Web server management

Apache setup & Virtual servers
SQL
SSL & Certificate management
PostgreSQL
SQL Reference
Mail Server

Apache setup & Virtual servers

Initial setup

Install packages sudo apt install apache2 mariadb-server libapache2-mod-php php-mysql -y

Open ports at cd /etc/apache2/ports.conf and add the line Listen NEW_PORT_NUMBER

Creating virtual servers

Create a file named NAME.conf and add something like this

<VirtualHost *:80>
        ServerName pdb.conorbriggs.com.au
        DocumentRoot /mnt/drives/10tb/10tb/web_servers/pdb/

<Directory /mnt/drives/10tb/10tb/web_servers/pdb/>
        Options -Indexes -FollowSymLinks
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
</Directory>
ErrorLog /var/log/apache2/pdb-error.log
CustomLog /var/log/apache2/pdb-access.log combined

RewriteEngine on
</VirtualHost>

Enable the site & restart apache with sudo a2ensite site.conf && systemctl restart apache2

SSL Certificate management

Install certbot and run setup

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-apache
a2enmod ssl
sudo certbot --apache

List all certificates with certbot certificates

Delete a certificaite certbot delete --cert-name CERT_NAME_HERE

Managing the apache2 service

Start, stop & restart sudo service apache2 start/restart/stop

Enable a config sudo a2ensite SITE_CONF_FILE.conf

Disable a config sudo a2dissite SITE_CONF_FILE.conf

SQL

After install

ensure secure access sudo mysql_secure_installation

Logging in

mysql -u USERNAME -p

add -h HOSTNAME IP when logging in remotely

Creating a user

CREATE USER 'NEW_USERNAME'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'NEW_PASSWORD';

Creating a database

CREATE DATABASE DATABASE_NAME

Allow user to modify Database

GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE_NAME.* TO 'USERNAME'@'localhost';

Update permissions

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

Open Database to the world

Open file at /etc/mysql/maridadb.conf.d/50-server.cnf
Edit line bind-address = 127.0.0.1 to -> bind-address = 0.0.0.0
Restart db service systemctl restart mariadb
Allow port through firewall with ufw allow 3306

Automated backup script

#!/bin/bash

# === Config ===
BACKUP_DIR="/var/backups/mysql"
DATE=$(date +"%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M")
DB_USER="backupuser"
DB_PASS="yourpassword"

# Create backup dir if not exist
mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"

# Dump all databases
mysqldump -u "$DB_USER" -p"$DB_PASS" --all-databases --single-transaction > "$BACKUP_DIR/mariadb-$DATE.sql"

# Optional: Compress the backup
gzip "$BACKUP_DIR/mariadb-$DATE.sql"

# Delete backups older than 7 days
find "$BACKUP_DIR" -name "*.sql.gz" -type f -mtime +7 -delete

SSL & Certificate management

Install certbot and run setup

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-apache
a2enmod ssl
sudo certbot --apache

List all certificates

certbot certificates

Delete a certificaite

certbot delete --cert-name CERT_NAME_HERE

PostgreSQL

Install

Install postgresql and postgis for coordinates data

sudo apt install postgresql postgis -y

sudo -u postgres psql

Change password to default account

ALTER USER postgres WITH PASSWORD 'new password';

Restrict remote access to localhost only

Open the config file

nano /etc/postgresql/15/main/postgresql.conf

uncomment this line

listen_addresses = 'localhost'

if you need remote access

listen_addresses = '0.0.0.0'

and Edit /etc/postgresql/15/main/pg_hba.conf and add a line like:

host    all             all             192.168.1.0/24          scram-sha-256

SQL Reference

Create a table that auto deletes on other table deletion

CREATE TABLE tradie_postcode_covered (
    tradie_id INT,
    postcode VARCHAR(10),
    PRIMARY KEY (tradie_id, postcode), -- primary key ensures no tradie can be in the same postcode twice
    FOREIGN KEY (tradie_id) REFERENCES tradies(id) ON DELETE CASCADE
);

Mail Server

Initial setup

1 - Updates

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

2 - Install docker and docker compose

# Install required packages
sudo apt install -y apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl gnupg lsb-release

# Add Docker's official GPG key
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/debian/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg

# Set up the stable repository
echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/debian $(lsb_release -cs) stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null

# Install Docker
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-compose-plugin

# Add your user to docker group
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

3 - Create DNS Records

A record: mail.yourdomain.com → your server IP
MX record: @ → mail.yourdomain.com (priority 10)
TXT record (SPF): v=spf1 mx ~all

4 - Install and configure mailserver

# Create directory for mail server
mkdir -p ~/mailserver
cd ~/mailserver

# Download docker-compose.yml and .env template
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/docker-mailserver/docker-mailserver/master/compose.yaml
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/docker-mailserver/docker-mailserver/master/mailserver.env

# Rename for easier use
mv compose.yaml docker-compose.yml
mv mailserver.env .env

5 - Edit .env variables

HOSTNAME=mail
DOMAINNAME=yourdomain.com
OVERRIDE_HOSTNAME=mail.yourdomain.com
ENABLE_SPAMASSASSIN=1
ENABLE_CLAMAV=1
ENABLE_FAIL2BAN=1
SSL_TYPE=letsencrypt (or manual if you have your own certs)
ACCOUNT_PROVISIONER=FILE

6 - Edit docker-compose.yml

services:
  mailserver:
    image: ghcr.io/docker-mailserver/docker-mailserver:latest
    container_name: mailserver
    # Provide the FQDN of your mail server here (Your DNS MX record should point to this value)
    hostname: mx.home.conorbriggs.com.au
    env_file: .env
    # More information about the mail-server ports:
    # https://docker-mailserver.github.io/docker-mailserver/latest/config/security/understanding-the-ports/
    ports:
      - "25:25"    # SMTP  (explicit TLS => STARTTLS, Authentication is DISABLED => use port 465/587 instead)
      - "143:143"  # IMAP4 (explicit TLS => STARTTLS)
      - "465:465"  # ESMTP (implicit TLS)
      - "587:587"  # ESMTP (explicit TLS => STARTTLS)
      - "993:993"  # IMAP4 (implicit TLS)
    volumes:
      - ./mail-data/:/var/mail/
      - ./mail-state/:/var/mail-state/
      - ./mail-logs/:/var/log/mail/
      - ./config/:/tmp/docker-mailserver/
      - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro
      - /etc/letsencrypt:/etc/letsencrypt:ro
    restart: always
    stop_grace_period: 1m
    # Uncomment if using `ENABLE_FAIL2BAN=1`:
    cap_add:
      - NET_ADMIN
    healthcheck:
      test: "ss --listening --ipv4 --tcp | grep --silent ':smtp' || exit 1"
      timeout: 3s
      retries: 0
    networks:
      - mailserver-network
networks:
  mailserver-network:
    driver: bridge

Connecting

IMAP (Incoming):

Server: mx.home.conorbriggs.com.au
Port: 993 (IMAPS with SSL/TLS)
Security: SSL/TLS
Authentication: Normal password

SMTP (Outgoing):

Server: mx.home.conorbriggs.com.au
Port: 587 (with STARTTLS) or 465 (with SSL/TLS)
Security: STARTTLS (port 587) or SSL/TLS (port 465)
Authentication: Normal password

Container Management

Basic Container Operations

Start the mailserver

docker compose up -d

Stop the mailserver

docker compose down

Restart the mailserver

docker compose restart

View logs (live)

docker compose logs -f

View logs (last 100 lines)

docker compose logs --tail=100

Check container status

docker ps -a

Check container health

docker inspect mailserver | grep -A 10 Health

Email Account Management

Create Email Accounts

Create a new email account (will prompt for password)

docker exec -it mailserver setup email add user@home.conorbriggs.com.au

Create account with password in command

docker exec -it mailserver setup email add user@home.conorbriggs.com.au password123

Create account with quota (e.g., 500MB)

docker exec -it mailserver setup email add user@home.conorbriggs.com.au password123 500M

List Email Accounts

List all email accounts

docker exec mailserver setup email list

View the accounts file directly

docker exec mailserver cat /tmp/docker-mailserver/postfix-accounts.cf

Update/Change Passwords

Update password for existing account

docker exec -it mailserver setup email update user@home.conorbriggs.com.au new_password

Change password (alternative method - will prompt)

docker exec -it mailserver setup email update user@home.conorbriggs.com.au

Delete Email Accounts

Delete an email account

docker exec -it mailserver setup email del user@home.conorbriggs.com.au

Delete account and remove mailbox data

docker exec mailserver setup email del user@home.conorbriggs.com.au
rm -rf ./mail-data/home.conorbriggs.com.au/user

Alias Management

Create Aliases

Create an alias (forward emails from alias to recipient)

docker exec mailserver setup alias add alias@home.conorbriggs.com.au recipient@home.conorbriggs.com.au

Create alias with multiple recipients

docker exec mailserver setup alias add sales@home.conorbriggs.com.au "user1@home.conorbriggs.com.au,user2@home.conorbriggs.com.au"

List Aliases

List all aliases

docker exec mailserver setup alias list

View aliases file

docker exec mailserver cat /tmp/docker-mailserver/postfix-virtual.cf

Delete Aliases

Delete an alias

docker exec mailserver setup alias del alias@home.conorbriggs.com.au recipient@home.conorbriggs.com.au

Quota Management

Set Quotas

Set quota for a user (e.g., 1GB)

docker exec mailserver setup quota set user@home.conorbriggs.com.au 1G

Set unlimited quota

docker exec mailserver setup quota set user@home.conorbriggs.com.au 0

Check Quotas

Check quota for specific user

docker exec mailserver setup quota get user@home.conorbriggs.com.au

List all quotas

docker exec mailserver setup quota list

Check quota usage

docker exec mailserver doveadm quota get -u user@home.conorbriggs.com.au

Delete Quotas

Remove quota (sets to default)

docker exec mailserver setup quota del user@home.conorbriggs.com.au

DKIM (Email Signing)

Generate DKIM Keys

Generate DKIM key for domain

docker exec mailserver setup config dkim

Generate for specific domain

docker exec mailserver setup config dkim domain home.conorbriggs.com.au

Generate with custom key size

docker exec mailserver setup config dkim keysize 2048

View DKIM Public Key

Show DKIM DNS record

docker exec mailserver setup config dkim help

View the public key directly

docker exec mailserver cat /tmp/docker-mailserver/opendkim/keys/home.conorbriggs.com.au/mail.txt

Fail2Ban (Security)

Fail2Ban Status

Check fail2ban status

docker exec mailserver setup fail2ban status

Check banned IPs

docker exec mailserver setup fail2ban

Unban an IP address

docker exec mailserver setup fail2ban unban <IP_ADDRESS>

Ban an IP address

docker exec mailserver setup fail2ban ban <IP_ADDRESS>

Debugging & Diagnostics

Service Status

Check all listening ports

docker exec mailserver ss -tlnp

Check specific service status

docker exec mailserver supervisorctl status

Check Postfix status

docker exec mailserver postfix status

Check Dovecot status

docker exec mailserver doveadm service status

Mail Queue

View mail queue

docker exec mailserver postqueue -p

Flush mail queue (retry sending)

docker exec mailserver postqueue -f

Delete all queued mail

docker exec mailserver postsuper -d ALL

Delete specific message from queue

docker exec mailserver postsuper -d <QUEUE_ID>

Logs

View mail logs

docker exec mailserver tail -f /var/log/mail/mail.log

View mail errors

docker exec mailserver tail -f /var/log/mail/mail.err

View specific log files

docker exec mailserver ls -la /var/log/mail/

Search logs for specific email

docker exec mailserver grep "user@domain.com" /var/log/mail/mail.log

Test Email Delivery

Test SMTP connection

docker exec mailserver nc -zv localhost 25

Send test email from command line

echo "Test email body" | docker exec -i mailserver sendmail test@home.conorbriggs.com.au

Test with swaks (if installed)

docker exec mailserver swaks --to user@home.conorbriggs.com.au --from test@home.conorbriggs.com.au

Connection Testing

Test IMAP connection

docker exec mailserver nc -zv localhost 143
docker exec mailserver nc -zv localhost 993

Test SMTP connection

docker exec mailserver nc -zv localhost 25
docker exec mailserver nc -zv localhost 587
docker exec mailserver nc -zv localhost 465

Check TLS/SSL certificates

docker exec mailserver openssl s_client -connect localhost:993 -showcerts
docker exec mailserver openssl s_client -connect localhost:465 -showcerts

Configuration Management

Reload Configuration

Reload postfix configuration

docker exec mailserver postfix reload

Reload dovecot configuration

docker exec mailserver doveadm reload

Restart all services

docker compose restart

View Configuration

View postfix configuration

docker exec mailserver postconf

View dovecot configuration

docker exec mailserver doveconf

View specific postfix setting

docker exec mailserver postconf | grep smtp_tls

Check all environment variables

docker exec mailserver env | grep -E '(SMTP|IMAP|SSL|TLS)'

Backup Configuration

Backup all mail data

tar -czf mailserver-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz ./mail-data ./mail-state ./config

Backup just configuration

tar -czf mailserver-config-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz ./config

Backup specific user's mailbox

tar -czf user-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz ./mail-data/home.conorbriggs.com.au/user

Database/User Management

User Database

List all users in Dovecot

docker exec mailserver doveadm user '*'

Check if user exists

docker exec mailserver doveadm user user@home.conorbriggs.com.au

View user's mailbox location

docker exec mailserver doveadm mailbox status -u user@home.conorbriggs.com.au all '*'

Mailbox Management

List mailboxes for user

docker exec mailserver doveadm mailbox list -u user@home.conorbriggs.com.au

Create mailbox for user

docker exec mailserver doveadm mailbox create -u user@home.conorbriggs.com.au Folder.Name

Delete mailbox

docker exec mailserver doveadm mailbox delete -u user@home.conorbriggs.com.au Folder.Name

Rebuild mailbox index

docker exec mailserver doveadm force-resync -u user@home.conorbriggs.com.au INBOX

Performance & Monitoring

Check Resource Usage

Check container stats

docker stats mailserver

Check disk usage

docker exec mailserver df -h

Check memory usage

docker exec mailserver free -h

Check mail directory size

du -sh ./mail-data/*

Connection Monitoring

Show active connections

docker exec mailserver ss -tn | grep -E ':(25|587|465|143|993)'

Count connections by port

docker exec mailserver ss -tn | grep -E ':(25|587|465|143|993)' | wc -l

Show who's connected to IMAP

docker exec mailserver doveadm who

SSL/TLS Certificate Management

Check Certificates

Check SSL certificate expiry

docker exec mailserver openssl x509 -in /etc/letsencrypt/live/mx.home.conorbriggs.com.au/fullchain.pem -noout -dates

View certificate details

docker exec mailserver openssl x509 -in /etc/letsencrypt/live/mx.home.conorbriggs.com.au/fullchain.pem -noout -text

Test SSL/TLS for SMTP

openssl s_client -connect mx.home.conorbriggs.com.au:465 -showcerts

Test STARTTLS for SMTP

openssl s_client -connect mx.home.conorbriggs.com.au:587 -starttls smtp

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Check if services are running

docker exec mailserver supervisorctl status

Restart specific service

docker exec mailserver supervisorctl restart postfix
docker exec mailserver supervisorctl restart dovecot

Check for permission issues

docker exec mailserver ls -la /var/mail/
docker exec mailserver ls -la /tmp/docker-mailserver/

Verify DNS records

dig mx home.conorbriggs.com.au
dig txt _dmarc.home.conorbriggs.com.au
dig txt mail._domainkey.home.conorbriggs.com.au

Test email authentication

docker exec mailserver opendkim-testkey -d home.conorbriggs.com.au -s mail

Reset and Clean Up

Remove all mail data (WARNING: deletes all emails)

docker compose down
rm -rf ./mail-data/*
rm -rf ./mail-state/*
docker compose up -d

Clear logs

docker exec mailserver truncate -s 0 /var/log/mail/mail.log

Rebuild entire container

docker compose down
docker compose pull
docker compose up -d --force-recreate

Quick Reference

Setup Script Help

Show all setup commands

docker exec mailserver setup help

Help for specific command

docker exec mailserver setup email help
docker exec mailserver setup alias help
docker exec mailserver setup config help

File Locations Inside Container

/tmp/docker-mailserver/          - Configuration files (mapped to ./config/)
/var/mail/                        - Mail data (mapped to ./mail-data/)
/var/mail-state/                  - State files (mapped to ./mail-state/)
/var/log/mail/                    - Mail logs (mapped to ./mail-logs/)
/etc/letsencrypt/                 - SSL certificates (read-only)
/etc/postfix/                     - Postfix configuration
/etc/dovecot/                     - Dovecot configuration

Important Configuration Files

./config/postfix-accounts.cf      - Email accounts
./config/postfix-virtual.cf       - Aliases
./config/dovecot-quotas.cf        - User quotas
./config/opendkim/                - DKIM keys

Advanced Operations

Database Operations

Export all accounts

docker exec mailserver cat /tmp/docker-mailserver/postfix-accounts.cf > accounts-backup.txt

Import accounts

cat accounts-backup.txt | docker exec -i mailserver tee /tmp/docker-mailserver/postfix-accounts.cf
docker compose restart

Verify account database

docker exec mailserver postmap -q user@home.conorbriggs.com.au /tmp/docker-mailserver/postfix-accounts.cf

Custom Scripts

Run custom maintenance script

docker exec mailserver /bin/bash -c "your-script-here"

Execute interactive shell

docker exec -it mailserver /bin/bash

Monitoring & Alerts

Set Up Monitoring

Watch logs in real-time

docker compose logs -f --tail=100

Monitor for failed logins

docker exec mailserver tail -f /var/log/mail/mail.log | grep "authentication failed"

Monitor mail queue size

watch -n 60 'docker exec mailserver postqueue -p | tail -1'

Check for errors

docker exec mailserver grep -i error /var/log/mail/mail.log | tail -20

Common Workflows

Adding a New User

1. Create account

docker exec -it mailserver setup email add newuser@home.conorbriggs.com.au

2. Set quota (optional)

docker exec mailserver setup quota set newuser@home.conorbriggs.com.au 2G

3. Verify account created

docker exec mailserver setup email list

Migrating Mail

1. Backup old server

tar -czf old-mailserver-backup.tar.gz ./mail-data

2. Copy to new server

scp old-mailserver-backup.tar.gz newserver:/path/to/mailserver/

3. Extract on new server

tar -xzf old-mailserver-backup.tar.gz

4. Fix permissions

chown -R 5000:5000 ./mail-data

5. Restart mailserver

docker compose restart

Security Hardening

1. Enable Fail2Ban (in .env file)

ENABLE_FAIL2BAN=1

2. Check banned IPs regularly

docker exec mailserver fail2ban-client status postfix-sasl

3. Monitor authentication attempts

docker exec mailserver grep "authentication failed" /var/log/mail/mail.log

4. Review SSL/TLS settings

docker exec mailserver postconf | grep tls

Tips & Best Practices

Always backup before major changes: tar -czf backup.tar.gz ./mail-data ./config
Test email flow after changes: Send test emails in/out
Monitor disk space: Check df -h regularly
Keep certificates updated: Let's Encrypt certs expire every 90 days
Review logs periodically: Look for authentication failures or delivery issues
Set appropriate quotas: Prevent users from filling up disk
Use strong passwords: Minimum 12 characters for email accounts
Enable DKIM/SPF/DMARC: Improves deliverability
Regular updates: docker compose pull && docker compose up -d
Document your changes: Keep notes on custom configurations

Web server management

Apache setup & Virtual servers

Initial setup

Creating virtual servers

SSL Certificate management

Managing the apache2 service

SQL

After install

Logging in

Creating a user

Creating a database

Allow user to modify Database

Update permissions

Open Database to the world

SSL & Certificate management

Install certbot and run setup

List all certificates

Delete a certificaite

PostgreSQL

Install

Login

Change password to default account

Restrict remote access to localhost only

SQL Reference

Mail Server

Initial setup

1 - Updates

2 - Install docker and docker compose

3 - Create DNS Records

4 - Install and configure mailserver

5 - Edit .env variables

6 - Edit docker-compose.yml

Connecting

Container Management

Basic Container Operations

Start the mailserver

Stop the mailserver

Restart the mailserver

View logs (live)

Check container status

Check container health

Email Account Management

Create Email Accounts

Create a new email account (will prompt for password)

Create account with password in command

Create account with quota (e.g., 500MB)

List Email Accounts

List all email accounts

View the accounts file directly

Update/Change Passwords

Update password for existing account

Change password (alternative method - will prompt)

Delete Email Accounts

Delete an email account

Delete account and remove mailbox data

Alias Management

Create Aliases

Create an alias (forward emails from alias to recipient)

Create alias with multiple recipients

List Aliases

List all aliases

View aliases file

Delete Aliases

Delete an alias

Quota Management

Set Quotas

Set quota for a user (e.g., 1GB)

Set unlimited quota

Check Quotas

Check quota for specific user

List all quotas

Check quota usage

Delete Quotas

Remove quota (sets to default)

DKIM (Email Signing)

Generate DKIM Keys

Generate DKIM key for domain

Generate for specific domain

Generate with custom key size

View DKIM Public Key