Share google doc with mailserve12/14/2023 ![]() Please explore this wiki & the web to get more insights about docker-mailserver's toolchain. The exact relationship between all the components and their respective (sometimes shared) responsibilities is beyond the scope of this document. On top of that, Postfix may rely on Dovecot's authentication capabilities. sending emails to other MTA/MDA) Dovecot is both an MDA (delivering emails in mailboxes) and an IMAP server (allowing MUAs to fetch emails from the mail server). One important thing to note is that MTA and MDA programs may actually handle multiple tasks (which is the case with docker-mailserver's Postfix and Dovecot).įor instance, Postfix is both an SMTP server (accepting emails) and a relaying MTA (transferring, ie. That will prove very important when it comes to security management. Email submission first goes through the sender's MTA, then some relaying between at least two MTAs is required to deliver the email. The main takeaway is that when a third-party sends an email to a docker-mailserver instance(MTA) (or any MTA for that matter), it does not establish a direct connection with that MTA. In scenario B, the docker-mailserver instance(MTA) handles the submission, prior to relaying. In scenario A the email leaves Gmail's premises, that email's initial submission is not handled by your docker-mailserver instance(MTA) it merely receives the email after it has been relayed by Gmail's MTA. Let's say Alice owns a Gmail account, and Bob owns an account on a docker-mailserver's instance, sure not to conflate these two very different scenarios:Ī) Alice sends an email to => the email is first submitted to MTA, then relayed to MTA where it is then delivered into Bob's mailbox.ī) Bob sends an email to => the email is first submitted to MTA, then relayed to MTA and eventually delivered into Alice's mailbox. Here's a schematic view of mail delivery: MDA: a Mail Delivery Agent is responsible for accepting emails from an MTA and dropping them into their recipients' mailboxes, whichever the form.forward, relay) to another MTA, "closer" to the email's final destination. If the receiving MTA is responsible for the hostname the email is sent to, then an MTA is to forward that email to an MDA (see below). It's a piece of software dedicated to accepting submitted emails, then forwarding them-where exactly will depend on an email's final destination. MTA: a Mail Transfer Agent is the so-called "mail server" as seen from the MUA's perspective.MUA: a Mail User Agent is basically any client/program capable of sending emails to arbitrary mail servers while also capable of fetching emails from mail servers for presenting them to the end users.The following components are required to create a complete delivery chain: It offers a comprehensive platform to run a fully featured mail server in no time! Components All of these "agents" must be integrated with one another for the exchange to take place.ĭocker-mailserver has made informed choices about those components and their (default) configuration. The mail server is capable of accepting, forwarding, delivering, storing and overall exchanging messages, but each one of those tasks is actually handled by a specific piece of software. Unlike the client-side where usually a single program is used to perform retrieval and viewing of emails, the server-side is composed of many specialized components. Mozilla Thunderbird, Microsoft Outlook…), to a web interface, etc. Mutt) to a fully-fledged desktop application (eg. Exchanging emails requires using specific means (programs and protocols).ĭocker-mailserver provides you with the server portion, whereas the client can be anything from a terminal via text-based software (eg. ![]() Anatomy of a Mail ServerĪ mail server is only a part of a client-server relationship aimed at exchanging information in the form of emails. Here's an introduction to the field that covers everything you need to know to get started with docker-mailserver. What is a mail server and how does it perform its duty? How does docker-mailserver help with setting everything up?
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