docker: trim compose override example

- remove all traces of CHATMAIL_NOACME; purge certwatch service
- introduce TLS_EXTERNAL_CERT_AND_KEY as per new logic

.github/workflows/test-and-deploy-ipv4only.yaml

@@ -75,8 +75,7 @@ jobs:
           cmdeploy init staging-ipv4.testrun.org
           sed -i 's#disable_ipv6 = False#disable_ipv6 = True#' chatmail.ini
           sed -i 's/#\s*mtail_address/mtail_address/' chatmail.ini
-
+          cmdeploy run --verbose --skip-dns-check
-      - run: cmdeploy run --verbose --skip-dns-check
 
       - name: set DNS entries
         run: |

.github/workflows/test-tls-external.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+name: test tls_external_cert_and_key on staging2.testrun.org
+
+on:
+  workflow_run:
+    workflows:
+      - "deploy on staging2.testrun.org, and run tests"
+    types:
+      - completed
+
+jobs:
+  test-tls-external:
+    name: test tls_external_cert_and_key
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    timeout-minutes: 30
+    concurrency: staging2.testrun.org
+    environment:
+      name: staging2.testrun.org
+
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: prepare SSH
+        run: |
+          mkdir -p ~/.ssh
+          echo "${{ secrets.STAGING_SSH_KEY }}" >> ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
+          chmod 600 ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
+          ssh-keyscan staging2.testrun.org >> ~/.ssh/known_hosts 2>/dev/null
+
+      - run: scripts/initenv.sh
+
+      - name: append venv/bin to PATH
+        run: echo venv/bin >>$GITHUB_PATH
+
+      - name: run tls_external e2e test
+        run: |
+          python -m cmdeploy.tests.setup_tls_external \
+            staging2.testrun.org

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -121,13 +121,6 @@
   Provide an "fsreport" CLI for more fine grained analysis of message files. 
   ([#637](https://github.com/chatmail/relay/pull/637))
 
-- Add installation via docker compose (MVP 1). The instructions, known issues and limitations are located in `/docs` 
-  ([#614](https://github.com/chatmail/relay/pull/614))
-
-- Add configuration parameters
-  ([#614](https://github.com/chatmail/relay/pull/614)):
-  - `change_kernel_settings` - Whether to change kernel parameters during installation (default: `True`)
-  - `fs_inotify_max_user_instances_and_watchers` - Value for kernel parameters `fs.inotify.max_user_instances` and `fs.inotify.max_user_watches` (default: `65535`)
 
 ## 1.7.0 2025-09-11
 

chatmaild/src/chatmaild/config.py

@@ -44,7 +44,6 @@ class Config:
         )
         self.mtail_address = params.get("mtail_address")
         self.disable_ipv6 = params.get("disable_ipv6", "false").lower() == "true"
-        self.noacme = os.environ.get("CHATMAIL_NOACME", "false").lower() == "true"
         self.addr_v4 = os.environ.get("CHATMAIL_ADDR_V4", "")
         self.addr_v6 = os.environ.get("CHATMAIL_ADDR_V6", "")
         self.acme_email = params.get("acme_email", "")
@@ -61,6 +60,32 @@ class Config:
         self.privacy_pdo = params.get("privacy_pdo")
         self.privacy_supervisor = params.get("privacy_supervisor")
 
+        # TLS certificate management.
+        # If tls_external_cert_and_key is set, use externally managed certs.
+        # Otherwise derived from the domain name:
+        # - Domains starting with "_" use self-signed certificates
+        # - All other domains use ACME.
+        external = params.get("tls_external_cert_and_key", "").strip()
+
+        if external:
+            parts = external.split()
+            if len(parts) != 2:
+                raise ValueError(
+                    "tls_external_cert_and_key must have two space-separated"
+                    " paths: CERT_PATH KEY_PATH"
+                )
+            self.tls_cert_mode = "external"
+            self.tls_cert_path = parts[0]
+            self.tls_key_path = parts[1]
+        elif self.mail_domain.startswith("_"):
+            self.tls_cert_mode = "self"
+            self.tls_cert_path = "/etc/ssl/certs/mailserver.pem"
+            self.tls_key_path = "/etc/ssl/private/mailserver.key"
+        else:
+            self.tls_cert_mode = "acme"
+            self.tls_cert_path = f"/var/lib/acme/live/{self.mail_domain}/fullchain"
+            self.tls_key_path = f"/var/lib/acme/live/{self.mail_domain}/privkey"
+
         # deprecated option
         mbdir = params.get("mailboxes_dir", f"/home/vmail/mail/{self.mail_domain}")
         self.mailboxes_dir = Path(mbdir.strip())

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

@@ -48,6 +48,13 @@ passthrough_senders =
 # (space-separated, item may start with "@" to whitelist whole recipient domains)
 passthrough_recipients =
 
+# 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.
+# Certificate renewal is your responsibility; changed files are
+# picked up automatically by all relay services.
+# tls_external_cert_and_key = /path/to/fullchain.pem /path/to/privkey.pem
+
 # path to www directory - documented here: https://chatmail.at/doc/relay/getting_started.html#custom-web-pages
 #www_folder = www
 

chatmaild/src/chatmaild/newemail.py

@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import json
 import random
 import secrets
 import string
+from urllib.parse import quote
 
 from chatmaild.config import Config, read_config
 
@@ -23,13 +24,26 @@ def create_newemail_dict(config: Config):
     return dict(email=f"{user}@{config.mail_domain}", password=f"{password}")
 
 
+def create_dclogin_url(email, password):
+    """Build a dclogin: URL with credentials and self-signed cert acceptance.
+
+    Uses ic=3 (AcceptInvalidCertificates) so chatmail clients
+    can connect to servers with self-signed TLS certificates.
+    """
+    return f"dclogin:{quote(email, safe='@')}?p={quote(password, safe='')}&v=1&ic=3"
+
+
 def print_new_account():
     config = read_config(CONFIG_PATH)
     creds = create_newemail_dict(config)
 
+    result = dict(email=creds["email"], password=creds["password"])
+    if config.tls_cert_mode == "self":
+        result["dclogin_url"] = create_dclogin_url(creds["email"], creds["password"])
+
     print("Content-Type: application/json")
     print("")
-    print(json.dumps(creds))
+    print(json.dumps(result))
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":

chatmaild/src/chatmaild/tests/test_config.py

@@ -73,3 +73,50 @@ def test_config_userstate_paths(make_config, tmp_path):
 def test_config_max_message_size(make_config, tmp_path):
     config = make_config("something.testrun.org", dict(max_message_size="10000"))
     assert config.max_message_size == 10000
+
+
+def test_config_tls_default_acme(make_config):
+    config = make_config("chat.example.org")
+    assert config.tls_cert_mode == "acme"
+    assert config.tls_cert_path == "/var/lib/acme/live/chat.example.org/fullchain"
+    assert config.tls_key_path == "/var/lib/acme/live/chat.example.org/privkey"
+
+
+def test_config_tls_self(make_config):
+    config = make_config("_test.example.org")
+    assert config.tls_cert_mode == "self"
+    assert config.tls_cert_path == "/etc/ssl/certs/mailserver.pem"
+    assert config.tls_key_path == "/etc/ssl/private/mailserver.key"
+
+
+def test_config_tls_external(make_config):
+    config = make_config(
+        "chat.example.org",
+        {
+            "tls_external_cert_and_key": "/custom/fullchain.pem /custom/privkey.pem",
+        },
+    )
+    assert config.tls_cert_mode == "external"
+    assert config.tls_cert_path == "/custom/fullchain.pem"
+    assert config.tls_key_path == "/custom/privkey.pem"
+
+
+def test_config_tls_external_overrides_underscore(make_config):
+    config = make_config(
+        "_test.example.org",
+        {
+            "tls_external_cert_and_key": "/certs/fullchain.pem /certs/privkey.pem",
+        },
+    )
+    assert config.tls_cert_mode == "external"
+    assert config.tls_cert_path == "/certs/fullchain.pem"
+
+
+def test_config_tls_external_bad_format(make_config):
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="two space-separated"):
+        make_config(
+            "chat.example.org",
+            {
+                "tls_external_cert_and_key": "/only/one/path.pem",
+            },
+        )

chatmaild/src/chatmaild/tests/test_filtermail_blackbox.py

@@ -1,9 +1,15 @@
+import shutil
 import smtplib
 import subprocess
 import sys
 
 import pytest
 
+pytestmark = pytest.mark.skipif(
+    shutil.which("filtermail") is None,
+    reason="filtermail binary not found",
+)
+
 
 @pytest.fixture
 def smtpserver():
@@ -57,19 +63,10 @@ def test_one_mail(
     path = str(config._inipath)
 
     popen = make_popen(["filtermail", path, filtermail_mode])
-
+    line = popen.stderr.readline().strip()
-    # Wait for filtermail to start accepting connections
+    if b"loop" not in line:
-    import socket
+        print(line.decode("ascii"), file=sys.stderr)
-    import time
+        pytest.fail("starting filtermail failed")
-    for _ in range(50):  # 5 second timeout
-        try:
-            sock = socket.create_connection(("127.0.0.1", smtp_inject_port), timeout=0.1)
-            sock.close()
-            break
-        except (ConnectionRefusedError, OSError):
-            time.sleep(0.1)
-    else:
-        pytest.fail("filtermail failed to start accepting connections")
 
     addr = f"user1@{config.mail_domain}"
     config.get_user(addr).set_password("l1k2j3l1k2j3l")

chatmaild/src/chatmaild/tests/test_newmail.py

@@ -1,7 +1,11 @@
 import json
 
 import chatmaild
-from chatmaild.newemail import create_newemail_dict, print_new_account
+from chatmaild.newemail import (
+    create_dclogin_url,
+    create_newemail_dict,
+    print_new_account,
+)
 
 
 def test_create_newemail_dict(example_config):
@@ -15,6 +19,18 @@ def test_create_newemail_dict(example_config):
     assert ac1["password"] != ac2["password"]
 
 
+def test_create_dclogin_url():
+    url = create_dclogin_url("user@example.org", "p@ss w+rd")
+    assert url.startswith("dclogin:")
+    assert "v=1" in url
+    assert "ic=3" in url
+
+    assert "user@example.org" in url
+    # password special chars must be encoded
+    assert "p%40ss" in url
+    assert "w%2Brd" in url
+
+
 def test_print_new_account(capsys, monkeypatch, maildomain, tmpdir, example_config):
     monkeypatch.setattr(chatmaild.newemail, "CONFIG_PATH", str(example_config._inipath))
     print_new_account()
@@ -25,3 +41,20 @@ def test_print_new_account(capsys, monkeypatch, maildomain, tmpdir, example_conf
     dic = json.loads(lines[2])
     assert dic["email"].endswith(f"@{example_config.mail_domain}")
     assert len(dic["password"]) >= 10
+    # default tls_cert=acme should not include dclogin_url
+    assert "dclogin_url" not in dic
+
+
+def test_print_new_account_self_signed(capsys, monkeypatch, make_config):
+    config = make_config("_test.example.org")
+    monkeypatch.setattr(chatmaild.newemail, "CONFIG_PATH", str(config._inipath))
+    print_new_account()
+    out, err = capsys.readouterr()
+    lines = out.split("\n")
+    dic = json.loads(lines[2])
+    assert "dclogin_url" in dic
+    url = dic["dclogin_url"]
+    assert url.startswith("dclogin:")
+    assert "ic=3" in url
+
+    assert dic["email"].split("@")[0] in url

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/chatmail.zone.j2

@@ -8,8 +8,10 @@
 {{ mail_domain }}.                   AAAA  {{ AAAA }}
 {% endif %}
 {{ mail_domain }}.                   MX 10 {{ mail_domain }}.
+{% if strict_tls %}
 _mta-sts.{{ mail_domain }}.          TXT "v=STSv1; id={{ sts_id }}"
 mta-sts.{{ mail_domain }}.           CNAME {{ mail_domain }}.
+{% endif %}
 www.{{ mail_domain }}.               CNAME {{ mail_domain }}.
 {{ dkim_entry }}
 

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/cmdeploy.py

@@ -91,9 +91,10 @@ def run_cmd(args, out):
     ssh_host = args.ssh_host if args.ssh_host else args.config.mail_domain
     sshexec = get_sshexec(ssh_host)
     require_iroh = args.config.enable_iroh_relay
+    strict_tls = args.config.tls_cert_mode == "acme"
     if not args.dns_check_disabled:
         remote_data = dns.get_initial_remote_data(sshexec, args.config.mail_domain)
-        if not dns.check_initial_remote_data(remote_data, print=out.red):
+        if not dns.check_initial_remote_data(remote_data, strict_tls=strict_tls, print=out.red):
             return 1
 
     env = os.environ.copy()
@@ -127,7 +128,7 @@ def run_cmd(args, out):
                 out.red("Website deployment failed.")
         elif retcode == 0:
             out.green("Deploy completed, call `cmdeploy dns` next.")
-        elif not args.dns_check_disabled and not remote_data["acme_account_url"]:
+        elif not args.dns_check_disabled and strict_tls and not remote_data["acme_account_url"]:
             out.red("Deploy completed but letsencrypt not configured")
             out.red("Run 'cmdeploy run' again")
             retcode = 0
@@ -154,11 +155,13 @@ def dns_cmd(args, out):
     """Check DNS entries and optionally generate dns zone file."""
     ssh_host = args.ssh_host if args.ssh_host else args.config.mail_domain
     sshexec = get_sshexec(ssh_host, verbose=args.verbose)
+    tls_cert_mode = args.config.tls_cert_mode
+    strict_tls = tls_cert_mode == "acme"
     remote_data = dns.get_initial_remote_data(sshexec, args.config.mail_domain)
-    if not remote_data:
+    if not dns.check_initial_remote_data(remote_data, strict_tls=strict_tls):
         return 1
 
-    if not remote_data["acme_account_url"]:
+    if strict_tls and not remote_data["acme_account_url"]:
         out.red("could not get letsencrypt account url, please run 'cmdeploy run'")
         return 1
 
@@ -166,6 +169,7 @@ def dns_cmd(args, out):
         out.red("could not determine dkim_entry, please run 'cmdeploy run'")
         return 1
 
+    remote_data["strict_tls"] = strict_tls
     zonefile = dns.get_filled_zone_file(remote_data)
 
     if args.zonefile:

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/deployers.py

@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ from pyinfra.operations import apt, files, pip, server, systemd
 from cmdeploy.cmdeploy import Out
 
 from .acmetool import AcmetoolDeployer
+from .external.deployer import ExternalTlsDeployer
 from .basedeploy import (
     Deployer,
     Deployment,
@@ -34,6 +35,7 @@ from .mtail.deployer import MtailDeployer
 from .nginx.deployer import NginxDeployer
 from .opendkim.deployer import OpendkimDeployer
 from .postfix.deployer import PostfixDeployer
+from .selfsigned.deployer import SelfSignedTlsDeployer
 from .www import build_webpages, find_merge_conflict, get_paths
 
 
@@ -539,6 +541,20 @@ class GithashDeployer(Deployer):
         )
 
 
+def get_tls_deployer(config, mail_domain):
+    """Select the appropriate TLS deployer based on config."""
+    tls_domains = [mail_domain, f"mta-sts.{mail_domain}", f"www.{mail_domain}"]
+
+    if config.tls_cert_mode == "acme":
+        return AcmetoolDeployer(config.acme_email, tls_domains)
+    elif config.tls_cert_mode == "self":
+        return SelfSignedTlsDeployer(mail_domain)
+    elif config.tls_cert_mode == "external":
+        return ExternalTlsDeployer(config.tls_cert_path, config.tls_key_path)
+    else:
+        raise ValueError(f"Unknown tls_cert_mode: {config.tls_cert_mode}")
+
+
 def deploy_chatmail(config_path: Path, disable_mail: bool, website_only: bool) -> None:
     """Deploy a chat-mail instance.
 
@@ -574,7 +590,10 @@ def deploy_chatmail(config_path: Path, disable_mail: bool, website_only: bool) -
         port_services = [
             (["master", "smtpd"], 25),
             ("unbound", 53),
-            ("acmetool", 80),
+        ]
+        if config.tls_cert_mode == "acme":
+            port_services.append(("acmetool", 80))
+        port_services += [
             (["imap-login", "dovecot"], 143),
             ("nginx", 443),
             (["master", "smtpd"], 465),
@@ -600,7 +619,7 @@ def deploy_chatmail(config_path: Path, disable_mail: bool, website_only: bool) -
                     )
                     exit(1)
 
-    tls_domains = [mail_domain, f"mta-sts.{mail_domain}", f"www.{mail_domain}"]
+    tls_deployer = get_tls_deployer(config, mail_domain)
 
     all_deployers = [
         ChatmailDeployer(mail_domain),
@@ -610,12 +629,7 @@ def deploy_chatmail(config_path: Path, disable_mail: bool, website_only: bool) -
         UnboundDeployer(config),
         TurnDeployer(mail_domain),
         IrohDeployer(config.enable_iroh_relay),
-    ]
+        tls_deployer,
-
-    if not config.noacme:
-        all_deployers.append(AcmetoolDeployer(config.acme_email, tls_domains))
-
-    all_deployers += [
         WebsiteDeployer(config),
         ChatmailVenvDeployer(config),
         MtastsDeployer(),

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/dns.py

@@ -12,14 +12,14 @@ def get_initial_remote_data(sshexec, mail_domain):
     )
 
 
-def check_initial_remote_data(remote_data, *, print=print):
+def check_initial_remote_data(remote_data, *, strict_tls=True, print=print):
     mail_domain = remote_data["mail_domain"]
     if not remote_data["A"] and not remote_data["AAAA"]:
         print(f"Missing A and/or AAAA DNS records for {mail_domain}!")
-    elif remote_data["MTA_STS"] != f"{mail_domain}.":
+    elif strict_tls and remote_data["MTA_STS"] != f"{mail_domain}.":
         print("Missing MTA-STS CNAME record:")
         print(f"mta-sts.{mail_domain}.   CNAME  {mail_domain}.")
-    elif remote_data["WWW"] != f"{mail_domain}.":
+    elif strict_tls and remote_data["WWW"] != f"{mail_domain}.":
         print("Missing www CNAME record:")
         print(f"www.{mail_domain}.   CNAME  {mail_domain}.")
     else:

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

@@ -228,8 +228,8 @@ service anvil {
 }
 
 ssl = required
-ssl_cert = </var/lib/acme/live/{{ config.mail_domain }}/fullchain
+ssl_cert = <{{ config.tls_cert_path }}
-ssl_key = </var/lib/acme/live/{{ config.mail_domain }}/privkey
+ssl_key = <{{ config.tls_key_path }}
 ssl_dh = </usr/share/dovecot/dh.pem
 ssl_min_protocol = TLSv1.3
 ssl_prefer_server_ciphers = yes

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/external/deployer.py

@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+from pyinfra.operations import files, server, systemd
+
+from cmdeploy.basedeploy import Deployer, get_resource
+
+
+class ExternalTlsDeployer(Deployer):
+    """Expects TLS certificates to be managed on the server.
+
+    Validates that the configured certificate and key files
+    exist on the remote host.  Installs a systemd path unit
+    that watches the certificate file and automatically
+    restarts/reloads affected services when it changes.
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, cert_path, key_path):
+        self.cert_path = cert_path
+        self.key_path = key_path
+
+    def configure(self):
+        server.shell(
+            name="Verify external TLS certificate and key exist",
+            commands=[
+                f"test -f {self.cert_path} && test -f {self.key_path}",
+            ],
+        )
+
+        # Deploy the .path unit (templated with the cert path).
+        source = get_resource("tls-cert-reload.path.f", pkg=__package__)
+        content = source.read_text().format(cert_path=self.cert_path).encode()
+
+        import io
+
+        path_unit = files.put(
+            name="Upload tls-cert-reload.path",
+            src=io.BytesIO(content),
+            dest="/etc/systemd/system/tls-cert-reload.path",
+            user="root",
+            group="root",
+            mode="644",
+        )
+
+        service_unit = files.put(
+            name="Upload tls-cert-reload.service",
+            src=get_resource("tls-cert-reload.service", pkg=__package__),
+            dest="/etc/systemd/system/tls-cert-reload.service",
+            user="root",
+            group="root",
+            mode="644",
+        )
+
+        if path_unit.changed or service_unit.changed:
+            self.need_restart = True
+
+    def activate(self):
+        systemd.service(
+            name="Enable tls-cert-reload path watcher",
+            service="tls-cert-reload.path",
+            running=True,
+            enabled=True,
+            restarted=self.need_restart,
+            daemon_reload=self.need_restart,
+        )
+        # Always trigger a reload so services pick up the current cert.
+        # The path unit handles future changes via inotify.
+        server.shell(
+            name="Reload TLS services for current certificate",
+            commands=["systemctl start tls-cert-reload.service"],
+        )
+

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/external/tls-cert-reload.path.f

@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+# Watch the TLS certificate file for changes.
+# When the cert is updated (e.g. renewed by an external process),
+# this triggers tls-cert-reload.service to restart the affected services.
+[Unit]
+Description=Watch TLS certificate for changes
+
+[Path]
+PathChanged={cert_path}
+
+[Install]
+WantedBy=multi-user.target

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/external/tls-cert-reload.service

@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+# Reload services that cache the TLS certificate.
+#
+# dovecot: caches the cert at startup; reload re-reads SSL certs
+#          without dropping existing connections.
+# nginx:   caches the cert at startup; reload gracefully picks up
+#          the new cert for new connections.
+# postfix: reads the cert fresh on each TLS handshake,
+#          does NOT need a reload/restart.
+[Unit]
+Description=Reload TLS services after certificate change
+
+[Service]
+Type=oneshot
+ExecStart=/bin/systemctl reload dovecot
+ExecStart=/bin/systemctl reload nginx

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/nginx/autoconfig.xml.j2

@@ -1,47 +1,47 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 
 <clientConfig version="1.1">
-  <emailProvider id="{{ config.domain_name }}">
+  <emailProvider id="{{ config.mail_domain }}">
-    <domain>{{ config.domain_name }}</domain>
+    <domain>{{ config.mail_domain }}</domain>
-    <displayName>{{ config.domain_name }} chatmail</displayName>
+    <displayName>{{ config.mail_domain }} chatmail</displayName>
-    <displayShortName>{{ config.domain_name }}</displayShortName>
+    <displayShortName>{{ config.mail_domain }}</displayShortName>
     <incomingServer type="imap">
-      <hostname>{{ config.domain_name }}</hostname>
+      <hostname>{{ config.mail_domain }}</hostname>
       <port>993</port>
       <socketType>SSL</socketType>
       <authentication>password-cleartext</authentication>
       <username>%EMAILADDRESS%</username>
     </incomingServer>
     <incomingServer type="imap">
-      <hostname>{{ config.domain_name }}</hostname>
+      <hostname>{{ config.mail_domain }}</hostname>
       <port>143</port>
       <socketType>STARTTLS</socketType>
       <authentication>password-cleartext</authentication>
       <username>%EMAILADDRESS%</username>
     </incomingServer>
     <incomingServer type="imap">
-      <hostname>{{ config.domain_name }}</hostname>
+      <hostname>{{ config.mail_domain }}</hostname>
       <port>443</port>
       <socketType>SSL</socketType>
       <authentication>password-cleartext</authentication>
       <username>%EMAILADDRESS%</username>
     </incomingServer>
     <outgoingServer type="smtp">
-      <hostname>{{ config.domain_name }}</hostname>
+      <hostname>{{ config.mail_domain }}</hostname>
       <port>465</port>
       <socketType>SSL</socketType>
       <authentication>password-cleartext</authentication>
       <username>%EMAILADDRESS%</username>
     </outgoingServer>
     <outgoingServer type="smtp">
-      <hostname>{{ config.domain_name }}</hostname>
+      <hostname>{{ config.mail_domain }}</hostname>
       <port>587</port>
       <socketType>STARTTLS</socketType>
       <authentication>password-cleartext</authentication>
       <username>%EMAILADDRESS%</username>
     </outgoingServer>
     <outgoingServer type="smtp">
-      <hostname>{{ config.domain_name }}</hostname>
+      <hostname>{{ config.mail_domain }}</hostname>
       <port>443</port>
       <socketType>SSL</socketType>
       <authentication>password-cleartext</authentication>

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/nginx/deployer.py

@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ def _configure_nginx(config: Config, debug: bool = False) -> bool:
         user="root",
         group="root",
         mode="644",
-        config={"domain_name": config.mail_domain},
+        config=config,
         disable_ipv6=config.disable_ipv6,
     )
     need_restart |= main_config.changed
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ def _configure_nginx(config: Config, debug: bool = False) -> bool:
         user="root",
         group="root",
         mode="644",
-        config={"domain_name": config.mail_domain},
+        config=config,
     )
     need_restart |= autoconfig.changed
 
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ def _configure_nginx(config: Config, debug: bool = False) -> bool:
         user="root",
         group="root",
         mode="644",
-        config={"domain_name": config.mail_domain},
+        config=config,
     )
     need_restart |= mta_sts_config.changed
 

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/nginx/mta-sts.txt.j2

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 version: STSv1
 mode: enforce
-mx: {{ config.domain_name }}
+mx: {{ config.mail_domain }}
 max_age: 2419200

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

@@ -42,6 +42,9 @@ stream {
 }
 
 http {
+{% if config.tls_cert_mode == "self" %}
+	limit_req_zone $binary_remote_addr zone=newaccount:10m rate=2r/s;
+{% endif %}
 	sendfile on;
 	tcp_nopush on;
 
@@ -53,8 +56,8 @@ http {
 
 	ssl_protocols TLSv1 TLSv1.1 TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
 	ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on;
-	ssl_certificate /var/lib/acme/live/{{ config.domain_name }}/fullchain;
+	ssl_certificate {{ config.tls_cert_path }};
-	ssl_certificate_key /var/lib/acme/live/{{ config.domain_name }}/privkey;
+	ssl_certificate_key {{ config.tls_key_path }};
 
 	gzip on;
 
@@ -66,7 +69,7 @@ http {
 
 		index index.html index.htm;
 
-		server_name {{ config.domain_name }} www.{{ config.domain_name }} mta-sts.{{ config.domain_name }};
+		server_name {{ config.mail_domain }} www.{{ config.mail_domain }} mta-sts.{{ config.mail_domain }};
 
 		access_log syslog:server=unix:/dev/log,facility=local7;
 
@@ -81,11 +84,15 @@ http {
 		}
 
 		location /new {
+{% if config.tls_cert_mode != "self" %}
 			if ($request_method = GET) {
 				# Redirect to Delta Chat,
 				# which will in turn do a POST request.
-				return 301 dcaccount:https://{{ config.domain_name }}/new;
+				return 301 dcaccount:https://{{ config.mail_domain }}/new;
 			}
+{% else %}
+			limit_req zone=newaccount burst=5 nodelay;
+{% endif %}
 
 			fastcgi_pass unix:/run/fcgiwrap.socket;
 			include /etc/nginx/fastcgi_params;
@@ -99,9 +106,11 @@ http {
 		#
 		# Redirects are only for browsers.
 		location /cgi-bin/newemail.py {
+{% if config.tls_cert_mode != "self" %}
 			if ($request_method = GET) {
-				return 301 dcaccount:https://{{ config.domain_name }}/new;
+				return 301 dcaccount:https://{{ config.mail_domain }}/new;
 			}
+{% endif %}
 
 			fastcgi_pass unix:/run/fcgiwrap.socket;
 			include /etc/nginx/fastcgi_params;
@@ -132,8 +141,8 @@ http {
 	# Redirect www. to non-www
 	server {
 		listen 127.0.0.1:8443 ssl;
-		server_name www.{{ config.domain_name }};
+		server_name www.{{ config.mail_domain }};
-		return 301 $scheme://{{ config.domain_name }}$request_uri;
+		return 301 $scheme://{{ config.mail_domain }}$request_uri;
 		access_log syslog:server=unix:/dev/log,facility=local7;
 	}
 }

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

@@ -15,12 +15,12 @@ readme_directory = no
 compatibility_level = 3.6
 
 # TLS parameters
-smtpd_tls_cert_file=/var/lib/acme/live/{{ config.mail_domain }}/fullchain
+smtpd_tls_cert_file={{ config.tls_cert_path }}
-smtpd_tls_key_file=/var/lib/acme/live/{{ config.mail_domain }}/privkey
+smtpd_tls_key_file={{ config.tls_key_path }}
 smtpd_tls_security_level=may
 
 smtp_tls_CApath=/etc/ssl/certs
-smtp_tls_security_level=verify
+smtp_tls_security_level={{ "verify" if config.tls_cert_mode == "acme" else "encrypt" }}
 # Send SNI extension when connecting to other servers.
 # <https://www.postfix.org/postconf.5.html#smtp_tls_servername>
 smtp_tls_servername = hostname

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/postfix/smtp_tls_policy_map

@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 /^\[[^]]+\]$/ encrypt
+/^_/          encrypt
 /^nauta\.cu$/    may

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/selfsigned/deployer.py

@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+import shlex
+
+from pyinfra.operations import apt, server
+
+from cmdeploy.basedeploy import Deployer
+
+
+def openssl_selfsigned_args(domain, cert_path, key_path, days=36500):
+    """Return the openssl argument list for a self-signed certificate.
+
+    The certificate uses an EC P-256 key with SAN entries for *domain*,
+    ``www.<domain>`` and ``mta-sts.<domain>``.
+    """
+    return [
+        "openssl", "req", "-x509",
+        "-newkey", "ec", "-pkeyopt", "ec_paramgen_curve:P-256",
+        "-noenc", "-days", str(days),
+        "-keyout", str(key_path),
+        "-out", str(cert_path),
+        "-subj", f"/CN={domain}",
+        "-addext", "extendedKeyUsage=serverAuth,clientAuth",
+        "-addext",
+        f"subjectAltName=DNS:{domain},DNS:www.{domain},DNS:mta-sts.{domain}",
+    ]
+
+
+class SelfSignedTlsDeployer(Deployer):
+    """Generates a self-signed TLS certificate for all chatmail endpoints."""
+
+    def __init__(self, mail_domain):
+        self.mail_domain = mail_domain
+        self.cert_path = "/etc/ssl/certs/mailserver.pem"
+        self.key_path = "/etc/ssl/private/mailserver.key"
+
+    def install(self):
+        apt.packages(
+            name="Install openssl",
+            packages=["openssl"],
+        )
+
+    def configure(self):
+        args = openssl_selfsigned_args(
+            self.mail_domain, self.cert_path, self.key_path,
+        )
+        cmd = shlex.join(args)
+        server.shell(
+            name="Generate self-signed TLS certificate if not present",
+            commands=[f"[ -f {self.cert_path} ] || {cmd}"],
+        )
+
+    def activate(self):
+        pass

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/tests/online/test_0_qr.py

@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import pytest
 import requests
 
 from cmdeploy.genqr import gen_qr_png_data
@@ -8,18 +9,33 @@ def test_gen_qr_png_data(maildomain):
     assert data
 
 
+@pytest.mark.filterwarnings("ignore::urllib3.exceptions.InsecureRequestWarning")
 def test_fastcgi_working(maildomain, chatmail_config):
     url = f"https://{maildomain}/new"
     print(url)
-    res = requests.post(url)
+    verify = chatmail_config.tls_cert_mode == "acme"
+    res = requests.post(url, verify=verify)
     assert maildomain in res.json().get("email")
     assert len(res.json().get("password")) > chatmail_config.password_min_length
 
 
-def test_newemail_configure(maildomain, rpc):
+@pytest.mark.filterwarnings("ignore::urllib3.exceptions.InsecureRequestWarning")
+def test_newemail_configure(maildomain, rpc, chatmail_config):
     """Test configuring accounts by scanning a QR code works."""
     url = f"DCACCOUNT:https://{maildomain}/new"
     for i in range(3):
         account_id = rpc.add_account()
-        rpc.set_config_from_qr(account_id, url)
+        if chatmail_config.tls_cert_mode == "self":
-        rpc.configure(account_id)
+            # deltachat core's rustls rejects self-signed HTTPS certs during
+            # set_config_from_qr, so fetch credentials via requests instead
+            res = requests.post(f"https://{maildomain}/new", verify=False)
+            data = res.json()
+            rpc.add_or_update_transport(account_id, {
+                "addr": data["email"],
+                "password": data["password"],
+                "imapServer": maildomain,
+                "smtpServer": maildomain,
+                "certificateChecks": "acceptInvalidCertificates",
+            })
+        else:
+            rpc.add_transport_from_qr(account_id, url)

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/tests/online/test_2_deltachat.py

@@ -11,11 +11,12 @@ from cmdeploy.sshexec import SSHExec
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
-def imap_mailbox(cmfactory):
+def imap_mailbox(cmfactory, ssl_context):
     (ac1,) = cmfactory.get_online_accounts(1)
     user = ac1.get_config("addr")
     password = ac1.get_config("mail_pw")
-    mailbox = imap_tools.MailBox(user.split("@")[1])
+    host = user.split("@")[1]
+    mailbox = imap_tools.MailBox(host, ssl_context=ssl_context)
     mailbox.login(user, password)
     mailbox.dc_ac = ac1
     return mailbox
@@ -171,7 +172,7 @@ class TestEndToEndDeltaChat:
             time.sleep(1)
 
 
-def test_hide_senders_ip_address(cmfactory):
+def test_hide_senders_ip_address(cmfactory, ssl_context):
     public_ip = requests.get("http://icanhazip.com").content.decode().strip()
     assert ipaddress.ip_address(public_ip)
 
@@ -180,6 +181,11 @@ def test_hide_senders_ip_address(cmfactory):
 
     chat.send_text("testing submission header cleanup")
     user2._evtracker.wait_next_incoming_message()
-    user2.direct_imap.select_folder("Inbox")
+    addr = user2.get_config("addr")
-    msg = user2.direct_imap.get_all_messages()[0]
+    host = addr.split("@")[1]
-    assert public_ip not in msg.obj.as_string()
+    pw = user2.get_config("mail_pw")
+    mailbox = imap_tools.MailBox(host, ssl_context=ssl_context)
+    mailbox.login(addr, pw)
+    msgs = list(mailbox.fetch(mark_seen=False))
+    assert msgs, "expected at least one message"
+    assert public_ip not in msgs[0].obj.as_string()

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/tests/plugin.py

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import itertools
 import os
 import random
 import smtplib
+import ssl
 import subprocess
 import time
 from pathlib import Path
@@ -144,15 +145,25 @@ def pytest_terminal_summary(terminalreporter):
             tr.write_line(line)
 
 
-@pytest.fixture
+@pytest.fixture(scope="session")
-def imap(maildomain):
+def ssl_context(chatmail_config):
-    return ImapConn(maildomain)
+    if chatmail_config.tls_cert_mode == "self":
+        ctx = ssl.create_default_context()
+        ctx.check_hostname = False
+        ctx.verify_mode = ssl.CERT_NONE
+        return ctx
+    return None
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
-def make_imap_connection(maildomain):
+def imap(maildomain, ssl_context):
+    return ImapConn(maildomain, ssl_context=ssl_context)
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def make_imap_connection(maildomain, ssl_context):
     def make_imap_connection():
-        conn = ImapConn(maildomain)
+        conn = ImapConn(maildomain, ssl_context=ssl_context)
         conn.connect()
         return conn
 
@@ -164,12 +175,13 @@ class ImapConn:
     logcmd = "journalctl -f -u dovecot"
     name = "dovecot"
 
-    def __init__(self, host):
+    def __init__(self, host, ssl_context=None):
         self.host = host
+        self.ssl_context = ssl_context
 
     def connect(self):
         print(f"imap-connect {self.host}")
-        self.conn = imaplib.IMAP4_SSL(self.host)
+        self.conn = imaplib.IMAP4_SSL(self.host, ssl_context=self.ssl_context)
 
     def login(self, user, password):
         print(f"imap-login {user!r} {password!r}")
@@ -195,14 +207,14 @@ class ImapConn:
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
-def smtp(maildomain):
+def smtp(maildomain, ssl_context):
-    return SmtpConn(maildomain)
+    return SmtpConn(maildomain, ssl_context=ssl_context)
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
-def make_smtp_connection(maildomain):
+def make_smtp_connection(maildomain, ssl_context):
     def make_smtp_connection():
-        conn = SmtpConn(maildomain)
+        conn = SmtpConn(maildomain, ssl_context=ssl_context)
         conn.connect()
         return conn
 
@@ -214,12 +226,14 @@ class SmtpConn:
     logcmd = "journalctl -f -t postfix/smtpd -t postfix/smtp -t postfix/lmtp"
     name = "postfix"
 
-    def __init__(self, host):
+    def __init__(self, host, ssl_context=None):
         self.host = host
+        self.ssl_context = ssl_context
 
     def connect(self):
         print(f"smtp-connect {self.host}")
-        self.conn = smtplib.SMTP_SSL(self.host)
+        context = self.ssl_context or ssl.create_default_context()
+        self.conn = smtplib.SMTP_SSL(self.host, context=context)
 
     def login(self, user, password):
         print(f"smtp-login {user!r} {password!r}")
@@ -270,11 +284,12 @@ def gencreds(chatmail_config):
 class ChatmailTestProcess:
     """Provider for chatmail instance accounts as used by deltachat.testplugin.acfactory"""
 
-    def __init__(self, pytestconfig, maildomain, gencreds):
+    def __init__(self, pytestconfig, maildomain, gencreds, chatmail_config):
         self.pytestconfig = pytestconfig
         self.maildomain = maildomain
         assert "." in self.maildomain, maildomain
         self.gencreds = gencreds
+        self.chatmail_config = chatmail_config
         self._addr2files = {}
 
     def get_liveconfig_producer(self):
@@ -287,6 +302,9 @@ class ChatmailTestProcess:
             # speed up account configuration
             config["mail_server"] = self.maildomain
             config["send_server"] = self.maildomain
+            if self.chatmail_config.tls_cert_mode == "self":
+                # Accept self-signed TLS certificates
+                config["imap_certificate_checks"] = "3"
             yield config
 
     def cache_maybe_retrieve_configured_db_files(self, cache_addr, db_target_path):
@@ -297,12 +315,14 @@ class ChatmailTestProcess:
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
-def cmfactory(request, gencreds, tmpdir, maildomain):
+def cmfactory(request, gencreds, tmpdir, maildomain, chatmail_config):
     # cloned from deltachat.testplugin.amfactory
     pytest.importorskip("deltachat")
     from deltachat.testplugin import ACFactory
 
-    testproc = ChatmailTestProcess(request.config, maildomain, gencreds)
+    testproc = ChatmailTestProcess(
+        request.config, maildomain, gencreds, chatmail_config
+    )
 
     class Data:
         def read_path(self, path):
@@ -310,6 +330,10 @@ def cmfactory(request, gencreds, tmpdir, maildomain):
 
     am = ACFactory(request=request, tmpdir=tmpdir, testprocess=testproc, data=Data())
 
+    # Skip upstream's init_imap to prevent extra imap connections not
+    # needed for relay testing
+    am._acsetup.init_imap = lambda acc: None
+
     # nb. a bit hacky
     # would probably be better if deltachat's test machinery grows native support
     def switch_maildomain(maildomain2):
@@ -363,38 +387,40 @@ def lp(request):
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
-def cmsetup(maildomain, gencreds):
+def cmsetup(maildomain, gencreds, ssl_context):
-    return CMSetup(maildomain, gencreds)
+    return CMSetup(maildomain, gencreds, ssl_context)
 
 
 class CMSetup:
-    def __init__(self, maildomain, gencreds):
+    def __init__(self, maildomain, gencreds, ssl_context):
         self.maildomain = maildomain
         self.gencreds = gencreds
+        self.ssl_context = ssl_context
 
     def gen_users(self, num):
         print(f"Creating {num} online users")
         users = []
         for i in range(num):
             addr, password = self.gencreds()
-            user = CMUser(self.maildomain, addr, password)
+            user = CMUser(self.maildomain, addr, password, self.ssl_context)
             assert user.smtp
             users.append(user)
         return users
 
 
 class CMUser:
-    def __init__(self, maildomain, addr, password):
+    def __init__(self, maildomain, addr, password, ssl_context=None):
         self.maildomain = maildomain
         self.addr = addr
         self.password = password
+        self.ssl_context = ssl_context
         self._smtp = None
         self._imap = None
 
     @property
     def smtp(self):
         if not self._smtp:
-            handle = SmtpConn(self.maildomain)
+            handle = SmtpConn(self.maildomain, ssl_context=self.ssl_context)
             handle.connect()
             handle.login(self.addr, self.password)
             self._smtp = handle
@@ -403,7 +429,7 @@ class CMUser:
     @property
     def imap(self):
         if not self._imap:
-            imap = ImapConn(self.maildomain)
+            imap = ImapConn(self.maildomain, ssl_context=self.ssl_context)
             imap.connect()
             imap.login(self.addr, self.password)
             self._imap = imap

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/tests/setup_tls_external.py

@@ -0,0 +1,362 @@
+"""Setup and verify external TLS certificates for a chatmail server.
+
+Generates a self-signed TLS certificate, uploads it to the chatmail
+server via SCP, runs ``cmdeploy run``, and then probes all TLS-enabled
+ports (nginx, postfix, dovecot) to verify the certificate is actually
+served.  After probing, checks remote service logs for errors.
+
+Prerequisites
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+- SSH root access to the target server (same as ``cmdeploy run``)
+- ``cmdeploy`` in PATH (activate the venv first)
+
+How to run
+~~~~~~~~~~
+From the repository root::
+
+    # Full run: generate cert, deploy, probe ports, check services
+    python -m cmdeploy.tests.setup_tls_external DOMAIN
+
+    # Re-probe only (after a previous deploy)
+    python -m cmdeploy.tests.setup_tls_external DOMAIN \\
+        --skip-deploy --skip-certgen
+
+    # Override SSH host (e.g. when domain doesn't resolve to the server)
+    python -m cmdeploy.tests.setup_tls_external DOMAIN \\
+        --ssh-host staging-ipv4.testrun.org
+
+Arguments
+~~~~~~~~~
+DOMAIN            mail domain for the chatmail server (SSH root login must work)
+
+Options
+~~~~~~~
+--skip-deploy     skip ``cmdeploy run``, only probe ports
+--skip-certgen    skip cert generation/upload, use certs already on server
+--ssh-host HOST   SSH host override (defaults to DOMAIN)
+"""
+
+import argparse
+import shutil
+import smtplib
+import socket
+import ssl
+import subprocess
+import sys
+import tempfile
+import time
+from pathlib import Path
+
+# Cert paths on the remote server
+REMOTE_CERT = "/etc/ssl/certs/tmp_fullchain.pem"
+REMOTE_KEY = "/etc/ssl/private/tmp_privkey.pem"
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Config generation
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+def generate_config(domain: str, config_dir: Path) -> Path:
+    """Generate a chatmail.ini with tls_external_cert_and_key for *domain*."""
+    from chatmaild.config import write_initial_config
+
+    ini_path = config_dir / "chatmail.ini"
+    write_initial_config(
+        ini_path,
+        domain,
+        overrides={
+            "tls_external_cert_and_key": f"{REMOTE_CERT} {REMOTE_KEY}",
+        },
+    )
+    print(f"[+] Generated chatmail.ini for {domain} in {config_dir}")
+    return ini_path
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Certificate generation
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+def generate_cert(domain: str, cert_dir: Path) -> tuple:
+    """Generate a self-signed TLS cert+key for *domain* with proper SANs."""
+    from cmdeploy.selfsigned.deployer import openssl_selfsigned_args
+
+    cert_path = cert_dir / "fullchain.pem"
+    key_path = cert_dir / "privkey.pem"
+    subprocess.check_call(openssl_selfsigned_args(domain, cert_path, key_path, days=30))
+    print(f"[+] Generated cert for {domain} in {cert_dir}")
+    return cert_path, key_path
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Upload certs to remote server
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+def upload_certs(
+    ssh_host: str,
+    cert_path: Path,
+    key_path: Path,
+) -> None:
+    """SCP cert and key to the remote server."""
+    subprocess.check_call([
+        "scp", str(cert_path), f"root@{ssh_host}:{REMOTE_CERT}",
+    ])
+    subprocess.check_call([
+        "scp", str(key_path), f"root@{ssh_host}:{REMOTE_KEY}",
+    ])
+    # Ensure cert is world-readable and key is readable by ssl-cert group
+    # (dovecot/postfix/nginx need to read these files)
+    subprocess.check_call([
+        "ssh", f"root@{ssh_host}",
+        f"chmod 644 {REMOTE_CERT} && chmod 640 {REMOTE_KEY}"
+        f" && chgrp ssl-cert {REMOTE_KEY}",
+    ])
+    print(f"[+] Uploaded cert/key to {ssh_host}")
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Deploy
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+def run_deploy(ini_path: str) -> None:
+    """Run ``cmdeploy run --skip-dns-check --config <ini>``."""
+    cmd = ["cmdeploy", "run", "--config", str(ini_path), "--skip-dns-check"]
+    print(f"[+] Running: {' '.join(cmd)}")
+    subprocess.check_call(cmd)
+    print("[+] Deploy completed successfully")
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# TLS port probing
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+def get_peer_cert_binary(host: str, port: int) -> bytes:
+    """Connect to host:port with TLS and return the DER-encoded peer cert."""
+    ctx = ssl.create_default_context()
+    ctx.check_hostname = False
+    ctx.verify_mode = ssl.CERT_NONE
+    with socket.create_connection((host, port), timeout=15) as sock:
+        with ctx.wrap_socket(sock, server_hostname=host) as ssock:
+            return ssock.getpeercert(binary_form=True)
+
+
+def get_smtp_starttls_cert_binary(host: str, port: int = 587) -> bytes:
+    """Connect via SMTP STARTTLS and return the DER cert."""
+    ctx = ssl.create_default_context()
+    ctx.check_hostname = False
+    ctx.verify_mode = ssl.CERT_NONE
+    with smtplib.SMTP(host, port, timeout=15) as smtp:
+        smtp.starttls(context=ctx)
+        return smtp.sock.getpeercert(binary_form=True)
+
+
+def check_cert_matches(
+    label: str, served_der: bytes, expected_der: bytes,
+) -> bool:
+    """Compare served DER cert against the expected cert."""
+    if served_der == expected_der:
+        print(f"  [OK]   {label}: certificate matches")
+        return True
+    else:
+        print(f"  [FAIL] {label}: certificate does NOT match")
+        return False
+
+
+def load_cert_der(cert_pem_path: Path) -> bytes:
+    """Load a PEM cert file and return its DER encoding."""
+    pem_text = cert_pem_path.read_text()
+    start = pem_text.index("-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----")
+    end = pem_text.index("-----END CERTIFICATE-----") + len(
+        "-----END CERTIFICATE-----"
+    )
+    return ssl.PEM_cert_to_DER_cert(pem_text[start:end])
+
+
+def probe_all_ports(host: str, expected_cert_der: bytes) -> bool:
+    """Probe TLS ports and verify the served certificate matches.
+
+    Checks ports 993 (IMAP), 465 (SMTPS), 587 (STARTTLS), and 443
+    (nginx stream).  Port 8443 is skipped as nginx binds it to
+    localhost behind the stream proxy on 443.
+    """
+    print(f"\n[+] Probing TLS ports on {host}...")
+    all_ok = True
+
+    for label, port in [
+        ("IMAP/TLS (993)", 993),
+        ("SMTP/TLS (465)", 465),
+    ]:
+        try:
+            served = get_peer_cert_binary(host, port)
+            if not check_cert_matches(label, served, expected_cert_der):
+                all_ok = False
+        except Exception as e:
+            print(f"  [FAIL] {label}: connection failed: {e}")
+            all_ok = False
+
+    # STARTTLS on port 587
+    try:
+        served = get_smtp_starttls_cert_binary(host, 587)
+        if not check_cert_matches("SMTP/STARTTLS (587)", served, expected_cert_der):
+            all_ok = False
+    except Exception as e:
+        print(f"  [FAIL] SMTP/STARTTLS (587): connection failed: {e}")
+        all_ok = False
+
+    # Port 443 (nginx stream proxy with ALPN routing)
+    try:
+        served = get_peer_cert_binary(host, 443)
+        if not check_cert_matches("nginx/443 (stream)", served, expected_cert_der):
+            all_ok = False
+    except Exception as e:
+        print(f"  [FAIL] nginx/443 (stream): connection failed: {e}")
+        all_ok = False
+
+    return all_ok
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Post-deploy service health checks
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+SERVICES = ["dovecot", "postfix", "nginx"]
+
+
+def check_remote_services(ssh_host: str, since: str = "") -> bool:
+    """SSH to the server and check for service failures or errors.
+
+    *since* is a ``journalctl --since`` timestamp (e.g. ``"5 min ago"``).
+    If empty, checks the entire boot journal.
+    """
+    print(f"\n[+] Checking remote service health on {ssh_host}...")
+    all_ok = True
+
+    for svc in SERVICES:
+        try:
+            result = subprocess.run(
+                ["ssh", f"root@{ssh_host}",
+                 f"systemctl is-active {svc}.service"],
+                capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=15, check=False,
+            )
+            status = result.stdout.strip()
+            if status == "active":
+                print(f"  [OK]   {svc}: active")
+            else:
+                print(f"  [FAIL] {svc}: {status}")
+                all_ok = False
+        except Exception as e:
+            print(f"  [FAIL] {svc}: check failed: {e}")
+            all_ok = False
+
+    since_arg = f'--since="{since}"' if since else ""
+    print(f"\n[+] Checking journal for errors on {ssh_host}...")
+    for svc in SERVICES:
+        try:
+            result = subprocess.run(
+                ["ssh", f"root@{ssh_host}",
+                 f"journalctl -u {svc}.service {since_arg}"
+                 f" --no-pager -p err -q"],
+                capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=15, check=False,
+            )
+            errors = result.stdout.strip()
+            if errors:
+                print(f"  [WARN] {svc} errors in journal:")
+                for line in errors.splitlines()[:10]:
+                    print(f"         {line}")
+                all_ok = False
+            else:
+                print(f"  [OK]   {svc}: no errors in journal")
+        except Exception as e:
+            print(f"  [FAIL] {svc}: journal check failed: {e}")
+            all_ok = False
+
+    return all_ok
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Main
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+def main():
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
+        description=__doc__,
+        formatter_class=argparse.RawDescriptionHelpFormatter,
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "domain",
+        help="mail domain (SSH root login must work to this host)",
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--skip-deploy",
+        action="store_true",
+        help="skip cmdeploy run, only probe ports",
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--skip-certgen",
+        action="store_true",
+        help="skip cert generation and upload (use existing)",
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--ssh-host",
+        help="SSH host override (defaults to DOMAIN)",
+    )
+    args = parser.parse_args()
+
+    domain = args.domain
+    ssh_host = args.ssh_host or domain
+    print(f"[+] Domain: {domain}")
+    print(f"[+] SSH host: {ssh_host}")
+    print(f"[+] Remote cert: {REMOTE_CERT}")
+    print(f"[+] Remote key:  {REMOTE_KEY}")
+
+    work_dir = Path(tempfile.mkdtemp(prefix="tls-external-test-"))
+    try:
+        # Generate chatmail.ini
+        ini_path = generate_config(domain, work_dir)
+
+        if not args.skip_certgen:
+            local_cert, local_key = generate_cert(domain, work_dir)
+            upload_certs(ssh_host, local_cert, local_key)
+        else:
+            local_cert = work_dir / "fullchain.pem"
+            subprocess.check_call([
+                "scp", f"root@{ssh_host}:{REMOTE_CERT}", str(local_cert),
+            ])
+
+        # Record timestamp before deploy for journal filtering
+        deploy_start = time.strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
+
+        if not args.skip_deploy:
+            run_deploy(ini_path)
+
+        # Probe TLS ports
+        expected_der = load_cert_der(local_cert)
+        ports_ok = probe_all_ports(domain, expected_der)
+
+        # Check service health (only errors since deploy started)
+        services_ok = check_remote_services(ssh_host, since=deploy_start)
+
+        if ports_ok and services_ok:
+            print(
+                "\n[SUCCESS] All TLS port probes passed and services are healthy"
+            )
+            return 0
+        else:
+            if not ports_ok:
+                print("\n[FAILURE] Some TLS port probes failed", file=sys.stderr)
+            if not services_ok:
+                print(
+                    "\n[FAILURE] Some services have errors", file=sys.stderr
+                )
+            return 1
+    finally:
+        shutil.rmtree(work_dir, ignore_errors=True)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    sys.exit(main())

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/tests/test_dns.py

@@ -91,6 +91,16 @@ class TestPerformInitialChecks:
         assert not res
         assert len(l) == 2
 
+    def test_perform_initial_checks_no_mta_sts_self_signed(self, mockdns):
+        del mockdns["CNAME"]["mta-sts.some.domain"]
+        remote_data = remote.rdns.perform_initial_checks("some.domain")
+        assert not remote_data["MTA_STS"]
+
+        l = []
+        res = check_initial_remote_data(remote_data, strict_tls=False, print=l.append)
+        assert res
+        assert not l
+
 
 def parse_zonefile_into_dict(zonefile, mockdns_base, only_required=False):
     for zf_line in zonefile.split("\n"):

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/tests/test_external_tls.py

@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+"""Functional tests for tls_external_cert_and_key option."""
+
+import json
+
+import chatmaild.newemail
+import pytest
+from chatmaild.config import read_config, write_initial_config
+
+
+def make_external_config(tmp_path, cert_key=None):
+    inipath = tmp_path / "chatmail.ini"
+    overrides = {}
+    if cert_key is not None:
+        overrides["tls_external_cert_and_key"] = cert_key
+    write_initial_config(inipath, "chat.example.org", overrides=overrides)
+    return inipath
+
+
+def test_external_tls_config_reads_paths(tmp_path):
+    inipath = make_external_config(
+        tmp_path,
+        cert_key=(
+            "/etc/letsencrypt/live/chat.example.org/fullchain.pem"
+            " /etc/letsencrypt/live/chat.example.org/privkey.pem"
+        ),
+    )
+    config = read_config(inipath)
+    assert config.tls_cert_mode == "external"
+    assert (
+        config.tls_cert_path == "/etc/letsencrypt/live/chat.example.org/fullchain.pem"
+    )
+    assert config.tls_key_path == "/etc/letsencrypt/live/chat.example.org/privkey.pem"
+
+
+def test_external_tls_missing_option_uses_acme(tmp_path):
+    config = read_config(make_external_config(tmp_path))
+    assert config.tls_cert_mode == "acme"
+
+
+def test_external_tls_bad_format_raises(tmp_path):
+    inipath = make_external_config(tmp_path, cert_key="/only/one/path.pem")
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="two space-separated"):
+        read_config(inipath)
+
+
+def test_external_tls_three_paths_raises(tmp_path):
+    inipath = make_external_config(tmp_path, cert_key="/a /b /c")
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="two space-separated"):
+        read_config(inipath)
+
+
+def test_external_tls_no_dclogin_url(tmp_path, capsys, monkeypatch):
+    inipath = make_external_config(
+        tmp_path, cert_key="/certs/fullchain.pem /certs/privkey.pem"
+    )
+    monkeypatch.setattr(chatmaild.newemail, "CONFIG_PATH", str(inipath))
+    chatmaild.newemail.print_new_account()
+    out, _ = capsys.readouterr()
+    lines = out.split("\n")
+    dic = json.loads(lines[2])
+    assert "dclogin_url" not in dic
+
+
+def test_external_tls_selects_correct_deployer(tmp_path):
+    from cmdeploy.deployers import get_tls_deployer
+    from cmdeploy.external.deployer import ExternalTlsDeployer
+    from cmdeploy.selfsigned.deployer import SelfSignedTlsDeployer
+
+    inipath = make_external_config(
+        tmp_path, cert_key="/certs/fullchain.pem /certs/privkey.pem"
+    )
+    config = read_config(inipath)
+    deployer = get_tls_deployer(config, "chat.example.org")
+
+    assert isinstance(deployer, ExternalTlsDeployer)
+    assert not isinstance(deployer, SelfSignedTlsDeployer)
+    assert deployer.cert_path == "/certs/fullchain.pem"
+    assert deployer.key_path == "/certs/privkey.pem"

doc/source/docker.rst

@@ -6,37 +6,24 @@ using Docker Compose.
 
 .. note::
 
-   Docker support is experimental and not yet covered by automated tests, please report bugs.
+    - Docker support is experimental and not yet covered by automated tests, please report bugs.
+    - This preliminary image simply wraps the cmdeploy process detailed in the :doc:`getting_started` instructions in a full Debian-systemd image with r/w access to `/sys/fs`
+    - Currently, the image has only been tested and built on amd64, though arm64 should theoretically work as well.
 
 
-Known limitations
+Setup Preparation
------------------
-
-- Requires cgroups v2 on the host. Operation with cgroups v1 has not been tested.
-- This preliminary image simply wraps the cmdeploy process detailed in the :doc:`getting_started` instructions in a full Debian-systemd image. 
-- Currently, the image has only been tested and built on amd64, though arm64 should theoretically work as well.
-
-
-Prerequisites
--------------
-
-- **Docker Compose v2** (``docker compose``, not ``docker-compose``) is
-  required for its ``cgroup: host`` support (`Install instructions <https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/debian/#install-using-the-repository>`_:)
-
-- **DNS records** for your domain (see step 1 below).
-
-- **Kernel parameters** — ``fs.inotify.max_user_instances`` and
-  ``fs.inotify.max_user_watches`` must be raised on the host because they
-  cannot be changed inside the container (see step 2 below).
-
-
-Preliminary setup
 -----------------
 
 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.
+1. Install docker and docker compose v2 (check with `docker compose version`), install, e.g., through
+    - Debian 12 through the `official install instructions <https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/debian/#install-using-the-repository>`_
+    - Debian 13+ with `apt install docker docker-compose`
+
+   If you must use v1 (EOL since 2023), use `docker-compose` in the following and modify the `docker-compose.yaml` to use `privileged: true` instead of `cgroup: host`, though that will run give the container all priviledges.
+
+2. Setup the initial DNS records.
    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.
@@ -48,7 +35,7 @@ steps. Please substitute it with your own domain.
        www.chat.example.org. 3600 IN CNAME chat.example.org.
        mta-sts.chat.example.org. 3600 IN CNAME chat.example.org.
 
-2. Configure kernel parameters on the host, as these can not be set from the container::
+3. Configure kernel parameters on the host, as these can not be set from the container::
 
        echo "fs.inotify.max_user_instances=65536" | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.d/99-inotify.conf
        echo "fs.inotify.max_user_watches=65536" | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.d/99-inotify.conf
@@ -73,38 +60,32 @@ Either:
 - Create a service directory, e.g., `/srv/chatmail-relay`::
 
     mkdir -p /srv/chatmail-relay && cd /srv/chatmail-relay
-    wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/chatmail/relay/refs/heads/main/docker-compose.yaml https://raw.githubusercontent.com/chatmail/relay/refs/heads/main/docker-compose.override.yaml.example
+    wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/chatmail/relay/refs/heads/main/docker-compose.yaml
-    wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/chatmail/relay/refs/heads/main/docker/env.example -O .env
+    wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/chatmail/relay/refs/heads/main/docker-compose.override.yaml.example -O docker-compose.override.yaml
-    
 
 - or clone the chatmail repo ::
 
    git clone https://github.com/chatmail/relay
    cd relay
-   cp example.env .env
-
 
 
 Customize and start
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
-1. All local customizations (data paths, extra volumes, config mounts) go in
+1. Set the fully qualified domain name of the relay::
-   ``docker-compose.override.yaml``, which Compose merges automatically with
-   the base file. By default, all data is stored in docker volumes, you will
-   likely want to at least create and configure the mail storage location. Copy
-   the example to get started::
 
-       cp docker/docker-compose.override.yaml.example docker-compose.override.yaml
+       echo 'MAIL_DOMAIN=chat.example.org' > .env
-       # and edit docker-compose.override.yaml
-
-
-2. Configure the ``.env`` file. Only ``MAIL_DOMAIN`` is required, the domain
-   name of the future server.
 
    The container generates a ``chatmail.ini`` with defaults from
    ``MAIL_DOMAIN`` on first start. To customize chatmail settings, mount
    your own ``chatmail.ini`` instead (see `Custom chatmail.ini`_ below).
 
+2. All local customizations (data paths, extra volumes, config mounts) go in
+   ``docker-compose.override.yaml``, which Compose merges automatically with
+   the base file. By default, all data is stored in docker volumes, you will
+   likely want to at least create and configure the mail storage location, but
+   you might also want to configure external TLS certificates there.
+
 3. Start the container::
 
        docker compose up -d
@@ -113,26 +94,36 @@ Customize and start
 4. After installation is complete, open ``https://chat.example.org`` in
    your browser.
 
+Finish install and test
+-----------------------
 
-Managing the server
+You can test the installation with::
--------------------
 
-Use ``docker exec`` to run cmdeploy commands inside the container::
+        pip install cmping chat.example.org # or
+        uvx cmping chat.example.org # if you use https://docs.astral.sh/uv/
+
+You should check and extend your DNS records for better interoperability::
 
     # Show required DNS records
     docker exec chatmail /opt/cmdeploy/bin/cmdeploy dns --ssh-host @local
 
-    # Check server status
+You can check server status with::
+
     docker exec chatmail /opt/cmdeploy/bin/cmdeploy status --ssh-host @local
 
-    # Run benchmarks (can also run from any machine with cmdeploy installed)
+You can run some benchmarks (can also run from any machine with cmdeploy installed)
+
     docker exec chatmail /opt/cmdeploy/bin/cmdeploy bench chat.example.org
 
+You can run the test suite with
+
+    docker exec chatmail /opt/cmdeploy/bin/cmdeploy test chat.example.org --ssh-host localhost
+
 
 Customization
 -------------
 
-Custom website
+Website
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
 You can customize the chatmail landing page by mounting a directory with
@@ -159,14 +150,8 @@ your own website source files.
 Custom chatmail.ini
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
-There are two configuration modes:
+If you want to go beyond simply setting the ``MAIL_DOMAIN`` in ``.env``, you
-
+can use a regular `chatmail.ini` to give you full control.
-**Simple (default):** Set ``MAIL_DOMAIN`` in ``.env``. The container
-auto-generates ``chatmail.ini`` with defaults on first start. This is
-sufficient for most deployments.
-
-**Advanced:** Generate a ``chatmail.ini``, edit it, and mount it into
-the container. This gives you full control over all chatmail settings.
 
 1. Extract the generated config from a running container::
 
@@ -186,6 +171,16 @@ the container. This gives you full control over all chatmail settings.
        docker compose down && docker compose up -d
 
 
+External TLS certificates
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+If TLS certificates are managed outside the container (e.g. by certbot,
+acmetool, or Traefik on the host), mount them into the container and set
+``TLS_EXTERNAL_CERT_AND_KEY`` in ``docker-compose.override.yaml``.
+Changed certificates are picked up automatically via inotify.
+See the examples in the example override and :ref:`external-tls` in the getting started guide for details.
+
+
 Migrating from a bare-metal install
 ------------------------------------
 
@@ -208,16 +203,19 @@ switch to Docker:
 
 3. Copy persistent data into the ``./data/`` subdirectories (for example, as configured in `Customize and start`_) ::
 
-       mkdir -p data/chatmail-dkimkeys data/chatmail-acme data/chatmail
+       mkdir -p data/dkim data/certs data/mail
 
        # DKIM keys
-       cp -a /etc/dkimkeys/* data/chatmail-dkimkeys/
+       cp -a /etc/dkimkeys/* data/dkim/
 
-       # ACME certificates and account
+       # TLS certificates
-       rsync -a /var/lib/acme/ data/chatmail-acme/
+       rsync -a /var/lib/acme/ data/certs/
 
-       # Mail data
+   Note that ownership of dkim and acme is adjusted on container start.
-       rsync -a /home/ data/chatmail/
+
+   For the mail directory::
+
+       rsync -a /home/vmail/ data/mail/
 
    Alternatively, mount ``/home/vmail`` directly by changing the volume
    in ``docker-compose-override.yaml``::
@@ -238,8 +236,8 @@ Clone the repository and build the Docker image::
     docker compose build chatmail
 
 The build bakes all binaries, Python packages, and the install stage
-into the image. After building, only ``docker-compose.yaml`` and ``.env``
+into the image. After building, only ``docker-compose.yaml`` and a ``.env`` with
-are needed to run the container.
+``MAIL_DOMAIN`` are needed to run the container.
 
 You can transfer a locally built image to your server directly (pigz is parallel `gzip` which can be used instead as well) ::
 

doc/source/getting_started.rst

@@ -47,6 +47,14 @@ steps. Please substitute it with your own domain.
        www.chat.example.org. 3600 IN CNAME chat.example.org.
        mta-sts.chat.example.org. 3600 IN CNAME chat.example.org.
 
+   .. note::
+
+      For experimental deployments using self-signed certificates,
+      use a domain name starting with ``_``
+      (e.g. ``_chat.example.org``).
+      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
    virtualenv.
 
@@ -63,6 +71,16 @@ steps. Please substitute it with your own domain.
 
        scripts/cmdeploy init chat.example.org  # <-- use your domain
 
+   To use self-signed TLS certificates
+   instead of Let's Encrypt,
+   use a domain name starting with ``_``
+   (e.g. ``scripts/cmdeploy init _chat.example.org``).
+   Domains starting with ``_`` cannot obtain WebPKI certificates,
+   so self-signed mode is derived automatically.
+   This is useful for private or test deployments.
+   See the :doc:`overview`
+   for details on certificate provisioning.
+
 4. Verify that SSH root login to the deployment server server works:
 
    ::
@@ -175,6 +193,51 @@ creating addresses, login with ssh to the deployment machine and run:
 Chatmail address creation will be denied while this file is present.
 
 
+Running a relay with self-signed certificates
+----------------------------------------------
+
+Use a domain name starting with ``_`` (e.g. ``_chat.example.org``)
+to run a relay with self-signed certificates.
+Domains starting with ``_`` cannot obtain WebPKI certificates
+so the relay automatically uses self-signed certificates
+and all other relays will accept connections from it
+without requiring certificate verification.
+This is useful for experimental setups and testing.
+
+.. _external-tls:
+
+Running a relay with externally managed certificates
+-----------------------------------------------------
+
+If you already have a TLS certificate manager
+(e.g. Traefik, certbot, or another ACME client)
+running on the deployment server,
+you can configure the relay to use those certificates
+instead of the built-in ``acmetool``.
+
+Set the following in ``chatmail.ini``::
+
+    tls_external_cert_and_key = /path/to/fullchain.pem /path/to/privkey.pem
+
+The paths must point to certificate and key files
+on the deployment server.
+During ``cmdeploy run``, these paths are written into
+the Postfix, Dovecot, and Nginx configurations.
+No certificate files are transferred from the build machine —
+they must already exist on the server,
+managed by your external certificate tool.
+
+The deploy will verify that both files exist on the server.
+``acmetool`` is **not** installed or run in this mode.
+
+.. note::
+
+   You are responsible for certificate renewal.
+   When the certificate file changes on disk,
+   all relay services pick up the new certificate automatically
+   (via a systemd path watcher installed during deploy).
+
+
 Migrating to a new build machine
 ----------------------------------
 

doc/source/overview.rst

@@ -297,8 +297,7 @@ TLS requirements
 
 Postfix is configured to require valid TLS by setting
 `smtp_tls_security_level <https://www.postfix.org/postconf.5.html#smtp_tls_security_level>`_
-to ``verify``. If emails don’t arrive at your chatmail relay server, the
+to ``verify``.
-problem is likely that your relay does not have a valid TLS certificate.
 
 You can test it by resolving ``MX`` records of your relay domain and
 then connecting to MX relays (e.g ``mx.example.org``) with
@@ -309,6 +308,11 @@ When providing a TLS certificate to your chatmail relay server, make
 sure to provide the full certificate chain and not just the last
 certificate.
 
+If you use an external certificate manager (e.g. Traefik or certbot),
+set ``tls_external_cert_and_key`` in ``chatmail.ini``
+to provide the certificate and key paths.
+See :ref:`external-tls` for details.
+
 If you are running an Exim server and don’t see incoming connections
 from a chatmail relay server in the logs, make sure ``smtp_no_mail`` log
 item is enabled in the config with ``log_selector = +smtp_no_mail``. By
@@ -317,6 +321,14 @@ default Exim does not log sessions that are closed before sending the
 by Postfix, so you might think that connection is not established while
 actually it is a problem with your TLS certificate.
 
+If emails don’t arrive at your chatmail relay server, the
+problem is likely that your relay does not have a valid TLS certificate.
+
+Note that connections to relays with underscore-prefixed test domains
+(e.g. ``_chat.example.org``) use ``encrypt`` tls security level,
+because such domains cannot obtain valid Let's Encrypt certificates
+and run with self-signed certificates.
+
 
 .. _dovecot: https://dovecot.org
 .. _postfix: https://www.postfix.org

docker-compose.override.yaml.example

@@ -1,26 +1,21 @@
 # Local overrides — copy to docker-compose.override.yaml in the repo root.
 # Compose automatically merges this with docker-compose.yaml.
 #
-#   cp docker/docker-compose.override.yaml.example docker-compose.override.yaml
+#   cp docker-compose.override.yaml.example docker-compose.override.yaml
 #
-# Volumes listed here are APPENDED to the base file's volumes.
+# Volumes are APPENDED to the base file's volumes list.
-# Scalar values (environment, image, etc.) are REPLACED.
+# Environment and other scalar keys are MERGED by key.
 services:
   chatmail:
     volumes:
       ## Data paths — bind-mount to host directories for easy access/backup.
-      ## Uncomment and adjust paths as needed. These override the named
-      ## volumes in the base docker-compose.yaml.
-      # - ./data/chatmail:/home/vmail
-      # - ./data/chatmail-dkimkeys:/etc/dkimkeys
-      # - ./data/chatmail-acme:/var/lib/acme
 
-      ## Or mount data from an existing bare-metal install.
+      # - ./data/dkim:/etc/dkimkeys
-      ## Note: DKIM key ownership is fixed automatically on startup
+      # - ./data/certs:/var/lib/acme
-      ## (the host's opendkim UID may differ from the container's).
+
+      # - ./data/mail:/home/vmail
+      ## Or mount from an existing bare-metal install.
       # - /home/vmail:/home/vmail
-      # - /etc/dkimkeys:/etc/dkimkeys
-      # - /var/lib/acme:/var/lib/acme
 
       ## Mount your own chatmail.ini (skips auto-generation):
       # - ./chatmail.ini:/etc/chatmail/chatmail.ini
@@ -31,3 +26,15 @@ services:
       ## Debug — mount scripts from the repo for live editing:
       # - ./docker/files/setup_chatmail_docker.sh:/setup_chatmail_docker.sh
       # - ./docker/files/entrypoint.sh:/entrypoint.sh
+
+    # environment:
+      ## Mount certs (above) and set TLS_EXTERNAL_CERT_AND_KEY to in-container paths.
+      ## Changed certs are picked up automatically (inotify via tls-cert-reload.path).
+      ##
+      ## Host acmetool (bare-metal migration): create mount above, and
+      ##   rsync -a /var/lib/acme/live data/certs
+      # TLS_EXTERNAL_CERT_AND_KEY: "/var/lib/acme/live/${MAIL_DOMAIN}/fullchain /var/lib/acme/live/${MAIL_DOMAIN}/privkey"
+      ##
+      ## (Untested) Traefik certs-dumper (see docker/docker-compose-traefik.yaml) - also add volume:
+      ##   - traefik-certs:/certs:ro
+      # TLS_EXTERNAL_CERT_AND_KEY: "/certs/${MAIL_DOMAIN}/certificate.crt /certs/${MAIL_DOMAIN}/privatekey.key"

docker-compose.yaml

@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@ services:
     restart: unless-stopped
     container_name: chatmail
     # Required for systemd — use only one of the following:
-    cgroup: host          # compose v2 only
+    cgroup: host          # compose v2
-    # privileged: true    # compose v1 (not tested)
+    # privileged: true    # compose v1 (less restricted)
     tty: true # required for logs
     tmpfs: # required for systemd
       - /tmp
@@ -32,20 +32,16 @@ services:
         max-file: "3"
     environment:
       MAIL_DOMAIN: $MAIL_DOMAIN
-      CMDEPLOY_STAGES: ${CMDEPLOY_STAGES:-}
-      CHATMAIL_NOSYSCTL: ${CHATMAIL_NOSYSCTL:-True}
-      CHATMAIL_NOPORTCHECK: ${CHATMAIL_NOPORTCHECK:-True}
-      CHATMAIL_NOACME: ${CHATMAIL_NOACME:-}
     network_mode: "host"
     volumes:
       ## system (required)
       - /sys/fs/cgroup:/sys/fs/cgroup:rw
       ## data (defaults — override in docker-compose.override.yaml)
-      - chatmail-data:/home/vmail
+      - mail:/home/vmail
-      - chatmail-dkimkeys:/etc/dkimkeys
+      - dkim:/etc/dkimkeys
-      - chatmail-acme:/var/lib/acme
+      - certs:/var/lib/acme
 
 volumes:
-  chatmail-data:
+  mail:
-  chatmail-dkimkeys:
+  dkim:
-  chatmail-acme:
+  certs:

docker/chatmail_relay.dockerfile

@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ RUN echo "$GIT_HASH" > /etc/chatmail-image-version && \
     echo "$GIT_HASH" > /etc/chatmail-version
 # --- End build-time install ---
 
-ENV CHATMAIL_INI=/etc/chatmail/chatmail.ini
+ENV TZ=:/etc/localtime
 ENV PATH="/opt/cmdeploy/bin:${PATH}"
 RUN ln -s /etc/chatmail/chatmail.ini /opt/chatmail/chatmail.ini
 
@@ -87,12 +87,6 @@ RUN rm -f /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default
 COPY --chmod=555 ./docker/files/setup_chatmail_docker.sh /setup_chatmail_docker.sh
 COPY --chmod=555 ./docker/files/entrypoint.sh /entrypoint.sh
 
-# Certificate monitoring as a proper systemd timer (not a background process)
-COPY --chmod=555 ./docker/files/chatmail-certmon.sh /chatmail-certmon.sh
-COPY ./docker/files/chatmail-certmon.service /lib/systemd/system/chatmail-certmon.service
-COPY ./docker/files/chatmail-certmon.timer /lib/systemd/system/chatmail-certmon.timer
-RUN ln -sf /lib/systemd/system/chatmail-certmon.timer /etc/systemd/system/timers.target.wants/chatmail-certmon.timer
-
 HEALTHCHECK --interval=60s --timeout=10s --retries=3 \
   CMD systemctl is-active dovecot postfix nginx unbound opendkim filtermail doveauth chatmail-metadata || exit 1
 

docker/docker-compose-traefik.yaml

@@ -1,116 +0,0 @@
-# Traefik reverse proxy + cert manager for chatmail.
-# Use this instead of docker-compose.yaml when Traefik manages TLS certificates.
-#
-# Required .env vars:
-#   MAIL_DOMAIN=chat.example.com
-#   ACME_EMAIL=admin@example.com
-#
-# Usage:
-#   cp docker/example-traefik.env .env
-#   docker compose -f docker/docker-compose-traefik.yaml build
-#   docker compose -f docker/docker-compose-traefik.yaml up -d
-
-services:
-  chatmail:
-    build:
-      context: ../
-      dockerfile: docker/chatmail_relay.dockerfile
-    image: chatmail-relay:latest
-    restart: unless-stopped
-    container_name: chatmail
-    depends_on:
-      traefik-certs-dumper:
-        condition: service_started
-    cgroup: host
-    tty: true
-    tmpfs:
-      - /tmp
-      - /run
-      - /run/lock
-    logging:
-      driver: json-file
-      options:
-        max-size: "10m"
-        max-file: "3"
-    environment:
-      MAIL_DOMAIN: $MAIL_DOMAIN
-      CMDEPLOY_STAGES: ${CMDEPLOY_STAGES:-}
-      CHATMAIL_NOACME: "true"
-      PATH_TO_SSL: /var/lib/acme/live/${MAIL_DOMAIN}
-    ports:
-      - "25:25"
-      - "143:143"
-      - "465:465"
-      - "587:587"
-      - "993:993"
-    volumes:
-      - /sys/fs/cgroup:/sys/fs/cgroup:rw
-      - chatmail-data:/home
-      - chatmail-dkimkeys:/etc/dkimkeys
-      - traefik-certs:/var/lib/acme/live:ro
-
-    labels:
-      - traefik.enable=true
-      - traefik.http.services.chatmail.loadbalancer.server.scheme=https
-      - traefik.http.services.chatmail.loadbalancer.server.port=443
-      - traefik.http.services.chatmail.loadbalancer.serverstransport=insecure@file
-      - traefik.http.routers.chatmail.rule=Host(`${MAIL_DOMAIN}`) || Host(`mta-sts.${MAIL_DOMAIN}`) || Host(`www.${MAIL_DOMAIN}`)
-      - traefik.http.routers.chatmail.tls=true
-      - traefik.http.routers.chatmail.tls.certresolver=letsEncrypt
-
-  traefik:
-    image: traefik:v3.3
-    container_name: traefik
-    restart: unless-stopped
-    logging:
-      driver: json-file
-      options:
-        max-size: "10m"
-        max-file: "3"
-    command:
-      - "--configFile=/config.yaml"
-      - "--certificatesresolvers.letsEncrypt.acme.email=${ACME_EMAIL}"
-    network_mode: host
-    depends_on:
-      traefik-init:
-        condition: service_completed_successfully
-    volumes:
-      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro
-      - ./traefik/config.yaml:/config.yaml:ro
-      - traefik-data:/data
-      - ./traefik/dynamic-configs:/dynamic/conf:ro
-
-  traefik-init:
-    image: alpine:latest
-    restart: "no"
-    entrypoint: sh -c 'touch /data/acme.json && chmod 600 /data/acme.json'
-    volumes:
-      - traefik-data:/data
-
-  traefik-certs-dumper:
-    image: ldez/traefik-certs-dumper:v2.10.0
-    restart: unless-stopped
-    logging:
-      driver: json-file
-      options:
-        max-size: "10m"
-        max-file: "3"
-    depends_on:
-      - traefik
-    entrypoint: sh -c '
-      apk add openssl
-      && while ! [ -e /data/acme.json ] || ! [ "$$(jq ".[] | .Certificates | length" /data/acme.json | jq -s "add")" != "0" ]; do
-        sleep 1
-      ; done
-      && traefik-certs-dumper file --version v3 --watch --domain-subdir=true
-        --source /data/acme.json --dest /certs --post-hook "sh /post-hook.sh"'
-    volumes:
-      - traefik-data:/data:ro
-      - traefik-certs:/certs
-      - ./traefik/post-hook.sh:/post-hook.sh:ro
-
-volumes:
-  chatmail-data:
-  chatmail-dkimkeys:
-  traefik-data:
-  traefik-certs:

docker/example-traefik.env

@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
-MAIL_DOMAIN="chat.example.com"
-ACME_EMAIL="admin@example.com"
-
-# CMDEPLOY_STAGES - default: "configure,activate". Set to "install,configure,activate" to force full reinstall.
-# CMDEPLOY_STAGES="configure,activate"

docker/files/chatmail-certmon.service

@@ -1,8 +0,0 @@
-[Unit]
-Description=Check TLS certificate changes and reload services
-After=setup_chatmail.service
-
-[Service]
-Type=oneshot
-ExecStart=/bin/bash /chatmail-certmon.sh
-PassEnvironment=MAIL_DOMAIN PATH_TO_SSL

docker/files/chatmail-certmon.sh

@@ -1,28 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-# Check if TLS certificates have changed and reload services if so.
-# Called by chatmail-certmon.timer (systemd timer, default every 60s).
-set -eo pipefail
-
-PATH_TO_SSL="${PATH_TO_SSL:-/var/lib/acme/live/${MAIL_DOMAIN}}"
-HASH_FILE="/run/chatmail-certmon.hash"
-
-if [ ! -d "$PATH_TO_SSL" ]; then
-    exit 0
-fi
-
-current_hash=$(find "$PATH_TO_SSL" -type f -exec sha1sum {} \; | sort | sha1sum | awk '{print $1}')
-previous_hash=""
-if [ -f "$HASH_FILE" ]; then
-    previous_hash=$(cat "$HASH_FILE")
-fi
-
-if [ -n "$current_hash" ] && [ "$current_hash" != "$previous_hash" ]; then
-    echo "[INFO] Certificate hash changed, reloading nginx, dovecot and postfix."
-    echo "$current_hash" > "$HASH_FILE"
-    # On first run (no previous hash), don't reload — services may not be up yet
-    if [ -n "$previous_hash" ]; then
-        systemctl reload nginx.service
-        systemctl reload dovecot.service
-        systemctl reload postfix.service
-    fi
-fi

docker/files/chatmail-certmon.timer

@@ -1,9 +0,0 @@
-[Unit]
-Description=Periodically check TLS certificate changes
-
-[Timer]
-OnBootSec=120
-OnUnitActiveSec=60
-
-[Install]
-WantedBy=timers.target

docker/files/entrypoint.sh

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ SETUP_CHATMAIL_SERVICE_PATH="${SETUP_CHATMAIL_SERVICE_PATH:-/lib/systemd/system/
 # Whitelist only the env vars needed by setup_chatmail_docker.sh.
 # Forwarding all env vars (via printenv) would leak Docker internals,
 # orchestrator secrets, and other unrelated variables into systemd.
-env_vars="MAIL_DOMAIN CMDEPLOY_STAGES CHATMAIL_INI CHATMAIL_NOSYSCTL CHATMAIL_NOPORTCHECK CHATMAIL_NOACME PATH_TO_SSL PATH"
+env_vars="MAIL_DOMAIN CMDEPLOY_STAGES CHATMAIL_INI TLS_EXTERNAL_CERT_AND_KEY PATH"
 sed -i "s|<envs_list>|$env_vars|g" "$SETUP_CHATMAIL_SERVICE_PATH"
 
 exec /lib/systemd/systemd "$@"

docker/files/setup_chatmail_docker.sh

@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 set -euo pipefail
 export CHATMAIL_INI="${CHATMAIL_INI:-/etc/chatmail/chatmail.ini}"
+export CHATMAIL_NOSYSCTL=True
+export CHATMAIL_NOPORTCHECK=True
 
 CMDEPLOY=/opt/cmdeploy/bin/cmdeploy
 
@@ -29,6 +31,13 @@ if [ ! -f "$CHATMAIL_INI" ]; then
     $CMDEPLOY init --config "$CHATMAIL_INI" "$MAIL_DOMAIN"
 fi
 
+# Inject external TLS paths from env var (unless user mounted their own ini)
+if [ -n "${TLS_EXTERNAL_CERT_AND_KEY:-}" ]; then
+    if ! grep -q '^tls_external_cert_and_key' "$CHATMAIL_INI"; then
+        echo "tls_external_cert_and_key = $TLS_EXTERNAL_CERT_AND_KEY" >> "$CHATMAIL_INI"
+    fi
+fi
+
 # --- Deploy fingerprint: skip cmdeploy run if nothing changed ---
 # On restart with identical image+config, systemd already brings up all
 # enabled services — the full cmdeploy run is redundant (~30s saved).

docker/traefik/config.yaml

@@ -1,30 +0,0 @@
-log:
-  level: INFO
-
-entryPoints:
-  web:
-    address: ":80"
-    http:
-      redirections:
-        entryPoint:
-          to: websecure
-          permanent: true
-  websecure:
-    address: ":443"
-
-providers:
-  docker:
-    endpoint: "unix:///var/run/docker.sock"
-    exposedByDefault: false
-  file:
-    directory: /dynamic/conf
-    watch: true
-
-certificatesResolvers:
-  letsEncrypt:
-    acme:
-      storage: /data/acme.json
-      caServer: "https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory"
-      tlschallenge: true
-      httpChallenge:
-        entryPoint: web

docker/traefik/dynamic-configs/insecure.yaml

@@ -1,4 +0,0 @@
-http:
-  serversTransports:
-    insecure:
-      insecureSkipVerify: true

docker/traefik/post-hook.sh

@@ -1,12 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/sh
-# Post-hook for traefik-certs-dumper: create symlinks from Traefik's
-# cert dump format to the paths chatmail expects (fullchain, privkey).
-CERTS_DIR="${CERTS_DIR:-/certs}"
-
-for dir in "$CERTS_DIR"/*/; do
-    [ -d "$dir" ] || continue
-    cd "$dir"
-    [ -f "certificate.crt" ] && ln -sf certificate.crt fullchain
-    [ -f "privatekey.key" ] && ln -sf privatekey.key privkey
-    cd - > /dev/null
-done

env.example

@@ -1,7 +1 @@
-MAIL_DOMAIN="chat.example.com"
+MAIL_DOMAIN=chat.example.com
-
-# CMDEPLOY_STAGES - default: "configure,activate". Set to "install,configure,activate" to force full reinstall.
-# CMDEPLOY_STAGES="configure,activate"
-
-# Skip acmetool when using an external certificate manager (e.g. Traefik, Caddy).
-# CHATMAIL_NOACME="True"

www/src/dclogin.js

@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+/* dclogin profile generator for self-signed chatmail relays.
+ * Fetches credentials from /new and generates a dclogin: QR code.
+ * Requires qrcode-svg.min.js to be loaded first.
+ */
+(function () {
+    function generateProfile() {
+        fetch('/new')
+            .then(function (r) { return r.json(); })
+            .then(function (data) {
+                var url = data.dclogin_url;
+                var link = document.getElementById('dclogin-link');
+                link.href = url;
+                var qrLink = document.getElementById('qr-link');
+                qrLink.href = url;
+                var qrCode = document.getElementById('qr-code');
+                var qr = new QRCode({ content: url, width: 300, height: 300, padding: 1, join: true });
+                qrCode.innerHTML = qr.svg();
+            });
+    }
+    generateProfile();
+})();

www/src/index.md

@@ -11,6 +11,18 @@ for Delta Chat users.  For details how it avoids storing personal information
 please see our [privacy policy](privacy.html). 
 {% endif %}
 
+{% if config.tls_cert_mode == "self" %}
+<a class="cta-button" id="dclogin-link" href="#">Get a {{config.mail_domain}} chat profile</a>
+
+If you are viewing this page on a different device
+without a Delta Chat app,
+you can also **scan this QR code** with Delta Chat:
+
+<a id="qr-link" href="#"><div id="qr-code"></div></a>
+
+<script src="qrcode-svg.min.js"></script>
+<script src="dclogin.js"></script>
+{% else %}
 <a class="cta-button" href="DCACCOUNT:https://{{ config.mail_domain }}/new">Get a {{config.mail_domain}} chat profile</a>
 
 If you are viewing this page on a different device
@@ -19,6 +31,7 @@ you can also **scan this QR code** with Delta Chat:
 
 <a href="DCACCOUNT:https://{{ config.mail_domain }}/new">
     <img width=300 style="float: none;" src="qr-chatmail-invite-{{config.mail_domain}}.png" /></a>
+{% endif %}
 
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