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user981178
Asked: 2016-05-01 08:48:36 +0800 CST

Should a mail server receive mail at the hostname or just the domain?

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When configuring a mail server, should it be setup to receive mail at the hostname or just the domain?

For example, if the hostname of the mail server is sub.domain.tld, should mail from anywhere be able to be sent to [email protected] or just to [email protected], with addresses @sub.domain.tld only available for local processes?

Is there an official way it should be configured or is it up to the administrator?

email smtp email-server hostname

2 Answers

  1. From postfix's main.cf file:

    The myorigin parameter specifies the domain that locally-posted mail appears to come from. The default is to append $myhostname, which is fine for small sites. If you run a domain with multiple machines, you should (1) change this to $mydomain and (2) set up a domain-wide alias database that aliases each user to [email protected].

    For the sake of consistency between sender and recipient addresses, myorigin also specifies the default domain name that is appended to recipient addresses that have no @domain part.

    From here, you have to make your own choice on what option satisfies you more.

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  2. In the simplest case, the mail server at mail.example.com would receive The mail server should accept mail to postmaster and abuse for it's domain (or any other), but need not accept any other addresses for that domain. In a simple setup, it is acceptable to receive mail at either domain.

    It is up to the mail administrator to configure how to handle delivery to the various domains the mail server accepts email for. It is common for an email domain's MX belong to an entirely different domain, possibly with a different TLD (top level domain). That server may well accept email for many domains all of which may have different valid user ids. The administrator will need to configure the server accordingly.

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