Initial Configuration¶

After installing Mailborder V6, you need to complete the initial configuration to integrate it with your mail infrastructure and begin protecting your email.

This guide walks through the essential first-time setup steps via the web interface.

Prerequisites¶

Before beginning initial configuration:

• [x] Mailborder V6 installed successfully
• [x] All services running (mb-status shows healthy)
• [x] Web interface accessible via HTTPS
• [x] Administrator account created
• [x] Internal mail server details available

Step 1: First Login¶

Access the Web Interface¶

Open your web browser and navigate to:

https://YOUR-SERVER-IP/

Or if you've configured DNS:

https://mailborder.example.com/

Log In¶

Enter the administrator credentials you created during setup:

• Email: admin@example.com (or your chosen email)
• Password: (as set during mb-setup)

Click Sign In.

Optional: Trust This Browser¶

For convenience, you can check "Remember me on this device" to avoid entering credentials on every login. This sets a secure long-term cookie.

Step 2: Dashboard Overview¶

After login, you'll see the Mailborder dashboard.

Dashboard Sections¶

System Health - Service status indicators - Resource usage (CPU, RAM, disk) - Alert notifications

Email Statistics (24 hours) - Messages processed - Spam blocked - Viruses caught - Clean delivered

Recent Activity - Latest email transactions - Policy actions taken - System events

Quick Actions - View quarantine - Adjust spam settings - Review logs - System settings

Take a moment to familiarize yourself with the interface layout. The main navigation is accessible via the menu icon (☰) in the top-left.

Step 3: System Settings - Essential Configuration¶

Navigate to System Settings via the main menu.

General Settings¶

System Name - Set a friendly name for this Mailborder server - Example: "Mailborder - Main Office" - Used in email headers and log identification

Administrator Email - Email address for system notifications - Should be delivered reliably (not through this Mailborder if possible) - Used for system alerts, update notifications, errors

Timezone - Set your local timezone - Affects log timestamps and scheduled tasks - Example: "America/New_York"

Language - Interface language (default: English) - 56 languages available - Users can override with personal preference

Email Relay Configuration¶

This is the most critical initial configuration step.

Relay Host (Smart Host) - The mail server where Mailborder delivers clean email - Your internal Exchange, Zimbra, Postfix, etc. - Format: mail.example.com or IP address 192.168.1.10

Relay Port - Usually 25 (SMTP) - May be 587 (Submission) if your server requires it - Check with your mail server administrator

Relay Authentication (if required) - Some mail servers require authentication - Enter username and password if needed - Most internal mail servers don't require this

Example Configuration:

For on-premises Exchange:

Relay Host: mail.company.local
Relay Port: 25
Authentication: Not required

For Office 365 (if using Mailborder as outbound gateway):

Relay Host: company-com.mail.protection.outlook.com
Relay Port: 25
Authentication: Not required (IP-based)

For cPanel/WHM server:

Relay Host: 192.168.1.50
Relay Port: 25
Authentication: Not required

Test the Relay

After configuring, click Test Connection to verify Mailborder can reach your mail server.

Expected result:

✓ Connection successful
✓ SMTP greeting received
✓ Relay accepts mail from Mailborder

Accepted Domains¶

Configure which domains Mailborder handles:

Add Domain - Click Add Domain - Enter: example.com - Set type: Local (delivered to relay) or Relay (forward unchanged)

For most deployments: - Add your primary domain(s) as "Local" - Example: company.com, company.net

Mailborder will accept email for these domains and deliver to your relay host.

Reject Unknown Domains - Enable this option to reject email for domains not in your list - Prevents your server from being an open relay - Recommended: Enabled

Network Settings¶

Hostname - Your server's FQDN - Should match your PTR (reverse DNS) record - Example: mailborder.company.com

Listen Addresses - IP addresses to accept SMTP connections on - Default: 0.0.0.0 (all interfaces) - For security, can restrict to specific IPs

Trusted Networks - IP addresses/ranges to skip some checks - Your internal mail server should be listed - Example: 192.168.1.0/24, 10.0.0.0/8

Click Save Changes to apply network settings.

Step 4: Spam Filter Configuration¶

Navigate to Email Security → Spam Filtering.

Spam Score Thresholds¶

Mailborder uses a scoring system where higher scores indicate more spam-like characteristics.

Default Thresholds: - Pass: Score < 5.0 (deliver normally) - Greylist: Score 5.0-7.0 (temporary reject, legitimate senders retry) - Quarantine: Score 7.0-15.0 (hold for review) - Reject: Score > 15.0 (block completely)

Recommended Initial Settings¶

For the first week, use these conservative settings to avoid blocking legitimate email:

• Pass: < 6.0
• Quarantine: 6.0-20.0
• Reject: > 20.0
• Greylist: Disabled initially

After a week of monitoring, enable greylisting and lower thresholds as needed.

Spam Filter Engines¶

Enable/disable scanning engines:

Rspamd (Recommended: Enabled) - Primary spam engine - Machine learning and statistical analysis - Most accurate, lowest false positives

SpamAssassin (Optional) - Traditional rule-based filtering - Can run alongside Rspamd for additional coverage - More CPU intensive

RBL Checks (Recommended: Enabled) - Real-time blacklist queries - Check sender IP against known spam sources - Fast and effective

SPF/DKIM/DMARC (Recommended: Enabled) - Sender authentication validation - Catch spoofed/forged emails - Important for security

Click Save Spam Settings.

Step 5: Virus Scanning Configuration¶

Navigate to Email Security → Antivirus.

ClamAV Configuration¶

Enable Virus Scanning (Recommended: Enabled) - Real-time virus detection - Scans all attachments - Low performance impact

Virus Actions - Quarantine (Recommended): Hold viruses for review - Reject: Block at SMTP level - Delete: Silently discard

Scan Archives (Recommended: Enabled) - Scan ZIP, RAR, 7z, etc. - Recursive scanning (archives within archives) - Maximum recursion depth: 15

Scan Office Documents (Recommended: Enabled) - Scan Word, Excel, PowerPoint - Detect macro viruses - PDF scanning

Dangerous File Types¶

Block file types that are commonly malicious:

Default Blocked Extensions: - Executables: .exe, .com, .scr, .bat, .cmd, .pif - Scripts: .vbs, .js, .wsf, .wsh - Others: .hta, .reg, .msi

You can add additional extensions or remove entries if needed.

Click Save Antivirus Settings.

Step 6: Quarantine Configuration¶

Navigate to Email Security → Quarantine.

Quarantine Settings¶

Retention Period - How long to keep quarantined emails - Default: 14 days - Recommended: 7-30 days depending on volume

Auto-Delete - Automatically delete quarantined emails after retention period - Recommended: Enabled

User Access - Allow users to view their own quarantine via self-service portal - Recommended: Enabled (once portal is configured)

Quarantine Notifications¶

Daily Digest - Send users a daily summary of their quarantined emails - They can release or delete from the email - Recommended: Enabled

Digest Schedule - Time to send daily digest - Recommended: Early morning (e.g., 6:00 AM) - Users review before starting their workday

Immediate Notification - Notify users immediately when email is quarantined - Can be noisy in high-spam environments - Recommended: Disabled initially, enable if users request

Click Save Quarantine Settings.

Step 7: Authentication and Security¶

Navigate to System Settings → Security.

Password Policy¶

Minimum Password Length: 12 characters (recommended)

Require Complexity: Enabled - Uppercase, lowercase, number, special character

Password Expiration: 90 days (optional)

Failed Login Lockout: 5 attempts (recommended)

Two-Factor Authentication¶

Require 2FA for Administrators: Recommended after setup complete

Session Settings¶

Session Timeout: 30 minutes of inactivity

Maximum Session Duration: 8 hours

Trusted Device Duration: 30 days

These defaults are secure for most environments.

Click Save Security Settings.

Step 8: Logging Configuration¶

Navigate to System Settings → Logging.

Log Levels¶

For initial setup, use these levels:

Email Processing: Info - Logs all email transactions - Who sent, who received, what action taken

Service Logs: Info - Service start/stop, errors

Debug Logging: Disabled - Only enable when troubleshooting - Generates very large logs

Log Retention¶

Email Logs: 90 days (recommended) - Useful for compliance, troubleshooting

System Logs: 30 days

Authentication Logs: 180 days - May be required for compliance

External Syslog¶

If you use a centralized logging system (Splunk, ELK, etc.), configure syslog forwarding:

Syslog Server: syslog.company.com Port: 514 (UDP) or 6514 (TCP with TLS) Protocol: TLS recommended for security

Click Save Logging Settings.

Step 9: Test Email Flow¶

Before going live, verify email flows correctly through Mailborder.

Internal Test Email¶

From your workstation, send a test email:

To: testuser@yourdomain.com (an address on your internal mail server) From: Your email address Subject: Mailborder Test 1 Body: Simple text message

Expected Results:

1. Mailborder receives the email
2. Scans for spam/viruses
3. Delivers to relay host (your mail server)
4. You receive the email in your mailbox

Verify in Mailborder Logs:

Navigate to Monitoring → Email Logs

You should see: - Status: Delivered - Spam Score: Low number (< 2.0) - Virus: Clean - Action: Delivered to relay

Spam Test Email¶

Send another test with spam-like characteristics:

To: testuser@yourdomain.com Subject: BUY V1AGRA NOW!!! CHEAP PRICES!!! Body: Click here to claim your prize! Act now!!!

Expected Results:

1. Mailborder receives email
2. Spam score is high (>7.0)
3. Email is quarantined

Verify:

Navigate to Email Security → Quarantine

You should see the test email with a high spam score.

EICAR Virus Test¶

Test virus detection with the EICAR test file:

Send an email with this exact text as an attachment (name it test.txt):

X5O!P%@AP[4\PZX54(P^)7CC)7}$EICAR-STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE!$H+H*

Expected Results:

1. Mailborder scans attachment
2. ClamAV detects EICAR test signature
3. Email is quarantined or rejected

Verify:

Check quarantine or email logs for: - Virus: Eicar-Test-Signature - Action: Quarantined

Outbound Test (If Applicable)¶

If Mailborder handles outbound email:

From: Your internal mail client To: Your personal email (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) Subject: Mailborder Outbound Test

Verify: - Email is delivered - SPF/DKIM pass (check headers) - Not marked as spam

Step 10: Review and Tune¶

After testing, review the results:

Check False Positives¶

Did any legitimate email get quarantined?

• Review spam scores
• Adjust thresholds if needed
• Add sender to whitelist if recurring

Check False Negatives¶

Did any obvious spam pass through?

• Review why (low spam score)
• Enable additional scanning engines
• Add keywords/patterns to block list

Performance Check¶

Navigate to System → Performance

Verify: - CPU usage < 50% average - RAM usage < 70% - Disk space adequate - Email processing time < 2 seconds average

If performance is poor, see Performance Tuning.

Common Initial Configuration Issues¶

Issue: Test Email Not Delivered¶

Symptoms: Email accepted by Mailborder but never arrives at destination

Diagnosis:

# Check mail queue
mailq

# Check Postfix logs
tail -f /var/log/mailborder/postfix.log

Common Causes: - Incorrect relay host configuration - Firewall blocking connection to relay - Relay server rejecting email from Mailborder IP

Solution: Verify relay host settings, test connectivity:

telnet your-mail-server.com 25

Issue: All Email Marked as Spam¶

Symptoms: Every email has high spam score

Cause: Often DNS issues (can't resolve RBLs) or Rspamd misconfiguration

Solution:

# Test DNS resolution
dig gmail.com +short

# Check Rspamd status
rspamc stat

# Review Rspamd logs
journalctl -u rspamd -n 50

Issue: Web Interface Slow¶

Symptoms: Pages take >5 seconds to load

Common Causes: - Redis not running - PHP-FPM misconfigured - Database performance

Solution:

# Check Redis
systemctl status redis

# Check PHP-FPM
systemctl status php8.1-fpm

# Check database
mysql -e "SHOW PROCESSLIST;"

Issue: Services Keep Restarting¶

Symptoms: mb-status shows services cycling

Cause: Resource limits, configuration errors, or dependency issues

Solution:

# Check service logs
journalctl -u mb-rpcd -u mb-filter -n 100

# Check system resources
free -h
df -h

# Verify configuration
mb-config --check

Next Steps¶

After completing initial configuration:

1. Go Live (when ready)
2. Update MX records to point to Mailborder
3. Or configure mail server to relay through Mailborder

4. See Quick Start Guide

5. User Training

6. Train users on quarantine access
7. Explain spam filtering policies

8. Provide support contact

9. Ongoing Management

10. Monitor email flow daily for first week
11. Review quarantine regularly
12. Adjust spam thresholds based on feedback

13. See Routine Maintenance

14. Advanced Configuration

15. Custom Policies
16. GeoIP Filtering

17. High Availability

18. Enable 2FA (Recommended)

19. Set Up 2FA for Your Account
20. Enable mandatory 2FA for all admins
21. Consider passkey authentication