How to Build Your Own Reliable Email Server: A Step‑by‑Step Guide
After years of using third‑party email services, the author shares a detailed, hands‑on account of configuring a self‑hosted mail system—including the essential components (MUA, MTA, MDA, MRA) and the full SMTP/IMAP/POP3 workflow—so readers can replicate a stable, private email server.
Preface
About five years ago the author first tried Tencent's free enterprise email, encountered domain restrictions, bought a .info domain, then later a usable flagplus.net domain that allowed custom usernames. In 2016, after purchasing many low‑cost domains, attempts to bind a new domain to Tencent's service failed, prompting the idea of building a personal mail server.
Inspired by the 2016 email‑leak scandal, the author began researching mail server setup, initially underestimating its difficulty, and finally started implementation in early 2017. The system has now been stable for several months, and the author documents the configuration process.
Overview
Basic Components of a Mail System
MUA (Mail User Agent) : the client used to receive mail, communicating with the server via IMAP or POP3.
MTA (Mail Transfer Agent) : sends and forwards mail using the SMTP protocol.
MDA (Mail Delivery Agent) : stores mail received by the MTA to disk or other locations.
MRA (Mail Receive Agent) : implements IMAP and POP3 services and interacts with the MUA.
SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) : standard protocol for sending mail.
IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) : one of the standard protocols for receiving mail.
POP3 (Post Office Protocol 3) : another standard protocol for receiving mail.
Basic Process
User composes mail in an MUA (desktop client or web interface) and sends it to the MTA using SMTP.
The MTA looks up the destination domain via DNS, finds the target MTA address.
The MTA forwards the mail to the destination MTA using SMTP.
The destination MTA hands the mail to the MDA for local delivery.
The MDA stores the mail in the mailbox of the recipient (the part before “@”).
When the recipient wants to read mail, the MUA connects to the MRA using IMAP or POP3 to retrieve the message.
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