login names vs mail addresses

[Old Git]

Mailtraq Version: 2.17.7.3560

Hi All,

So, I've had Mailtraq running on a very old Windows 2003 server for years without nary a hitch. Sadly, however, the hard drive in the Windows 2003 server died and so a whole new re-install was required. OK, so I reach for the backups only to discover they've been corrupted too and so I'm recreating everything from scratch, it's OK it's not a big system.

So, I have several users connecting to Mailtraq with MS Outlook who download their emails direct to Outlook, from POP3 type accounts on Mailtraq.

All mail for the domain is forwarded to one POP3 account on the Inet and Mailtraq downloads it from there and distributed the email to the relevant users.

The original setup allowed for Outlook to login to Mailtraq with the format firstname.lastname whilst the email address was firstname@domain.co.uk

When setting up the new install it seemed to lead me down the route of creating the new accounts solely based on the email address of firstname@domainname.co.uk. However, when I looked in Mailtraq console it also setup the user names as firstname only.

So, under USERS | ALL USERS I selected a User Name and right-clicked to get to the User Properties dialog, in here I changed the Login User Name from 'firstname' to 'firstname.lastname' and hoped that would be enough to resolve this. However, this also changed the email slots to firstname.lastname@domain.co.uk which is what I did not want and it also seemed to set-up a Mail Loop back as the Postmaster inbox filled up with emails (most of which seem to be still in their original inboxes as well I might add).

So, my question is, Is there a quick way to make the login names one thing (i.e. 'firstname.lastname') and the email address another (i.e. firstname@domainname.co.uk)?

I might add that when I set-up the system it came pre-configured with an Administrator account which I renamed to be my own account, can you advise if there would be any problem in renaming this account for my own name and using it as my regular email account?

Rgds

Pete

[Martin Clayton]

Hi Pete

Is there a quick way to make the login names one thing (i.e. 'firstname.lastname') and the email address another (i.e. firstname@domainname.co.uk)?

I'm on a 2.18 multi-domain beta where things are likely different so I can't easily check how inaccurate I'm about to be... ...

For authentication the login-name and user-name have to match so I'm thinking that the usernames have to take the form "firstname.lastname" to get back to how you were. If you're Wizard minded, and starting from scratch, create a new user "firstname.lastname" with a corresponding "firstname.lastname" primary mailslot. Next, either rename the mailslot "firstname" (via right-click) or add a "firstname" alias under its mailslot properties.

(You can test the unqualified "firstname.lastname" login under webmail. Also, watch out when renaming mailslots - the Console can reapply the old name during the current session [but it's only a visual glitch]).

[Old Git]

Hi Martin,

thanks for the reply, it is very much appreciated.

I've taken the approach you suggested and created the users with firstname.lastname and then renamed the mailslots to firstname and it has worked as I needed it to.

As it happened that was going to be my next move but I just thought it best to ask before leaping in. It has been soo long since I originally setup Mailtraq that I've completely forgotten everything I did. A testament to the stability of the software that it can run, unerringly, for so long that when I did have a problem (and a hardware problem to boot) I'd forgotten most everything I ever knew about the product!

Re the Admin account. In my old system I did not have an Admin account and all postmaster email was forwarded direct to my inbox, (as I say very few problems to ever have to deal with). I can't now remember if I deleted the Admin account from my original setup, renamed it to my own inbox or if it never existed. It seems to take up two mailslots as well, one for Admin and one for Postmaster.

1.) How are the licences for Mailtraq counted, are they per user or per mailslot

2.) Do the Admin, Postmaster, Newsfeed, etc mailslots take up licences or are these seen as 'system' components

3.) Is it safe to delete the Admin account and forward all postmaster mail to my own account?

Thanks in Advance

Pete

[Martin Clayton]

Re the Admin account. In my old system I did not have an Admin account and all postmaster email was forwarded direct to my inbox, (as I say very few problems to ever have to deal with).

I used to direct postmaster messages to my main mailslot but nowadays it's 99% spam. I don't want to drop whitelisting on the role account addresses so I run the risk of manually scanning the slot on an ad hoc basis. Not ideal but I've not missed anything that needed a timely response (yet).

I can't now remember if I deleted the Admin account from my original setup, renamed it to my own inbox or if it never existed.

My user-account is an 'admin' rename, probably from day-1.

1.) How are the licences for Mailtraq counted, are they per user or per mailslot

Iirc, licences are per-user. Each user can own one primary-mailslot and as many non-primary slots as required...

2.) Do the Admin, Postmaster, Newsfeed, etc mailslots take up licences or are these seen as 'system' components

... the role account mailslots (postmaster, mailserver, newsmaster) are non-primary so wont affect the licence count.

3.) Is it safe to delete the Admin account and forward all postmaster mail to my own account?

I don't think there's anything special about the 'Admin' account; you just need one or more account with full privileges. I guess that the role address mailslots can be ascribed to any owner (I could easily be wrong about this) but yes, you can route the messages anywhere (with aliases or forwarding).

[Old Git]

Thanks again Martin, you've been really helpful mate and I appreciate it. I can't believe I've forgotten all this but then as I say, it's a testament to the stability of Mailtraq that it can run for so long with minimal oversight.

I've been running this small install of Mailtraq, within my home network, since 2004 and it serves the needs of my family and extended family. It's never given me any trouble and is possibly overkill for our needs, It may even be time to farm all the email accounts out to on-line providers and dispense with Mailtraq altogether. But then, it does what it's supposed to do, extremely well, we are subjected to minimal amounts of spam and it has run flawlessly for 13 years, with only occasional updates! Maintaining my own domain means I get to keep the same email address forever, irrespective of which ISP I'm with. This was something that used to bug the life out of me in the old days, just as I'd get embedded with an email provider they'd either merge or simply cease to exist and then I'd have to change my email address, again, and all the upset that attended that!I think I may have just talked myself into keeping good old Mailtraq for another 13 years

That said though, I'd love a Linux-based version of Mailtraq, especially a cut down version that could be installed, as a package, on one of the many Linux based NAS devices on the market. Such a thing would be the ideal entry level option for SOHO installations!

Does Mailtraq still offer the free 5 user edition as an entry level option for SOHO installs?