How do I set up email hosting on my VPS hosting?

Hi everyone, I'm trying to set up email hosting on my VPS (Virtual Private Server). Can anyone recommend a good email server software and walk me through the basic steps to get it up and running? I'm using a Linux-based VPS with a control panel, if that helps. Thanks in advance for your help!

Hi there! There are many email server software options available for Linux-based VPSs, but some of the most popular ones include Postfix, Exim, and Dovecot. Each of these email server software options has its own strengths and weaknesses, so you'll want to do some research to determine which one is the best fit for your needs.

Once you've selected an email server software to use, the basic steps to set it up will generally include:

• Installing the email server software on your VPS
• Configuring the email server software to meet your specific needs (e.g., setting up user accounts, creating email aliases, configuring spam filters, etc.)
• Configuring your DNS settings to point your domain's MX record to your VPS's IP address
• Testing your email server to ensure it's working properly

To give you a more detailed walkthrough of these steps, let's take a look at setting up Postfix, one of the most popular email server software options for Linux-based VPSs.

Installing Postfix

To install Postfix on your VPS, you'll need to connect to your server via SSH and run the following command (assuming you're using a Debian-based distribution like Ubuntu):

This will download and install the Postfix email server software on your VPS.

Configuring Postfix

Once Postfix is installed, you'll need to configure it to meet your specific needs. This will generally involve editing the main Postfix configuration file, which is located at /etc/postfix/main.cf.

Some of the configuration options you may want to set include:

• myhostname: This should be set to your domain name (e.g., example.com)
• mydestination: This should be set to the domain names and/or IP addresses that your server will be receiving email for (e.g., example.com, localhost.localdomain, localhost)
• mynetworks: This should be set to the IP addresses or ranges that are allowed to send email through your server (e.g., 127.0.0.0/8 [::ffff:127.0.0.0]/104 [::1]/128)
• relay_domains: If you'll be using your email server to relay email for other domains (e.g., if you're hosting email for a client), you'll need to set this to the list of domains you'll be relaying email for (e.g., example.net, example.org)
• smtpd_recipient_restrictions: This should be set to the rules for accepting or rejecting incoming email (e.g., permit_mynetworks, reject_unauth_destination)

There are many other configuration options you can set in the main Postfix configuration file, so you'll want to consult the Postfix documentation for more information.

Once you've made your configuration changes, be sure to restart the Postfix service:


Configuring DNS

Before your email server will be able to receive email, you'll need to configure your DNS settings to point your domain's MX record to your VPS's IP address. This will generally involve logging into your domain registrar's control panel and creating a new MX record with the following settings:

• Name: @ (or your domain name if your registrar requires it)
• Value: Your VPS's IP address
• Priority: 10 (or a similar low priority value)

Once you've saved your MX record, it may take up to 24 hours for the changes to propagate across the internet.

Testing Your Email Server

To test that your email server is working properly, you can try sending an email to an address hosted on your server

If you are planning to use it for mass mailing, then you might need to look at PMTA Setup otherwise, as @David Beroff said, use PostFix or Exim to fulfil your requirement