[Cialug] Hosting Mailman

[Ron]

Jordan Cook wrote on 2025-10-21 19:31:

> So now I'm back to looking into self-hosting Mailman (probably with 
> Postfix for some basic routing features), but on a VPS.

That's the best way, IMHO.

The caveat is that Mailman3 takes up *significantly* more resources than
MM2 does and can pretty much consume an entire small VPS.

I don't have the stats handy, but something like ~20 Python processes
running!

Oh, here they are:

# systemctl status mailman3
● mailman3.service - GNU Mailing List Manager
      Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/mailman3.service; disabled;
      Active: active (running) since Mon 2025-06-09 20:08:29 EDT;
      Main PID: 3816110 (python3)
      Tasks: 15 (limit: 6972)
      Memory: 352.0M

Note the 15 tasks and > 350 MB memory (which is quite low by my
recollection of previous instances).

Then there's this:

# systemctl status mailman3-web.service
● mailman3-web.service - GNU Mailing List Manager Web UI
      Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/mailman3-web.service; disabled;
      Active: active (running) since Tue 2025-06-10 05:25:33 EDT;
      Main PID: 4010297 (uwsgi)
      Tasks: 15 (limit: 6972)
      Memory: 435.8M

So, another 15 tasks and 435 MB RAM for the web & API backend.


These exclude the PostgreSQL and Apache/NGINX services also required.


MM3 is one software package that I concluded is very likely just too
damned complicated.

Especially when installing and trying to wrap one's head around all the
components.



> Does anyone have tips on managing IP reputation

Enable IPv6, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC (whose reports are XML formatted and 
thus utterly useless in my experience).


Start with a domain, Postfix, (& Dovecot, why not?), and don't migrate 
important stuff there until testing shows deliverability to Big Email™.


>, if any particular
> VPS providers are best for this use case

I set mine up on websavers.ca because they're okay. They use OVH 
infrastructure and are hosted in Quebec, so Canadian privacy laws in effect.


> (or ones to avoid)

Anything in USA. Privacy legislation in Canada and Europe exists, and 
that's an important factor for some folks. YMMV.


> and any
> common complications to expect with setup & maintenance?

Absolutely, definitely use the Python "venv" method, not whatever 
packages are supplied by your distro.



> Or, alternatively, can anyone recommend a good hosted mailing list 
> solution that supports custom domains, preferably allows multiple 
> admins, and preferably under $15/mo?
I'd be willing to set you up with MM3 for <$15/mo CDN on a server that 
hosts email for multiple domains, has no issues delivering to Big Email 
(although occasional issues with Outlook, due to *them* misconfiguring 
SPF - very weird).

You could have MM3 and actual mailboxes (or aliases to other email 
accounts elsewhere).

Daily backups via `scp` / `rsync` if desired.


I set up my mailing list on MM3 but never actually finished the 
migration (list is too inactive for a Python process per subscriber on a 
dedicated VPS), and also did the migration for the GTALUG (Greater 
Toronto Area LUG) and maintain that. It's fairly active and has been 
quite successful.



Any questions, don't hesitate...