Hi, i just got started with linode (ubuntu/nginx), and i'm running a forum with xenforo. one of the first things i've noticed is that my email isn't being sent for forgotten password requests, new topic notifications, etc.

my question is: do i NEED to install an email server on my vps for this to work? i thought i could just use sendmail, but even though i have the sendmail location specified in my php.ini, emails are failing to be sent.

i don't have a need for an email like me@mydomain.com, i just need to be able to send out forgotten password requests and other notification emails.

thanks for any help you can give!

Yep you need something that can speak SMTP to talk to the recipients email server, I suggest postfix and firewall off Port 25 so you can't receive email.

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The default sendmail configuration will also work, as it's designed for a desktop box that only does outgoing mail. (There are comments in the sendmail.mc config file for how to enable receiving mail.) But you do need to enable the daemon so that it will listen for mail connections from local processes: "chkconfig sendmail on". (That turns it on when the system boots.) "service sendmail start" will start the service immediately.

hmm i started following the documentation for installing postfix, and i'm about 90% there, (working on an issue with outgoing mail) but i noticed that running apt-get install sendmail, wants to remove postfix, but i don't want to lose all my work, so i'm going to try and finish that.

That's reasonable. I'm used to sendmail but I know plenty of people prefer postfix. Use what works.

My comment is more for those who discover this thread, looking for a similar situation, and already have sendmail installed.