installing on a linux box

[AshleyNY]

Greetings;

I have a few questions about installing on a Linux box?
I have hostgator as my web hosting with a single domain and can have unlimited sub domains.

i was wondering if I can install ListMail Pro on a Linux box I have here at home, using NO IP DNS service and register a Domain name pointing to that Linux box so that this way I wont have to worry about limits from Host gator mail service

then just have my domain or any of my subdomains point to my ListMail Pro Linux server here at home?

Thanks for your help

Ashley

[DW]

Hi Ashley,

Yes, it is possible to set up a web server (e.g. Apache), PHP, MySQL and an email server/MTA at home, on either Linux or Windows, and run ListMailPRO there on a domain or subdomain pointed to your (preferably static) IP.

Often, though, internet service providers block outgoing connections to port 25, which is what most or all servers use to receive incoming email.  Your ISP may also have a policy about running web or other servers which you should check into.  You may need a business plan which could cost more.

An alternative I normally recommend is a dedicated server, such as available from 1&1 for as low as ~$60/mo, that allows you to host as many web sites and send as much email as you want.  A VPS may be a less expensive option, but they are somewhat limited and may suffer performance issues, depending on the provider and other users on the same server.

Regards

[AshleyNY]

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly I just checked with TWC and this is what their FAQ sheet says
To send email outside of the TWC Mail servers, you’ll need to reset your connections from port 25 to port 587.

can this be done? so instead of sending mail out from listmail on port 25 but use 587?

yes Static IP would be best, though I have used dynamic DNS before with domain name  this way when it hits my router can just forward it over to the Linux machine

thanks

Ashley

[DW]

The reason they suggest port 587 is likely because port 25 is often blocked to prevent you acting as an email server.  The alternative port is needed if you want to use your web host, for example, to send email from an email client.  Hosts will typically open a port other than 25 for you to connect to.  It appears port 587 is an industry-standard port for doing just that:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Mail_Transfer_Protocol
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mail_submission_agent

When a mail server sends mail to an external provider, it connects to port 25, and this likely cannot be changed.

# host -t mx google.com
google.com mail is handled by 10 aspmx.l.google.com.

# telnet aspmx.l.google.com 25
Trying 74.125.129.27...
Connected to aspmx.l.google.com (74.125.129.27).
Escape character is '^]'.
220 mx.google.com ESMTP ob10si10920364pbb.37 - gsmtp

# host -t mx yahoo.com
yahoo.com mail is handled by 1 mta5.am0.yahoodns.net.

# telnet mta5.am0.yahoodns.net 25
Trying 63.250.192.45...
Connected to mta5.am0.yahoodns.net (63.250.192.45).
Escape character is '^]'.
220 mta1566.mail.gq1.yahoo.com ESMTP ready

The tests above were performed using a commercial server.  You can confirm whether or not your ISP blocks outgoing connections to port 25 by performing a similar test using telnet from a shell or command prompt.  If the connections are not blocked, you should check with your ISP to see if there are any prohibitions or terms regarding the sending of bulk commercial email.

I would say you likely need a business internet plan that specifically allows the sending of email.  For business accounts, a static IP would likely be provided so your actions could not adversely affect other users, and so there would be no unexpected issues with the public connecting to your services, such as to return bounced messages, etc.

Regards