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Configuration

Everything you need to set up and customize Mailyte's email server components. Whether you're doing a first-time setup or fine-tuning a production deployment, this section has you covered.

How Configuration Works

Mailyte runs as a set of Docker containers, each handling a specific part of the email pipeline. Most settings come from environment variables defined in your .env file or passed into Docker Compose. These variables get injected into service-specific config files at container startup.

For deeper customization, you can mount your own config files directly into the containers. The pages below explain both approaches.

flowchart LR
    ENV[".env file"] --> DC["Docker Compose"]
    DC --> PF["Postfix Config"]
    DC --> DV["Dovecot Config"]
    DC --> RS["Rspamd Config"]
    DC --> DB["MySQL Init"]
    DC --> SSL["Cert Manager"]
    DC --> PR["Prometheus"]

    CUSTOM["Custom Config Files\n(volume mounts)"] -.->|"override"| PF
    CUSTOM -.->|"override"| DV
    CUSTOM -.->|"override"| RS

Components at a Glance

Component Role Default Port(s)
Postfix SMTP — sends and receives email 25, 465, 587
Dovecot IMAP/POP3 — lets users read their mail 143, 993, 110, 995
Rspamd Anti-spam, DKIM signing, virus scanning 11332, 11334
ClamAV Virus detection (integrated with Rspamd) 3310
MySQL Stores domains, mailboxes, aliases, and metadata 3306
Redis Caching, rate limiting, Rspamd backend 6379
FastAPI Management API 5000
Prometheus Metrics collection and alerting 9090
cert-manager SSL certificate auto-renewal via Let's Encrypt —

In This Section

  • Environment Variables

    The complete reference for every env var, grouped by category. Start here if you're setting up for the first time.

    Environment Variables

  • Postfix Configuration

    SMTP settings, virtual domains, TLS, SASL authentication, relay hosts, and rate limiting.

    Postfix Configuration

  • Dovecot Configuration

    IMAP/POP3 authentication, quotas, virtual users, namespaces, and Sieve filtering.

    Dovecot Configuration

  • Rspamd Configuration

    Spam filtering thresholds, DKIM signing, ClamAV integration, greylisting, and Bayesian training.

    Rspamd Configuration

  • SSL Certificates

    Let's Encrypt auto-renewal, manual certificate installation, and SNI for multiple domains.

    SSL Certificates

  • DNS Setup

    MX, SPF, DKIM, DMARC, MTA-STS, and SRV records — explained with copy-paste examples.

    DNS Setup

  • Performance Tuning

    Queue tuning, connection limits, memory settings, and worker counts for high-throughput setups.

    Performance Tuning

  • Multi-Tenant Configuration

    Per-organization settings, quota defaults, rate limits, and webhook routing.

    Multi-Tenant Configuration

  • Monitoring Configuration

    Prometheus scrape targets, metric endpoints, and alert rule definitions.

    Monitoring Configuration

  • Prometheus Setup

    Full prometheus.yml config, scrape intervals, retention policies, and storage sizing.

    Prometheus Setup

Quick Start

If you just want to get running, here's the minimum you need:

Set your environment variables — at minimum, your domain name and database passwords.

Bash
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your values

See Environment Variables for the full list.

Configure your DNS records before starting the server. You need at least an MX record and an A record.

See DNS Setup for all required records.

Bash
docker compose up -d

SSL certificates get provisioned automatically on first boot.

Bash
curl http://localhost:8080/health

Start with the defaults

Mailyte ships with sensible settings for most deployments. Only dive into per-service tuning once you have traffic flowing and can see what needs adjusting.

File paths

All file paths in this documentation are relative to the container filesystem unless stated otherwise. When mounting custom configs, map your host paths accordingly in docker-compose.yml.

  • Deployment — Production setup, Docker Compose, and Kubernetes guides
  • Monitoring — Dashboards, alerts, and health checks
  • Reference — CLI commands, database schema, and env var lookup