MailWasher Enterprise Server

LINUX INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

Contents

Quick Overview

MailWasher Enterprise Server (MWES) works as a proxy, meaning it sits in front of your mail server collecting and processing all incoming mail. You will notice a significant reduction spam along with reduced load on your mail server when MWES is installed and working. MWES can also plug in to Sendmail via the Sendmail Milter

The following diagram illustrates how MWES operates.

Download

Download MailWasher Enterprise Server (MWES) for Linux. MWES may be used with any mail server such as Sendmail, Postfix, QMail, Exim etc.


Installation

1. cd mwes-xxxx

2. Run script ./install as "root"

3. By default a 30 day trial period is setup on installation. This can be changed on the license screen. Please note, you do not need to enter any username and password for the trial account.

On completing the installation, a browser window will launch taking you to your login screen http://[company.site]:4044

The default login is:

UserID: admin
Password: password

4. You will need to add any domains used at settings>>Domains, to prevent your network appearing as an open relay.

5. Access Ports

Please make sure you have not firewalled these ports

4044 - Web interface
25 - Smtp
4051 - First Alert

6. Final step

MWES can be used as a Sendmail Milter or Proxy.

  • Sendmail Milter setup can be used with Sendmail or Postfix and allows one instance of MWES to talk to many instances of Sendmail or Postfix, ie. it is more scalable.
  • Proxy setup will work with any MTA i.e. "Sendmail, Postfix, Qmail, Exim etc." and allows one instance of MWES to talk to one instance of the MTA. The Proxy setup will significantly reduce the load on your mail server. The Proxy setup does not currently support SSL/TLS. Clients have to use Plain Authentication.

Follow the steps below for each setup.

Proxy Setup

Change the following in the /etc/mwes.conf file to suit your environment.

Example if both mwes(proxy) and your MTA(relay) are on the same machine.

1. Change your MTA (relay) smtp port to 26 and restart.

2. Change mwes(proxy) /etc/mwes.conf use_mta_proxy=1

then restart mwes

Example:

# MTA Proxy information

use_mta_proxy=1 (1 to enable 0 to disable)
proxy_port=25 (Don't change this)
proxy_hostname=

# MTA Relay information

mta_hostname=localhost (localhost or enter local IP)
mta_port=26 (MTA e.g. Sendmail "Daemon Option Port=26" in /etc/mail/sendmail.cf)

Sendmail Milter setup

1. Edit sendmail.mc add the following

INPUT_MAIL_FILTER(`mailwasher_server', `S=unix:/var/run/mwes/mpd.sock, F=T, T=S:4m;R:4m')dnl define(`confINPUT_MAIL_FILTERS', `mailwasher_server)dnl

2. Create sendmail.cf file

m4 /etc/mail/sendmail.mc > /etc/mail/sendmail.cf

3. Start mwes

4. Start Sendmail

Note. mwes must be running before sendmail

MWES default location

Config File location: /etc/mwes.conf
Application location: /opt/mwes
Log file location: /var/log/mwes

Upgrading

Note: Users upgrading from an earlier build to version 2.74 or later will need to make sure their existing config file entries correspond to changes in version 2.74 below

  • OLD NAME (Pre Version 2.74) -> NEW NAME (Version 2.74 onwards)
  • hostname -> web_hostname
  • port -> web_port
  • mta_hostname -> proxy_hostname
  • mta_port -> proxy_port
  • mta_relay_hostname -> mta_hostname
  • mta_relay_port -> mta_port

Sendmail Milter:

1. Need to completely uninstall 2.4.3 or older version before installing later releases.
2. Later versions can be uninstalled using "Uninstall" script.
3. Download and Install new version (For instllation refer to Installation Section).

Proxy:

1. Download and Untar current release
2. Stop mwes service
3. cd mwes.xxx
4. Run ./install script it will automatically upgrade related files.
5. Start mwes

Note: No need to restart MTA

Uninstall

Users running 2.4.3 or older version should follow the uninstall instructions

Later versions can be uninstalled using "Uninstall" script.

1. cd mwes-xxxx
2. Run script ./uninstall as "root"

Start and Stop

/etc/init.d/mwesd [start/stop]

Kill -3 "mwes pid" shall be used to kill the process NOT "kill -9" and start mwes

TROUBLESHOOTING

If you find a problem, please contact us at nick.bolton@firetrust.com

There's also the forum for any questions and Frequently Asked Questions.



Q. Inbound email is not being filtered.

A. Please see the FAQ at I've installed MWES but it does not filter inbound email.



MISCELLANEOUS

Linux users can add/change these options in the mwes.conf file

Linux: /etc/mwes.conf

If changed, restart service/daemon.



Database location

database_location=/opt/mwes



Default page after login

default_page Quarantined.srv



Location of installed files

home



Web server details

root_document=/opt/mwes/mwes/
web_port=4044
web_hostname=localhost



Change the logging level

If you want to change the logging level. Default is 2 (normal)

0 = Full
1 = Partial
2 = Normal
3 = Warnings
4 = Errors

log_level=2



Location of logs

logging



Proxy configuration

Details show the port and location of MWES proxy
use_mta_proxy=1
proxy_port=25
proxy_hostname=



Change the location and port where MWES sees the MTA

MTA Relay is used to show the location and port of your MTA. Defaults are shown below.
mta_hostname=localhost
mta_port=26



FirstAlert cache size information.

This is used to cache already checked spam to reduce the number of external checks.
cfs_max_cache_size=20000



RBL cache size information.

This is used to cache already checked spam to reduce the number of external checks.
rbl_max_cache_size=20000



Use working domains to stop open relay

use_check_domains=1
# If set = 1 this stops your MTA appearing as an open relay by checking the list of your working domains.
# If set = 0 will let all email through without checking your working domains. (ie. it will filter everything instead of distinguishing between internal and external email). You'll just need to make sure your MTA is configured to not appear as an open relay.



Ignore MTA Authentication

use_mta_authentication=1

# If set =1 then all emails authenticated by MTA are safe and will not be filtered.
# If set =0 then MTA Authentication is ignored and all emails pass through filters.



Don't check local email

use_is_routable=1

# If set = 1 to not check your local mail going out.
# If set = 0 to check your local mail going out.



Milter specific settings

milter_port=inet:4049@localhost
milter_port=unix:/home/mws/mws.sock
milter_timeout=600
milter_pass_through=1



Discard empty email's.

Emails without a body are discarded.
discard_empty_emails=1
# If set = 1, emails with empty bodies are discarded
# If set = 0, emails with empty bodies are passed through for filtering



Preview body of blocked emails

Displays the number of characters used in the email preview when the mouse is moved over the subject
view_body_max=200
# 200 characters is the default but feel free to adjust this to a higher value.



SPF lite

A lite version of SPF is able to be turned on. This means emails will be delivered more quickly as many of them won't need to be greylisted, but you may receive slightly more spam.
use_spf=0
# If set = 1, spf lite is turned on
# If set = 0, spf lite is turned off