docs: add paragraph on how to migrate your local repository to the server

remove mentions of the build machine / deployment server separation

.github/workflows/ci.yaml

@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ jobs:
           ref: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.sha }}
           persist-credentials: false
       - name: download filtermail
-        run: curl -L https://github.com/chatmail/filtermail/releases/download/v0.7.4/filtermail-x86_64 -o /usr/local/bin/filtermail && chmod +x /usr/local/bin/filtermail
+        run: curl -L https://github.com/chatmail/filtermail/releases/download/v0.7.0/filtermail-x86_64 -o /usr/local/bin/filtermail && chmod +x /usr/local/bin/filtermail
       - name: run chatmaild tests 
         working-directory: chatmaild
         run: pipx run tox

.github/workflows/docs-preview.yaml

@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ jobs:
           mkdir -p "$HOME/.ssh"
           echo "${{ secrets.CHATMAIL_STAGING_SSHKEY }}" > "$HOME/.ssh/key"
           chmod 600 "$HOME/.ssh/key"
-          rsync -rILvh -e "ssh -i $HOME/.ssh/key -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no" $GITHUB_WORKSPACE/doc/build/ "${{ secrets.USERNAME }}@chatmail.at:${STEPS_PREPARE_OUTPUTS_PRID}/"
+          rsync -rILvh -e "ssh -i $HOME/.ssh/key -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no" $GITHUB_WORKSPACE/doc/build/ "${{ secrets.USERNAME }}@chatmail.at:/var/www/html/staging.chatmail.at/doc/relay/${STEPS_PREPARE_OUTPUTS_PRID}/"
         env:
           STEPS_PREPARE_OUTPUTS_PRID: ${{ steps.prepare.outputs.prid }}
 

.github/workflows/docs.yaml

@@ -47,5 +47,5 @@ jobs:
           mkdir -p "$HOME/.ssh"
           echo "${{ secrets.CHATMAIL_STAGING_SSHKEY }}" > "$HOME/.ssh/key"
           chmod 600 "$HOME/.ssh/key"
-          rsync -rILvh -e "ssh -i $HOME/.ssh/key -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no" $GITHUB_WORKSPACE/doc/build/ "${{ secrets.USERNAME }}@chatmail.at:"
+          rsync -rILvh -e "ssh -i $HOME/.ssh/key -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no" $GITHUB_WORKSPACE/doc/build/ "${{ secrets.USERNAME }}@chatmail.at:/var/www/html/chatmail.at/doc/relay/"
 

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -1,60 +1,5 @@
 # Changelog for chatmail deployment
 
-## [1.12.0] - 2026-07-31
-
-### Breaking Changes
-
-- [**breaking**] Introduce configurable system limits to reject new address creation and limit imap/smtp connections.
-  Dovecot default connection limit lowered from 50k to 10k,
-  Postfix default connection limit lowered from 5k to 1k,
-  larger relays need to adjust their settings.
-
-### Features
-
-- Reduce maximal_queue_lifetime from 5d to 2d
-- Disable negative cache in unbound (#992)
-- *(mtail)* Add incoming_mailer_daemon_mail_count
-- *(postfix)* Disable processing of MIME headers
-- *(dovecot)* Advertise privacy_mail as admin contact, drop server comment
-
-### Bug Fixes
-
-- Set relay restrictions per smtpd service with default reject
-- Reduce maxproc for filtermail-transport LMTP client to 500
-- Core 2.50.0 does not have delete_server_after config anymore.
-- Check if all required ports are available for filtermail (#983)
-- Always deploy unbound.conf.d/chatmail.conf (#993)
-- Expire empty directories (#994)
-- Crypt-r dependency was declared for wrong Python version
-- Always overwrite /etc/resolv.conf, even if it is a symbolic link
-- Pass kwargs to files.put()
-- List Iroh proxy endpoints used by 0.35 and 1.0, drop stale /relay/probe from earlier versions
-- Fix port discovery when ss -tulpn shows dovecot before stats
-
-### Documentation
-
-- Add scripts/initenv.sh to upgrade instructions
-- Update overview diagrams (#995)
-- *(overview)* Remove mermaid styles from 'Accepting and delivering mail' (#1009)
-- *(README.md)* Clarify security enforcement (#1011)
-
-### Miscellaneous Tasks
-
-- *(ci)* Auto-trigger docker build on release tag push
-- *(acmetool)* Update let's encrypt ToS link to 1.8
-- *(ci)* Update doc staging upload path
-- *(ci)* Fix docs upload path
-
-### Refactor
-
-- *(postfix)* Remove unused "filter" lmtp service
-- Install dns-root-data instead of using unbound-anchor
-- *(deps)* Remove domain-validator dependency
-
-### Testing
-
-- Set socket security for IMAP and SMTP to "TLS" in "dclogin"
-
 ## [1.11.0] - 2026-05-15
 
 ### Breaking Changes

README.md

@@ -1,24 +1,19 @@
 
 # Chatmail relays for end-to-end encrypted email
 
-Chatmail relay servers are interoperable Mail Transport Agents (MTAs) designed for:
+Chatmail relay servers are interoperable Mail Transport Agents (MTAs) designed for: 
 
 -  **Zero State:** no private data or metadata collected, messages are auto-deleted, low disk usage
 
 -  **Instant/Realtime:** sub-second message delivery, realtime P2P
    streaming, privacy-preserving Push Notifications for Apple, Google, and Huawei;
 
--  **Security Enforcement**: Only connections with strict TLS are accepted;
-   all messages must be correctly signed with DKIM and OpenPGP-encrypted with minimized metadata.
-   There are experimental exceptions for no-DNS relays,
-   which are allowed use self-signed TLS certificates
-   and which do not need to DKIM-sign their messages.
-   Unencrypted messages are allowed in neither case.
+-  **Security Enforcement**: only strict TLS, DKIM and OpenPGP with minimized metadata accepted
 
 -  **Reliable Federation and Decentralization:** No spam or IP reputation checks, federating
    depends on established IETF standards and protocols.
 
-This repository contains everything needed to setup a ready-to-use chatmail relay on an ssh-reachable host.
+This repository contains everything needed to setup a ready-to-use chatmail relay on an ssh-reachable host. 
 For getting started and more information please refer to the web version of this repositories' documentation at
 
 [https://chatmail.at/doc/relay](https://chatmail.at/doc/relay)

RELEASE.md

@@ -1,13 +1,15 @@
 # Releasing a new version of chatmail relay
 
-For example, to release version 1.13.0 of chatmail relay, do the following steps.
+For example, to release version 1.9.0 of chatmail relay, do the following steps.
 
-1. Update the changelog: `git cliff --unreleased --tag 1.13.0 --prepend CHANGELOG.md` or `git cliff -u -t 1.13.0 -p CHANGELOG.md`.
+1. Update the changelog: `git cliff --unreleased --tag 1.9.0 --prepend CHANGELOG.md` or `git cliff -u -t 1.9.0 -p CHANGELOG.md`.
 
 2. Open the changelog in the editor, edit it if required.
 
 3. Commit the changes to the changelog with a commit message `chore(release): prepare for 1.9.0`.
 
-4. Open a PR with the new commit, merge it to main after review.
+3. Tag the release: `git tag --annotate 1.9.0`.
 
-5. In the web interface, create a GitHub release, tell it to create a new tag.
+4. Push the release tag: `git push origin 1.9.0`.
+
+5. Create a GitHub release: `gh release create 1.9.0`.

chatmaild/pyproject.toml

@@ -8,9 +8,9 @@ version = "0.3"
 dependencies = [
   "iniconfig",
   "filelock",
-  "psutil",
   "requests",
-  "crypt-r >= 3.13.1 ; python_version >= '3.13'",
+  "crypt-r >= 3.13.1 ; python_version >= '3.11'",
+  "domain-validator",
 ]
 
 [tool.setuptools]

chatmaild/src/chatmaild/config.py

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import ipaddress
 from pathlib import Path
 
 import iniconfig
+from domain_validator import DomainValidator
 
 from chatmaild.user import User
 
@@ -18,12 +19,14 @@ class Config:
         params = dict(params)
         raw_domain = params.pop("mail_domain")
         self.mail_domain_bare = raw_domain
+        self.ssh_host = params.pop("ssh_host", raw_domain)
 
         if is_valid_ipv4(raw_domain):
             self.ipv4_relay = raw_domain
             self.mail_domain = f"[{raw_domain}]"
             self.postfix_myhostname = ipaddress.IPv4Address(raw_domain).reverse_pointer
         else:
+            DomainValidator().validate_domain_re(raw_domain)
             self.ipv4_relay = None
             self.mail_domain = raw_domain
             self.postfix_myhostname = raw_domain
@@ -75,16 +78,6 @@ class Config:
         self.privacy_pdo = params.pop("privacy_pdo", None)
         self.privacy_supervisor = params.pop("privacy_supervisor", None)
 
-        self.max_load_1m = float(params.pop("max_load_1m", 5))
-        self.min_available_memory_mb = parse_size_mb(
-            params.pop("min_available_memory", "200M")
-        )
-        self.min_free_disk_space_mb = parse_size_mb(
-            params.pop("min_free_disk_space", "1G")
-        )
-        self.max_imap_connections = int(params.pop("max_imap_connections", 10000))
-        self.max_smtp_connections = int(params.pop("max_smtp_connections", 1000))
-
         # TLS certificate management.
         # If tls_external_cert_and_key is set, use externally managed certs.
         # Otherwise derived from the domain name:

chatmaild/src/chatmaild/doveauth.py

@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ except ImportError:
 from .config import Config, read_config
 from .dictproxy import DictProxy
 from .migrate_db import migrate_from_db_to_maildir
-from .syslimits import has_sufficient_resources
 
 NOCREATE_FILE = "/etc/chatmail-nocreate"
 VALID_LOCALPART_RE = re.compile(r"^[a-z0-9._-]+$")
@@ -148,8 +147,6 @@ class AuthDictProxy(DictProxy):
             return userdata
         if not is_allowed_to_create(self.config, addr, cleartext_password):
             return
-        if not has_sufficient_resources(self.config):
-            return
 
         lock = filelock.FileLock(str(user.password_path) + ".lock", timeout=5)
         with lock:

chatmaild/src/chatmaild/ini/chatmail.ini.f

@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@
 # mail domain (MUST be set to fully qualified chat mail domain)
 mail_domain = {mail_domain}
 
+# Where to deploy the relay - if unspecified, mail_domain will be used.
+ssh_host = localhost
+
 #
 # If you only do private test deploys, you don't need to modify any settings below
 #
@@ -42,33 +45,6 @@ mail_domain = {mail_domain}
 # minimum length a password must have
 #password_min_length = 9
 
-#
-# System resource limits
-#
-
-# The following three limits refuse creation of new addresses
-# while existing addresses keep working.
-# Rejections are logged by the doveauth service.
-
-# Maximum 1-minute load average, as reported by "uptime";
-# it counts processes waiting for disk I/O as well as for CPU.
-#max_load_1m = 5
-
-# Minimum memory available without swapping.
-#min_available_memory = 200M
-
-# Minimum free disk space on the file system holding the mailboxes.
-#min_free_disk_space = 1G
-
-# Maximum number of concurrent IMAP connections
-# (the Dovecot imap process limit).
-#max_imap_connections = 10000
-
-# Maximum number of concurrent SMTP connections
-# on each of the submission and smtps ports (the Postfix process limit).
-# A single client IP may use up to a fifth of this.
-#max_smtp_connections = 1000
-
 # Use externally managed TLS certificates instead of built-in acmetool.
 # Paths refer to files on the deployment server (not the build machine).
 # Both files must already exist before running cmdeploy.

chatmaild/src/chatmaild/syslimits.py

@@ -1,32 +0,0 @@
-"""Detect whether the system is at its limits."""
-
-import logging
-
-import psutil
-
-MB = 1024 * 1024
-
-
-def read_value(getter):
-    try:
-        return getter()
-    except Exception as e:
-        logging.warning("ignoring unreadable system limit: %s", e)
-        return None
-
-
-def has_sufficient_resources(config):
-    """Return False if load, memory or disk exceeds a configured limit."""
-    load = read_value(lambda: psutil.getloadavg()[0])
-    mem = read_value(lambda: psutil.virtual_memory().available // MB)
-    disk = read_value(lambda: psutil.disk_usage(str(config.mailboxes_dir)).free // MB)
-    if load is not None and load > config.max_load_1m:
-        msg = f"load avg {load:.2f} > {config.max_load_1m:.2f}"
-    elif mem is not None and mem < config.min_available_memory_mb:
-        msg = f"available memory {mem}MB < {config.min_available_memory_mb}MB"
-    elif disk is not None and disk < config.min_free_disk_space_mb:
-        msg = f"free disk {disk}MB < {config.min_free_disk_space_mb}MB"
-    else:
-        return True
-    logging.warning("registration rejected: %s", msg)
-    return False

chatmaild/src/chatmaild/tests/plugin.py

@@ -20,10 +20,6 @@ def make_config(tmp_path):
         basedir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
         overrides = settings.copy() if settings else {}
         overrides["mailboxes_dir"] = str(basedir)
-        # permissive resource limits so tests never depend on host load/memory/disk
-        overrides.setdefault("max_load_1m", "99999")
-        overrides.setdefault("min_available_memory", "0")
-        overrides.setdefault("min_free_disk_space", "0")
         write_initial_config(inipath, mail_domain, overrides=overrides)
         return read_config(inipath)
 

chatmaild/src/chatmaild/tests/test_config.py

@@ -45,8 +45,6 @@ def test_read_config_basic_using_defaults(tmp_path, maildomain):
     assert example_config.username_min_length == 9
     assert example_config.username_max_length == 9
     assert example_config.password_min_length == 9
-    assert example_config.max_imap_connections == 10000
-    assert example_config.max_smtp_connections == 1000
     assert example_config._unused_keys == []
 
 

chatmaild/src/chatmaild/tests/test_doveauth.py

@@ -202,17 +202,3 @@ def test_50_concurrent_lookups_different_accounts(gencreds, dictproxy):
         res = results.get()
         if res is not None:
             pytest.fail(f"concurrent lookup failed\n{res}")
-
-
-def test_insufficient_resources_block_creation_not_existing_logins(
-    dictproxy, gencreds, monkeypatch
-):
-    addr, password = gencreds()
-    assert dictproxy.lookup_passdb(addr, password)
-
-    monkeypatch.setattr(
-        chatmaild.doveauth, "has_sufficient_resources", lambda config: False
-    )
-    newaddr, newpassword = gencreds()
-    assert not dictproxy.lookup_passdb(newaddr, newpassword)
-    assert dictproxy.lookup_passdb(addr, password)

chatmaild/src/chatmaild/tests/test_syslimits.py

@@ -1,45 +0,0 @@
-import shutil
-
-import psutil
-
-from chatmaild.syslimits import has_sufficient_resources
-
-PERMISSIVE = {
-    "max_load_1m": "99999",
-    "min_available_memory": "0",
-    "min_free_disk_space": "0",
-}
-
-
-def test_rejects_constrained_system(make_config, caplog):
-    assert has_sufficient_resources(make_config("chat.example.org", PERMISSIVE))
-    for settings in (
-        {"max_load_1m": "-1.0"},
-        {"min_available_memory": "99999999G"},
-        {"min_free_disk_space": "99999999G"},
-    ):
-        config = make_config("chat.example.org", PERMISSIVE | settings)
-        caplog.clear()
-        assert not has_sufficient_resources(config), settings
-        assert "registration rejected" in caplog.text
-
-
-def test_unreadable_disk_does_not_reject(make_config, caplog):
-    config = make_config(
-        "chat.example.org", PERMISSIVE | {"min_free_disk_space": "99999999G"}
-    )
-    shutil.rmtree(config.mailboxes_dir)
-    assert has_sufficient_resources(config)
-    assert "ignoring" in caplog.text
-
-
-def test_one_unreadable_value_keeps_other_checks(make_config, monkeypatch, caplog):
-    def raise_error(*args):
-        raise psutil.Error("dud")
-
-    monkeypatch.setattr(psutil, "getloadavg", raise_error)
-    config = make_config(
-        "chat.example.org", PERMISSIVE | {"min_free_disk_space": "99999999G"}
-    )
-    assert not has_sufficient_resources(config)
-    assert "ignoring" in caplog.text

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/acmetool/response-file.yaml.j2

@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
 "acme-enter-email": "{{ email }}"
-"acme-agreement:https://letsencrypt.org/documents/LE-SA-v1.8-July-06-2026.pdf": true
+"acme-agreement:https://letsencrypt.org/documents/LE-SA-v1.6-August-18-2025.pdf": true

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/basedeploy.py

@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ class Deployer:
             return self.put_template(src, dest, **kwargs)
         return self.put_file(src, dest)
 
-    def put_file(self, src, dest, mode="644", **kwargs):
+    def put_file(self, src, dest, mode="644"):
         if isinstance(src, str):
             src = get_resource(src)
         res = files.put(
@@ -176,7 +176,6 @@ class Deployer:
             user="root",
             group="root",
             mode=mode,
-            **kwargs,
         )
 
         return self._update_restart_signals(dest, res)

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/cmdeploy.py

@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ def _warn_unused_settings(unused_keys, out):
 def run_cmd(args, out):
     """Deploy chatmail services on the remote server."""
 
-    ssh_host = args.ssh_host if args.ssh_host else args.config.mail_domain_bare
+    ssh_host = args.ssh_host if args.ssh_host else args.config.ssh_host
     sshexec = get_sshexec(ssh_host)
     require_iroh = args.config.enable_iroh_relay
     strict_tls = args.config.tls_cert_mode == "acme"
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ def run_cmd(args, out):
     pyinf = "pyinfra --dry" if args.dry_run else "pyinfra"
 
     cmd = f"{pyinf} --ssh-user root {ssh_host} {deploy_path} -y"
-    if ssh_host == "localhost":
+    if ssh_host in ["localhost", "@local"]:
         cmd = f"{pyinf} @local {deploy_path} -y"
 
     if version.parse(pyinfra.__version__) < version.parse("3"):
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ def dns_cmd(args, out):
         ipv4 = args.config.ipv4_relay
         print(f"[WARNING] {ipv4} is not a domain, skipping DNS checks.")
         return 0
-    ssh_host = args.ssh_host if args.ssh_host else args.config.mail_domain
+    ssh_host = args.ssh_host if args.ssh_host else args.config.ssh_host
     sshexec = get_sshexec(ssh_host, verbose=args.verbose)
     tls_cert_mode = args.config.tls_cert_mode
     strict_tls = tls_cert_mode == "acme"
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ def status_cmd_options(parser):
 def status_cmd(args, out):
     """Display status for online chatmail instance."""
 
-    ssh_host = args.ssh_host if args.ssh_host else args.config.mail_domain_bare
+    ssh_host = args.ssh_host if args.ssh_host else args.config.ssh_host
     sshexec = get_sshexec(ssh_host, verbose=args.verbose)
 
     out.green(f"chatmail domain: {args.config.mail_domain}")

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/deployers.py

@@ -138,22 +138,9 @@ class UnboundDeployer(Deployer):
         # On an IPv4-only system, if unbound is started but not configured,
         # it causes subsequent steps to fail to resolve hosts.
         with blocked_service_startup():
-            # dns-root-data is an optional package
-            # that contains /usr/share/dns/root.key
-            #
-            # This file is copied into /var/lib/unbound/root.key
-            # at the start of "unbound" systemd unit
-            # by /usr/libexec/unbound-helper shell script
-            # from the "unbound" package as of version 1.17.1-2+deb12u4
-            #
-            # The same /var/lib/unbound/root.key can be retrieved directly
-            # following the procedure from
-            # <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7958/#section-3.1>
-            # with "unbound-anchor -a /var/lib/unbound/root.key"
-            # We don't install and use "unbound-anchor".
             apt.packages(
                 name="Install unbound",
-                packages=["unbound", "dns-root-data", "dnsutils"],
+                packages=["unbound", "unbound-anchor", "dnsutils"],
             )
 
     def configure(self):
@@ -177,7 +164,12 @@ class UnboundDeployer(Deployer):
         self.put_file(
             src=BytesIO(b"nameserver 127.0.0.1\nnameserver 9.9.9.9\n"),
             dest="/etc/resolv.conf",
-            force=True,
+        )
+        server.shell(
+            name="Generate root keys for validating DNSSEC",
+            commands=[
+                "unbound-anchor -a /var/lib/unbound/root.key || true",
+            ],
         )
         self.ensure_directory(
             path="/etc/unbound/unbound.conf.d",
@@ -253,13 +245,6 @@ class LegacyRemoveDeployer(Deployer):
     def install(self):
         apt.packages(name="Remove rspamd", packages="rspamd", present=False)
 
-        # unbound-anchor was used to download /var/lib/unbound/root.key
-        # It is replaced by dns-root-data which contains /usr/share/dns/root.key.
-        # unbound systemd unit copies /usr/share/dns/root.key
-        # into /var/lib/unbound/root.key automatically on start
-        # as long as /usr/share/dns/root.key is present.
-        apt.packages(name="Remove unbound-anchor", packages="unbound-anchor", present=False)
-
         # remove historic expunge script
         # which is now implemented through a systemd timer (chatmail-expire)
         self.remove_file("/etc/cron.d/expunge")
@@ -370,8 +355,6 @@ class ChatmailVenvDeployer(Deployer):
     def __init__(self, config):
         self.config = config
         self.units = (
-            # doveauth must restart when chatmaild/ini file changes
-            "doveauth",
             "chatmail-metadata",
             "lastlogin",
             "chatmail-expire",
@@ -520,10 +503,10 @@ def deploy_chatmail(config_path: Path, disable_mail: bool, website_only: bool) -
             ("nginx", 443),
             (["master", "smtpd"], 465),
             (["master", "smtpd"], 587),
-            (["dovecot", "imap-login"], 993),
+            (["imap-login", "dovecot"], 993),
             ("iroh-relay", 3340),
             ("mtail", 3903),
-            (["dovecot", "stats"], 3904),
+            ("stats", 3904),
             ("nginx", 8443),
             (["master", "smtpd"], config.postfix_reinject_port),
             (["master", "smtpd"], config.postfix_reinject_port_incoming),

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/dovecot/deployer.py

@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ class DovecotDeployer(Deployer):
     def __init__(self, config, disable_mail):
         self.config = config
         self.disable_mail = disable_mail
-        self.units = []
+        self.units = ["doveauth"]
 
     def install(self):
         arch = host.get_fact(Arch)

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/dovecot/dovecot.conf.j2

@@ -37,15 +37,11 @@ default_client_limit = 20000
 # the following warning will be logged:
 #   Warning: service(imap): process_limit (1024) reached, client connections are being dropped
 service imap {
-  process_limit = {{ config.max_imap_connections }}
+  process_limit = 50000
 }
 
-{% if config.privacy_mail %}
-# Advertised to clients as IMAP METADATA /shared/admin (RFC 5464).
-# The privacy_mail contact from chatmail.ini is used because it is
-# the only address set by an operator.
-mail_server_admin = mailto:{{ config.privacy_mail }}
-{% endif %}
+mail_server_admin = mailto:root@{{ config.mail_domain }}
+mail_server_comment = Chatmail server
 
 # `zlib` enables compressing messages stored in the maildir.
 # See

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/filtermail/deployer.py

@@ -20,10 +20,10 @@ class FiltermailDeployer(Deployer):
             return
 
         arch = host.get_fact(facts.server.Arch)
-        url = f"https://github.com/chatmail/filtermail/releases/download/v0.7.4/filtermail-{arch}"
+        url = f"https://github.com/chatmail/filtermail/releases/download/v0.7.0/filtermail-{arch}"
         sha256sum = {
-            "x86_64": "484cb8dff083134aefba9fce4a6b7ef4784a0f0e28e5108ecf8bb9e58a44fd2c",
-            "aarch64": "66aa0ca2ca9add7a12d92883d76f8786384092adfde24a3d3a1d0b1f30d23a9e",
+            "x86_64": "451f295a85b3b12dbb0f89e18ec319f742ee46dec218f20f7923bfb017a248bd",
+            "aarch64": "6833061b2a2028264fdeb32f0a6123e1ff73de57dace125364016300b748452e",
         }[arch]
         self.download_executable(url, self.bin_path, sha256sum)
 

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/mtail/delivered_mail.mtail

@@ -28,13 +28,6 @@ counter created_nonci_accounts
   }
 }
 
-# doveauth refusing new addresses because a chatmail.ini
-# system resource limit is exceeded.
-counter rejected_registrations
-/registration rejected: / {
-  rejected_registrations++
-}
-
 counter postfix_timeouts
 /timeout after DATA/ {
   postfix_timeouts++
@@ -80,11 +73,6 @@ counter incoming_unencrypted_mail_count
   filtered_incoming_mail_count++
 }
 
-counter incoming_mailer_daemon_mail_count
-/Incoming: Filtering mailer-daemon message from/ {
-  incoming_mailer_daemon_mail_count++
-  filtered_incoming_mail_count++
-}
 
 counter rejected_unencrypted_mail_count
 /Rejected unencrypted mail/ {

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/nginx/nginx.conf.j2

@@ -128,10 +128,7 @@ http {
                         proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
                 }
 
-		# Endpoints Iroh uses for net_report probes and that clients
-		# probe to tell whether this relay works. Both paths are served
-		# by iroh-relay 0.35 and by the 1.0 line.
-		location /ping {
+		location /relay/probe {
                         proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3340;
                         proxy_http_version 1.1;
 		}

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/postfix/lmtp_header_cleanup

@@ -1,3 +1,23 @@
-/^DKIM-Signature:/            IGNORE
-/^Authentication-Results:/            IGNORE
-/^Received:/            IGNORE
+# List of headers for incoming messages 
+# that must be retained for functionality and compatibility reasons 
+/^From:/            DUNNO
+/^Message-Id:/      DUNNO
+/^Chat-/            DUNNO
+/^Content-Type:/    DUNNO
+
+# For receiving clear-text messages (still supported in May 2026)
+/^Subject:/         DUNNO
+/^Date:/            DUNNO
+/^To:/              DUNNO
+/^CC:/              DUNNO
+/^References:/      DUNNO
+/^In-Reply-To:/     DUNNO
+
+# Senders might support Autocrypt 1 but not RFC9788 (Header Protection) 
+/^Autocrypt:/       DUNNO
+
+# SecureJoin V2 protocol headers (for backward compatibility) 
+/^Secure-Join/      DUNNO
+
+# Ignore all other headers
+/.*/                IGNORE

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/postfix/main.cf.j2

@@ -85,14 +85,6 @@ inet_protocols = all
 
 lmtp_header_checks = regexp:/etc/postfix/lmtp_header_cleanup
 
-# Do not apply header checks to MIME headers
-# and other headers that are actually part of the message body.
-# Reference:
-# <https://www.postfix.org/postconf.5.html#disable_mime_input_processing>
-# <https://www.postfix.org/header_checks.5.html>
-# <https://stump.io/blog/2020/11/29/a-little-gotcha-with-postfixs-header_checks/>
-disable_mime_input_processing = yes
-
 mua_client_restrictions = permit_sasl_authenticated, reject
 mua_sender_restrictions = reject_sender_login_mismatch, permit_sasl_authenticated, reject
 mua_helo_restrictions = permit_mynetworks, reject_invalid_helo_hostname, reject_non_fqdn_helo_hostname, permit

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/postfix/master.cf.j2

@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ smtp      inet  n       -       y       -       -       smtpd
   -o smtpd_tls_mandatory_protocols=>=TLSv1.2
   -o smtpd_proxy_filter=127.0.0.1:{{ config.filtermail_smtp_port_incoming }}
   -o smtpd_relay_restrictions=reject_unauth_destination
-submission inet n       -       y       -       {{ config.max_smtp_connections }}    smtpd
+submission inet n       -       y       -       5000    smtpd
   -o syslog_name=postfix/submission
   -o smtpd_tls_security_level=encrypt
   -o smtpd_tls_mandatory_protocols=>=TLSv1.3
@@ -32,9 +32,9 @@ submission inet n       -       y       -       {{ config.max_smtp_connections }
   -o smtpd_sender_restrictions=$mua_sender_restrictions
   -o smtpd_recipient_restrictions=
   -o smtpd_relay_restrictions=permit_sasl_authenticated,reject
-  -o smtpd_client_connection_count_limit={{ config.max_smtp_connections // 5 }}
+  -o smtpd_client_connection_count_limit=1000
   -o smtpd_proxy_filter=127.0.0.1:{{ config.filtermail_smtp_port }}
-smtps     inet  n       -       y       -       {{ config.max_smtp_connections }}    smtpd
+smtps     inet  n       -       y       -       5000    smtpd
   -o syslog_name=postfix/smtps
   -o smtpd_tls_wrappermode=yes
   -o smtpd_tls_security_level=encrypt
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ smtps     inet  n       -       y       -       {{ config.max_smtp_connections }
   -o smtpd_sender_restrictions=$mua_sender_restrictions
   -o smtpd_recipient_restrictions=
   -o smtpd_relay_restrictions=permit_sasl_authenticated,reject
-  -o smtpd_client_connection_count_limit={{ config.max_smtp_connections // 5 }}
+  -o smtpd_client_connection_count_limit=1000
   -o smtpd_proxy_filter=127.0.0.1:{{ config.filtermail_smtp_port }}
 #628       inet  n       -       y       -       -       qmqpd
 pickup    unix  n       -       y       60      1       pickup
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ lmtp      unix  -       -       y       -       -       lmtp
 anvil     unix  -       -       y       -       1       anvil
 scache    unix  -       -       y       -       1       scache
 postlog   unix-dgram n  -       n       -       1       postlogd
+filter    unix -        n       n       -       -       lmtp
 # Local SMTP server for reinjecting outgoing filtered mail.
 127.0.0.1:{{ config.postfix_reinject_port }} inet  n       -       n       -       100      smtpd
   -o syslog_name=postfix/reinject

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/tests/plugin.py

@@ -10,11 +10,13 @@ from pathlib import Path
 
 import pytest
 from chatmaild.config import is_valid_ipv4, read_config
+from domain_validator import DomainValidator
 
 
 def format_mail_domain(raw_domain: str) -> str:
     if is_valid_ipv4(raw_domain):
         return f"[{raw_domain}]"
+    DomainValidator().validate_domain_re(raw_domain)
     return raw_domain
 
 
@@ -60,8 +62,8 @@ def maildomain(chatmail_config):
 
 
 @pytest.fixture(scope="session")
-def sshdomain(maildomain):
-    return os.environ.get("CHATMAIL_SSH", maildomain)
+def sshdomain(chatmail_config):
+    return os.environ.get("CHATMAIL_SSH", chatmail_config.ssh_host)
 
 
 @pytest.fixture

doc/source/getting_started.rst

@@ -14,21 +14,14 @@ Minimal requirements and prerequisites
 
 You will need the following:
 
--  A Debian 12 **deployment server** with reachable SMTP/SUBMISSIONS/IMAPS/HTTPS ports.
+-  Control over a domain through a DNS provider of your choice.
+   (there is experimental support for :ref:`IP-only relays <iponly>`).
+
+-  A Debian 12 server with reachable SMTP/SUBMISSIONS/IMAPS/HTTPS ports.
    IPv6 is encouraged if available. Chatmail relay servers only require
    1GB RAM, one CPU, and perhaps 10GB storage for a few thousand active
    chatmail addresses.
 
--  A Linux or Unix **build machine** with key-based SSH access to the root
-   user of the deployment server.
-   You must add a passphrase-protected private key to your local ssh-agent because you
-   can’t type in your passphrase during deployment.
-   (An ed25519 private key is required due to an `upstream bug in
-   paramiko <https://github.com/paramiko/paramiko/issues/2191>`_)
-
--  Control over a domain through a DNS provider of your choice
-   (there is experimental support for :ref:`IP-only relays <iponly>`).
-
 
 .. _setup:
 
@@ -38,7 +31,7 @@ Setup with ``scripts/cmdeploy``
 We use ``chat.example.org`` as the chatmail domain in the following
 steps. Please substitute it with your own domain.
 
-1. Setup the initial DNS records for your deployment server.
+1. Setup the initial DNS records for your relay.
    The following is an example in the
    familiar BIND zone file format with a TTL of 1 hour (3600 seconds).
    Please substitute your domain and IP addresses.
@@ -58,22 +51,25 @@ steps. Please substitute it with your own domain.
       The ``mta-sts`` CNAME and ``_mta-sts`` TXT records
       are not needed for such domains.
 
-2. On your local PC, clone the repository and bootstrap the Python
+2. Login to the server with SSH, clone the repository and bootstrap the Python
    virtualenv.
 
    ::
 
+       ssh root@chat.example.org
        git clone https://github.com/chatmail/relay
        cd relay
        scripts/initenv.sh
 
-3. On your local build machine (PC), create a chatmail configuration file
+3. Then, create a chatmail configuration file
    ``chatmail.ini``:
 
    ::
 
        scripts/cmdeploy init chat.example.org  # <-- use your domain
 
+   .. note::
+
    To use self-signed TLS certificates
    instead of Let's Encrypt,
    use a domain name starting with ``_``
@@ -84,13 +80,7 @@ steps. Please substitute it with your own domain.
    See the :doc:`overview`
    for details on certificate provisioning.
 
-4. Verify that SSH root login to the deployment server server works:
-
-   ::
-
-       ssh root@chat.example.org  # <-- use your domain
-
-5. From your local build machine, setup and configure the remote deployment server:
+4. Now run the deployment script to install the relay to the server:
 
    ::
 
@@ -102,7 +92,6 @@ steps. Please substitute it with your own domain.
    public).
 
 
-
 Docker installation
 -------------------
 
@@ -110,27 +99,33 @@ There is experimental support for running chatmail via Docker.
 A monolithic image based on the above cmdeploy method is available `through a separate repository <https://github.com/chatmail/docker/pkgs/container/docker>`_.
 See the `chatmail/docker README <https://github.com/chatmail/docker>`_ for full setup instructions.
 
-Other helpful commands
-----------------------
 
-To check the status of your deployment server running the chatmail service:
+Next Steps
+----------
 
-::
-
-   scripts/cmdeploy status
-
-To display and check all recommended DNS records:
+Now you should display and check all recommended DNS records
+to enable federation with other relays:
 
 ::
 
    scripts/cmdeploy dns
 
-To test whether your chatmail service is working correctly:
+You should also test whether your chatmail service is working correctly:
 
 ::
 
    scripts/cmdeploy test
 
+Other Helpful Commands
+----------------------
+
+To check the status of your chatmail relay:
+
+::
+
+   scripts/cmdeploy status
+
+
 To measure the performance of your chatmail service:
 
 ::
@@ -171,8 +166,9 @@ This starts a local live development cycle for chatmail web pages:
    directory and generating HTML files and copying assets to the
    ``www/build`` directory.
 
--  Starts a browser window automatically where you can “refresh” as
-   needed.
+-  if you are running scripts/cmdeploy webdev on the relay itself,
+   you need to configure a route in /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
+   to expose the build directory.
 
 Custom web pages
 ----------------
@@ -190,7 +186,7 @@ Disable automatic address creation
 --------------------------------------------------------
 
 If you need to stop address creation, e.g. because some script is wildly
-creating addresses, login with ssh to the deployment machine and run:
+creating addresses, login with ssh to the relay and run:
 
 ::
 
@@ -199,93 +195,6 @@ creating addresses, login with ssh to the deployment machine and run:
 Chatmail address creation will be denied while this file is present.
 
 
-.. _system-limits:
-
-Configurable System Limits
---------------------------
-
-Limits for auto-rejecting address creation
-..........................................
-
-A relay refuses creation of new addresses
-when the machine runs low on resources,
-but existing addresses keep working.
-
-Three ``chatmail.ini`` settings control this,
-shown here with their defaults::
-
-    max_load_1m = 5
-    min_available_memory = 200M
-    min_free_disk_space = 1G
-
-- ``max_load_1m`` is the maximum 1-minute load average,
-  as reported by ``uptime``;
-  it counts processes waiting for disk I/O as well as for CPU.
-  It is deliberately not scaled by the number of CPUs
-  because I/O rather than CPU is what typically limits a relay.
-
-- ``min_available_memory`` is the minimum memory available without swapping.
-
-- ``min_free_disk_space`` is the minimum free disk space
-  on the file system holding the mailboxes.
-
-The defaults suit the small machine described in
-`Minimal requirements and prerequisites`_.
-
-.. note::
-
-   If you run a bigger machine,
-   raise ``max_load_1m`` after watching ``uptime`` under typical load.
-
-Rejections are logged by the ``doveauth`` service,
-so you can check whether a limit is set too tightly::
-
-    journalctl -u doveauth --grep 'registration rejected'
-
-If ``mtail_address`` is set, rejections are also counted
-in the ``rejected_registrations`` metric.
-
-
-Overall IMAP and SMTP connection limits
-.......................................
-
-Two further settings bound how many connections
-the relay accepts at all, again shown with their defaults::
-
-    max_imap_connections = 10000
-    max_smtp_connections = 1000
-
-``max_imap_connections`` becomes the Dovecot imap process limit,
-and ``max_smtp_connections`` the Postfix process limit
-on each of the submission and smtps ports.
-A single client IP may use up to a fifth of ``max_smtp_connections``.
-Each connection costs memory,
-so these limits defend the relay against running out of RAM.
-
-Unless ``imap_compress`` is enabled,
-an IMAP connection that is idle for ``imap_hibernate_timeout``
-is handed over to the ``imap-hibernate`` process
-and does not count towards ``max_imap_connections``,
-which is why a relay can serve far more IMAP clients
-than this setting suggests.
-
-If you run a large relay with 10k or 100k's of addresses,
-check current connection counts before upgrading
-and set the limits accordingly.
-
-To see how close a running relay is to these two limits,
-copy ``scripts/check-connections.sh`` from the relay repository
-onto the relay and run it there::
-
-    imap             5  ports 143,993   (max_imap_connections)
-                     5  dovecot sessions, 0 of them in an active imap process
-    submission       0  ports 465,587   (max_smtp_connections per port)
-    incoming         0  port 25         (from other relays, no chatmail.ini limit)
-
-It counts established sockets with ``ss``
-and cross-checks the IMAP number against ``doveadm who``.
-
-
 Running a relay with self-signed certificates
 ----------------------------------------------
 
@@ -333,25 +242,3 @@ The deploy will verify that both files exist on the server.
    If you use such a setup, you must trigger the reload explicitly after renewal::
 
       systemctl start tls-cert-reload.service
-
-
-Migrating to a new build machine
-----------------------------------
-
-To move or add a build machine,
-clone the relay repository on the new build machine, and copy the ``chatmail.ini`` file from the old build machine.
-Make sure ``rsync`` is installed, then initialize the environment:
-
-::
-
-   ./scripts/initenv.sh
-
-Run safety checks before a new deployment:
-
-::
-
-   ./scripts/cmdeploy dns
-   ./scripts/cmdeploy status
-
-If you keep multiple build machines (ie laptop and desktop), keep ``chatmail.ini`` in sync between
-them.

doc/source/migrate.rst

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 
-Migrating to a new machine
-===========================
+Migrating the relay to a new server
+===================================
 
 This migration tutorial provides a step-wise approach
 to safely migrate a chatmail relay from one remote machine to another.
@@ -96,3 +96,17 @@ in this case, just run ``ssh-keygen -R "mail.example.org"`` as recommended.
    If you have lowered the Time-to-Live for DNS records in step 1,
    better use a higher value again (between 14400 and 86400 seconds) once you are sure everything works.
 
+
+Migrating a local chatmail/relay repository to the server
+=========================================================
+
+To move the directory with your local chatmail/relay repository and ``chatmail.ini`` file,
+clone the `relay repository <https://github.com/chatmail/relay/>` to the server where the relay is running,
+and copy the ``chatmail.ini`` file from your local chatmail/relay repository there.
+
+If you made local changes to the repository,
+you can store them in a file with ``git diff origin/main > local-changes.patch``,
+copy the file to the repository on the server,
+and run ``git apply local-changes.patch``.
+
+Then you can proceed with the `installation steps <setup>`.

doc/source/overview.rst

@@ -225,6 +225,21 @@ Accepting and delivering mail
         nginx -.SMTP inet:465.-> smtpd-smtps
         mta2[Remote relay] -.SMTP inet:25.-> smtpd-smtp
         mta2 -.HTTPS /mxdeliv.-> nginx
+        style postfix fill:#363
+        style qmgr fill:#252
+        style authclean fill:#252
+        style cleanup fill:#252
+        style lmtp-filtermail fill:#252
+        style lmtp fill:#252
+        style bounce fill:#252
+        style smtpd-submission fill:#252
+        style smtpd-smtps fill:#252
+        style smtpd-reinject-outgoing fill:#252
+        style smtpd-reinject-incoming fill:#252
+        style smtpd-smtp fill:#252
+        style filtermail-outgoing fill:#225
+        style filtermail-incoming fill:#225
+        style filtermail-transport fill:#225
 
 Operational details of a chatmail relay
 ----------------------------------------

scripts/check-connections.sh

@@ -1,26 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-#
-# Show current IMAP and SMTP connections on a chatmail relay,
-# to compare against the max_imap_connections and max_smtp_connections
-# settings in chatmail.ini.  Run this on the relay itself.
-set -e
-
-# Count established TCP connections whose local port is one of the arguments.
-established() {
-    filter=$(printf 'sport = :%s or ' "$@")
-    ss -Htn state established "( ${filter% or } )" | wc -l
-}
-
-# doveadm prints a header line and then one line per logged-in user,
-# with that user's number of connections in the second column.
-sessions=$(doveadm who | awk 'NR > 1 { n += $2 } END { print n + 0 }')
-
-# Unless imap_compress is enabled, connections idle for
-# imap_hibernate_timeout are handed over to the imap-hibernate
-# process, so they cost no imap process while idle.
-active=$(pgrep -x imap | wc -l)
-
-printf 'imap        %6d  ports 143,993   (max_imap_connections)\n' "$(established 143 993)"
-printf '            %6d  dovecot sessions, %d of them in an active imap process\n' "$sessions" "$active"
-printf 'submission  %6d  ports 465,587   (max_smtp_connections per port)\n' "$(established 465 587)"
-printf 'incoming    %6d  port 25         (from other relays, no chatmail.ini limit)\n' "$(established 25)"