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Maddy: Composable all-in-one mail server in Go

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Re: Maddy: Composable all-in-one mail server in Go

#11

Post by yokem55 »

7kay wrote: post #6
optimalsolver wrote: post #5

When I last looked into setting up my own email server, I read that your messages ending up in the spam folder was almost inevitable if the receiver is using a major host (Gmail, iCloud etc.) Is that still an issue?

I run my own mail server and have never experienced such issues. The important thing is that your mail server is not an open relay and you set up DKIM and SPF. Oh, and never run a mail server with an ip originating in a residential area, you'll get blacklisted almost instantly by virtually any mail provider.

It isn't even necessarily 'residential' IP's. It's IP's that don't have a valid reverse dns, preferably one that is also forward resolvable. Most ISP's won't let you set your reverse DNS on 'residential' connections, so it ends up being a blocker. Now you could set up a vpn tunnel to a vps provider that lets you set your reverse dns, and then things get a bit easier.

So prereqs - 1) Valid reverse DNS on your sending IP. Preferably with a hostname that is also forward resolvable. 2) SPF Records 3) DKIM

Re: Maddy: Composable all-in-one mail server in Go

#12

Post by brightball »

xyzzy_plugh wrote: post #4

I've had a lot of discussions with technical-minded peers about how the only real options for email on your own domain are fastmail or gsuite, which work out to about the same amount of money for a family of 5+, which is a surprisingly large amount (imo worth it). This looks like something worth combining with alps[0] for easy self-hosted email. I might give it a go and ditch gsuite! [0] https://git.sr.ht/~migadu/alp…

Why not Mail-In-A-Box?

https://mailinabox.email/

Re: Maddy: Composable all-in-one mail server in Go

#13

Post by xyzzy_plugh »

mtlynch wrote: post #8
xyzzy_plugh wrote: post #4

I've had a lot of discussions with technical-minded peers about how the only real options for email on your own domain are fastmail or gsuite, which work out to about the same amount of money for a family of 5+, which is a surprisingly large amount (imo worth it). This looks like something worth combining with alps[0] for easy self-hosted email. I might give it a go and ditch gsuite! [0] https://git.sr.ht/~migadu/alp…

Most people don't realize, but you can actually send email from a custom domain with a free Gmail account.[0] You have to go through a 5-minute process for each sender address, but I used it fine for ~10 years. I recently switched to Fastmail, and one of the features I like about them is that they support wildcard sender aliases, so if I sign up for a service with someservice@mydomain.com, when I hit reply to any ema…

This is not the same thing. I agree with the link, in that it is most definitely a hack. This only works because your domain registrar is handling email for you to begin with, which is undesirable for many reasons.

Also, while aliases in gmail work generally, I find they leak the main gmail account address, which makes them significantly less desirable.

Re: Maddy: Composable all-in-one mail server in Go

#14

Post by aarchi »

xyzzy_plugh wrote: post #13
mtlynch wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people don't realize, but you can actually send email from a custom domain with a free Gmail account.[0] You have to go through a 5-minute process for each sender address, but I used it fine for ~10 years. I recently switched to Fastmail, and one of the features I like about them is that they support wildcard sender aliases, so if I sign up for a service with someservice@mydomain.com, when I hit reply to any ema…

This is not the same thing. I agree with the link, in that it is most definitely a hack. This only works because your domain registrar is handling email for you to begin with, which is undesirable for many reasons. Also, while aliases in gmail work generally, I find they leak the main gmail account address, which makes them significantly less desirable.

Why do you say that it's undesirable for your registrar to handle mail? I've considered using Gandi's mail with my domains.

Re: Maddy: Composable all-in-one mail server in Go

#15

Post by zertrin »

optimalsolver wrote: post #5

When I last looked into setting up my own email server, I read that your messages ending up in the spam folder was almost inevitable if the receiver is using a major host (Gmail, iCloud etc.) Is that still an issue?

I have been self hosting my emails for many years on cheap dedicated servers (previously kimsufi by OVH and now Hetzner).

Never had any issues with sending mail. But I've been careful with the initial setup and have all the expected requirements covered : no open relay, SPF, DKIM, reverse ip, TLS,...

Been using the tutorial at workaround.org as basis for building the stack (postfix, dovecot, rspamd,...) and, while the initial learning curve was high, once its been set up, its been a really very stable setup requiring practically no maintenance whatsoever.

Not saying that's for everyone, just saying it works for me.

I guess I was lucky at the dice roll mentioned by other comments.

Ah yeah, and testing your outgoing emails using a service like mail-tester.com is very very useful. I aimed for and reached a perfect score 10/10.

Re: Maddy: Composable all-in-one mail server in Go

#16

Post by 7kay »

yokem55 wrote: post #11
7kay wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I run my own mail server and have never experienced such issues. The important thing is that your mail server is not an open relay and you set up DKIM and SPF. Oh, and never run a mail server with an ip originating in a residential area, you'll get blacklisted almost instantly by virtually any mail provider.

It isn't even necessarily 'residential' IP's. It's IP's that don't have a valid reverse dns, preferably one that is also forward resolvable. Most ISP's won't let you set your reverse DNS on 'residential' connections, so it ends up being a blocker. Now you could set up a vpn tunnel to a vps provider that lets you set your reverse dns, and then things get a bit easier. So prereqs - 1) Valid reverse DNS on your sending…

You're right, that's the basic ingredient #1 I forgot to mention. Functional rDNS is essential. You don't want to have your mail server running at home anyhow. A friend of mine had a janky setup at home until I convinced him it's a bad idea.

Re: Maddy: Composable all-in-one mail server in Go

#19

Post by jeffbee »

7kay wrote: post #6
optimalsolver wrote: post #5

When I last looked into setting up my own email server, I read that your messages ending up in the spam folder was almost inevitable if the receiver is using a major host (Gmail, iCloud etc.) Is that still an issue?

I run my own mail server and have never experienced such issues. The important thing is that your mail server is not an open relay and you set up DKIM and SPF. Oh, and never run a mail server with an ip originating in a residential area, you'll get blacklisted almost instantly by virtually any mail provider.

These anecdotes are heartwarming but in the end useless as advice. If your mail is getting through it only means that there are no spammers on your network, i.e. you are lucky. Having an abusive mailer on your network (IP subnet, ASN, or even sharing your registrar) could happen at any time, with unknown impact to your IP reputation and deliverability of your mail.

Re: Maddy: Composable all-in-one mail server in Go

#20

Post by mcovalt »

xyzzy_plugh wrote: post #4

I've had a lot of discussions with technical-minded peers about how the only real options for email on your own domain are fastmail or gsuite, which work out to about the same amount of money for a family of 5+, which is a surprisingly large amount (imo worth it). This looks like something worth combining with alps[0] for easy self-hosted email. I might give it a go and ditch gsuite! [0] https://git.sr.ht/~migadu/alp…

Replace phone number with encoded IPv6. Run mail server on your phone. Would solve a lot of issues.
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