How to Set up a Mail Server on EC2 | Ubuntu 20.04

In this blog, you will learn how to set up a mail server on EC2. We have attached screenshots for each and every step so that you don’t face any issues. Let’s begin the Installation Process.

Install Postfix

Postfix is a mail transfer agent (MTA) which is the responsible software for delivering & receiving emails, it’s essential in order to create a complete mail server.

apt install postfix

On Congiguration Link select Internet Link

Type	Description
No configuration	Should be chosen to leave the current configuration unchanged.
Internet site	Mail is sent and received directly using SMTP.
Internet with smarthost	Mail is received directly using SMTP or by running a utility such   as fetchmail. Outgoing mail is sent using a smart host.
Satellite system	All mail is sent to another machine, called a ‘smarthost’, for delivery.
Local only	The only delivered mail is the mail for local users. There is no network

2. Give System mail Server name

3. Now in order to check postfix is running or not

systemctl status postfix

Install mailutils

The Mailutils movemail is a full-fledged mail retrieval agent which can easily be used to fetch mail from remote servers.

apt install mailutils

By default, all of your emails are in one big file. There will be a different directories for each type of email such as Drafts, Templates, Trash, Sent, Inbox. For configuring this

postconf "home_mailbox_mailbox = Maildir/"
postconf -n

postconf -n will show all setting of mailbox

After Setting configuration reload and check status if is is running or not

systemctl reload postfix
systemctl status postfix

Install Dovecot

Dovecot is a Mail Delivery Agent, written with security primarily in mind. It supports the major mailbox formats: mbox or Maildir. This section explains how to set it up as an IMAP or POP3 server.

apt install dovecot-imapd dovecot-pop3d dovecot-core

Now in order to check whther it is running or not

systemctl status dovecot

Inorder to setup mail box we need to modify 10-mail.conf present in /etc/dovecot/conf.d/ . Uncomment  mail_location = maildir:~/Maildir and comment mail_location = mbox:~/mail:INBOX=/var/mail/%u

Now inorder to check if it is configured or not then run doveconf -n . You will see mail_location = maildir:~/Maildir then it is perfectly configured.

Now to setup folder such as Drafts, Sent, Trash, Templates

cd /etc/skel/
mkdir -p Maildir/.Drafts Maildir/.Drafts/cur Maildir/.Drafts/new Maildir/.Drafts/tmp
mkdir -p Maildir/.Sent Maildir/.Sent/cur Maildir/.Sent/new Maildir/.Sent/tmp
mkdir -p Maildir/.Trash Maildir/.Trash/cur Maildir/.Trash/new Maildir/.Trash/tmp
mkdir -p Maildir/.Templates Maildir/.Templates/cur Maildir/.Templates/new Maildir/.Templates/tmp
mkdir Maildir/cur Maildir/new Maildir/tmp
chmod 700 -R Maildir/

Now you need to add user

adduser --gecos "" <User Name>

Install mutt

Mutt is a powerful command line email client. It supports both mbox and Maildir formats. The protocols supported include POP3 and IMAP. 

apt install mutt

Change Hostname according to you. I have set hostname to infohubblog

sudo nano /etc/hostname
sudo nano /etc/hosts
sudo reboot

In order to allow mail send vi /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf  add following line

protocols = imap imaps pop3 pop3s

Now go to Each User and configure vi .muttrc. By Default this file is not there so you need to create yourself.

set imap_user = saurabh
set imap_pass = qwerty

set folder = "imaps://infohubblog" # change to hostname
set spoolfile = "+INBOX"
set record = "+Sent"
set postponed = "+Drafts"
set trash = "+Trash"

mailboxes INBOX

unset imap_passive
set timeout=1
set sort=reverse-date

That’s all. Mail Setup is done. Now you can try sending Email. To : [email protected]

BONUS : GMAIL CONFIGURATION using mutt

Now go to Each User and configure vi .muttrc

set my_address = [email protected]
set smtp_pass = [email protected]

set imap_user = $my_address
set imap_pass = $smtp_pass
set smtp_url = smtps://[email protected]:465/
set folder = imaps://imap.gmail.com/
set postpones = Drafts
unset record  # Gmail does this automatically

set spoolfile = +INBOX
mailboxes +INBOX

set from = $my_address
alternates $my_address

set move = no
set imap_keepalive = 900

set message_cachedir = ~/.cache/mutt
set header_cache = $message_cachedir

Allow Less Secure APP : https://myaccount.google.com/u/5/lesssecureapps?gar=1&pli=1&rapt=AEjHL4MfMx6Sqr5JDXXO51bdNguiA2AmleKcWIGFEIBz73hYUDkvdqWkW-jwZa_Hv5ron9yW47L2EmAcFCe7vX7L2vZdxGOB_w

https://accounts.google.com/DisplayUnlockCaptcha

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