catchall + forward

[newz2000]

Hello, in ISPConfig 2 I can create an email user who is the catchall for a domain and then forward all of that email to an external mailbox. (see attached image to illustrate what I mean)

How can I do this on ISPConfig 3? I've fiddled with a few different settings and searched through the forums here and can't find a solution.

[till]

ISPConfig 3 is a completely different software then ISPConfig 2, so it has different features. In ISPConfig 3 you can set a catchall only for a mailbox.

[newz2000]

Do you know if this is a planned feature or if there's a way to manipulate the backend to achieve the desired results?

By the way, "...is a completely different software ... it has different features..." is a BS statement. It has the same name, most of the same features, the only apparent change is a version number increase. A more valid reply would be one of these:

• That feature has been deprecated in this version, it will no longer be supported because
  1. it's not technically possible (technical limitation) or
  2. users didn't like that feature and wanted us to remove it (design decision)
• That feature is not yet ready but is in progress or planned for a future version

Either of these answers would have changed the reply from a snide statement (what, you think you get the same features in the new version?) into an informative response.

[Croydon]

First of all I think it is a very, very bad idea setting up a catchall forward address!
I think not offering this feature is a good way to prevent people using it
If you set up a catchall forward address, all the mails will be treated as coming from your server. So if someone sends a lot of spam to that address and you forward this to - let's say - googlemail, your server will be blocked sooner or later due to spamming! CBL listing would be a matter of time, too.

Second:
ISPC3 is indeed a completely different software. None of the codes of ISPC2 was used, it was written from scratch.
It uses a lot of different techniques to achieve the features.
Would you talk of Confixx and Plesk being the same software in different versions only because they offer similar features?

[davew]

It can be done in 3, just needs to be approached in a different way...

Create a dummy mailbox for the domain.
Create a catchall for the domain that points at that dummy mailbox
Create a forward for that dummy mailbox that goes to the destination email

It may seem a bit more involved than ISPConfig 2 but it works well if you really can't drop the catchall.

[jluros]

Does that mean that all messages for the dummy user would be stored on the server? Or because it is also a forward, they are forwarded?

One might end up with a very full catchall user mailbox if it stores the forwarded message on the server.

Any pointers on how to do a true "forward" as newz2000 asked would be greatly appreciated. The dummy user method will work, but I'm concerned about the mailbox taking up a lot of disk space unnecessarily.

[till]

If you want to forward all incoming emails of a domain, just add a transport.

[davew]

Originally Posted by jluros

Does that mean that all messages for the dummy user would be stored on the server? Or because it is also a forward, they are forwarded?

The messages are simply forwarded, not stored on the server.

[tylerishappy]

Originally Posted by davew

It can be done in 3, just needs to be approached in a different way...

Create a dummy mailbox for the domain.
Create a catchall for the domain that points at that dummy mailbox
Create a forward for that dummy mailbox that goes to the destination email

It may seem a bit more involved than ISPConfig 2 but it works well if you really can't drop the catchall.

I have tried this method but it does not work. I get the attached message.

Steps:

Create email address for domain - tyler@domain.com
Create catch all for email - tyler@domain.com
Create forward for email to alt email - tyler@domain.com ->tyler@otherdomain.com

receive error message: There is already a mailbox with this email address

[jrklein]

We also required a catchall + remote forward solution for Dovecot/Sieve on ISPconfig 3. I found that these steps work perfectly.

1. Create a new mailbox for the domain (e.g.: catchall@domain.org).
2. Create a catchall for the domain that points to new mailbox.
3. Edit mailbox and go to the "Custom Rules" tab. Enter these two rules:

redirect "destination@example.org";
stop;

If I use these rules, an email sent to "anything@domain.org" is redirected to "destination@example.org" and discarded. No messages are saved in the catchall mailbox! You MUST include the "stop;" line or Sieve will NOT discard the message after forwarding.

Suppose your catchall mailbox is "catchall@domain.org". Login to the mail server that hosts the mailbox and type the following to view the entire Sieve filter for this mailbox.

cat /var/vmail/domain.org/catchall/.sieve

Contents of the Sieve filter file are as follows.

require ["fileinto", "regex", "date", "relational", "vacation"];
redirect "destination@example.org";
stop;
keep;

Notice the "keep;" line added by ISPconfig 3 at the end of the file? If you do not specify "stop;" to terminate the Sieve script, Dovecot will execute the "keep;" command and place a copy of the message in your catchall mailbox.