We will build and install Postfix using the build script from SBo. The steps shown here use versions current as of this writing, but you should use the version applicable to your Slackware version at the time you build it.

By default the SBo postfix script builds with dovecot for SASL, but without database support. You might want to check the SlackBuild script at the time you build for changes or other options.

The essential steps to build postfix are…

You should become familiar with the postfix documentation in order to properly configure and administer your mail server.

What follows is a minimum configuration to safely operate a virtual email server on the internet, but you will surely want to adapt it to your specific needs.

Postfix has two main configuration files:

• /etc/postfix/master.cf
• /etc/postfix/main.cf

The master.cf file governs operation of the master daemon which listens for mail events and manages the many postfix utility processes.

We want to listen for SMTP, SMTPS and SUBMISSION requests, so…

vi /etc/postfix/master.cf

//Uncomment the following lines...//
smtp      inet  n       -       n       -       -       smtpd
submission inet n       -       n       -       -       smtpd
smtps     inet  n       -       n       -       -       smtpd

Next, we want to configure the basic network environment for our postfix MTA in /etc/postfix/main.cf. However, the default main.cf is a very large file with many detailed comments and can be error prone to configure and administer. So it it recommended that you save a copy of the original and write the production version from scratch - it really isn't very long.

mv /etc/postfix/main.cf /etc/postfix/main.cf.original
vi /etc/postfix/main.cf

//Now enter the following lines...//

mynetworks_style = host
myorigin = $mydomain

#Change my-domain.com to the actual domain name of your server
mydomain = my-domain.com

#mydestination must be localhost only to allow postfix to deliver non-virtual system mail
mydestination = localhost

#IMPORTANT - relay_domains should be empty to prevent your server from becoming a spam relay!
#If you actually need to relay to other domains READ THE DOCUMENTATION CAREFULLY!
 relay_domains =

biff = no
append_dot_mydomain = no

Now we need to configure the secure aspects of our mail server, again in main.cf:

vi /etc/postfix/main.cf

//Enter the following lines...//

#SSL certificates will be created at these locations when we configure dovecot
smtpd_tls_cert_file = /etc/ssl/localcerts/dove.pem
smtpd_tls_key_file = /etc/ssl/localcerts/dove.key

#Accept only secure smtp connections
smtpd_use_tls = yes
smtpd_tls_auth_only = yes

#Tell postfix to use dovecot for SASL
smtpd_sasl_type = dovecot
smtpd_sasl_path = private/auth
smtpd_sasl_auth_enable = yes

#Allow ONLY authenticated users to send email
#Do not accept incoming email for other than local mail boxes (i.e. virtual users)
smtpd_recipient_restrictions = permit_sasl_authenticated,permit_mynetworks,reject_unauth_destination

Finally, we must configure postfix to use the database to identify allowed domains and to authenticate smtp requests against virtual mail boxes. Again, in main.cf…

vi /etc/postfix/main.cf

//Enter the following lines...//

#Tell postfix to use dovecot lmtp for virtual mail delivery
virtual_transport = lmtp:unix:private/dovecot-lmtp

#Set file paths to mysql handlers for domains, mail boxes and aliases
virtual_mailbox_domains = mysql:/etc/postfix/mysql-virtual-mailbox-domains.cf
virtual_mailbox_maps = mysql:/etc/postfix/mysql-virtual-mailbox-maps.cf
virtual_alias_maps = mysql:/etc/postfix/mysql-virtual-alias-maps.cf

#Set localhost destinations
alias_maps = hash:/etc/aliases

The last four files do not yet exist on the system and so, must be created. The virtual files tell postfix how to interact with the mysql database. The final alias_maps file tells the postfix process where to send operational messages.

First we must tell postfix how to identify which virtual domains it handles mail for by providing a proper query of the virtual database. This query must return true if the domain is in the database:

vi /etc/postfix/mysql-virtual-mailbox-domains.cf

//Enter the following lines...//

user= mailuser
password = {your mailuser password}
host = localhost
dbname = mailserver
query = SELECT 1 FROM virtual_domains WHERE name='%s'

You may test the database connection and query with the postmap utility…

postmap -q my-domain.com mysql:/etc/postfix/mysql-virtual-mailbox-domains.cf

This will return true (1) if the domain is found, NULL if not found, and an error message if the query or connection is not correctly configured.

Next, we must tell postfix how to identify valid virtual mail box users. This query must also only return true if the mail box exists in the database.

vi /etc/postfix/mysql-virtual-mailbox-maps.cf

//Enter the following lines...//

user= mailuser
password = {your mailuser password}
host = localhost
dbname = mailserver
query = SELECT 1 FROM virtual_users WHERE email='%s'

You may test the database connection and query with the postmap utility…

postmap -q me@my-domain.com mysql:/etc/postfix/mysql-virtual-mailbox-maps.cf

Next, we must tell postfix how to identify valid aliases in the database. This query must return the destination address for the alias.

vi /etc/postfix/mysql-virtual-alias-maps.cf

//Enter the following lines...//

user= mailuser
password = {your mailuser password}
host = localhost
dbname = mailserver
query = SELECT destination FROM virtual_aliases WHERE source='%s'

You may test the database connection and query with the postmap utility…

postmap -q alias@my-domain.com mysql:/etc/postfix/mysql-virtual-alias-maps.cf

Finally, we must provide local aliases for postmaster and root mail on the local machine.

vi /etc/aliases

//Enter the following lines...//
postmaster: root
root: myself

After creating the aliases file, you must use the postmap utility to build the local aliases database…

postmap /etc/aliases

This will create the file /etc/aliases.db in format useable by postfix.

It is important to provide the postmaster alias so that postfix can send operational messages to a real destination. The destination address may be a local user account or it may be a valid virtual mail box.

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