Synology Disk Station: Mail Station User Guide

Synology Disk Station Mail Station User Guide
Synology Disk Station

Mail Station User Guide
2009-11-05
2009-3-16 | ® 2009 Synology Inc. All Rights Reserved. 1

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Table of Content
Introduction .................................................................................................................... 4
1. How E-mail works ................................................................................................. 5
1.1. Mail User Agent (MUA) ........................................................................... 5
1.2. Mail Transfer Agent (MTA) ...................................................................... 5
1.3. Mail Delivery Agent (MDA) .................................................................... 6
1.4. Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP).................................................... 6
2. Before Using Mail Station ..................................................................................... 7
2.1. Connect Synology Disk Station to the Internet......................................... 7
2.2. DNS Setup ................................................................................................ 8
2.3. Reverse DNS Setup................................................................................. 11
3. Install Mail Station ............................................................................................... 13
3.1. Enable User Home .................................................................................. 13
3.2. Install and Enable Mail Station ............................................................... 13
3.3. Mail Station Setting ................................................................................ 14
3.4. Webmail .................................................................................................. 15
4. Mail Station Testing ............................................................................................. 18
4.1. Send E-mails to Synology Disk Station .................................................. 19
4.2. Send E-mail to Other E-mail Server ....................................................... 20
4.3. Send E-mail to Disk Station .................................................................... 20
5. Troubleshooting ................................................................................................... 21
6. Document Revision History................................................................................. 23

Introduction
This document is aimed to guide you through the installation of Mail Station
and to provide troubleshooting. It should resolve most cases. However, if you
still have technical problems, please visit www.synology.com/support to seek
support from Synology

1. How E-mail works

Whenever you send a piece of e-mail, your mail user agent interacts with
the mail transfer agents in order to get to the destination.
1.1. Mail User Agent (MUA)

A mail user agent, or MUA, is an application (e.g. Outlook Express) run
directly by a user. Mail user agents are used to compose and send
out-going messages as well as to display, file and print messages, which
have arrived in a user's mailbox.
1.2. Mail Transfer Agent (MTA)

Mail transfer agents, or MTA, are used to pass email between different
mail servers. Mail user agents give the message to the mail transfer
agent, who may pass it onto another transfer agent, or possibly many
other transfer agents. Transfer agents are responsible for properly
routing messages to their destination.

1.3. Mail Delivery Agent (MDA)

Mail delivery agents, or MDA, are used to place a message into a local
user's mailbox. When the message arrives at its destination, the final
transfer agent will give the message to the appropriate delivery agent,
who will add the message to the user's mailbox.
1.4. Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is an Internet standard for e-mail
transmission across Internet Protocol (IP) networks. While mail transfer
agents use SMTP to send and receive mail messages, mail user agents
typically only use SMTP for sending messages to a mail server for
relaying.

2. Before Using Mail Station

You have to complete the following preparations before experiencing the
Synology Mail Station.
2.1. Connect Synology Disk Station to the

Internet
This section will show you how to use your disk station to deliver or
receive e-mails. You can follow any of the steps below to have the Disk
Station connected.
Please note that it is very important for a mail server to have a static IP
address. Although it is possible to run a mail server with a dynamic IP
address, it is not as reliable as a server with a static IP. We recommend
applying a static IP address for your mail server.
There are 2 ways to connect the DS to the Internet – by NAT port

forwarding or PPPoE/Direct Internet Access
2.1.1. NAT port forwarding

If your DS is sit behind the NAT firewall/router, you will need to setup
the port forwarding and open the ports of email service to DS.
The following port numbers are required:

Protocol SMTP POP3 IMAP IMAPS POP3S
Port 25 110 143 993 995
Notes IMAPS: IMAP over SSL/TLS
POP3S: POP3 over SSL/TLS
Here is a good reference regarding to setup the port forwarding for
different routers: http://portforward.com/
2.1.2. PPPoE / Direct Internet Access

If your DS is connected to Internet by PPPoE, you could enable
PPPoE to have your Disk Station connected to the Internet without a
router.
However, for better security, it is recommended that you enable the

firewall in your DS and only open the necessary ports to the Internet.
Always disable the firewall before testing the Mail Station, so you can
make sure the email delivery problem is not caused by inproper
firewall configuration.
2.2. DNS Setup
A valid domain name is required for others from the Internet to deliver the
emails to your mail server.
To setup the DNS of a mail server, you would need to set the MX record
and/or the A record in the DNS server. We will explain the details below.
An MX record or Mail Exchanger record is a type of resource record in

the Domain Name System (DNS) specifying how Internet e-mail should
be routed using the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). Each MX
record contains a preference and a host name, so that the collection of
MX records for a given domain name point to the servers that should
receive e-mail for that domain, and their priority relative to each other.
For example, to have a email address alex@example.com, you would

have to setup the MX record of the domain example.com. You would
need to point the MX record to your DiskStation’s IP or domain name.
2.2.1. Using existing DNS

If you have registered a domain name, you can apply the same
setting. For example, if your email address is alex@example.com,
you should setup the A record and point the example.com to the DS’s
IP. Or, you can set the MX of example.com to the DS’s IP or domain
name. The DS’s domain can be anything like mail.example.com or
ds107.dyndns.org. Just make sure the MX point to a valid domain or
IP. So the emails of example.com can be delivered to DS.
2.2.2. How to use DDNS

If you do not own a registered domain name, you can setup a free
dynamic DNS. We still recommend you to have a static IP address
with the DDNS, so your email delivery would be more reliable. There
are many DDNS suppliers such as DynDNS

(http://www.dyndns.com/), TwoDNS (http://www.two-dns.de/), or

No-IP (http://www.no-ip.com/). The following steps will guide you to
apply DDNS from No-IP:
Step 1: Go to No-IP’s website: http://www.no-ip.com/. Please login or

click Create Account.
Step 2: Log in, click Add a Host to create a new host or click
Manage Host to modify the host.
Step 3: You have to fill Hostname when creating a new host. Then
you have to fill the hostname such as synology-no-ip.info on the
Ez-Internet page on the Synology Disk Station (take DSM 2.0 as
example).
Step 4: The IP address shown here is your current IP address. You

could also replace it with the IP address of your Synology products.
Step 5: Fill the MX Record with the host name such as

synology.no-ip.info.

Step 6: Click Create Host to complete the application.
Step 7: Log in the Disk Station Manager, and go to Network Services

-> DDNS to enable DDNS support. Choose any service provider as
you wish. Then fill the host name, account and password and click
OK.
Step 8: Few minutes later, you log in your Disk Station with DDNS.

2.3. Reverse DNS Setup

The process of assigning specific DNS records to a domain name is
known as “Forward DNS”, this is what leads the domain name to the
exact server. However, there is also a reverse process, known as
“Reverse DNS”.
2.3.1. What is Reverse DNS?

The Reverse DNS process is just one side of the behavior of the
Domain Name System (DNS). Its main function is to translate the
numeric addresses of the websites - the IP, to domain/host names, as
opposed to the Forward DNS process. The Reverse DNS refers also
to locating which domain name/host belongs to a given IP address,
which is why this process is often referred to as Reverse DNS lookup.
When a domain name has a valid Reverse DNS, it can also be
accessed by just using the IP address.
2.3.2. What does the Reverse DNS serve for?

Why would you need a Reverse DNS set up for your mail server?
The Reverse DNS is one of the basic requirements for running a mail
server. It is also often used as a spam filter to determine whether the
IP address of the incoming message matches an authenticated
domain name and to block the message if it doesn't. You will notice
your emails coming back as non deliverable if you do not setup
Reverse DNS.
2.3.3. How to setup Reverse DNS

1. Setup Reverse DNS on your own host
Some ISPs may delegate a portion of the zone to you so that you
could host your own reverse DNS. You can configure a Reverse DNS
by determining PTR records in a DNS server. The PTR records are
managed by the entity that controls the IP address assigned to you. It
may be either your host or yourself, if the host has delegated the
Reverse DNS for your IP space (containing one or multiple IP

addresses) to you. A PTR record usually represents the IP entered

backwards, followed by an in-addr.arpa entry.
2. Setup Reverse DNS with your ISP provider

The ISP or entity that owns your IP address is the only one that can
add the appropriate PTR records.

3. Install Mail Station

Once you complete the setting above, you can install the Mail Station.
3.1. Enable User Home

Go to Privileges -> User, click User Home to enable this service. Then
the mail sent to or delivered by users will be stored at their Home folder.
3.2. Install and Enable Mail Station

Download the package of MailStation.spk from Synology’s Download
Center (http://www.synology.com/enu/support/download.php ). And go to
the Package Management page to install the package. Once the
installation is done, click Run to enable the service.

3.3. Mail Station Setting

Once the Mail Station is enabled, you can find the icon of that on the
application panel list.
Step 1: Please fill the Doman name of your email address. For example,
if your email address is alex@example.com, please fill the
“example.com” here. Basically, it is the domain name after the @ of your
email address.
Step 2: Enable SMTP.
Step 2-1: If "SMTP Authorization is required" is enabled, then you

must provide your Synology Disk Station's user account and password for
authentication when setting SMTP server in other mail clients. Take
Outlook Express, for example, you can enable the option at "My server
requires authentication" in [Tools] > [Accounts] > [Mail Account] >
[Properties] > [Servers]. This option is recommended to be enabled to
avoid being a Spammer.
Step 3: You must enable at least one of the protocols (POP3, POP3
SSL/TLS, IMAP and IMAP SSL/TLS) to receive mails via mail clients. You
can enable multiple protocols. If you need to set up NAT port forwarding,
the protocol you choose should be based on the NAT port.

Step 4: If you want to use Webmail, IMAP have to be enabled.
Step 5: Click OK once the setting is completed. Then you can receive or
deliver e-mails via the Mail Station.
3.4. Webmail
The Webmail does not accept non-English account or empty password.
3.4.1. Reading Mail

Step 1: When logging the Webmail, you can see the inbox. The
window below is the preview pane that will show the content of mails
you choose.
Step 2: Or, double click the mail and it will be shown in a larger
window.

Step3: If you want to disable the preview function, click Personal

Settings and disable the Show Preview Pane.
3.4.2. Writing Mails

Step 1: Click Create New Message button, you can begin to write
e-mails
Step 2: Fill the information of receiver, and then click Send Now.
Step 3: Or, you can click Save this draft.

Step 4: Or if you want to attach files, the maximum size of the

attachment is 5MB.
Step 5: Or, you can write the e-mail with the HTML editor.

4. Mail Station Testing

We have setup the mail station. Now we are going to do some testing to
make sure the mail server works.
The above picture shows how emails are delivered. Our testing is to
divide the process and make sure every step works
 To send email from DS to DS itself and make sure the mail server
works
 To send email from a PC to the user in the DS. So we can make sure
the MUA can communicate with MTA
 To send email TO another email server to make sure DS can deliver
the email to the internet.
 To send email FROM another email server to make sure DS can
receive email from the Inetnet.
If any of the step fail, please find the trouble shooting in section 5 to solve
the problem.

4.1. Send E-mails to Synology Disk

Station
4.1.1. Notification Setting
Fill the SMTP server with your Disk Station’s server name. Then,
check Authentication required and fill in username, password and
e-mail address such as admin@synology.no-ip.info to exam if the Mail
Station functions well. Then, click “Send a test email” button.
Note: If you do not receive the testing mail, please refer to 5.1
4.1.2. Webmail
Please refer to 3.4.2 for using Webmail to operate the mail testing. If
you do not receive the testing mail, please refer to 5.1
4.1.3. E-mail Software

You can use Outlook Express, Thunderbird and other e-mail software
to receive or deliver the disk station’s mails by filling necessary
information such as account and password. If you can not receive
e-mails, please refer to 5.2
Then, send a testing e-mail to your account. If you cannot receive or
deliver the testing e-mail please refer to 5.2

4.2. Send E-mail to Other E-mail

Server
4.2.1. Webmail
Refer to 5.1 and send a testing e-mail to other e-mail accounts such
as Gmail. If you cannot receive the testing mail please refer to 5.1
4.2.2. E-mail Software

You can use Outlook Express, Thunderbird and other e-mail software
to receive or deliver the disk station’s mails by filling necessary
information such as account and password. If you can receive e-mails,
please refer to 5.2
Then use the e-mail software to send a testing mail to other e-mail
accounts such as Gmail. If you cannot receive the testing mail please
refer to 5.2.
4.3. Send E-mail to Disk Station

You can send e-mails to your disk station account by other e-mail servers
such as Gmail. If you cannot receive the mails please refer to 5.3.

5. Troubleshooting
5.1. Why can’t I send or receive emails via webmail from Mail
Station?
1. Check if the settings on your Mail Station such as SMTP, DNS, and MX
are correct.
2. Check if the Internet settings of your Synology Disk Station are correct.
Go to System -> Time, then perform Update Now with a NTP server to
exam if the Internet settings are correct. If the result comes back
successfully, the settings are correct.
3. Check if the port number on your router is correct.
4. Check if your IP is listed as spammer. Please visit
http://www.spamhaus.org/sbl/ If so, apply on the same website to remove
your IP as spam.
5.2. Why can’t I send or receive emails via my email clients?

1. Check if you have enabled protocols for IMAP and POP3.
2. Check if your username and password are correct.
3. Check if the settings on your Mail Station such as SMTP, DNS, and MX
are correct.
4. Check if the Internet settings of your Synology Disk Station are correct.
Go to System -> Time, and then perform Update Now with a NTP server
to exam if the Internet settings are correct. If the result comes back
successfully, the settings are correct.
5. Check if the port number on your router is correct.
6. Check if your IP is listed as spammer. Go to
http://www.spamhaus.org/sbl/ If so, apply on the same website to remove
your IP as spam.
5.3. Why can’t I receive emails sent from another email server
(e.g. Gmail)
1. Make sure the DNS is correct configured. You will need to point the MX
and A record to DS. So other mail servers can find the DS.
2. Make sure DS has a static IP address and is connected to the Internet
3. If the DS is sit behind the NAT firewall/router, please make sure the port
forwarding works. You can check whether the port forwarding works by
go to the http://canyouseeme.org/ and input the port 25.
4. Check message in the returned mail if any. So you can find the detail
reason of the error.

5.4. Why do I get rejected emails when I send it to some sites,

like Gmail or Hotmail?
Many free email providers do a reverse DNS lookup to check the validity
of the sender. If your reverse DNS lookup did not correspond to the
sending domain name, you emails would be rejected. Please check with
your ISP provider. Another possibility is that your IP address is listed in
the SPAM block list. You can check this by visting
http://www.spamhaus.org/sbl/.

6. Document Revision History

This table describes the changes to the Synology Disk Station Mail Station User
Guide.
Date Note
2009-1-16 Official release of Synology Disk Station Mail Station User

Guide
2009-3-16 Revision of Synology Disk Station Mail Station User Guide
2009-11-05 Revision of Synology Disk Station Mail Station User Guide

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Synology Disk Station Mail Station User Guide

Synology Disk Station

2009-3-16 | ® 2009 Synology Inc. All Rights Reserved. 1

Semiconductor, Inc. or its

2009-3-16 | ® 2009 Synology Inc. All Rights Reserved. 2

2009-3-16 | ® 2009 Synology Inc. All Rights Reserved. 3

2009-3-16 | ® 2009 Synology Inc. All Rights Reserved. 4

1. How E-mail works

1.1. Mail User Agent (MUA)

1.2. Mail Transfer Agent (MTA)

2009-3-16 | ® 2009 Synology Inc. All Rights Reserved. 5

1.3. Mail Delivery Agent (MDA)

1.4. Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)

2009-3-16 | ® 2009 Synology Inc. All Rights Reserved. 6

2. Before Using Mail Station

2.1. Connect Synology Disk Station to the

There are 2 ways to connect the DS to the Internet – by NAT port

2.1.1. NAT port forwarding

The following port numbers are required:

2.1.2. PPPoE / Direct Internet Access

However, for better security, it is recommended that you enable the

2009-3-16 | ® 2009 Synology Inc. All Rights Reserved. 7

2.2. DNS Setup

An MX record or Mail Exchanger record is a type of resource record in

For example, to have a email address alex@example.com, you would

2.2.1. Using existing DNS

2.2.2. How to use DDNS

2009-3-16 | ® 2009 Synology Inc. All Rights Reserved. 8

(http://www.dyndns.com/), TwoDNS (http://www.two-dns.de/), or

Step 1: Go to No-IP’s website: http://www.no-ip.com/. Please login or

Step 4: The IP address shown here is your current IP address. You

Step 5: Fill the MX Record with the host name such as

2009-3-16 | ® 2009 Synology Inc. All Rights Reserved. 9

Step 6: Click Create Host to complete the application.

Step 7: Log in the Disk Station Manager, and go to Network Services

2009-3-16 | ® 2009 Synology Inc. All Rights Reserved. 10

2.3. Reverse DNS Setup

2.3.1. What is Reverse DNS?

2.3.2. What does the Reverse DNS serve for?

2.3.3. How to setup Reverse DNS

2009-3-16 | ® 2009 Synology Inc. All Rights Reserved. 11

addresses) to you. A PTR record usually represents the IP entered

2. Setup Reverse DNS with your ISP provider

2009-3-16 | ® 2009 Synology Inc. All Rights Reserved. 12

3. Install Mail Station

3.1. Enable User Home

3.2. Install and Enable Mail Station

2009-3-16 | ® 2009 Synology Inc. All Rights Reserved. 13

3.3. Mail Station Setting

Step 2: Enable SMTP.

Step 2-1: If "SMTP Authorization is required" is enabled, then you

2009-3-16 | ® 2009 Synology Inc. All Rights Reserved. 14

Step 4: If you want to use Webmail, IMAP have to be enabled.

3.4.1. Reading Mail

2009-3-16 | ® 2009 Synology Inc. All Rights Reserved. 15

Step3: If you want to disable the preview function, click Personal

3.4.2. Writing Mails

Step 3: Or, you can click Save this draft.

2009-3-16 | ® 2009 Synology Inc. All Rights Reserved. 16

Step 4: Or if you want to attach files, the maximum size of the

2009-3-16 | ® 2009 Synology Inc. All Rights Reserved. 17

4. Mail Station Testing