Install Postfix on Linux Mint

Postfix is a popular mail transfer agent (MTA) used on Linux servers. It is known for its robustness, security, and simple configuration. In this tutorial, you will learn how to install Postfix on Linux Mint.

Prerequisites

Before we start with the installation, make sure you have the following:

• A Linux Mint installation with root access.

Step 1: Update the system

First, update the system using the following command:

$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get upgrade

This will update the package list and upgrade the installed packages to their latest versions.

Step 2: Install Postfix

To install Postfix, run the following command:

$ sudo apt-get install postfix

During the installation process, you will be prompted to select the type of mail server configuration you want to set up. Choose "Internet Site" and enter your domain name when prompted.

Configure Postfix to use a specific IP address or hostname.

You may leave the default and change it later if you need to:

System mail name: yourdomain.com

Postfix should now be installed on your system.

Step 3: Verify Postfix installation

To check if Postfix is running, use the following command:

$ systemctl status postfix

If the service is running, you will see output similar to the following:

postfix.service - Postfix Mail Transport Agent
      Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/postfix.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
      Active: active (running) since Wed 2021-03-31 19:13:20 WET; 1min 31s ago
    Main PID: 4710 (postfix)
       Tasks: 9 (limit: 19042)
      Memory: 10.0M
      CGroup: /system.slice/postfix.service
              ├─ 4710 /usr/lib/postfix/sbin/master
              ├─ 4711 pickup -l -t unix -u
              ├─ 4712 qmgr -l -t unix -u
              ├─ 4713 /usr/lib/postfix/sbin/trivial-rewrite -n rewrite -t unix -u
              ├─ 4714 /usr/lib/postfix/sbin/smtpd -n smtp -t inet -u -o stress= -o smtpd_client_restrictions=permit_sasl_authenticated,reject -o smtpd_sender_restrictions=reject_sender_login_mismatch -o milter_macro_daemon_name=ORIGINATING
              ├─ 4715 /usr/lib/postfix/sbin/smtp -n smtp -t inet -u -o stress= -o smtp_helo_timeout=60 -o smtp_sender_timeout=60 -o smtp_recipient_timeout=300 -o smtpd_client_restrictions=permit_sasl_authenticated,reject_unauth_destination -o smtpd_sender_restrictions=reject_sender_login_mismatch -o smtp_tls_security_level=may -o smtpd_tls_security_level=may -o smtp_tls_protocols=!SSLv2,!SSLv3
              ├─ 4716 /usr/lib/postfix/sbin/smtp -n smtp -t inet -u -o stress= -o smtp_helo_timeout=60 -o smtp_sender_timeout=60 -o smtp_recipient_timeout=300 -o smtpd_client_restrictions=permit_sasl_authenticated,reject_unauth_destination -o smtpd_sender_restrictions=reject_sender_login_mismatch -o smtp_tls_security_level=may -o smtpd_tls_security_level=may -o smtp_tls_protocols=!SSLv2,!SSLv3
              ├─ 4717 /usr/lib/postfix/sbin/smtp -n smtp -t inet -u -o stress= -o smtp_helo_timeout=60 -o smtp_sender_timeout=60 -o smtp_recipient_timeout=300 -o smtpd_client_restrictions=permit_sasl_authenticated,reject_unauth_destination -o smtp_tls_security_level=may -o smtpd_tls_security_level=may -o smtp_tls_protocols=!SSLv2,!SSLv3
              └─ 4718 /usr/lib/postfix/sbin/smtp -n smtp -t inet -u -o stress= -o smtp_helo_timeout=60 -o smtp_sender_timeout=60 -o smtp_recipient_timeout=300 -o smtpd_client_restrictions=permit_sasl_authenticated,reject_unauth_destination -o smtp_tls_security_level=may -o smtpd_tls_security_level=may -o smtp_tls_protocols=!SSLv2,!SSLv3

If the service is not running, you can start it using the following command:

$ sudo systemctl start postfix

Conclusion

In this tutorial, you learned how to install Postfix on Linux Mint. Now you're ready to start configuring Postfix and using it to send and receive emails on your server.