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Configuring Outgoing Mail Server

For many reasons, email service is essential. Being able to configure an email server is something every System Administrator should know how to do. This lab will give some practice in doing just that. By default only local mail is available and it cannot be sent or received from our network. In this activity, you will reconfigure the Postfix mail server to support sending and receiving email from the network.

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Lab platform
Lab Info
Level
Intermediate
Last updated
Sep 23, 2025
Duration
15m

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Table of Contents
  1. Challenge

    Install the Postfix Mail Server, and the mailx and Mutt Mail Clients

    Become the root user using sudo and use the yum command to install the software for the Postfix mail server, as well as the mailx and Mutt email clients:

    sudo -i
    yum -y install postfix mailx mutt
    
  2. Challenge

    Configure Postfix to Listen on All Network Interfaces

    Use the postconf command to configure the Postfix mail server to listen on all network interfaces:

    postconf -e inet_interfaces=all
    
  3. Challenge

    Enable and Start the postfix Service

    Use the systemctl command to enable and start the postfix service:

    systemctl enable postfix.service --now
    
  4. Challenge

    Send a Test Message with the mail Command and Check the Log to See if It was Delivered

    Using the mail command send a message with the subject test to cloud_user that contains the contents of the /etc/hosts file:

    mail -s 'test' cloud_user@server1 < /etc/hosts
    
  5. Challenge

    Verify That Outgoing Mail is Working

    Using the tail command, verify that the message was delivered. Return to the cloud_user account and view the message using the mutt command:

    tail /var/log/maillog
    exit
    mutt
    

    Press Enter to create the Mail directory in our home directory if necessary.

    Press q to quit mutt.

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