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Are you tired of manually setting up and configuring your mail server every time you need to deploy a new server or update your existing configuration? Do you want a way to automate the entire process and save yourself time and effort? If so, you’re in luck! In this article, we’ll show you how to deploy a mail server with Ansible using Postfix, Dovecot, Roundcube, ClamAV, and Amavis, and how to set up email filtering and autoresponder rules.
Introduction
Email is a critical part of modern communication, and having a reliable and secure mail server is essential for any organization or individual. However, setting up and configuring a mail server can be a complex and time-consuming process, especially if you need to manage multiple servers or maintain a complex configuration.
Fortunately, Ansible is a powerful tool for automating server configuration and deployment tasks, and it can save you a lot of time and effort when it comes to setting up a mail server. By using Ansible to automate the entire process, you can ensure that your mail server is set up consistently and reliably every time, and you can spend more time on other important tasks.
Prerequisites
Before you begin, you’ll need to have the following:
- A Linux server running Ubuntu 18.04 or later
- Ansible installed on your local machine
If you’ve not yet installed or used Ansible, check out “An Introduction to Ansible for Server Automation“
Deploying a Mail Server with Ansible
Firstly, you’ll need to create an Ansible playbook that defines the tasks you want Ansible to perform. Here’s an example that installs and configures Postfix, Dovecot, Roundcube, ClamAV, Amavis and sets up email filtering and autoresponder rules:
- name: Deploy Mail Server
hosts: mail
become: yes
tasks:
- name: Install Postfix
apt: name=postfix state=latest
- name: Install Dovecot
apt: name=dovecot-core state=latest
- name: Install Roundcube
apt: name=roundcube state=latest
- name: Install ClamAV
apt: name=clamav-daemon state=latest
- name: Install Amavis
apt: name=amavisd-new state=latest
- name: Configure Postfix
template:
src: templates/main.cf.j2
dest: /etc/postfix/main.cf
- name: Configure Dovecot
template:
src: templates/dovecot.conf.j2
dest: /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf
- name: Configure Roundcube
template:
src: templates/config.inc.php.j2
dest: /etc/roundcube/config.inc.php
- name: Configure ClamAV
template:
src: templates/freshclam.conf.j2
dest: /etc/clamav/freshclam.conf
- name: Configure Amavis
template:
src: templates/99-local.j2
dest: /etc/amavis/conf.d/99-local
- name: Install Sieve Plugin for Dovecot
apt: name=dovecot-sieve state=latest
- name: Create Sieve Script for Filtering
template:
src: templates/filter.sieve.j2
dest: /etc/dovecot/sieve/filter.sieve
- name: Set Permissions on Sieve Script
file:
path: /etc/dovecot/sieve/filter.sieve
owner: vmail
group: vmail
mode: '0644'
This playbook will install and configure Postfix, Dovecot, Roundcube, ClamAV, and Amavis on your mail server. It will also set up email filtering and autoresponder rules using Sieve scripts.
To run the Ansible playbook, navigate to your Ansible project directory and enter the following command:
ansible-playbook -i hosts mail.yml
Ansible will connect to the server and perform each task in the playbook, automatically configuring everything for you.
Conclusion
Using Ansible to deploy a mail server with email filtering and autoresponder rules, can save time and effort. Automating the process ensures that servers are set up consistently and reliably, you can spend more time on other tasks.
We’ve shown you how to create a playbook that deploys a mail server, with email filtering and autoresponder rules. Following the steps in this tutorial, you can automate your email management and take control of your inbox.
Ansible is a powerful tool with many features, and there are many ways to customize and optimize your Ansible playbooks. We encourage you to explore the Ansible documentation and community to learn more about what you can do with this powerful tool.
For further reading on the technologies involved in this post, check out the links below;
Ansible Galaxy – a repository of pre-built playbooks and roles that you can use to quickly set up common server configurations and applications.
The Postfix Documentation – the official documentation for Postfix.
The Dovecot Documentation – the official documentation for Dovecot.
The Roundcube Documentation – the official documentation for Roundcub.
The Amavis Documentation – Official documentation for Amavis.
The Sieve Documentation – Official documentation for Sieve.
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