Postfix: The Definitive Guide (Paperback)

Summary

Postfix is a Mail Transfer Agent (MTA): software that mail servers use to route email. Postfix is highly respected by experts for its secure design and tremendous reliability. And new users like it because it's so simple to configure. In fact, Postfix has been adopted as the default MTA on Mac OS X. It is also compatible with sendmail, so that existing scripts and programs continue to work seamlessly
after it is installed.

Postfix was written by well-known security expert Wietse Venema, who reviewed this book intensively during its entire development. Author Kyle Dent covers a wide range of Postfix tasks, from virtual hosting to controls for unsolicited commercial email.

While basic configuration of Postfix is easy, every site has unique needs that call for a certain amount of study. This book, with careful background explanations and generous examples, eases readers from the basic configuration to the full power of Postfix. It discusses the Postfix interfaces to various tools that round out a fully scalable and highly secure email system. These tools include POP, IMAP, LDAP, MySQL, Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL), and Transport Layer Security (TLS, an upgrade of SSL). A reference section for Postfix configuration parameters and an installation guide are included.

Topics include:

• Basic installation and configuration
  
• DNS configuration for email
  
• Working with POP/IMAP servers
  
• Hosting multiple domains (virtual hosting)
  
• Mailing lists
  
• Handling unsolicited email (spam blocking)
  
• Security through SASL and TLS

From compiling and installing Postfix to troubleshooting, Postfix: The Definitive Guide offers system administrators and anyone who deals with Postfix an all-in-one, comprehensive tutorial and reference to this MTA.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Preface

1. Introduction

     Postfix Origins and Philosophy

     Email and the Internet

     The Role of Postfix

     Postfix Security

     Additional Information and How to Obtain Postfix

2. Prerequisites

     Unix Topics

     Email Topics

3. Postfix Architecture

     Postfix Components

     How Messages Enter the Postfix System

     The Postfix Queue

     Mail Delivery

     Tracing a Message Through Postfix

4. General Configuration and Administration

     Starting Postfix the First Time

     Configuration Files

     Important Configuration Considerations

     Administration

     master.cf

     Receiving Limits

     Rewriting Addresses

     chroot

     Documentation

5. Queue Management

     How qmgr Works

     Queue Tools

6. Email and DNS

     DNS Overview

     Email Routing

     Postfix and DNS

     Common Problems

7. Local Delivery and POP/IMAP

     Postfix Delivery Transports

     Message Store Formats

     Local Delivery

     POP and IMAP

     Local Mail Transfer Protocol

8. Hosting Multiple Domains

     Shared Domains with System Accounts

     Separate Domains with System Accounts

     Separate Domains with Virtual Accounts

     Separate Message Store

     Delivery to Commands

9. Mail Relaying

     Backup MX

     Transport Maps

     Inbound Mail Gateway

     Outbound Mail Relay

     UUCP, Fax, and Other Deliveries

10. Mailing Lists

     Simple Mailing Lists

     Mailing-List Managers

11. Blocking Unsolicited Bulk Email

     The Nature of Spam

     The Problem of Spam

     Open Relays

     Spam Detection

     Anti-Spam Actions

     Postfix Configuration

     Client-Detection Rules

     Strict Syntax Parameters

     Content-Checking

     Customized Restriction Classes

     Postfix Anti-Spam Example

12. SASL Authentication

     SASL Overview

     Postfix and SASL

     Configuring Postfix for SASL

     Testing Your Authentication Configuration

     SMTP Client Authentication

13. Transport Layer Security

     Postfix and TLS

     TLS Certificates

14. Content Filtering

     Command-Based Filtering

     Daemon-Based Filtering

     Other Considerations

15. External Databases

     MySQL

     LDAP

A. Configuration Parameters

B. Postfix Commands

C. Compiling and Installing Postfix

D. Frequently Asked Questions

Index