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Deployment

How to get Mailyte running in production — from a single Docker Compose setup to a full Kubernetes cluster. This section covers requirements, setup, hardening, scaling, backups, and disaster recovery.

Choose Your Deployment Model

Best for: Single server, small to medium organizations, getting started quickly.

  • Everything runs on one machine
  • Simple to manage with standard Docker tooling
  • Handles thousands of mailboxes comfortably

Docker Deployment Guide

Best for: High availability, horizontal scaling, multi-region deployments.

  • Helm charts and StatefulSet manifests included
  • Auto-scaling based on queue depth
  • Rolling updates with zero downtime

Kubernetes Guide

Start with Docker Compose

Most teams start with Docker Compose. It handles everything on a single server and is straightforward to manage. Move to Kubernetes when you need horizontal scaling or multi-region deployments.

Architecture Overview

graph TB
    Internet[Internet] --> FW[Firewall]
    FW --> LB[Load Balancer / Reverse Proxy]
    LB --> SMTP[Postfix :25/:587]
    LB --> IMAP[Dovecot :993]
    LB --> API[FastAPI :5000]

    SMTP --> RS[Rspamd]
    SMTP --> DV[Dovecot]
    API --> DB[(MySQL)]
    API --> RD[(Redis)]
    API --> WK[Workers]
    WK --> SMTP

    subgraph Monitoring
        HM[Health Monitor :8080]
        PR[Prometheus :9090]
        GR[Grafana :3000]
    end

In This Section

  • Requirements

    CPU, RAM, disk, network, and software prerequisites. Check this before you begin.

    Requirements

  • Production Setup

    Step-by-step production deployment walkthrough from zero to running.

    Production Setup

  • Production Checklist

    Pre-launch verification checklist — DNS, TLS, firewall, backups, monitoring.

    Production Checklist

  • Docker Deployment

    Docker Compose deep dive — service ordering, volumes, networking, and resource limits.

    Docker Deployment

  • Kubernetes

    K8s manifests, Helm charts, StatefulSets, and ingress configuration.

    Kubernetes

  • Monitoring Stack

    Deploying Prometheus, Grafana, and Alertmanager alongside your mail server.

    Monitoring Stack

Operations & Reliability

Page What It Covers
Maintenance Routine tasks — log rotation, database optimization, certificate renewal
Backup Strategies What to back up, how often, and where to store it
Disaster Recovery Recovery procedures when things go seriously wrong
Security Hardening Firewall rules, TLS policies, fail2ban, and access control
Scaling Guide When and how to scale each component — vertical and horizontal

Quick Start

If you just want to get Mailyte running:

Bash
# 1. Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/TechiesAfrica/mailyte-email-server.git
cd mailyte-email-server

# 2. Copy and edit the environment file
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your domain, passwords, etc.

# 3. Start everything
docker compose up -d

# 4. Verify
curl http://localhost:8080/health

Not production-ready yet

The quick start above gets you running, but it's not hardened for production. For a proper deployment, start with Requirements and work through the Production Setup guide, then validate against the Production Checklist.

Minimum Server Requirements

Resource Small (< 100 mailboxes) Medium (100–1,000) Large (1,000+)
CPU 2 cores 4 cores 8+ cores
RAM 4 GB 8 GB 16+ GB
Disk 40 GB SSD 100 GB SSD 500+ GB SSD
Network 100 Mbps 1 Gbps 1 Gbps+

See Requirements for the full breakdown including software dependencies.