Archive Email With Postfix

It took 4 steps:

1. Create an archive email account (which can be in the same domain)
2. Create a bcc map file
3. Edit postfix’s mail.cf file
4. Reload postfix
5. Test

Setting up the archive

Setup a email account just for the archive – it can be in the same domain (because postfix won’t loop bcc’ing to itself) or a different domain. I recommend ‘archive’ followed some random numbers. You don’t want the dictionary attackers to find your archive and spam them. Make the password non-obvious and see warning below about sharing it with staff.

Create bcc map

1 2 3

cd /etc/postfix echo "@your-domain.com" "archive12345@your-domain.com" > bcc_map postmap bcc_map

If you want to archive an additional domain edit bcc_map and add another similarly patterned line. Note if you just wanted to archive one person’s email you could use a line like: bob@example.com archive12345@your-domain.com

Edit main.cf

Add these lines to /etc/postfix/mail.cf

1 2	sender_bcc_maps = hash:/etc/postfix/bcc_maps recipient_bcc_maps = hash:/etc/postfix/bcc_maps

Reload

1	# /etc/init.d/postfix reload

Test

Send an email to the domain or email address you’re trying to archive. To read that email and reply back. Now you should be able to find 2 emails (minimum) in the archive12345 inbox.

Warning

Now that the archive is working, change the archive email password. Use a long random password on the archive’s acount and don/t record it or remember it.

If any staff asks to see the archive by having access to the archive via IMAP, beware. Anyone using IMAP can (and will by accident) delete archive emails.

When there is a real need to read an archive or search it, the best thing would be to allow access to a clone of the archive with IMAP access, then destroy the copy (so the client doesn’t get in the habit of using it like a regular email account).

ngoài ra chúng ta có thể tạo BCC bằng cách:
always_bcc = <users-email-address>
hai cách khác nhau chổ nào thì trải nhiệm mới biết :D