Using maildir with Postfix

For the virtual domain issue... I understand I can rebuild Postfix with MySQL support...
but....:

1) Rebuilding a MTA is what I was trying to avoid... but if I must...
2) If I do that, then
a) How do I make sure all the other pieces (squirrel, mailman, clam-av, spamassassin, etc. are all still configured properly?
b) Can I still use Sys Admin?
c) what about upgrading later...? (I know... who knows...)

My issue, is that if it is going to be this much trouble maybe I shouldn't have gone the OS X server route... I could have just used FreeBSD or installed on regular 'ol Leopard...

I hope Apple fixes this... because there really seems no reason to create lots of local WGM users when all I want to give them is email access. (ok this should be another thread... sorry).

Message was edited by: jasaten

For maildir with postfix... is it just as simple as the Postfix FAQ states? I guess my real question is, are there any gotchas that others have run into using maildir with Postfix on the OS X server.

From the FAQ: http://www.postfix.org/faq.html#maildir
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Support for maildir-style mailboxes
Maildir is a specific one-file-per-message organization that was introduced with the qmail system by Daniel Bernstein. In order to turn on maildir-style delivery, specify, for example:
/etc/postfix/main.cf:
home_mailbox = Maildir/
Any relative pathname that ends in / turns on maildir delivery. The home_mailbox value is appended to the user's home directory pathname.

The maildir format is also supported with delivery via aliases or via .forward files. Specify /file/name/ as destination. The trailing / turns on maildir delivery.
-------------------------------------------------------------

fyi --- I am rereading the tutorial now... http://osx.topicdesk.com/content/category/4/18/41/
I will be using postfix style aliases...

Luckily I skipped ever working with sendmail! 🙂

The short answer to your question is: Yes. I'm sure the postfix mailbox default would be just fine especially in my light use case.... But I have (a little) extra time, and I really like maildir. I just think it is superior. So even though I am going leopard server to relieve me of extra work... I can't help tweaking it here or there for fun (cause it isn't for profit!). Asking for others experience in the the forum seems perfectly reasonable. After reading, I'm pretty sure setting for maildir would not be much extra work or break anything. I'm more worried about the virtual domain stuff.

....

All things being equal, I would prefer to stay with qmail... however, I am a "light" sysadmin, not a pro one. I've managed a few boxes in the past and set up FreeBSD with qmail+tools etc... but I no longer manage those. I still manage my own server at home with a few domains and a small group of email accounts (family and friends).

I'm a Mac guy from WAY back, but I also like Unix (OS X was a huge lump of cool beans for me!) So my computer of choice is a Mac. When I set up the eMac ~4 years ago, I wanted to run qmail on it and I didn't buy OSX server. But, the truth is that putting qmail together on the mac was a HUGE pain in the kiester! Obviously I got it working, but not without a fair amount of tweaking and re-compiling etc. etc. And as you know the eMac is PPC. So now I've got a Mac Pro and it's going to do a lot for me. Since I've got a student discount (MBA), I also got Leopard server.

What I expect is a simpler administration experience, along with more confidence of options for putting things right when they go wrong, including being able to rapidly recreate the server from scratch if I need to. Frankly even with my copious notes, I'm not sure I could recreate the eMac server quickly! (BTW that **** eMac has run flawlessly 24x7 for 4 years straight (another reason to rotate it off.)

So, no, I am not expecting Postfix to "wow" me over qmail. And I'm fine with using a single postfix alias file instead of the pretty cool .qmail-alias files. Though I could build the whole thing, I want all the pieces to pretty much be there for me. I got other fish to fry!

Since I know my way around FreeBSD there just is a bit of a learning curve using Leopard server sys admin tools. Since I'm in no rush (I don't have a busted server), I'm taking my time learning how to get the postfix part of the puzzle set up right: maildir and virtual domains. I'm setting up a new server with OS X server.

I had no intent to write this much LOL.. Your point on mailbox is entirely valid. I just want to use maildir if it isn't too much trouble. "Need?" Nope. I don't need. Incurable computer nut with foibles? Yep! 🙂

Ok.. as always: "make changes at your own peril!" 😉

A big thanks for the note on Cyrus...
I'm not familiar with the combo, so that is a real good heads up for me.

Ok... on the virtual domain stuff... So am I right that my choices are:

1) full virtual domains with no OS logins
-- Rebuild with MySQL support and leave the sys admin tool bye bye...
2) virtual domain support with OS logins
-- use as is and live with the leopard server default config

Is it really all that black and white? I'm still learning workgroup manager.. Is there an option 2.5 which allows me to use Workgroup manager but not give the users OS logins? I.e. can my specific email accounts have a separate "directory node"? (btw I have no prior open directory or LDAP experience).

I guess if I wanted to customize the pieces, I just don't need, shouldn't use, leopard server.. I might as well have stuck with FreeBSD (whether as straight FreeBSD or in the guise of OS X). I'll just have to learn to let go... and accept the good and bad of what leopard server gives.

I appreciate the responses... thanks!

Thanks for the pointers...
I agree on the qmail angle... after all that is why I bought server in the first place.

I'm settling in to read the pdfs completely on WGM etc... (a lot of pages, I'll be taking my time!)
I saw that users don't need to have home directories on the server, so WGM definitely seems like the way to go in my situation. I was just worried when I was running into web postings here and there saying the virtual domain stuff was somewhat broken.

Thanks & Cheers!
-jason

general advice about maildir postfix and virtual domains.