Adding a new domain to postfix mail server on your dedicated server

This document will provide a list of instructions on how to configure email on your dedicated server.

There are a couple of definitions that you should be familiar with:

MAILBOX – this is the location which most email will end up going. Typically this is where mail will be stored and will be retrieved by the end user using a username and password combination. Mail can be accessed via a mail program (such as Outlook or Thunderbird) using a POP3 or IMAP connection or alternatively through web mail.
EMAIL ADDRESS – this is address that is given out to customers and will take the format: username@domain.com
MAIL TABLE – This is a text file that is used to define the email addresses that the server will accept email for and what it will be with the message.

To configure this you will need to connect to the server using SSH.

If you need help connecting via SSH, see our SSH support article

The following instructions rely on a series of bash aliases, if these are not already configured on your server, you will need to add the following entries to the .bashrc file in the home directory of the user account on your server:

alias edmail="sudo cp /etc/postfix/virtual /etc/postfix/backup/virtual-`date -I`;sudo nano /etc/postfix/virtual; sudo /usr/sbin/postmap /etc/postfix/virtual"
alias newmb="sudo /usr/sbin/useradd -m -g users -s /sbin/ftponly"
alias lockmb="sudo /usr/sbin/usermod -L"
alias unlockmb="sudo /usr/sbin/usermod -U"
alias passwd="sudo /usr/bin/passwd"

The edmail alias makes use of a backup directory, so create that also:

sudo mkdir /etc/postfix/backup

Adding a new mailbox

In order to add a mailbox a new user needs to be added to the server.

This can be done using the following command:

newmb USERNAME

Where username is replaced by the name of the user that you would like to add.

Setting password

You will then need to set the password for the account using the following:

passwd USERNAME

Once again, replace the USERNAME with the name of the users password you would like to reset.

Mail Configuration

All mail configuration is kept in a flat text file, this can be accessed using the following command when connected via ssh.

edmail

This will bring up a large block of comments describing what can go in this file.

At the bottom you can add your own alias entries:

# Domain/Email Address       Destination
example.com                  OK
testguy@example.com          testguy
testgirl@example.com         testgirl
support@example.com          testguy, testgirl
steve@example.com            steve@elsewhere.com

Any lines that start with a # are ignored by the mail server (this can be used for keeping short notes for future reference).

Let's take a look at each of the following lines in turn.

example.com                  OK

This tells the mail server that it will be handling mails sent to the example.com domain. Without this line, the mail server will simply reject emails sent to users at this domain.

testguy@example.com          testguy
testgirl@example.com         testgirl

These lines say all emails sent to testguy@example.com should be delivered to the "testguy" mailbox, and emails sent to testgirl@example.com should be delivered to the "testgirl" mailbox.

support@example.com          testguy, testgirl

This line demonstrates how mail can be sent to multiple recipients: email sent to support@example.com will be delivered to both the mailboxes "testguy" and "testgirl".

steve@example.com            steve@elsewhere.com

You can configure your server to forward emails to external servers. This line defines a mail forward for steve@example.com to the address steve@elswhere.com.

Once the changes have been made you will need to exit the editor (CTRL-X) selecting Y to save changes.

Important: Make sure these changes are 100% accurate as they will be effective immediately.

Any email which is not defined within the mail table will be rejected for delivery.

Locking Mailboxes

In order to lock a mailbox (prevent a user from logging in), the following command should be used:

lockmb USERNAME

Replacing USERNAME with the name of the mailbox you wish to lock.

Keep in mind that if the entry is still in the mail table then this mailbox will still receive email, just no one will be able to log in to check this.

Unlocking Mailboxes

If you would like to unlock a mailbox, the following command can be used:

unlockmb USERNAME

Once again replacing the USERNAME section.