SquirrelMail 1.4.6 on RedHat Linux 9
Part 3 - Testing SquirrelMail

Written by Tony Bhimani
April 1, 2006

Requirements
RedHat Linux
Apache HTTPD
IMAP Server
PHP with IMAP
SquirrelMail 1.4.6

Our SquirrelMail installation is all configured and ready to be tested. For this part we'll log in to SquirrelMail, set up our profile, send ourselves a test message, and then send a message to an email address not handled by our server.

Open up your favorite browser and go to your webmail site. I used an IP address for my webmail access but you should have used a real URL like http://webmail.yourdomain.com.

Enter your system username and password and login into SquirrelMail. Once you've logged in you'll be in your Inbox.

You'll want to update your profile by setting your full name, email address, and reply-to address. Click the Options link on top.

The are several options to choose from but select Personal Information. Enter your Name, Email Address, Reply-To Address, and save your changes. Go back to your Inbox.

In my Dovecot tutorial I sent myself a test message confirming a successful installation. I originally viewed that message through Outlook Express and now I can do the same from SquirrelMail.

Now we'll send a message to ourselves from SquirrelMail to verify that our SMTP Server settings work. Click the Compose link on top. In the To field put in your email address, enter a subject, and put something in the body. When you're done click the Send button. Once the message is sent, SquirrelMail will place you back in your Inbox. Click the Check mail link in the upper left and if everything worked you should see a new message in your Inbox.

Take a look at your message. If you updated your personal settings then it should say it's from your name and email address and received by your address.

Now we know local mail works. The real test is to see if a message can be sent to an external domain. Compose a new message and if you have a Hotmail, Yahoo, or Gmail account, send it there. I sent a test to my Yahoo account and it was successfully received.

<Rant>
I should mention I originally sent two tests to my Hotmail account and I never got them. I checked /var/log/maillog and the messages were sent and received by mx1.hotmail.com. I've had my Hotmail account almost since it started and ever since Microsoft took over it's been one problem after another. I once had a two week span of never receiving any mail and now the 90% of mail I do get is spam. Hotmail sucks.
</Rant>

Try sending a message to your domain address from your free Hotmail, Yahoo, or Gmail account if you have one. If you receive it then your SquirrelMail setup is working perfectly.

You're done! You now have webmail for your domain. If you have any questions about this guide then please post them to the forum.

How would you rate the usefulness of this content? Poor 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Outstanding Optional: Tell us why you rated the content this way. Characters remaining: 1024

Average rating: 7.17 out of 9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 6 people have rated this content.