Top 3 Open Source Linux Mail Server Solutions

Linux Mail Server Solutions are mainly made of MDA (Mail Delivery Agent) and MTA (Mail Transfer Agents). MDA is used to route e-mails to their destination. Dovecot, Cyrus and Courier are some of the examples of MDA. Examples for MTA are Sendmail, Postfix, Exim, etc. Along with MTA and MDA, you will probably need to install a webmail client aka MUA (Mail User Agent) too. Other than the Mail Server configuration, you will need some database setup to store user credentials and related information. Let us take a look at top 3 Open Source Linux Mail Server Solutions.

1. iRedMail

iRedMail is a full fledged, stable and flexible Linux Mail Server based on Postfix and Dovecot. Using iRedMail you can easily deploy a Linux Mail Server in a few minutes. One of the main advantages with iRedMail is that it will automatically install all required components with less users interaction.

Main features of iRedMail Linux Mail Server

• Secure by default (Users are forced to use mail services through secure connections. Emails are encrypted in transit using TLS if possible. Passwords are stored as hash)
• Antispam and Antivirus (SpamAssassin, ClamAV, SPF, DKIM, greylisting, whitelisting, blacklisting. Quarantines spam into SQL database for further review)
• CalDAV and CarDAV Support
• Stores mail accounts in your favourte backend: OpenLDAP, MySQL, MariaDB or PostgreSQL
• Web Mail and Web Admin Panel

2. Mail-in-a-Box

Mail-in-a-box helps you to setup your own email service provider easily. With Mail-in-a-box you can make sure that you are in control of your Linux Mail Server. The main advantage of Mail-in-a-box Linux Mail Server is that you don’t need to be technically very smart to set it up. It implements modern mail protocols like SPF, DKIM and DMARC. It also takes care to follow the best and latest security practices such as Opportunistic TLS, Strong Ciphers and HSTS which help to provide a higher level of protection against active attacks.

Main features of Mail-in-a-box Linux Mail Server

• Provides Webmail and an IMAP/SMTP Server
• Contacts and Calendar Synchronization
• Automatic DNS Configuration
• Spam Filtering
• Greylisting
• Backups to Amazon s3
• Static Website Hosting
• Free TLS (SSL) Certificates from Let’s Encrypt

3. Modoboa

Modoboa is a modern mail hosting and management platform with a simplified web user interface and an administration panel. This Linux Mail Server integrates with well with Postfix and Dovecot. It is written in Python (Django framework) and it makes use of an SQL database (MySQL, PostgreSQL or SQLite) as a central point of communication between all components. It also makes use of jQuery and Bootstrap frameworks.

Main features of Modoboa Linux Mail Server

• Simplified Web User Interface and Administration Panel
• Amavis Frontend
• Radicale Management Frontend
• Built-in Monitoring
• Sieve Filters per User
• Autoreply Messages for Postfix
• Graphical Statistics about Email Traffic