es:Postfix ja:Postfix

Postfix is a mail transfer agent that according to its website:

1. attempts to be fast, easy to administer, and secure, while at the same time being sendmail compatible enough to not upset existing users. Thus, the outside has a sendmail-ish flavor, but the inside is completely different.

This article builds upon Mail server. The goal of this article is to setup Postfix and explain what the basic configuration files do. There are instructions for setting up local system user-only delivery and a link to a guide for virtual user delivery.

Installation

Install the postfix package.

Configuration

See Postfix Basic Configuration. Configuration files are in /etc/postfix by default. The two most important files are:

• master.cf, defines what Postfix services are enabled and how clients connect to them, see master(5)

• main.cf, the main configuration file, see postconf(5)

Configuration changes need a postfix.service reload or run postfix reload in order to take effect.

Aliases

See aliases(5).

You can specify aliases (also known as forwarders) in /etc/postfix/aliases.

You should map all mail addressed to root to another account since it is not a good idea to read mail as root.

Uncomment the following line, and change you to a real account.

root: you

Once you have finished editing /etc/postfix/aliases you must run the postalias command:

 # postalias /etc/postfix/aliases

For later changes you can use:

 # newaliases

user@localhost

/root/.forward

Local mail

To only deliver mail to local system users (that are in /etc/passwd) update /etc/postfix/main.cf to reflect the following configuration. Uncomment, change, or add the following lines:

myhostname = localhost
mydomain = localdomain
mydestination = $myhostname, localhost.$mydomain, localhost
inet_interfaces = $myhostname, localhost
mynetworks_style = host
default_transport = error: outside mail is not deliverable

All other settings may remain unchanged. After setting up the above configuration file, you may wish to set up some #Aliases and then #Start Postfix.

Virtual mail

Virtual mail is mail that does not map to a user account (/etc/passwd).

Virtual aliases

Virtual aliases are used to rewrite the destination addresses for all local, virtual and remote destinations. This can be used to rewrite the destination address for a single recipient, or an entire domain.

Virtual address aliases

Set up a virtual alias for a single address.

Enable the virtual alias table:

virtual_alias_maps  lmdb:/etc/postfix/virtual

/etc/postfix/main.cf

Populate the virtual alias table:

user@domain address

/etc/postfix/virtual

Rebuild the index file:

# postmap /etc/postfix/virtual

Restart postfix.service.

Check configuration

Run the postfix check command. It should output anything that you might have done wrong in a configuration file.

To see all of your configs, type postconf. To see how you differ from the defaults, try postconf -n.

Start Postfix

Start/enable the postfix.service.

TLS

For more information, see Postfix TLS Support.

Secure SMTP (sending)

By default, Postfix/sendmail will not send email encrypted to other SMTP servers. To use TLS when available, add the following line to main.cf:

smtp_tls_security_level = may

/etc/postfix/main.cf

To enforce TLS (and fail when the remote server does not support it), change may to encrypt. Note, however, that this violates RFC:2487 if the SMTP server is publicly referenced.

Secure SMTP (receiving)

By default, Postfix will not accept secure mail.

You need to obtain a certificate. Point Postfix to your TLS certificates by adding the following lines to main.cf:

smtpd_tls_security_level = may
smtpd_use_tls = yes
smtpd_tls_cert_file = /path/to/cert.pem
smtpd_tls_key_file = /path/to/key.pem

/etc/postfix/main.cf

There are two ways to accept secure mail. STARTTLS over SMTP (port 587 (also called "submission" port)) and SMTPS (port 465 (also called "submissions" port). The latter was previously deprecated but was reinstated by RFC:8314.

To enable STARTTLS over SMTP (port 587), uncomment the following lines in master.cf:

submission inet n       -       n       -       -       smtpd
  -o syslog_name=postfix/submission
  -o smtpd_tls_security_level=encrypt
  -o smtpd_sasl_auth_enable=yes
  -o smtpd_tls_auth_only=yes
  -o smtpd_reject_unlisted_recipient=no
#  -o smtpd_client_restrictions=$mua_client_restrictions
#  -o smtpd_helo_restrictions=$mua_helo_restrictions
#  -o smtpd_sender_restrictions=$mua_sender_restrictions
  -o smtpd_relay_restrictions=
  -o smtpd_recipient_restrictions=permit_sasl_authenticated,reject
  -o milter_macro_daemon_name=ORIGINATING

/etc/postfix/master.cf

The smtpd_*_restrictions options remain commented because $mua_*_restrictions are not defined in main.cf by default. If you do decide to set any of $mua_*_restrictions, uncomment those lines too.

To enable SMTPS (port 465), uncomment the following lines in master.cf:

submissions     inet  n       -       n       -       -       smtpd
  -o syslog_name=postfix/smtps
  -o smtpd_tls_wrappermode=yes
  -o smtpd_sasl_auth_enable=yes
  -o smtpd_reject_unlisted_recipient=no
#  -o smtpd_client_restrictions=$mua_client_restrictions
#  -o smtpd_helo_restrictions=$mua_helo_restrictions
#  -o smtpd_sender_restrictions=$mua_sender_restrictions
  -o smtpd_relay_restrictions=
  -o smtpd_relay_restrictions=permit_sasl_authenticated,reject
  -o milter_macro_daemon_name=ORIGINATING

/etc/postfix/master.cf

The rationale surrounding the $smtpd_*_restrictions lines is the same as above.

Post-quantum TLS

As of Postfix 3.10 and OpenSSL 3.5.0, it is possible to offer post-quantum key exchanges for TLS. In order to do this, OpenSSL needs to be provided with a config file, as Postfix does not support the new keyshare syntax itself.

To enable this functionality, add the following to your configuration (see https://www.postfix.org/postconf.5.html#tls_config_file):

tls_eecdh_auto_curves =
tls_ffdhe_auto_groups =
tls_config_file = ${config_directory}/openssl.cnf
tls_config_name = postfix

/etc/postfix/main.cf

Then you need to add an appropriate OpenSSL config:

postfix = postfix_settings
[postfix_settings]
ssl_conf = postfix_ssl_settings
[postfix_ssl_settings]
system_default = baseline_postfix_settings
[baseline_postfix_settings]
Groups = *X25519MLKEM768 / *X25519:X448 / P-256:P-384:P-521:ffdhe2048:ffdhe3072

/etc/postfix/openssl.cnf

This enables the new post-quantum secure X25519MLKEM768 as well as the previous defaults for traditional, non-quantum safe curves.

Tips and tricks

Blacklist incoming emails

Manually blacklisting incoming emails by sender address can easily be done with Postfix.

Create and open /etc/postfix/blacklist_incoming file and append sender email address:

user@example.com REJECT

Then use the postmap command to create a database:

# postmap lmdb:blacklist_incoming

Add the following code before the first permit rule in main.cf:

smtpd_recipient_restrictions = check_sender_access lmdb:/etc/postfix/blacklist_incoming

Finally restart postfix.service.

Hide the sender's IP and user agent in the Received header

This is a privacy concern mostly, if you use Thunderbird and send an email. The received header will contain your LAN and WAN IP and info about the email client you used. (Original source: AskUbuntu) What we want to do is remove the Received header from outgoing emails. This can be done by the following steps:

Add the following line to main.cf:

smtp_header_checks = regexp:/etc/postfix/smtp_header_checks

Create /etc/postfix/smtp_header_checks with this content:

/^Received: .*/     IGNORE
/^User-Agent: .*/   IGNORE

Finally, restart postfix.service.

Postfix in a chroot jail

Postfix is not put in a chroot jail by default. The Postfix documentation https://www.postfix.org/BASIC_CONFIGURATION_README.html#chroot_setup provides details about how to accomplish such a jail. The steps are outlined below and are based on the chroot-setup script provided in the Postfix source code.

First, go into the master.cf file in the directory /etc/postfix and change all the chroot entries to 'yes' (y) except for the services qmgr, proxymap, proxywrite, local, and virtual

Second, create two functions that will help us later with copying files over into the chroot jail (see last step)

$ alias CP="cp -p"

cond_copy() {
  # find files as per pattern in $1
  # if any, copy to directory $2
  dir=$(dirname "$1")
  pat=$(basename "$1")
  lr=$(find "$dir" -maxdepth 1 -name "$pat")
  if test ! -d "$2" ; then exit 1 ; fi
  if test "x$lr" != "x" ; then $CP $1 "$2" ; fi
}

Next, make the new directories for the jail:

$ set -e
$ umask 022
$ POSTFIX_DIR=${POSTFIX_DIR-/var/spool/postfix}
$ cd ${POSTFIX_DIR}
$ mkdir -p etc lib usr/lib/zoneinfo
$ test -d /lib64 && mkdir -p lib64

Find the localtime file:

$ lt=/etc/localtime
$ if test ! -f $lt ; then lt=/usr/lib/zoneinfo/localtime ; fi
$ if test ! -f $lt ; then lt=/usr/share/zoneinfo/localtime ; fi
$ if test ! -f $lt ; then echo "cannot find localtime" ; exit 1 ; fi
$ rm -f etc/localtime

Copy localtime and some other system files into the chroot's etc

$ CP -f $lt /etc/services /etc/resolv.conf /etc/nsswitch.conf etc
$ CP -f /etc/host.conf /etc/hosts /etc/passwd etc
$ ln -s -f /etc/localtime usr/lib/zoneinfo

Make sure resolv.conf is owned by root:

$ chown root /var/spool/postfix/etc/resolv.conf

Copy required libraries into the chroot using the previously created function cond_copy

$ cond_copy '/usr/lib/libnss_*.so*' lib
$ cond_copy '/usr/lib/libresolv.so*' lib
$ cond_copy '/usr/lib/libdb.so*' lib

And do not forget to reload Postfix.

DANE (DNSSEC)

Resource record

DANE supports several types of records, however not all of them are suitable in Postfix.

Certificate usage 0 is unsupported, 1 is mapped to 3 and 2 is optional, thus it is recommendet to publish a "3" record. More on DANE#TLSA resource record.

Configuration

Opportunistic DANE is configured this way:

smtpd_use_tls = yes
smtp_dns_support_level = dnssec
smtp_tls_security_level = dane

/etc/postfix/main.cf

dane       unix  -       -       n       -       -       smtp
  -o smtp_dns_support_level=dnssec
  -o smtp_tls_security_level=dane

/etc/postfix/master.cf

To use per-domain policies, e.g. opportunistic DANE for example.org and mandatory DANE for example.com, use something like this:

indexed = ${default_database_type}:${config_directory}/

# Per-destination TLS policy
#
smtp_tls_policy_maps = ${indexed}tls_policy

# default_transport = smtp, but some destinations are special:
#
transport_maps = ${indexed}transport

/etc/postfix/main.cf

example.com dane
example.org dane

transport

example.com dane-only

tls_policy

Full documentation is found here.

Extras

Postgrey

Postgrey can be used to enable greylisting for a Postfix mail server.

Installation

Install the postgrey package. To get it running quickly edit the Postfix configuration file and add these lines:

smtpd_recipient_restrictions =
  check_policy_service inet:127.0.0.1:10030

/etc/postfix/main.cf

Then start/enable the postgrey service. Afterwards, reload the postfix service. Now greylisting should be enabled.

Configuration

Configuration is done by extending the unit postgrey.service.

Whitelisting

To add automatic whitelisting (successful deliveries are whitelisted and do not have to wait any more), add the --auto-whitelist-clients=N option and replace N by a suitably small number (or leave it at its default of 5).

[Service]
ExecStart=
ExecStart=/usr/bin/postgrey --inet=127.0.0.1:10030 \
       --pidfile=/run/postgrey/postgrey.pid \
       --group=postgrey --user=postgrey \
       --daemonize \
       --greylist-text="Greylisted for %%s seconds" \
       --auto-whitelist-clients

/etc/systemd/system/postgrey.service.d/override.conf

To add your own list of whitelisted clients in addition to the default ones, create the file /etc/postfix/postgrey_whitelist_clients.local and enter one host or domain per line, then restart postgrey.service so the changes take effect.

Troubleshooting

If you specify --unix=/path/to/socket and the socket file is not created ensure you have removed the default --inet=127.0.0.1:10030 from the service file.

For a full documentation of possible options see perldoc postgrey.

SpamAssassin

This section describes how to integrate SpamAssassin.

SpamAssassin stand-alone generic setup

Edit /etc/postfix/master.cf and add the content filter under smtp.

smtp      inet  n       -       n       -       -       smtpd
  -o content_filter=spamassassin

Also add the following service entry for SpamAssassin

spamassassin unix -     n       n       -       -       pipe
  flags=R user=spamd argv=/usr/bin/vendor_perl/spamc -e /usr/bin/sendmail -oi -f ${sender} ${recipient}

Now you can start and enable spamassassin.service.

SpamAssassin combined with Dovecot LDA / Sieve (Mailfiltering)

Set up LDA and the Sieve-Plugin as described in Dovecot#Sieve. But ignore the last line mailbox_command....

Instead add a pipe in /etc/postfix/master.cf:

 dovecot   unix  -       n       n       -       -       pipe
       flags=DRhu user=vmail:vmail argv=/usr/bin/vendor_perl/spamc -u spamd -e /usr/lib/dovecot/dovecot-lda -f ${sender} -d ${recipient}

And activate it in /etc/postfix/main.cf:

 virtual_transport = dovecot

Alternately, if you do not want to use virtual transports you can use the mailbox_command. This runs with the local user and group, whereas the pipe runs with with the specified user using the user setting.

 mailbox_command = /usr/bin/vendor_perl/spamc -u spamd -e /usr/lib/dovecot/dovecot-lda -f "$SENDER" -a "$RECIPIENT"

SpamAssassin combined with Dovecot LMTP / Sieve

Set up the LMTP and Sieve as described in Dovecot#Sieve.

Edit /etc/dovecot/conf.d/90-plugin.conf and add:

 sieve_before = /etc/dovecot/sieve.before.d/
 sieve_extensions = +vnd.dovecot.filter
 sieve_plugins = sieve_extprograms
 sieve_filter_bin_dir = /etc/dovecot/sieve-filter
 sieve_filter_exec_timeout = 120s #this is often needed for the long running spamassassin scans, default is otherwise 10s

Create the directory and put spamassassin in as a binary that can be ran by dovecot:

 # mkdir /etc/dovecot/sieve-filter
 # ln -s /usr/bin/vendor_perl/spamc /etc/dovecot/sieve-filter/spamc

Create a new file, /etc/dovecot/sieve.before.d/spamassassin.sieve which contains:

 require [ "vnd.dovecot.filter" ];
 filter "spamc" [ "-d", "127.0.0.1", "--no-safe-fallback" ];

Compile the sieve rules spamassassin.svbin:

 # cd /etc/dovecot/sieve.before.d
 # sievec spamassassin.sieve

Finally, restart dovecot.service.

Rule-based mail processing

With policy services one can easily finetune Postfix' behaviour of mail delivery. postfwd provides services to do so. This allows you to e.g. implement time-aware grey- and blacklisting of senders and receivers as well as SPF policy checking.

Policy services are standalone services and connected to Postfix like this:

smtpd_recipient_restrictions =
  ...
  check_policy_service unix:/run/policyd.sock
  check_policy_service inet:127.0.0.1:10040

/etc/postfix/main.cf

Placing policy services at the end of the queue reduces load, as only legitimate mails are processed. Be sure to place it before the first permit statement to catch all incoming messages.

Sender Policy Framework

To use the Sender Policy Framework with Postfix, you can install python-spf-engine, python-postfix-policyd-spf or postfix-policyd-spf-perl.

With spf-engine or python-postfix-policyd-spf

Edit /etc/python-policyd-spf/policyd-spf.conf to your needs. An extensively commented version can be found at /etc/python-policyd-spf/policyd-spf.conf.commented. Pay some extra attention to the HELO check policy, as standard settings strictly reject HELO failures.

In main.cf file, add a timeout for the policyd:

policy-spf_time_limit = 3600s

/etc/postfix/main.cf

Then add a transport

policy-spf  unix  -       n       n       -       0       spawn user=nobody argv=/usr/bin/policyd-spf

/etc/postfix/master.cf

Lastly you need to add the policyd to the smtpd_recipient_restrictions. To minimize load put it to the end of the restrictions but above any reject_rbl_client DNSBL line:

smtpd_recipient_restrictions=
     ...
     permit_sasl_authenticated
     permit_mynetworks
     reject_unauth_destination
     check_policy_service unix:private/policy-spf

/etc/postfix/main.cf

Now reload the postfix service.

You can test your setup with the following:

defaultSeedOnly = 0

/etc/python-policyd-spf/policyd-spf.conf

With postfix-policyd-spf-perl

Do the same process with postfix as with python-postfix-policyd-spf, but with the following differences:

Timeout for the policyd in main.cf file:

policy_time_limit = 3600

/etc/postfix/main.cf

Transport:

policy  unix  -       n       n       -       0       spawn
     user=nobody argv=/usr/lib/postfix/postfix-policyd-spf-perl

/etc/postfix/master.cf

Add the policyd to the smtpd_recipient_restrictions:

smtpd_recipient_restrictions=
     ...
     reject_unauth_destination
     check_policy_service unix:private/policy
     ...

/etc/postfix/main.cf

Sender Rewriting Scheme

To use the Sender Rewriting Scheme with Postfix, install postsrsd and adjust the settings:

domains = { "yourdomain.tld", "yournextdomain.tld", "yournextdomain.tld" }
unprivileged-user = "postsrsd"

/etc/postsrsd/postsrsd.conf

Enable and start the daemon, making sure it runs after reboot as well. Then configure Postfix accordingly by tweaking the following lines:

sender_canonical_maps = socketmap:unix:srs:forward
sender_canonical_classes = envelope_sender
recipient_canonical_maps = socketmap:unix:srs:reverse
recipient_canonical_classes = envelope_recipient, header_recipient

/etc/postfix/main.cf

Restart Postfix and start forwarding mail.

Troubleshooting

Warning: "database /etc/postfix/*.db is older than source file .."

If you get one or both warnings with journalctl:

warning: database /etc/postfix/virtual.db is older than source file /etc/postfix/virtual
warning: database /etc/postfix/transport.db is older than source file /etc/postfix/transport

Then you can fix it by using these commands, depending on the messages you get:

postmap /etc/postfix/transport
postmap /etc/postfix/virtual

And restart postfix.service.

Host or domain name not found. Name service error for name=...

If you get the following warning with journalctl:

Host or domain name not found. Name service error for name=...

It could be that you are running Postfix in a chroot and /etc/resolv.conf is missing. If so, you can fix this by:

mkdir -p /var/spool/postfix/etc
cp /etc/resolv.conf /var/spool/postfix/etc/resolv.conf

And restart postfix.service.

error: require command: unknown Sieve capability `vnd.dovecot.filter'

spamassassin: line 1: error: require command: unknown Sieve capability `vnd.dovecot.filter'.
spamassassin: line 2: error: unknown command 'filter' (only reported once at first occurrence).
spamassassin: error: validation failed.
sievec(root): Fatal: failed to compile sieve script 'spamassassin.sieve'

If you get this error when running sievec after following #SpamAssassin combined with Dovecot LMTP / Sieve, replace sieve_extensions with sieve_global_extensions in /etc/dovecot/sieve.before.d/spamassassin.sieve.

Restart dovecot.service.

See also

• Official documentation

• Postfix Ubuntu documentation

• Virtual user mail system with Postfix, Dovecot and Roundcube