Have My Own Email Server?

[WhatUsernameIsFree?]

Hi all,

I'm quite fed up with Google and their privacy policies. Privacy is this years new black with me, it seems. How can I setup my own email server please? I own a domain name, so that's easy enough. What other considerations do I need to take into account?

Thanks

[xenopeek]

First hit on Google search (ow, the irony ) when looking for "linux set up your own email server": http://flurdy.com/docs/postfix/. That seems like an awfully complete guide, as it includes anti-spam and anti-virus measures. It's for Ubuntu, so should work on Linux Mint also.

[WhatUsernameIsFree?]

I saw a few guides, each with very different methods, but each looking quite complicated.

Never mind. I'll give it a bash!

[DrHu]

Probably the most important pick is the email server application you want to use/try
--a matter of researching what is available..

A long general guide of tools for email services on linux..
http://www.linuxmail.info/
https://www.zimbra.com/products/
--their desktop (messaging, calendar etc.) is quite well known..

[WhatUsernameIsFree?]

What happens if I'm hosting my own email server and I get a power cut or my internet goes down as someone sends me an email? Does the sending server wait a little while to see if the receiving server comes back online or will it just send it without anything being there to receive it?

[xenopeek]

That depends on the sender's server configuration. Most will retry it a few times every so many hours, before finally giving up and returning a undeliverable message to the sender.

[WhatUsernameIsFree?]

That depends on the sender's server configuration. Most will retry it a few times every so many hours, before finally giving up and returning a undeliverable message to the sender.

It certainly sounds like this isn't totally beyond the reach of a 'home server' configuration then. Just need to find a machine and domain to practice with before committing my machine to it.

[bjornmu]

It certainly sounds like this isn't totally beyond the reach of a 'home server' configuration then. Just need to find a machine and domain to practice with before committing my machine to it.

Certainly, an important principle behind the design of email systems is that an email shouldn't just get lost if the receiving server is temporarily unreachable. It's too important for that.

[xenopeek]

Yes, you can set up a backup email server. There are also various online services you can use for that, as a backup for when your email server is down.

[WhatUsernameIsFree?]

Ok, I've got down to "Advanced mail server"

I clearly have no idea what I'm doing. How do I undo all this? :S