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Setup Your Own Simple SMTP Server

— How To
Co man Follow
Sep 19, 2018 · 7 min read

hMailServer

Earlier today, I created a PowerShell script to do a number of activities. As

the script runs unattended, I needed to know if an error was encountered.
So my first thought was to send an email. Sure, no problem, sending an
email with PowerShell is a snap.
Wait a minute, I needed an SMTP server. What should I do?

I could use the SMTP server from my work. As it is my company’s SMTP

server, not the best choice for personal needs.

I could use the SMTP with GMail. The SMTP with GMail is simple but it
uses SSL and requires my username and password for GMail. I have no
desire to have my password in a PowerShell script.

I could look into alternatives to GMail. More than likely, the alternatives
will be similar to GMail.

I decided to run my own SMTP server. I set out on my search for SMTP
server software. After a bit, one product in particular caught my eye.
hMailServer is a powerful little tool that is FREE and open-source.

hMailServer - Free open source email server for Microsoft

Windows
hMailServer - Free open source email server for Microsoft Windows
hMailServer - Free open source email server for Microsoft
Windowswww.hmailserver.com

I started with reading the documentation. It was not overly detailed and I
felt it left a lot to the imagination of the reader. I am not the type of person
to shy away from a challenge. After a bit of time, I had my very own SMTP
server.

Some internet service providers (the people that offer you the internet
connection) block outgoing traffic on port 25. Since outgoing traffic
on port 25 is required for email to work properly, you either need to
convince your ISP to open up port 25 for you (if it’s not open), or you
need to configure hMailServer to forward all email through your ISP’s
email server.

If you just want to run your own simple SMTP server, I am going to provide
some steps. These steps are the exact steps I performed on an old Windows
10 laptop a few hours ago.

Download and Installation of hMailServer

As with all software, a download is required. So open your browser and
navigate to https://www.hmailserver.com/download to get the latest and
greatest version of hMailServer.
 Download hMailServer from hMailServer.com

After the download is complete, a quick double-click on the installer to start

the installation.
When at the Select Components window, ensure Server and Administrative
tools are both checked. These options should be checked by default.
At the next window, you will need to make one of the biggest choices for
hMailServer. The software utilizes a database so you will need to select the
database to use. If you just want something quick and simple, just use the
built-in database, which should be checked by default.

One of the biggest features with hMailServer is security. During the

installation, hMailServer will create a default user with administrative
rights. You will need to enter the password for the default user.
We are at the end of the install wizard. If you are ready, click the Install
button.
The installation of hMailServer should take no more than a couple of
minutes. When the installation is completed, ensure “Run hMailServer
Administrator” is checked and click the Finish button.
Configuration of hMailServer
The hMailServer Administration window should have launched when
clicking the Finish button. Remember the notification from the install
wizard that a default user would be created. And we were asked to enter a
password. Here is where we will use the password.

Connect Window for hMailServer

 Password Entry for hMailServer

We are ready to start the actual configuration of our SMTP server. The first
step should be relatively obvious. Can you guess the firs step?

If you aren’t sure of the next step, just look at the window — Getting
Started. Click the “Add domain…” button.
Under the General tab, we need to enter our domain name. I do not own a
domain so I decided to use a fake domain. An actual domain is not required
to send emails. If you use a fake domain, be careful to enter a domain that
does NOT exist.
Click the Save button.

Click the + button next to Domains.

Click on Accounts.

Here is where we will configure an account. Enter a name under the

Address field. The name can be whatever you want. Additionally, enter a
password in the Password field. If the password is weak, hMailServer will
prompt if you want to use the password when saving.
Click the Save button.

Click the + next to Settings.

Click Protocols.

For our needs, we are wanting an SMTP server. So feel free to uncheck
POP3 and IMAP.
Click the Save button.

Click the + next to Advanced. Go ahead and enter localhost under Default
Domain.
Click the Save button.

Click on Auto-ban.

The Auto-ban feature is designed to block IP addresses after too many failed
login attempts. This SMTP server is our personal SMTP server and we will
be doing tests. I would recommend unchecking the “Enabled” box.
Click the Save button.

Click on IP Ranges.

The default values will be “My Computer” and “Internet” and will look
similar to the values below.
Click on TCP/IP Ports.

This window wil show the ports configured for SMTP, POP3, and IMAP.
That wasn’t so bad, was it? We are nearly complete with our configuration.
One last step that is very important.

Click the + next to Utilities,

Click Diagnostics.
Here is where we are going to test our configuration. Under “Select the
domain you want to run tests on”, select the domain we entered earlier. No
need to change any other settings. Press the Start button.
We configured hMailServer with basic options. Do not be surprised to see
what errors in the window. For example, “ERROR: Backup directory has not
been specified.” We didn’t create a backup directory so no surprise on the
error.

We need to look for two specifics tests:

Collect server details — The results of this test are the verison of
hMailServer version and type of database

Test outbound port — The results of this test are extremely important.
The SMTP server needs to be able to communicate. If an error is
encountered during this verification, we need to do some
troubleshooting.

In Summary
Now you have a simple SMTP server for your own needs. Feel free to use as
you wish.

At the start of the article, I mentioned a PowerShell script that would use
the SMTP server to send emails. If you are interested in the actual
PowerShell code that I used, here it is.
$ServerAddress = “mail.local”
$From = “[email protected]”
$To = “[email protected]”
$SMTPServer = “127.0.0.1”
$SMTPPort = “25”
$Username = “[email protected]”
$Password = “mypassword”

$SMTPMessage = New-Object System.Net.Mail.MailMessage

$SMTPMessage.From = $From
$SMTPMessage.To.Add($To)
$SMTPMessage.Subject = “Here is the email”
$SMTPMessage.IsBodyHtml = $true
$SMTPMessage.Body = $EmailMessage

$SMTPClient = New-Object System.Net.Mail.SmtpClient($SMTPServer,

$SMTPPort);
$SMTPClient.EnableSSL = $false
$SMTPClient.Credentials = New-Object
System.Net.NetworkCredential($Username, $Password);
$SMTPClient.Send($SMTPMessage)
 Troubleshooting
If you have any problems, hMailServer has documentation and forums
which can be of a great help.

hMailServer documentation - hMailServer - Free open source email server for Microsoft
Windows
hMailServer - Free open source email server for Microsoft Windows
hMailServer - Free open source email server for Microsoft Windowswww.hmailserver.com

hMailServer forum - Index page

General discussions Use this forum if you have installed hMailServer and want to ask a question
related to a production…
www.hmailserver.com

Tech Smtp Hmailserver Email

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