Migrating from macOS Server (Mail service to Postfix/Dovecot)

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Level 3

809 points

Migrating from macOS Server (Mail service to Postfix/Dovecot)

This post is intended as a reply to the post Migrating from macOS Server Mail service to Postfix/Dovecot given that macOS Server 5.7.1 has removed most of what made macOS Server macOS Server.

Prior to migrating from open source solutions for BIND and Postfix to Apple's Mac OS X Server, I used Bernard Teo's (Cutedge Systems) Postfix Enabler for Tiger to get up and running. Postfix Enabler got the basics of Postfix running for me and from there I could able to edit the files manually as well as add features such as procmail on my own.

It turns out Bernard (and Cutedge Systems) has a whole array of singletons to enable server functionality on macOS El Capitan to Mojave.

I only just grabbed a license for MailServe myself and will write-up my experience later, but I can say Bernard was incredibly responsive when I asked him about migrating from macOS Server to non-Apple-supported solutions.

I hope I'm not violating this discussion boards TOS by linking to Bernard's web site, Cutedge Systems. I only mean to provide an easier way for users such as myself to migrate from macOS Server.

Mac Pro, macOS Sierra (10.12.5)

Posted on Oct 29, 2018 7:32 AM

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Answer 1

mistersquid Author

Level 3

809 points

Nov 19, 2018 7:40 AM in response to Gerben Wierda

Dovecot is presently a crucial missing piece of the migration puzzle.

On the other hand, Postfix is included in macOS Mojave, so you don't need a 3rd-party solution such as brew.

For different reasons, I prefer to compile from source rather than rely on brew, and I'm in the process of building a Good-Enough Replacement for macOS Server Mail (i.e. Mail server MVP).

A complete replacement for me would include

Postfix (included with macOS Mojave)
Dovecot (missing; install using source)
Amavis (missing; install using source)
ClamAV (missing; install using source)
Postgrey (missing; install using source)

My Mail server MVP starts with Cutedge's MailServe for Mojave, which gives me Postfix and Dovecot. I'm presently installing Amavis from source (resolving issues with macOS Mojave Perl). I will write up what worked for me once I'm done.

Once I get my Mail server MVP working, I'll migrate my production server and then take the time to install Dovecot from source which will provide a complete solution to migrate from macOS Server Mail on macOS Mojave.

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Answer 2

ruggiero

Level 1

140 points

Nov 9, 2018 2:03 AM in response to chaicka

chaicka wrote:

Oh boy...I have been searching high and low and almost about to give up on any help (even Apple's own documentation on transition was of no help at all about Mail Server migration.

[...snip...]

Should have gone down *nix route few years ago.

Well, you ARE aware that you already have a *nix system? It's called macOS. You can always use MacPorts or Homebrew to install any standard *nix programm like e.g Postfix mail server. Apple's Server.app did use all these standard programs, just with their own config files (actually standard config files but with some Apple specific settings). You should be able to install Postfix and use the Apple config files with it. What you will be missing is the nice graphical UI that Server.app provides.

Did anyone have a look at Webmin? This is a web based tool to graphically edit most/any standard *nix server processes like Apace, DNS, Mail (Postfix), and others. Haven't look into Webmin myself, thou. I am still running el Capitan Server.

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Answer 3

Nov 17, 2018 3:10 PM in response to ruggiero

There is a brew install for dovecot, but not for postfix and while I haven't looked, stuff like anti-spam and anti-virus might not be supported yet. What is worse, Apple had some Apple-only changes to postfix (and probably dovecot) mostly having to do with using Open Directory to authenticate users. Those Apple-specific additions to postfix have never been made public or been made part of the postfix release. As long as Apple doesn't tell us how to move to the open source versions of postfix/dovecot while retaining user authentication via Open Directory, it will be hard to change.

Apple's migration document is still stuck at version 1.2 from June 2018, at which time Apple wrote:

NOTE: This document will be updated with additional service migration tasks.

So, the question for me is: when will Apple deliver on their promise? They removed the support from Server before giving us the information we need to migrate.

As soon as Apple delivers, I can migrate away from Apple's dovecot/postfix and then upgrade to Mojave.

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Answer 4

chaicka

Level 1

38 points

Nov 8, 2018 11:49 PM in response to mistersquid

Oh boy...I have been searching high and low and almost about to give up on any help (even Apple's own documentation on transition was of no help at all about Mail Server migration.

Seriously looking at seamless or least painful way to migrate the Mail Server away. I need the updated Profile Management features which is only available on Mojave and macOS Server 5.7.1 but that update will break Mail Server. Seriously thinking of dumping macOS platform as server services totally given Apple ditched us without real help. The biggest regret for ever giving Apple a chance to run my server services. Should have gone down *nix route few years ago.

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Answer 5

Dec 26, 2018 10:41 PM in response to mistersquid

I ended up using IredMail (running on a LinuxMint machine) to get the base Postfix/dovecot install, then plugged a majority of things in manually once I was sure things were working properly.

the base install is free, as is the web interface to add and manage users/domains (the PRO interface requires a subscription)

https://www.iredmail.org

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Migrating from macOS Server (Mail service to Postfix/Dovecot)

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