Ask HN: Local (LAN) email server for homelab?

3 points by tusslewake 1 year ago | 5 comments

I have been playing with the idea of developing a simple email server for my LAN homelab, for 20-ish servers, VMs and containers to send regular messages about status, self-tests, errors, etc.

For a basic Unix-type box, email still seems like one of the most accessible, ready-out-of-the-box protocols for a machine to send messages about status.

Most of the discussion about self-hosting email focuses on deliverability and spam concerns, but that would obviously not be an issue in this setup. My understanding is that the architecture would be overall quite simplified and manageable.

Does anyone do this already?

And who knows, maybe other people living in my household would find it quaint and amusing to use a local email system to send messages back and forth ;)

yanko 1 year ago |

Run a dns server like bind first to serve locally only defined and host zone if a domain home.lab In the zone define it's dns server and a and mx records with mail.home.lab which can be same server Install SMTP server like postman Configure to serve emails as local for home.lab and you are set

yanko 1 year ago | |

Of course DNs server to act also as resolver to forward for other DNS requests and also set the dns server as default for all servers in the lan, can be distributed by DHCP as well

yanko 1 year ago |

Syslog is good as well syslogng One server to act as central syslog server and rest of them to syslog send all their log there, but Initial request was local email smtp

bongodongobob 1 year ago |

Email is the wrong technology. Use syslog or some kind of log file system. You can just write to files on a file share.

not_your_vase 1 year ago | |

Syslog is the wrong technology. Make sure that the other person has a terminal open, ssh into that machine, and echo into the corresponding (or all...) /dev/pts/* or tty device to have it appear in the open terminal.