The qmail Handbook [Paperback]

Dave Sill (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 19, 2001

qmail is used by hundreds of ISPs and thousands of other sites, including Hotmail since 1997, which has over 30 million users. qmail is popular because of its security, reliability, speed, low memory use, user-controlled mailing lists, straightforward administration, and much more! "An Introduction to qmail" is designed to guide system and mail administrators of all levels of experience through the installation, configuration, and maintenance of a qmail server. Dave Sill's background as a long-time qmail user, system administrator, and technical support agent gives hm the ability to address a wide audience. He also wrote "Life with qmail", a qmail guide published on the Web. See http://www.lifewithqmail.org. Sill's book guides the reader through every step of the process in setting up and running a qmail server. Assistance is provided for making the various decisions that must be made throughout the process. Advanced topics such as mailing list managers, controlling spam, mailbox services, secure networking, troubleshooting, and performance tuning, are also covered. Sill also discusses qmail's features, history, and competition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dave Sill is a professional system administrator and technical support engineer with more than 15 years of experience. He's been using qmail since its first public release in 1996, and he's the author of the popular online qmail guide titled "Life with qmail". He's also an active contributor to online qmail support groups, including the qmail mailing list and Usenet newsgroup.

Product Details

• Paperback: 520 pages
• Publisher: Apress; 1st ed. 2001. Corr. 2nd printing edition (October 19, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1893115402
• ISBN-13: 978-1893115408
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #914,809 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Need to setup qmail? Start here., January 15, 2002

By 

Kip Perkins (Mt Juliet, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The qmail Handbook (Paperback)

This book is exactly what it say it is, a qmail handbook.


Using this book, I was able to setup qmail and get it running without a hitch. I loved the layout of the book. Basically Sill gets right down to the task of why you bought the book- installing qmail. You can read "ahead" on the chapters and then walk through or you can simply walk through the book following the chapters and install qmail. The Appendices at the end where great. I personally suggest reading through these BEFORE you start the 1st chapter, but that is my own prefference.

The Appendices cover topics like "How qmail works", "qmail features", "Gotchas", etc. However, they are appendices so you can read them if you want to. Unlike the Sendmail bat book, where you have to wade through understanding internet mail and such, these are at the end in Sills book. It is a matter of prefference, but I would still recommend you read them (Especially the part on how qmail works!!!).


If you are new to qmail, and need to setup a server without straining you eyes on a computer screen, this is the book you need. It covers using qmail as your imap/pop server, as a external mail relay (a must for keeping your internal Exchange server secure), mailing lists, anti-spam, webmail, and many more features. This is really the only book you need if you are running qmail.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good solid book. Everything you need to install and admin., November 12, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The qmail Handbook (Paperback)

I had 2 days to get a proper Unix-style mail system up and running at work-- even though I had never done anything in Linux past clicking next-next-next in a Red Hat install. This book not only made it easy to install and administer qmail, it actually made me a fan of the qmail software. I've never worked with anything that made so much sense. I am a Windows programmer.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great starter book for anyone, July 5, 2004

By 

Mitz (Vancouver, BC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The qmail Handbook (Paperback)

Dave Sill did an excellent job of showing how to setup email server. If you know some Linux commands, you'll have no problem setup your first Linux email server. I personally prefer Dave's Qmail handbook to John Levine's Qmail (I got as well). Levine's Qmail is an great second book.

Best Linux book I ever bought!