Bakup MTA with Zimbra Open Source

[jwriteclub]

Hello all,

I believe that I have my installation troubles figured out, but I want to check before I break something.

The Setup:

I have Zimbra installed, via the 'simple' installation instructions, on a machine at domain.com.

In addition, mail.anotherdomain.com and the MX record at anotherdomain.com point to domain.com

anotherdomain.com is the domain for which the mail service is set up.

The Plan:

What I'd like is a backup mail server.

I plan to install just the MTA on domain2.com.

Then, update the DNS records for anotherdomain.com to point to domain.com 1st and domain2.com second.

The Reason:

I'd like to continue to receive mail, even if the main server at domain.com goes down. I understand that mailboxes would not be available unless and until domain.com went back up, but, if I understand correctly: if mail cannot be delivered to domain.com, then it will be delivered to domain2.com, which will hold onto it until domain.com is restored.

The Question:

Will this work (the way I want it to?). Is there a better way? Can the secondary mail server (domain2.com) run apache if it is only running the MTA service?

Thanks for bothering with me.

~ Christopher

[Krishopper]

I would install the MTA and LDAP directories on the 2nd server - that way if server #1 goes down, server #2 can still do directory lookups and accept/reject mail appropriately as it comes in.

I'm not sure about running Apache on port 80 on the 2nd server if you do not install the mailbox server. I don't see why that wouldn't work.


server1:
- mta
- ldap
- mailbox
- (everything)
server2:
- mta
- ldap

have 2 MX records, the first chocie being server1, the 2nd choice being server2, and everything should be happy.

[jwriteclub]

So on LDAP on server number 2, the setup would be as follows:

Status: Disabled
Create Domain: No
Domain to Create: *blank*
Root Password: *From root*
Replication Password: *From root*
Postfix Password: *From root*
Amavis Password: *From root*


Can someone confirm this is the correct setting?

In addition, where can I find the values on the root. I assume they are in a config file somewhere?

~ Christopher

[phoenix]

The easiest method of getting a backup mail server is to use a DNS hosting company that provides this server, if your mail server goes down they will collect (and try to deliver) the mail for up to five days. One such company is easydns.com, there are other that provide the same service hif you google you'll find them.