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Self-host your mail server

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Re: Self-host your mail server

#71

Post by ValdikSS »

mmh0000 wrote: post #16

I ran my own self-hosted email server from 2008-ish to 2018, and I would highly recommend against doing it! Especially when Fastmail and Proton are so cheap. I was running Postfix+Dovecot+Seive+SpamAssassin+Fail2ban+certbot+spf+dkim+reverse-ip+ It worked! Receiving email was overall pretty easy. I know I also did things the "hard way" by ad-hoccing all that together, and today there are a lot more out-of-the-box solu…

I'm running 4 email servers, the oldest is from 2011 or so, to this day.

4 different countries, different AS.

I'm always puzzled by all the issues described by others. I had about 4 issues during these 15 years, all 4 were solved by reading the bounce message and doing what was asked in the message (contacting support of the destination).

Re: Self-host your mail server

#72

Post by sandcat_ »

mmh0000 wrote: post #16

I ran my own self-hosted email server from 2008-ish to 2018, and I would highly recommend against doing it! Especially when Fastmail and Proton are so cheap. I was running Postfix+Dovecot+Seive+SpamAssassin+Fail2ban+certbot+spf+dkim+reverse-ip+ It worked! Receiving email was overall pretty easy. I know I also did things the "hard way" by ad-hoccing all that together, and today there are a lot more out-of-the-box solu…

A lot has changed, in fairness. Stalwart + LLMs can help with the full-time email administrator part. It's a lot easier than it was.

And on the deliverability side, using SES for sending avoids this entirely. Yes, ok, not fully self-hosted I suppose, but it's close enough (and for most people, the bill will be pennies).

Re: Self-host your mail server

#73

Post by ValdikSS »

dangerboysteve wrote: post #17
throw0101d wrote: post #4

> But there are other solutions out there like: Stalwart; Mailcow ;Or if you're a purist you can set up your whole server yourself Another good guide that uses Debian and its standard packages: * https://workaround.org/ispmail-trixie (Updated with every release, and upgrade/migration instructions.)

Some out of the box solutions. https://www.iredmail.org https://mailinabox.email/

Free iredmail version is very basic, barely useful unfortunately.

I'd recommend mailcow for regular usage, or mailinabox if you're low on RAM or configuring email for server (not for people).

Re: Self-host your mail server

#75

Post by jazzyjackson »

mmh0000 wrote: post #16

I ran my own self-hosted email server from 2008-ish to 2018, and I would highly recommend against doing it! Especially when Fastmail and Proton are so cheap. I was running Postfix+Dovecot+Seive+SpamAssassin+Fail2ban+certbot+spf+dkim+reverse-ip+ It worked! Receiving email was overall pretty easy. I know I also did things the "hard way" by ad-hoccing all that together, and today there are a lot more out-of-the-box solu…

Yes I figure if I’m going to pay someone to resolve a domain to an IP address I might as well pay the same person to operate my mailbox. Having clients that sync the mailbox offline is “local” enough for me.

Re: Self-host your mail server

#76

Post by vkaku »

levl289 wrote: post #70

I'd run my own email server since the early 2000's - in several forms over time. A VA Linux 2U rack server that I got from work (noisy, overkill), a personal Mac Mini (Frankenstein macport upgrade-resistant), and now a single-node k8s instance with everything neatly managed (an excuse to really dive into k8s from the ground up). I use dyndns to handle IP changes (incredibly rare with Frontier FIOS, actually). I use m…

Just document this for all, simplify the setup but keep the learning :)

Re: Self-host your mail server

#77

Post by Krei-se »

ktm5j wrote: post #53
Krei-se wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you can check your delivery rate with services there are lots that are free to check and they also offer to "warm" your reputation. I have not done that yet (money!) and outside this: - Outlook.com consumer mail addresses you can still get >99% delivery rate if you have spf, dkim and all the new cool stuff. So no, please DO NOT recommend against doing it because ONLY if mail stays a decentralized service providers wi…

I used to run mail servers for a university and I also suggest that no one should do this. It's hard enough to get right when it's your full time job. No one wants that kind of headache just for an email address. Do what I do and pay for Proton and stick your domain on it.

"Hacker"news: Don't actually do it yourself man, just pay someone!

Re: Self-host your mail server

#78

Post by jazzyjackson »

selectodude wrote: post #6
muppetman wrote: post #5

I do. It's nowhere as hard as everyone on here makes it out to be. And I don't even use an easy solution like Mailcow. Spam is a solved problem with rspamd, and it's not even an llm

It’s not hard to receive or filter mail - knowing that somebody will receive your email after you send it is another thing entirely.

I’m wondering what the most fool proof way to get a message delivered to someone else is. I found out today some SMS messages I sent were silently dropped. Email doesn’t always get delivered. I would hope the closed ecosystems like Signal and Whatsapp are better at this and in any case you need both parties to agree on a channel. I just like email because my identity is maintained even when I switch providers, and nothing else quite like that exists.
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