking japanese and the other party danish: they don't understand each other.

re 2) MySQL doesn't handle the email. It's only used for authentication and user administration. So you won't get a bunch of MySQL account to administer. It's one database with two users: the SMTP server and the POP3/IMAP server

re 5) I've got a bunch of scripts that'll automate the whole upgrade of Apache2, PHP5, Postfix, MySQL5 and DarwinPorts. I'm using the exact same structure as Serverlogistics, so you'll feel right at home ;-) My PHP5 is up to the same level as the Serverlogistics PHP4 now. You are welcome to take a look at them if you are interested.

re ) modifying files from the CLI
I use another trick: Fetch and CaptainFTP can use sftp to access my server, and then open configuration files in a normal text-editor on the computer I'm sitting at. It's *way* easier than using the CLI and a *nix editor. It's just like if you are sitting with the files on the same computer.

re ) configuration
I don't think you'll get around messing around with the configuration files in a text-editor. You've got your servers and files in way too strange places for *min to readily find them.

re ) the *min's
I don't know that much about them. I've previously taken a look at webmin but at the time found it to be too complex and lacking. Your best bet at the moment will possibly be to join one or more mailing-list or usenet-groups for each product. You might also try to find some IRC chats adressing your needs. On the webmin pages and download the free books or buy one or more of them. Each of the programs you want to configure has doodles of configuration parameters and on top of that you want to put the *min's ;-)

It's not that I won't help you, but it'll take way too much of my time, and my expertise isn't fully covering your needs. My own email project is focusing on SquirrelMail, and my users don't need access to the *nix foundations.

--------
Bjarne D Mathiesen ; København ; Danmark
Mac OS X 10.4.2 ; 2xTiBook + 15" iMac + MacMini

Markis224 - Nov 1, 2005 - 9:01 pm

I agree the *mins have configurations all over the place and sometimes overlap. If I kept everything so I administer it myself (not allow clients to edit email accounts), I feel very comfortable with the text configuration files (at least I know which one does what).

Thanks for your help and I'll check out your site sometime for upgrading PHP5 / MySQL & Apache2.

Mark Collins : Seattle, WA USA
Mac OS X 10.4.3 : 12" PowerBook : G4 PowerMac : G3 iMac : MacMini : Quad G5 hopefully within next year (for video editing).