FAQ and Tips

What kind of database are you using?

None. No *sql database required.
This image is based on config files that can be versioned.
You'll probably want to push your config updates to your server and restart the container to apply changes.

What are the file format?

Of course file are Unix format with LF line endings. Please do not use CRLF.

Where are emails stored?

Mails are stored in /var/mail/${domain}/${username}.
You should use a data volume container for /var/mail to persist data. Otherwise, your data may be lost.

What about backups?

Assuming that you use docker-compose and a data volume container named maildata, you can backup your user mails like this:

docker run --rm \
--volumes-from maildata_1 \
-v "$(pwd)":/backups \
-ti tvial/docker-mailserver \
tar cvzf /backups/docker-mailserver-`date +%y%m%d-%H%M%S`.tgz /var/mail

How can I configure my email client?

Login are full email address (user@domain.com).

# imap
username:           <user1@domain.tld>
password:           <mypassword>
server:             <mail.domain.tld>
imap port:          143 or 993 with ssl (recommended)
imap path prefix:   INBOX

# smtp
smtp port:          25 or 587 with ssl (recommended)
username:           <user1@domain.tld>
password:           <mypassword>

Please use STARTTLS.

How can I manage my custom Spamassassin rules?

Antispam rules are managed in config/spamassassin-rules.cf.

How can I make Spamassassin learn spam?

Put received spams in .Junk/ imap folder and add a cron like the fllowing:

# Everyday 2:00AM, learn spam for this specific user
0 2 * * * docker exec mail sa-learn --spam /var/mail/domain.com/username/.Junk

What kind of SSL certificates can I use?

You can use the same certificates you use with another mail server.
The only thing is that we provide a self-signed certificate tool and a letsencrypt certificate loader.

I just moved from my old mail server but "it doesn't work".

If this migration implies a DNS modification, be sure to wait for DNS propagation before opening an issue. Few examples of symptoms can be found here or here.
This could be related to a modification of your MX record, or the IP mapped to mail.my-domain.tld.

If everything is OK regarding DNS, please provide formatted logs and config files. This will allow us to help you.

If we're blind, we won't be able to do anything.

Which system requirements needs my container to run docker-mailserver effectively?

1 core and 1GB of RAM is recommended, even it could work with 512M of RAM.