Running a mail server help

[Ray]

Hey all. I need some help. I have an HPMediaSmart Home Server. I would like to run my own mail server off of it. My plan is to have an email address I can use for friends and family only, not publicly know for websites that require an email address for registration and such. Trying to keep spam and other crap from infesting the address.

I have tried setting up hMailServer on it, but I'm having trouble understanding just exactly all the things I need to run it. Their website explains how to set up SMTP/POP3/IMAP, but not what other programs you need to make all of those function. All my settings for these are set up correctly from what I can tell by using gmail as a reference. My home server has it's own domain name that I have used to log into it from somewhere other than home, so I know all the correct ports in Windows Firewall/my router are open. This is a little over my head( )and I would appreciate any advice/handholding that you guys out there could offer. Thanks!!!

[joseff]

Would you be running anything other than a mail server? I propose having a webserver as well, for your family pics etc.

If you'd consider running Ubuntu, I can help. No Windows experience, sorry!

[Ray]

Would you be running anything other than a mail server? I propose having a webserver as well, for your family pics etc.

If you'd consider running Ubuntu, I can help. No Windows experience, sorry!

The box itself comes from HP (the manufacturer) so it has Windows Home Server preinstalled. Alot of drivers and such from WindowsXP work on it fine. A photoserver setup is included with the software, and I have that working great. It does not however come with a mail server program and that's what I'm interested in.

I'm not a fan of linux and since the MSS has no video out, I have to do everything through remote desktop.

[Ciro Pabón]

I'm a little confused: HMailServer is all you need. As far as I know, you don't need another program on "top", besides your mail client.

You need to disable your virus scanner from scanning the directory of HMail for the thing to work, as far as I remember. Have you done it? You have to configure your antivirus.

What exactly is your problem? What error message you're getting?

I don't know if I can help, as I installed the thing ages ago, and only for a comparison with Exchange.

[Ray]

I guess I'm trying to ask where do I go to login to my mail and check it? Where do I send my family and friends to log in, a website? Forgive me for sounding stupid but I have no idea how to log into the mail server and send/check those emails. It's set up, but where do I go to access it?

[Ciro Pabón]

Well, if it installed properly, you should have in the Start menu the program hMailServer Administrator. Click on it, you'll see a Connect dialog, double click on the localhost host name, it'll ask you for the main password (the one you gave while installing). This is your control panel.

First, create your domain:

Click Add domain and enter RayRulesForever.com or something like that as domain name, click Save.

Second, create one account:

Expand the Domains Name tree to the left, click on the domain RayRulesForever.com you've created, click on Add Account, enter ILoveRay as name of the account, set the password. You've just created the adress ILoveRay@RayRulesForever.com.

Now, tell HMailServer your PC public name. You have to specify the public hostname of your computer or some other mail servers will reject your mail.

To do this, go to the tree to the left again and click on Settings -> Protocols -> SMTP. Click on the Delivery of e-Mail tab. Under hostname, enter the public name of your computer in the Internet. It should be something like mail.RayRulesForever.com, but you have to know which name you specified when you installed your Internet Server (I think, I'm not sure about this, can somebody help here?).

You're almost there, but now you have to "specify your SMTP relayer": some ISPs will block the port 25, in that case you need to convince the server of your ISP (your cable or Internet company) to open it for you. So:

Go to Start/Run and type cmd to start a command screen. Type telnet mail.hmailserver.com. If you can connect, your port 25 is open, if you can't the port is blocked. Normally, you should be able, but if you aren't then:

Go again to Settings -> Protocols -> SMTP and click on the same Delivery of e-mail tab. In the SMTP Relayer box enter the host name of your ISP mail server (you'll have to ask for it or you could check the headings of your e-mails, or you could use a small DOS program called tracert to find it, I hope you don't need that last option ).

That's it, I think.

BTW, you're not "creating a website", you're only creating a domain and, inside it, mail accounts that people can check using their mail program.

A final comment: I find hard for you to be able to avoid spammers, other mighty people has failed at that. There is a large chance of your machine being used by others for spam.

[Ray]

Well, if it installed properly, you should have in the Start menu the program hMailServer Administrator. Click on it, you'll see a Connect dialog, double click on the localhost host name, it'll ask you for the main password (the one you gave while installing). This is your control panel.

First, create your domain:

Click Add domain and enter RayRulesForever.com or something like that as domain name, click Save.

Second, create one account:

Expand the Domains Name tree to the left, click on the domain RayRulesForever.com you've created, click on Add Account, enter ILoveRay as name of the account, set the password. You've just created the adress ILoveRay@RayRulesForever.com.

Now, tell HMailServer your PC public name. You have to specify the public hostname of your computer or some other mail servers will reject your mail.

To do this, go to the tree to the left again and click on Settings -> Protocols -> SMTP. Click on the Delivery of e-Mail tab. Under hostname, enter the public name of your computer in the Internet. It should be something like mail.RayRulesForever.com, but you have to know which name you specified when you installed your Internet Server (I think, I'm not sure about this, can somebody help here?).

You're almost there, but now you have to "specify your SMTP relayer": some ISPs will block the port 25, in that case you need to convince the server of your ISP (your cable or Internet company) to open it for you. So:

Go to Start/Run and type cmd to start a command screen. Type telnet mail.hmailserver.com. If you can connect, your port 25 is open, if you can't the port is blocked. Normally, you should be able, but if you aren't then:

Go again to Settings -> Protocols -> SMTP and click on the same Delivery of e-mail tab. In the SMTP Relayer box enter the host name of your ISP mail server (you'll have to ask for it or you could check the headings of your e-mails, or you could use a small DOS program called tracert to find it, I hope you don't need that last option ).

That's it, I think.

BTW, you're not "creating a website", you're only creating a domain and, inside it, mail accounts that people can check using their mail program.

A final comment: I find hard for you to be able to avoid spammers, other mighty people has failed at that. There is a large chance of your machine being used by others for spam.

I did everything that you suggested to the last detail. I sent a test email to my made up domain, going through the one that is assigned to the server with the relayer entered in for Mediacom. This is what I got back.

rom Mail Delivery Subsystem <mailer-daemon@googlemail.com>
to ********@*****.com,
date Fri, Mar 28, 2008 at 6:13 PM
subject Delivery Status Notification (Failure)

hide details 6:13 PM (20 minutes ago)


Reply


This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification

Delivery to the following recipient failed permanently:

ray@raymail.com

Technical details of permanent failure:
PERM_FAILURE: SMTP Error (state 14): 550 not local host raymail.com, not a gateway

----- Original message -----

Received: by 10.140.180.13 with SMTP id c13mr1847187rvf.153.1206742371547;
Fri, 28 Mar 2008 15:12:51 -0700 (PDT)
Received: by 10.141.70.14 with HTTP; Fri, 28 Mar 2008 15:12:51 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <edc0d3d40803281512wa4f2aaclcae465454cebb3b1@mail.gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 18:12:51 -0400
From: "Ray" <********@*****.com>
To: ray@raymail.com
Subject: test
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
boundary="----=_Part_11203_11638714.1206742371542"

------=_Part_11203_11638714.1206742371542
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Content-Disposition: inline

test

------=_Part_11203_11638714.1206742371542
Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

----- Message truncated -----

Help? Another stupid question. Where the hell do I go to check those emails? Where does anyone I grant an address go to check them? A website like mail2web.com?

[Ciro Pabón]

Well, I don't understand, your domain raymail.com exists, I can "see it" from my PC, but the message of error you get is that your mail host name does not exists.

As I said, I'm not sure about what name you have to use as mail server host name: I don't know if you define it during the installation or what. What host name did you use? raymail.com?

I'd try mail.raymail.com or pop.raymail.com (I've seen both names used) as mail server host name in the third step of my first post, but I don't know where to find what's the correct name of your mail server.

I also don't know when you state what that name is, if you enter that name during HMail configuration or if you did it when you configured your HP Home Server or what.

You probably have to go with that question to the forum of HMail (if it exists).

As for where you go to check your mail, once you are able to send a mail, you have to open your mail client, that is, Outlook, Thunderbird or Opera (or whatever program you or your friends use to read and send mail).

Go into Tools/Mail and Chat Accounts (for Opera), or into Tools/Account Settings (in Thunderbird) or Tools/Accounts (in Outlook Express) and create the account ray @ raymail.com, the same way you have created an account for ray @ hotmail.com (or whatever is the account you use now to receive your mail).

Once you do that, you will get in your mail inbox the mail from both accounts.

That is, you will receive the messages addressed to ray @ hotmail.com as well as the messages sent to ray @ raymail.com. So, the first message you should get in Opera or Thunderbird or whatever (once you configure your new account in it) is the test message you sent to yourself.

BTW, you shouldn't post your account into a forum: you will get spam in it if you do. Notice that when I wrote the account names in this very thread, I left a space before and after the @ symbol as a naive trick to avoid bots identifying the accounts by "reading" this post.

Actually, the best way I know to avoid spam is to use a "public account" (I use ciroa @ lycos.com) for all your subscriptions, forums and the like, and to use another "private account" for your friends and your "real" e-mail contacts. NEVER write the name of the second account anywhere, except on private e-mails, presentation cards or on paper: you will get minimum spam in it.

The truth is that as soon as you use an account to suscribe to ANYTHING in the Internet, it will get spam. The "public account" I have, for example, right now has 375 spam messages in it. The "private account" has 7.

[Ratatouille]

You have to create an MX record for your domain in the authoritative dns server. I haven't read all the thread yet, but I'd recommend to you using FreeBSD + sendmail+spamassassin+clamav-milter. This is the most powerful opensource combination you can get, and in any case I can help you troubleshoot your server remotely. Something you can't do easily on a Win OS server.

Besides stability and performance wise FreeBSD 7.0 rocks.