A Mail-in-a-Box with extra capabilities and more customizability. Not just for power users!
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2014-10-13 14:12:11 +00:00
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management retain backups only for 3 days; beyond that the user is responsible for copying files off of the machine 2014-10-13 14:12:11 +00:00
setup still didn't get the permissions right, chmod must follow sa-learn's initial creation of files 2014-10-12 18:05:04 +00:00
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CHANGELOG.md retain backups only for 3 days; beyond that the user is responsible for copying files off of the machine 2014-10-13 14:12:11 +00:00
CONTRIBUTING.md adding CONTRIBUTING.md, see #23 2014-04-23 15:52:49 -04:00
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README.md link to Modoboa in README 2014-09-26 08:20:13 -04:00
Vagrantfile replace '-t 0' test with an environment variable since '-t 0' is false when standard input has been redirected and doesn't tell us whether or not we can use dialog for input, but Vagrant must be non-interactive 2014-08-25 07:54:11 -04:00

Mail-in-a-Box

By @JoshData and contributors.

Mail-in-a-Box helps individuals take back control of their email by defining a one-click, easy-to-deploy SMTP+everything else server: a mail server in a box.

Please see https://mailinabox.email for the project's website and setup guide!


I am trying to:

  • Make deploying a good mail server easy.
  • Promote decentralization, innovation, and privacy on the web.
  • Have automated, auditable, and idempotent configuration.
  • Not be a mail server that the NSA cannot hack.
  • Not be customizable by power users.

The long-term goal is to have this be a one-click email appliance with no user-configurable setup options.

For more background, see The Rationale.

This setup is what has been powering my own personal email since September 2013.

The Box

Mail-in-a-Box turns a fresh Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 64-bit machine into a working mail server, including SMTP (postfix), IMAP (dovecot), Exchange ActiveSync (z-push), webmail (Roundcube), spam filtering (spamassassin), greylisting (postgrey), CardDAV/CalDAV (ownCloud), DNS, SPF, DKIM (OpenDKIM), DMARC, DNSSEC, DANE TLSA, SSHFP, and basic system services like a firewall, intrusion protection, and setting the system clock.

The Acknowledgements

This project was inspired in part by the "NSA-proof your email in 2 hours" blog post by Drew Crawford, Sovereign by Alex Payne, and conversations with @shevski, @konklone, and @GregElin.

Mail-in-a-Box is similar to iRedMail and Modoboa.

The History

  • In 2007 I wrote a relatively popular Mozilla Thunderbird extension that added client-side SPF and DKIM checks to mail to warn users about possible phishing: add-on page, source.
  • Mail-in-a-Box was a semifinalist in the 2014 Knight News Challenge, but it was not selected as a winner.
  • Mail-in-a-Box hit the front page of Hacker News in April and September 2014.