Setting up a mail server (10.6.2). Any examples?

[Sindrers]

Hey guys,

Been reading some in the documentation for setting up a mail service in 10.6.2 but i feel somewhat lost when it comes too the settings.
We have a domain provider running our domain. They have a MX zonefile which i know i need to add somewhere(not sure where).


Am i right that i need to do IMAP only when i want the mails to be accessed on several computers even though they have been downloaded too a computer.
As far as i understand POP removes the mails from the server once they are downloaded.

So basicly I could need a example that shows the different tabs and see what kind of settings they use. When it says local domain name and hostname. Should the local domain name be our ISP adress while the hostname should be our webpage provider?

Thank you.

 

[mbestel]

Other option

Hi,

I know this isn't what you were asking, but have you thought about using gmail for business?

It's free, they will host your domain and it's really easy to manage.

http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/group/index.html

If not, please tell us whether you are using simple or advanced administration on your OS X Server.

Thanks,

Mark

 

[nullx86]

Hi,

I know this isn't what you were asking, but have you thought about using gmail for business?

It's free, they will host your domain and it's really easy to manage.

http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/group/index.html

If not, please tell us whether you are using simple or advanced administration on your OS X Server.

Thanks,

Mark

I kinda like it, free business email ftw, and i dont have to do a whole bunch of DNS crap on my end to get stuff working... just wondering, how does the domain hosting part work? afaik, its just redirections via CNAME and MX records... I see Sites, but it doesnt look likes its actually hosting anything... and Sites seems to be laggy as all hell. everything else is working (even got iCal synced with Google Calendars ) but Sites is sloooooooooow

 

[DoFoT9]

id also like to know this, would be really cool to setup. i only have 10.4 server though.

is it possible from just a standard version of OSX?

 

[mbestel]

dyndns

I kinda like it, free business email ftw, and i dont have to do a whole bunch of DNS crap on my end to get stuff working... just wondering, how does the domain hosting part work? afaik, its just redirections via CNAME and MX records... I see Sites, but it doesnt look likes its actually hosting anything... and Sites seems to be laggy as all hell. everything else is working (even got iCal synced with Google Calendars ) but Sites is sloooooooooow

You're right.

I have a dyndns account that I use to manage DNS, so the MX records are set up there and then you create a number of aliases to google servers for mail, calendar, docs, etc.

Mail, Calendar and docs all perform well.

The sites is not a hosting service, more of a colaboration tool.

Cheers,

Mark

 

[nullx86]

id also like to know this, would be really cool to setup. i only have 10.4 server though.

is it possible from just a standard version of OSX?

I'm sure it can be done with some freeware stuff. I know there are some MAMP packages out there to use on client OSX (standard) that can be used to do web and mysql, so I'm sure there would be stuff to do POP/IMAP and SMTP. Also, if you have an Intel machine, I'd go to Apple's OS X Server page and request a trial of OS X Server 10.6. Says you have to be a business, but they dont check any of that. They'll send you a copy of OS X Server and Admin Tools and a 30day serial. I did this (ironically I know have a legit business ) and have the disks. Pics below (and the serial on the disk has already expired so there)

You're right.

I have a dyndns account that I use to manage DNS, so the MX records are set up there and then you create a number of aliases to google servers for mail, calendar, docs, etc.

Mail, Calendar and docs all perform well.

The sites is not a hosting service, more of a colaboration tool.

Cheers,

Mark

Yeah, thought as much. Meh, and here I was hoping to get free hosting and get rid of GoDaddy once and for all I like it though... I will be using this for a while Mail seems pretty snappy. I sent a test message and got it just a few seconds later, and replied and got it back within a matter of seconds. Cant say the same about my old GoDaddy-based email account. So basically just disable sites for now and use Docs, Mail and Calendar. Thanks for bringing this to the table Mark!

Jake

 

[DoFoT9]

I'm sure it can be done with some freeware stuff. I know there are some MAMP packages out there to use on client OSX (standard) that can be used to do web and mysql, so I'm sure there would be stuff to do POP/IMAP and SMTP. Also, if you have an Intel machine, I'd go to Apple's OS X Server page and request a trial of OS X Server 10.6. Says you have to be a business, but they dont check any of that. They'll send you a copy of OS X Server and Admin Tools and a 30day serial. I did this (ironically I know have a legit business ) and have the disks. Pics below (and the serial on the disk has already expired so there)

PFFT IF i have an intel machine ;P i7 baby!

how intriguing about the server trial - that could be on the board!

id rather a way to do it on my stock imac installation, id have to install osx server onto a FW drive

wow i know your real name now too hehe

id love to play around with SL server, but the 30 day trial isnt that good enough for me im afraid

 

[nullx86]

PFFT IF i have an intel machine ;P i7 baby!

how intriguing about the server trial - that could be on the board!

Hackintosh FTW! Yeah, the server section on the board really lacks... and speaking from expierence, Snow Leo Server runs great on hacks.

id rather a way to do it on my stock imac installation, id have to install osx server onto a FW drive

If you do it on your iMac, do it on a FW800 port or partition the hard drive, FW400 ftl.

wow i know your real name now too hehe

Shh! Dont say it, someone might hear.

id love to play around with SL server, but the 30 day trial isnt that good enough for me im afraid

Ahem, google. All I'm saying.

 

[DoFoT9]

Hackintosh FTW! Yeah, the server section on the board really lacks... and speaking from expierence, Snow Leo Server runs great on hacks.

it does? thats good to know! maybe ill put it onto my hack instead of imac. great idea!

If you do it on your iMac, do it on a FW800 port or partition the hard drive, FW400 ftl.

only got FW400 atm

Shh! Dont say it, someone might hear.

sorry!

Ahem, google. All I'm saying.

oh haha dont get me wrong, i "google" as much as the next person (ok maybe a bit more).

 

[nullx86]

it does? thats good to know! maybe ill put it onto my hack instead of imac. great idea!


only got FW400 atm


sorry!


oh haha dont get me wrong, i "google" as much as the next person (ok maybe a bit more).

Yeah, I have it running on that Dell XPS 420 that I managed to get hacked not too long ago. Runs pretty good. I need to up my ram though, Server is a bit of a resource whore, but it still runs pretty decent on a 2.4Ghz Q6600 and 4Gb 800Mhz DDR2 Ram with a Dell mobo. Should do just fine on a i7 hackintosh. FW400 ftl. Well, all I'm saying is google. You'll get what you need with the right terms.

 

[mcprobie]

I recently installed a Mac OS 10.6.2 server on an iMac with 4Gb of ram, it runs smoothly ... Also installed (or should I say configured) mail with webmail ...

It runs all without a problem.

I have to say though, there isn't that much "decent" info on the web about setting up these things ... I went by the Apple documentation you can download of their site ... I'm a Windows admin at work but an Apple nut at home ... So I could manage. It would be nice to have a community like the Linux users, much more to find over there in regards of tutorials ... There is a little crossover to the Unix side so you can find things.

Also ... http://www.lynda.com has nice tutorials I read somewhere ... you can make a trial membership to check them out.

If you have specific mail setup questions ask ... I will try to help.

 

[DoFoT9]

Yeah, I have it running on that Dell XPS 420 that I managed to get hacked not too long ago. Runs pretty good. I need to up my ram though, Server is a bit of a resource whore, but it still runs pretty decent on a 2.4Ghz Q6600 and 4Gb 800Mhz DDR2 Ram with a Dell mobo. Should do just fine on a i7 hackintosh. FW400 ftl. Well, all I'm saying is google. You'll get what you need with the right terms.

haha the i7 is my iMac. my hack is an E4600@3GHz. not great but does a really good job!

google is my friend zomg.. we are very close.

 

[ChrisA]

is it possible from just a standard version of OSX?

Any unix-like computer can be set up as a mail server using free software. But if this is business critical you will want to set up multiple servers in multiple locations so as to be able to handle network outages and equipmwnt failure. Users have come to exppect email to "just work" and for that you need tripple redundancy.

The classic book is the "bat book" called sendmail" by Oreily. Not and easy read but good background but very dated..

First decide it you like Sendmail or Postfix. I think Apple's Mac OS X comes with Postfix but either is just a download away. After that I think any moderd mail server will need to have a POP and IMAP server running and then maybe also a webmail server to.. But the first step is postfix or sendmail.

You do have to understand the mail protocols and know enough that you can telnet into port 25 and run a session that way to test and debug.

 

[mbestel]

Mail server on Mac workstation

Mac OS X desktop includes both sendmail and postfix, so with a little configuration it is possible to get an MTA working with either of these.

I don't think that any POP or IMAP solutions are included with the desktop, so that would need to be added.

Cheers,

Mark