The Core Components
A modern mail server isn’t just one piece of software; it’s a collection of tools working together:- Postfix (SMTP): This is the mail transfer agent. It handles sending emails out to the world and receiving emails from other servers.
- Dovecot (IMAP/POP3): This allows your phone or desktop email client (like Apple Mail or Outlook) to log into the server and read the emails sitting in your inbox.
- SpamAssassin & ClamAV: These scan incoming mail to filter out spam and viruses.
- OpenDKIM: This cryptographically signs your outgoing emails so Gmail and Yahoo know you aren’t a spammer.
The Easy Way: Mail-in-a-Box
Setting up all those components manually can take hours. If you want a full-featured mail server (including Webmail and Contacts/Calendar sync) up and running in 15 minutes, we highly recommend using an automated script like Mail-in-a-Box or iRedMail. To use Mail-in-a-Box, deploy a fresh Ubuntu 22.04 server, log in via SSH, and run:DNS Records (Crucial!)
The hardest part of hosting your own email isn’t the server setup - it’s proving to other providers that you are legitimate. If you skip these DNS records, your emails will go straight to the spam folder! You must configure these in your domain registrar’s DNS settings:- MX Record: Points mail traffic to your Evevps server’s IP.
- SPF Record: A text record telling the world that your Evevps server’s IP is allowed to send mail on behalf of your domain.
- DKIM Record: A public key used to verify the cryptographic signature on your emails.
- DMARC Record: A policy telling receivers what to do if an email fails SPF or DKIM checks.
- rDNS (Reverse DNS): You will need to open a support ticket with Evevps to have us set the Reverse DNS of your IP address to match your mail server’s domain (e.g.,
mail.yourdomain.com). This is required by almost all major email providers!