MAILQ SMTP and POP3 Mail Server

Project Description

MailQ was written as an experiment in writing a multi-threaded socket application. Development progressed to allow use within a test environment testing email clients, mail-routing etc. to the degree that the project is now fairly well documented and reasonably reliable for use in test labs etc.  Development was halted to write Ticol, a Tcl interpreter, partially as a back end scripting engine for MailQ

I could have used a free product such as hMailServer, and in fact have used this in the past but writing something to do the job was much more interesting than tweaking the configuration of someone else's product

The program is a dual mode server and will operate in one of either SMTP or POP3 mode. Separate instances may be launched and two instances are required to provide the full POP+SMTP service. AppToService.exe may be used to run MailQ as a Windows service.

This application might be useful for IT departments as a segregated internal LAN mail server which receives email alerts notifications from a large collection of servers

The binaries are offered as freeware under a BSD licence, for use by anyone who might find them useful for internal testing, lab or educational use

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Features
  • Compact, single binary exe (176 Kb)
  • One binary supports both SMTP and POP3 modes
  • Very small memory footprint and low CPU load
  • Simple to configure
  • No database requirements, uses the file system
  • Implements relevant RFCs for POP3/SMTP where possible
  • Multi-threaded with configurable pre-threading
  • Console and file logging
  • Supports CRAM-MD5, APOP, RPOP
  • Supports AUTH, AUTH PLAIN, AUTH LOGIN
  • Works with a wide range of mail client software e.g. Outlook, Outlook Express, OE Classic, Thunderbird, Seamonkey, Alipine, Claws mail, PocoMail, Sylpheed, Pegasus, Incredimail, Opera Mail, telnet
  • Tested as an inbound relay to Exchange 2010 server
  • User management from the Windows console
  • IP autoban
  • Watchdog idle timeout
  • DNSBL spam blocking
  • Manual IP block list
  • Email aliases
  • Supports configurable relaying, MX routing, DNS etc
  • Compatible with ClamWin antivirus
  • Optional TIME, MOTD services and debug commands
  • Run scripts such as antivirus on individual user accounts on mail delivery
  • Runs on Windows NT4 to Server 2016 and WINE
  • Run a mail server from a small USB stick
  • Useful for learning about mail routing and configuration in a lab environment
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Downloads

ZIP Package includes several ancillary exe tools and utilities plus the PDF manual

Virus scan all downloads before using. Not for production use

MailQ v1.16 (ZIP) - 951 kb (20/Jan/2021)
MD5: 26327e6fc84580e5622f3c22e5b71650

Mailq.exe (Binary) - 173kb

Documentation

MailQ Manual (94 pages, PDF)

Licence

licence.txt

MailQ is Copyright (C)  to M Shaw, 2013-2021

Freeware, closed source, no warranty is offered. Use at your own risk
MailQ may not be sold, resold or uploaded to any mass-distribution media without the author's express consent. No support is offered

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Limitations
  • The program is of alpha quality and must not be used on a live, public-facing mail environment without thorough testing
  • Not suitable for commercial use other than internal lab or IT use
  • There is no webmail service (see CGIPOP)
  • No remote password reset service for users although it might be possible to develop up a CGI application using Ticol Tcl
  • SSL/TLS is not supported but it may be possible to use an SSL wrapper
  • No IMAP support
  • No shared mailboxes (requires IMAP which is not implemented)
  • No data-deduplication
  • No Delivery Status Notifications (DSNs)
Screenshots

Some screenshots of MailQ with various mail clients etc.

More ...

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