ServerBuddies Support Blog

Switch from Qmail mail server to Postfix mail server on Parallels Plesk Panel

Run the parallels_installer binary file, which is located in the directory /usr/local/psa/admin/bin/ on RPM-based Linux, FreeBSD and Mac OS systems, and /opt/psa/admin/bin/ on deb-based Linux systems.

Read the instructions displayed on the screen, and then type ‘n’ and press ENTER to continue. The Parallels Products Installer will detect your existing installation of Parallels Plesk Panel and ask if you want to upgrade it.

To confirm upgrade, type ‘y’ and press ENTER.
Specify the source of Parallels Plesk Panel distribution package.

In the components list, specify the Postfix mail server by typing is number in the list and pressing ENTER.

The selected packages are marked with [*] symbols. The packages that are already installed and do not require updating are marked with [=]symbols. To select or deselect a package, type the respective number and press ENTER.

By default, the open relay option for the mail server is disabled in Parallels Plesk Panel.

It is not recommend to enabe this option because an open relay can make it possible for an unscrupulous senders to route large volumes of spam.

You can enable it by using the root.controls.lock file located in PRODUCT_DATA_D\var directory.

To enable open relay, follow these steps:

1. Open the root.controls.lock file.
2. Remove the /server/mail.php3:relay_open line and save the file.

More about MX Record

• An MX record or Mail exchanger record is a type of resource record in the Domain Name System (DNS) specifying how Internet e-mail should be routed using the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP).

• Each MX record contains a priority and a host name, so that the collection of MX records for a given domain name point to the servers that should receive e-mail for that domain, and their priority relative to each other.

• CNAME aliases are prohibited in an MX record data,

• The host name contained in an MX record must have an address, i.e. an A or AAAA DNS record.

• Some mailservers will send mail to domains with IP-based MX records, many (most notably Exim) will refuse to do so.

• The sending mail transfer agent makes a DNS query requesting the MX records.

• The sending agent then attempts to establish an SMTP connection to one of these servers, starting with the one with the smallest preference number.

• If there is more than one entry with the same preference number, all of those must be tried before moving on to lower-priority entries.

• One technique used to distribute the load of incoming mail over an array of servers is to return the same preference number for each server in the set.

• The MX mechanism does not grant the ability to provide mail service on alternative ports, nor does it provide the ability to distribute mail delivery across a set of equal-priority mail servers .

• The MX mechanism provides the ability to run multiple mail servers for a single domain, and allows the specification of an order in which they should be tried.