1 Topic by fedine

  • fedine
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Topic: Newbie First Time Questions

==== Required information ====
- iRedMail version (check /etc/iredmail-release):
- Linux/BSD distribution name and version: Ubuntu 16.04
- Store mail accounts in which backend (LDAP/MySQL/PGSQL):
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====

Hello there,

I haven't setup my server yet as I am just doing research. I will be installing a test version on my old laptop running Ubuntu 16.04. I'm having issues on the domain side of things.

I currently have a domain name with a website builder named "Bandzoogle" who is a reseller of Enom.com. Bandzoogle is hosting my site on my domain. Let's call my domain mywebsite.com. It has an active website that is on the internet. They provide the website building tools and hosts everything.

What I would like to do is also use this domain for my email server. I am looking to install iRedMail locally on a Raspberry Pi, on my home connection. As I read through the setup instructions on your main site I am getting stuck at the Preparations section.

You have as an example:

# Part of file: /etc/hosts
127.0.0.1   mx.example.com mx localhost localhost.localdomain

Are you saying I should be putting this as the hosts file:

# Part of file: /etc/hosts
127.0.0.1   mx.mywebsite.com mx localhost localhost.localdomain

I am worried and thinking that this domain name needs to be a different one than the one being used for my live website on the internet. Is that correct? I know that I can go into my settings on Bandzoogle and add MX Records. So that makes me think that these MX Records can't be coming from mywebsite.com as Bandzoogle is already using mywebsite.com as my website. Please help me, as this is all very new stuff to me. I hope I explained enough to get useful help from you guys.

Any tips/suggestions would be appreciated.

----

Spider Email Archiver: On-Premises, lightweight email archiving software developed by iRedMail team. Supports Amazon S3 compatible storage and custom branding.

2 Reply by ZhangHuangbin

  • ZhangHuangbin
  • ZhangHuangbin
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Re: Newbie First Time Questions

Web site use A type DNS record of mywebsite.com, but mail service uses MX type DNS record of mywebsite.com. And MX record points to a A type DNS record, so you can use a different sub-domain name for mail server hostname. for example, mail.mywebsite.com, mx.mywebsite.com, <whatever>.mywebsite.com.

3 Reply by fedine

  • fedine
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Re: Newbie First Time Questions

Thanks for getting back to me.


Ok, that explains it a bit. I guess I am still confused. I can call the mail server hostname whatever I like such as mail.mywebsite.com but I have to own that domain right?

I currently only own mywebsite.com and don't have any subdomains with that. You aren't saying that this mail server can be called mail.mywebsite.com without purchasing it first are you?

4 Reply by ZhangHuangbin

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Re: Newbie First Time Questions

fedine wrote:

I can call the mail server hostname whatever I like such as mail.mywebsite.com but I have to own that domain right?

If you own "mywebsite.com", of course you own all "<X>.mywebsite.com" (sub-domain).

You can login to your DNS management web admin panel to add new sub-domain names.

5 Reply by fedine

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Re: Newbie First Time Questions

ZhangHuangbin wrote:
fedine wrote:

I can call the mail server hostname whatever I like such as mail.mywebsite.com but I have to own that domain right?

If you own "mywebsite.com", of course you own all "<X>.mywebsite.com" (sub-domain).

You can login to your DNS management web admin panel to add new sub-domain names.

Thanks for that. That does make sense. Sadly with my service I am using they don't allow the access to adding subdomains. I would need to get a different registrar (it's because they are a reseller). But I do now understand how it works.

6 Reply by Lexa83

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Re: Newbie First Time Questions

fedine wrote:
ZhangHuangbin wrote:
fedine wrote:

I can call the mail server hostname whatever I like such as mail.mywebsite.com but I have to own that domain right?

If you own "mywebsite.com", of course you own all "<X>.mywebsite.com" (sub-domain).

You can login to your DNS management web admin panel to add new sub-domain names.

Thanks for that. That does make sense. Sadly with my service I am using they don't allow the access to adding subdomains. I would need to get a different registrar (it's because they are a reseller). But I do now understand how it works.

I'm not familiar with Bandzoogle by any means, but if you can change you dns settings for your domain you create an "A" record for mail.yourdomain.com to point to the ip address of your email server, create a mx record for your domain that points to mail.yourdomain.com. Then there's more, such as making sure you have correct spf and txt records, calling your ISP and getting your reverse PTR records setup as well. Not sure how much of "newbie" you are, but here in this forum you will find almost all of the information and support you need.
Welcome to the club smile

7 Reply by fedine

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Re: Newbie First Time Questions

What do you mean by "correct spf and txt records" and "calling your ISP for reverse PTR records". When it comes to domains and email I am as noobish as possible. I have a tech background and do support work, but these areas are unknown to me.

8 Reply by Lexa83

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Re: Newbie First Time Questions

http://www.openspf.org/FAQ/Common_mistakes is a site with some useful information. The Reverse PTR is having your provider setup a record that says (your server static ip address) points to mail.yourdomain.com it's the reverse of the "A" record I mentioned creating previously. If your ISP account is a residential account, depending on your provider, you may not be able to accomplish that.