I'm running a Postfix, Dovecot, OpenDKIM, OpenSPF stack, and it's not entirely trivial to setup and get working..
Next time, I'll try this, if I remember..
Next big issue is how difficult it is to actually get to send email from your email server when you're really self hosting it (as in, on a box in your actual home, like it's supposed to be)
Maddy: Composable all-in-one mail server
51–60 of 122 posts
Re: Maddy: Composable all-in-one mail server
#52I see no one has mentioned Mailu (https://mailu.io/1.7/). It’s a self hosted mail server made up of a couple docker images.
I would recommend it based on my use and experience.
I’ve been using it for my personal email and for automated no-reply messages in a few projects with no delivery issues. I’m hosting on a Contabo VPS.
It handles spam with rspamd, sets you up with DMARC, DKIM, has an admin interface, web mail interface.
Re: Maddy: Composable all-in-one mail server
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
Vultr, Linode, Njalla, Hetzner, Scaleway
Have you actually hosted an email server on all five of those? As you mentioned in your other comment, it can be very helpful if your VPS provider is able to respond to support requests asking Microsoft for IP addresses to be whitelisted. I can't imagine all VPS providers would be so helpful but you didn't mention which one you were using in that comment.
I’m hosting my email on Scaleway for 4-5 years and have no issues with deliverability. Last time I checked my email server was correctly configured.
Re: Maddy: Composable all-in-one mail server
#54This is exactly the kind of thing that I’ve been planning to make for my own personal use. I’ll definitely check it out!
You can put it together in a weekend.
Re: Maddy: Composable all-in-one mail server
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
Your mail will go to Spam too with Maddy, this is not about the MTA.
This is not (always) true. Maddy comes with a lot of the 'good stuff' like DKIM and DMARC ready to be used, whereas setting that up yourself with Postfix was a pain (from my experience a few years ago) and probably meant you didn't bother. I've had better deliverability, especially to Gmail and Microsoft, since using Maddy, probably for this reason. Now, of course, I must admit that self-hosted e-mail seems like it w…
So you agree is not about the software but you did not implement best practices with Postfix.
Also, whenever you give an address to someone else, family or friend, risk of going to spam increases.
Links or src in emails without https, higher risk,
Does Maudy prevent you from doing that?
Re: Maddy: Composable all-in-one mail server
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
How did you get around deliverability issues?
From someone else with similar experience: I've been following all best practices to the best of my abilities (rDNS/DMARC/DKIM/SPF/etc). After all that was properly in place, the only problematic receiver was Microsoft (outlook.com/hotmail.com/live.com), which bounced and provided an appeal process. I filled the form, was requested documentation from my ISP on the IP address. I asked my VPS hosting company (since the…
i have been using mailinabox on a vps server and all the major email tests say the mailbox is fine.
only gmail treats my emails as spam. others just work fine. i don't know what to do other than having to call receipients and ask them to unspam the mail. That doesnt seem to "train" their spam filters so don't know
Re: Maddy: Composable all-in-one mail server
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
Vultr, Linode, Njalla, Hetzner, Scaleway
Have you actually hosted an email server on all five of those? As you mentioned in your other comment, it can be very helpful if your VPS provider is able to respond to support requests asking Microsoft for IP addresses to be whitelisted. I can't imagine all VPS providers would be so helpful but you didn't mention which one you were using in that comment.
I'm hosting on linode, and once I had my SPF & DKIM records setup, things went a lot smoother.
Re: Maddy: Composable all-in-one mail server
#58This is a great initiative. The last time I remember setting up a mail server using Postfix or Dovecot was around 2015. It was a traumatizing experience. It rarely worked, all my email went to spam and I absolutely hated the amount of hackery and duct tape required to keep it working. Configuration files, missed emails... It was so unpleasant, to this day I avoid messing with mail on servers at all costs. I'd much ra…
Your mail will go to Spam too with Maddy, this is not about the MTA.
One "weird trick" I discovered with deliverability was that plaintext email from my server was rejected, but HTML email from it was accepted.
For anyone with deliverability issues and mail going to spam, it might be worth trying this out (after you have sorted all the usual points like DKIM, SPF, PTR record etc.) - this obviously only helps if your IP is clean. I was surprised though, and only discovered it by accident.
I had good deliverability to Google hosted mail, but not to Microsoft 365. I even had issues with deliverability doing 365 to 365, until I sent HTML mail.
Re: Maddy: Composable all-in-one mail server
#59I'm running a Postfix, Dovecot, OpenDKIM, OpenSPF stack, and it's not entirely trivial to setup and get working.. Next time, I'll try this, if I remember.. Next big issue is how difficult it is to actually get to send email from your email server when you're really self hosting it (as in, on a box in your actual home, like it's supposed to be)
Ditto for me (postfix, dovecot, opendkim, spf etc), took me about 3 months to get it working, and for the last 6+ years I haven't dared to touch my postfix configuration!
I am severely tempted to give maddy a try now...!
Re: Maddy: Composable all-in-one mail server
#60I see no one has mentioned Mailu ( https://mailu.io/1.7/ ). It’s a self hosted mail server made up of a couple docker images. I would recommend it based on my use and experience. I’ve been using it for my personal email and for automated no-reply messages in a few projects with no delivery issues. I’m hosting on a Contabo VPS. It handles spam with rspamd, sets you up with DMARC, DKIM, has an admin interface, web mail…
Seconded, I've used it for a couple of years and it's a great package that I find quite understandable (a docker-compose stack).