Runbook: use mailcow SMTP / IMAP (client)

Target: mx2.windy.me
Prerequisite: a mailbox on windy.me (password from mailcow UI, not the admin account unless it is that mailbox).

Clients should use submission to send. Do not use port 25 as a desktop/app outbound port.

Send (SMTP)

Item	Value
Server	`mx2.windy.me`
Port	587 (STARTTLS) — preferred
Alt port	465 (SSL/TLS)
Username	Full address, e.g. `zhiqiang@windy.me`
Password	Mailbox password
Auth	Required (LOGIN / PLAIN)

Match encryption to the port: 587 → STARTTLS; 465 → SSL/TLS (not STARTTLS).

From address should be that mailbox or an allowed alias on the same domain.

Receive (IMAP / POP)

Protocol	Server	Port
IMAPS	`mx2.windy.me`	993
POP3S	`mx2.windy.me`	995

Username = full email address; same mailbox password.

Webmail

UI / SOGo: https://mx2.windy.me
Log in with the same mailbox credentials.

CLI smoke test (optional)

swaks --to someone@example.com \
  --from YOU@windy.me \
  --server mx2.windy.me --port 587 -tls \
  --auth LOGIN --auth-user YOU@windy.me --auth-password 'MAILBOX_PASSWORD'

Do not commit or paste real passwords into this repo.

Auth failures — quick checks

Username is the full email, not a local part alone
Password is the mailbox password (not unrelated host/root secrets)
Port/TLS mode mismatch (587 vs 465)
Account active in mailcow; not rate-limited / fail2banned after bad attempts
Apps that store SMTP in their own config (e.g. Vaultwarden config.json) may keep a stale password even when .env is correct — verify AUTH against the effective config (vaultwarden-health §5)

1.8 KiB Raw Blame History