chatmail/README.md

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# Chatmail services optimized for Delta Chat apps 

This repository helps to setup a ready-to-use chatmail server
comprised of a minimal setup of the battle-tested 
[postfix smtp](https://www.postfix.org) and [dovecot imap](https://www.dovecot.org) services. 

The setup is designed and optimized for providing chatmail accounts 
for use by [Delta Chat apps](https://delta.chat).

Chatmail accounts are automatically created by a first login, 
after which the initially specified password is required for using them. 

## Deploying your own chatmail server 

We use `chat.example.org` as the chatmail domain in the following steps. 
Please substitute it with your own domain. 

1. Install the `cmdeploy` command in a virtualenv

   ```
    git clone https://github.com/deltachat/chatmail
    cd chatmail
    scripts/initenv.sh
   ```

2. Create chatmail configuration file `chatmail.ini`:

   ```
    scripts/cmdeploy init chat.example.org  # <-- use your domain 
   ```

3. Setup first DNS records for your chatmail domain, 
   according to the hints provided by `cmdeploy init`.
   Verify that SSH root login works:

   ```
    ssh root@chat.example.org   # <-- use your domain 
   ```

4. Deploy to the remote chatmail server:

   ```
    scripts/cmdeploy run
   ```
   This script will also show you additional DNS records
   which you should configure at your DNS provider
   (it can take some time until they are public).

### Other helpful commands:

To check the status of your remotely running chatmail service:

```
scripts/cmdeploy status
```

To check whether your DNS records are correct:

```
scripts/cmdeploy dns
```

To test whether your chatmail service is working correctly:

```
scripts/cmdeploy test
```

To measure the performance of your chatmail service:

```
scripts/cmdeploy bench
```

## Overview of this repository

This repository drives the development of chatmail services, 
comprised of minimal setups of

- [postfix smtp server](https://www.postfix.org)
- [dovecot imap server](https://www.dovecot.org)

as well as custom services that are integrated with these two:

- `chatmaild/src/chatmaild/doveauth.py` implements
  create-on-login account creation semantics and is used
  by Dovecot during login authentication and by Postfix
  which in turn uses [Dovecot SASL](https://doc.dovecot.org/configuration_manual/authentication/dict/#complete-example-for-authenticating-via-a-unix-socket)
  to authenticate users
  to send mails for them.

- `chatmaild/src/chatmaild/filtermail.py` prevents
  unencrypted e-mail from leaving the chatmail service
  and is integrated into postfix's outbound mail pipelines.

There is also the `cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/cmdeploy.py` command line tool
which helps with setting up and managing the chatmail service.
`cmdeploy run` uses [pyinfra-based scripting](https://pyinfra.com/)
in `cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/__init__.py`
to automatically install all chatmail components on a server.


### Home page and getting started for users

`cmdeploy run` also creates default static Web pages and deploys them
to a nginx web server with: 

- a default `index.html` along with a QR code that users can click to
  create accounts on your chatmail provider,

- a default `info.html` that is linked from the home page,

- a default `policy.html` that is linked from the home page.

All `.html` files are generated
by the according markdown `.md` file in the `www/src` directory.


### Refining the web pages


```
scripts/cmdeploy webdev
```

This starts a local live development cycle for chatmail Web pages:

- uses the `www/src/page-layout.html` file for producing static
  HTML pages from `www/src/*.md` files

- continously builds the web presence reading files from `www/src` directory
  and generating html files and copying assets to the `www/build` directory.

- Starts a browser window automatically where you can "refresh" as needed.


## Emergency Commands to disable automatic account creation

If you need to stop account creation,
e.g. because some script is wildly creating accounts,
login to the server with ssh and run:

```
    touch /etc/chatmail-nocreate
```

While this file is present, account creation will be blocked.

### Ports

[Postfix](http://www.postfix.org/) listens on ports 25 (smtp) and 587 (submission) and 465 (submissions).
[Dovecot](https://www.dovecot.org/) listens on ports 143 (imap) and 993 (imaps).
[nginx](https://www.nginx.com/) listens on port 443 (https).
[acmetool](https://hlandau.github.io/acmetool/) listens on port 80 (http).

Delta Chat apps will, however, discover all ports and configurations
automatically by reading the [autoconfig XML file](https://web.archive.org/web/20210624004729/https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Thunderbird/Autoconfiguration) from the chatmail service.