How to run a mail server

[amazing_andr3]

OK I've googled a bit about how you can run your mail server but all the sites I found are trying to sell me some program.

I used to manage my site with cPanel but after a month or so I figured out it's much easier to write the .htaccess files myself.

Now I'm trying to manage the mail server through cPanel and I'm getting nowhere.

Where can I learn how to configure whatever files should be configured manually for creating accounts, and things like that (or through PHP or something)?

[ray326]

Is this your own server or are you using a hosting service? If the latter then you won't be able to run your own server of any kind.

[amazing_andr3]

it's shared hosting. So you're saying cPanel configues files that I don't otherwise have access to?

[the tree]

In short, apache is a web server, not a mail server, so mail services run on a completley different server, cpanel may well have access to this.

[amazing_andr3]

OK I've tried to get as much data as possible:

Just below the root there are a number of folders.

one is named .sqmaildata and has two files:

aaaaaa.abook [empty]

aaaaaa.pref
-------------------
show_html_default=0
sort=0
javascript_on=0
hililist=a:0:{}
-------------------

which seems to be the configuration for the mails (which is this: no javascript, no html, no images)

(aaaaaa is my main account username)


Also below the root I have these two files

.mailboxlist
------------------
INBOX.Sent
INBOX.Trash
INBOX.Drafts
------------------

.spamkey
------------------------------
0o0PEXkFoW8Xz4UFYW8dG1xT
------------------------------

(haven't got a clue what this is)

As for the mails, all are stored in one file
user/mail/siteuri.ro/my_account/inbox
(my only account is my_account@siteuri.ro)


The reason why I need to figure out the server is that I get a "message sent" when I send mail though Thunderbird or Horde Webmail, but my emails never arrive at their destination. However, the mails sent by PHP scripts do get at their destination.

BTW what do you think of cPanel?

[ray326]

If you get a "message sent" from TB but it never arrives at its destination then one of two things are happening. Your ISP is eating for some reason or the destination spam blocker is eating it.