In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Exim Mail Server on CentOS 6. For those of you who didn’t know, Exim Mail Server stands as a robust, flexible, and widely-used mail transfer agent (MTA) that can cater to a variety of email needs. With its extensive features and customization options, Exim is a top choice for system administrators seeking a reliable mail server solution.
This guide will walk you through the process of installing Exim on CentOS 6, a stable and secure Linux distribution favored for its robust performance in server environments. By following this step-by-step tutorial, you will be able to set up a fully functional mail server that is both secure and optimized for performance.
Prerequisites
- A server running one of the following operating systems: CentOS 6.
- It’s recommended that you use a fresh OS install to prevent any potential issues.
- SSH access to the server (or just open Terminal if you’re on a desktop).
- A
non-root sudo useror access to theroot user. We recommend acting as anon-root sudo user, however, as you can harm your system if you’re not careful when acting as the root.
Install Exim Mail Server on CentOS 6
Step 1. Update Your System.
Keeping your system updated is a critical first step in the installation process. This ensures that all software packages are up to date, providing you with the latest features and security patches. To update your CentOS 6 system, execute the following commands:
sudo yum update sudo yum upgrade
This command will update all the installed packages to their latest versions, providing you with a stable and secure foundation for your mail server.
Step 2. Installing Required Dependencies.
Exim has a set of dependencies that must be installed for it to function correctly. The Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux (EPEL) repository contains additional packages that are not included in the default CentOS repositories, including some that Exim requires. To install the EPEL repository, use the following command:
sudo yum install epel-release
Step 3. Installing Exim on CentOS 6..
To install Exim on your CentOS 6 system, you will need to download the Exim package from the EPEL repository. Execute the following command to install Exim:
sudo yum install exim
This command will retrieve and install the latest version of Exim available for CentOS 6. The installation process will handle all the necessary configurations to get Exim up and running with a basic setup.
Step 3. Disable Postfix (the default MTA).
By default, CentOS 6 comes with Postfix as the pre-installed MTA. To avoid conflicts with Exim, we need to disable Postfix. Run the following commands to stop and disable the Postfix service:
service postfix stop chkconfig postfix off
Step 4. Set Exim as the default MTA.
Next, we change the default Postfix MTA to Exim. Press “2” enter to select Exim:
# alternatives --config mta There are 2 programs which provide 'mta'. Selection Command ----------------------------------------------- *+ 1 /usr/sbin/sendmail.postfix 2 /usr/sbin/sendmail.exim Enter to keep the current selection[+], or type selection number: 2
Step 5. Start the Exim service.
chkconfig exim on service exim start
Step 6. Accessing Exim.
Now you are done with the Exim installation. Let’s verify if the MTA working as expected:
$ echo 'Hello, welcome to the jungle exim MTA' | mail -s 'Exim testing email' # tail -F /var/log/exim/mainlog
Congratulations! You have successfully installed Exim. Thanks for using this tutorial for installing Exim Mail Server on CentOS 6 systems. For additional help or useful information, we recommend you to check the official Exim website.
