Post #1454629

2026-04-18 18:06 UTC

friends, I need to run a receive only mail server :neofox_shocked: any suggestions for software, tips and best practices and what to absolutely never ever do are incredibly welcome :neofox_heart: I&#39;ve never hosted e-mail things before; assume I know nothing I have a domain with DNSSEC, a VPS, and a lot of hope #askfedi #duckduckfedi #selfhosting #selfhosted #emailhosting #email

Replies (5)

@Kooda@loutre.info 2026-04-18 18:24

@fox it should be very easy as receive only. Good old postfix and dovecot (if you want IMAP) would do the trick.

Open ##1981580
@sheogorath@microblog.shivering-isles.com 2026-04-18 18:37

@fox I recommend to walk through this: https://workaround.org/ It's the most complete guide I know regarding running an email server at any scale. You can of course also consider to run https://stalw.art/ but their stuff more "here, works and fingers crossed"

Open ##1981582
@me@mastodon.cysioland.pl 2026-04-18 19:11

@fox set a negative SPF policy banning anyone from sending mail from your domain

Open ##1981583
@me_the_fl00f@cybre.club 2026-04-18 19:38

@fox@bark.lgbt I think I should sell E-Mail hosting, but hey look in my blog but it is OpenBSD on bare metal for the whole stack.

Open ##1981584
@jana@social.jsteuernagel.de 2026-04-18 19:56

@fox Probably look at the classic postfix & dovecot. OpenSMTPd might also be able to partly fill the role and is very simple to setup. Either way, receive-only removes most of the headaches a nail setup can create, so you should be able to get something going :)

Open ##1981585