#no-gmail

[wowanews]

Use Google Services with non-gmail-address its still possible but not advertised actively by google. Just click here to start registration with your own mail-address: https://accounts.google.com/SignUpWithoutGmail?hl=de

[poorlyshavedape]

Building your own email server

There has been a lot of talk in the past year of pervasive surveillance and how email isn't really "yours" if you use GMail or something hosted. Truth be told it is relatively easy to stand up your own email server with all the perks (web mail, anti-virus, alias accounts, etc.) but it takes work to keep it all running. Install is only a couple hours but maintenance can be an everyday thing.

So why would you want to do this? I started this little adventure because I wanted to get emails from my various devices (Ubiquiti EdgeRouter, UniFi AP, etc.).

Where to start? I could list all the steps I went through, but I think it would be easier to just link the Ars Technica articles that walk through the process in more depth than I planned to. These article discuss the why and not just the how.

What will be installed?

Postfix, to send and receive e-mail

Dovecot, for IMAP

SpamAssassin, to keep spam out of your inbox

ClamAV, to filter out viruses

Sieve, to set up mail filters and rules

Roundcube, for webmail

PostgreSQL (or MySQL/MariaDB), for Roundcube's database

Nginx and PHP-FPM, to serve out Roundcube over the Web

It seems like a lot, but it isn't that much if you pay attention to the order.

Here is the Ars Technica walk-through:

How to run your own e-mail server with your own domain, part 1

Taking e-mail back, part 2: Arming your server with Postfix and Dovecot

Taking e-mail back, part 3: Fortifying your box against spammers

Taking e-mail back, part 4: The finale, with webmail & everything after

For the domain registrar I used NameCheap and I continue to use them for DNS instead of Amazon.

The host I originally set everything up on was a Droplet (VPS) from DigitalOcean.

What is left to do?

Setup email blacklist filters

SMS capability to text my phone on certain rules being met

As a parting thought remember that having all your email online and always accessible can be nice, but it can be a hazard as well. In case you are not familiar with the Telecommunications Act of 1986 basically any email left on a server for more than six months can be harvested by law enforcement without a warrant.