Re: Help needed for my first mail server
Jason Hsu put forth on 3/15/2011 1:13 AM:
> This is my first time ever working with a mail server. Thus, I don't know what I'm doing, but I'm trying to learn.
This is bad because you're trying to do it with DynDNS. This prevents
you from being able to setup a standard internet mail host with MX.
> All I'm trying to do right now is send and receive email messages through my free DynDNS account. Let's say it's subdomain1.dyndns-free.com .
Docs for this are available at dyndns.org. You will need to use their
mail forwarder.
> The OS is Debian Lenny. The mail server is exim4.
The OS/smtpd don't matter much here, as long as you know what parameters
to configure.
> Let's say that the host name listed in my /etc/hosts file is subdomain2.domain.com .
The only thing that matters is that this hostname match the Exim config
for "local domains" and that dyndns be told this is the hostname to
forward mail to.
> I have been able to run the exim4 configuration script by entering "dpkg-reconfigure exim4-config". However, I don't know what I'm supposed to enter for all those fields I'm asked about. If I'm even slightly wrong on just one thing, my system won't work properly.
I can't help you here as I'm a Postfix user, not Exim.
> Do I need an MX hostname? There are so many unknowns that I don't know where to begin.
MX records are for second level domains, thus you can't us an MX record
in this case as your system is a third level domain. The MX records in
your case are for dyndns.org, your parent domain.
Now, all of that said, there is a way you can set this up to work with a
real domain and MX record so mail is delivered directly to your server.
To do this, register a domain name, your-domain.com, with any
registrar, and setup a DNS hosting account (most registrars offer DNS
hosting today, as well as mail, web, etc). Create a DNS MX record
pointing to subdomain1.dyndns-free.com, and configure Exim to accept
mail for the domain "your-domain.com".
Now, any time anyone sends mail to your-domain.com it'll go directly to
your Exim host. Depending on which domain you register, it'll cost you
anywhere from $5-$15 USD/year for a cheap domain. I pay ~$15 USD/year
for my vanity domain. I've had it since 2002.
--
Stan
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