general questions

[rkleemann]

Hello,

I have just started looking at DA and have some questions.

I'm running Fedora 5, and my system setup is a little bit nonstandard. I use courier as my MTA and pop/imap server, with mysql-based authentication. I use DSPAM for my spam blocking, and clamav for antivirus. Everything else is pretty much standard for a Fedora system, with mysql and PHP.

So my question is, can DA work with this setup? Am I able to "plug in" as far as smtp is concerned or does DA require a specific smtp server?

Actually the spam blocking and antivirus doesn't really matter because they are invoked as part of smtp delivery, so as long as I can integrate the use of courier into DA then it should work fine.

What other considerations are there for me to determine whether DA works for me?

Is there a trial version of DA I can install and play with for 30 days or so?

Thanks
Ricardo

 

[rkleemann]

As a followup, if DA doesn't integrate easily with other smtp servers, what smtp server does it work with, and how flexible is it to run filters and RBLs and user-defined filter files?

 

[Duboux]

I think it's about to use dovecot and SpamBlocker 3

 

[rkleemann]

dovecot is an MTA? I don't know about it.

 

[rkleemann]

actually I just looked it up and dovecot is only imap/pop3

so what smtp server does DirectAdmin use?

 

[nobaloney]

DirectAdmin uses exim, and either vm-pop3d and WU-IMAP, or Dovecot. Most of us are starting the migration to Dovecot, as with vm-pop3d and WU-IMAP DirectAdmin only supports mbox email, and with Dovecot you get Maildir (which is much more efficient in a webhosting environment).

SpamBlocker3, mentioned by Duboux is the name of the exim.conf file included with DirectAdmin (I developed it).

DirectAdmin requires a new server, currently not used as a hosting server, for installation; the DirectAdmin website refers to it as a clean server. Look here for more information.

Jeff

 

[rkleemann]

DirectAdmin uses exim, and either vm-pop3d and WU-IMAP, or Dovecot. Most of us are starting the migration to Dovecot, as with vm-pop3d and WU-IMAP DirectAdmin only supports mbox email, and with Dovecot you get Maildir (which is much more efficient in a webhosting environment).

SpamBlocker3, mentioned by Duboux is the name of the exim.conf file included with DirectAdmin (I developed it).

DirectAdmin requires a new server, currently not used as a hosting server, for installation; the DirectAdmin website refers to it as a clean server. Look here for more information.

Jeff

Thank you.

So is it possible to migrate existing websites and email accounts into a DA server?

Is DA meant to be in full control of the server and thus not allow that particular server to run other services outside the DA realm?

About exim, so that is the only smtp server that DA works with? Does exim allow for the use of maildrop? What about integrating RBLs for example?

 

[floyd]

thus not allow that particular server to run other services outside the DA realm

You can run other stuff but DA will not be able to manage it.

For instance you can run another MTA but DA will not be able to manage it so you lose that functionality.

What about integrating RBLs for example?

Included in Spamblocker. That's why its called Spamblocker. But DA does not manage Spamblocker. There is a plugin for it though.

 

[rkleemann]

I assume the install guide is reflecting an old version of DA?

MySQL, PHP, Apache, etc. mentioned are VERY OLD versions...

 

[floyd]

I would not call them VERY old. Apache 1.3.37 is the current version in the 1.3 series. Mysql 4.1.21 is what gets installed on CentOS 4.5 which was released not too long ago. Php 4.4.7 is the current php 4 release.

But these are easily upgradable.

 

[rkleemann]

Thanks.

What about my other questions... how would I migrate existing email accounts and websites?

Does exim allow for running programs like maildrop, and will DA coexist with that?

 

[nobaloney]

DirectAdmin doesn't use MySQL authentication. You could use it, but DirectAdmin wouldn't manage it. You'd have to create a script to read DirectAdmin's user files and create MySQL entries. There's probably no way you could extract the password the user entered. DirectAdmin uses virtual mailboxes; the login is in the format [email protected], in other words, the same as the domain name. If your users aren't used to that it could be a retraining issue.

I disagree with floyd's post; I doubt you could easily convert from exim to any other MTA; if you did you'd have the same problem as above.

Your migration will be manual. DA by default uses mbox; but most of us convert to Maildir. So you can manually move either mbox or Maildir mail accounts.

You'd probably have to move websites manually.

DirectAdmin features that may become stumbling points include the placement of cgi-bin inside of public_html rather than in a directory at the same level as public_html. And by default a separate directory for https; this can be changed through the control panel just after the site is created, but if done later, it's you or your client's responsibility to empty the private_html (https) directory before converting it to a link.

exim has it's own system for filtering and email delivery and requires neither procmail nor maildrop. It is compatible, but not with the default SpamBlocker exim.conf file supplied with DirectAdmin; you'd have to heavily customize exim.conf yourself.

Jeff

 

[rkleemann]

DirectAdmin doesn't use MySQL authentication. You could use it, but DirectAdmin wouldn't manage it. You'd have to create a script to read DirectAdmin's user files and create MySQL entries. There's probably no way you could extract the password the user entered. DirectAdmin uses virtual mailboxes; the login is in the format [email protected], in other words, the same as the domain name. If your users aren't used to that it could be a retraining issue.

I already use [email protected] so that is not an issue.

I disagree with floyd's post; I doubt you could easily convert from exim to any other MTA; if you did you'd have the same problem as above.

Your migration will be manual. DA by default uses mbox; but most of us convert to Maildir. So you can manually move either mbox or Maildir mail accounts.

I also already use Maildir with courier smtp. Can the existing Maildirs simply be used as-is?

You'd probably have to move websites manually.

DirectAdmin features that may become stumbling points include the placement of cgi-bin inside of public_html rather than in a directory at the same level as public_html. And by default a separate directory for https; this can be changed through the control panel just after the site is created, but if done later, it's you or your client's responsibility to empty the private_html (https) directory before converting it to a link.

OK. So instead of migrating existing websites, would the 'DA' apache installation work fine if I simply moved over the existing conf files (for existing domains) and then let DA create the conf for new websites? So DA wouldn't necessarily be used to manage the existing websites.

exim has it's own system for filtering and email delivery and requires neither procmail nor maildrop. It is compatible, but not with the default SpamBlocker exim.conf file supplied with DirectAdmin; you'd have to heavily customize exim.conf yourself.

Jeff

How does exim's filtering system work? Can it work in a similar way as maildrop where each user has its own filter file? Can exim be configured to use maildrop?

 

[rkleemann]

No one cares to provide further guidance?

Can I expect DA support to really care about my issues if I purchase the product?

 

[floyd]

I disagree with floyd's post; I doubt you could easily convert from exim to any other MTA;

I never said anything about converting from exim. But you can use sendmail instead of exim. But DirectAdmin will not manage it. You would have to set up everything yourself and manage it yourself. And I certainly did not say anything about it being easy. And if you use another MTA then you lose a good portion of the reason to use DA. You may as well use another control panel.

 

[nobaloney]

No one cares to provide further guidance?

Can I expect DA support to really care about my issues if I purchase the product?

These forums are not an officail DirectAdmin support venue; we're all volunteers and log in and help here when we can.

I also already use Maildir with courier smtp. Can the existing Maildirs simply be used as-is?

Yes.

First you'll have to convert your DirectAdmin install to use Maildir. And you'll probably have to move the Maildir directories to where DirectAdmin expects to find them. And perhaps change file ownerships and permissions if the DirectAdmin way is different from that you're using now. You'll also have to delete any indexes used by your previous control panel and let Dovecot create it's own.

OK. So instead of migrating existing websites, would the 'DA' apache installation work fine if I simply moved over the existing conf files (for existing domains) and then let DA create the conf for new websites? So DA wouldn't necessarily be used to manage the existing websites.

Probably not, because DirectAdmin will under certain conditions rewrite the domain-specific httpd.conf files.

How does exim's filtering system work?

It directs mail through an exim.pl script managed by DirectAdmin, and uses various domain-level files to hold filter information.

Can it work in a similar way as maildrop where each user has its own filter file?

Yes.

Can exim be configured to use maildrop?

Perhaps. Doing so would require non-supported customizations to the exim.conf file; you might want to google to see if it's possible.

Jeff