Singapore Web Hosting Blog

this is a follow up regarding NeoMail removed from latest Cpanel build.

as posted in our Server Updates, on 14th Oct 2005 at midnight, we switched from uw-imap mail server to courier-imap server and updated Cpanel to version 10.8.0-RELEASE_65 because a security hole was discovered in uw-imap mail server. Cpanel changed support for mailbox format from mbox to maildir in latest build.

as a result, NeoMail webmail is no longer supported by Cpanel and has been removed from latest Cpanel build. NeoMail supports mbox format only.

althoough many users are rather used to NeoMail already, however it is in fact a good step to remove NeoMail:

1)NeoMail supports mbox format only. maildir format works in such a way that each email is saved in one file by itself in a folder and whereby mbox format is “all emails are saved in one file”. so in terms of efficient, of course maildir format is better besides chances for corrupted mailbox will be much lower.

2)NeoMail is no longer in development and has not been since 2002. this means that any bugs or security issues are no longer being fixed by the developers. this has become a serious issue.

3)the current version of Perl does not work well with NeoMail. when a user reaches their full disk quota and accesses NeoMail, user’s browser just time outs most of the time.

maybe these are too technical to attract some clients’ attention. nevermind, what i would like clients to know is, removal of features provided to our client base is not a decision we take lightly. we did consider to remove NeoMail before but did not make the move as we noticed many were using it.

this time, Cpanel/we are forced to, because of the newly found security hole.

for those who used NeoMail before and store emails and address book in NeoMail, the emails and folders can be accessed via Horde, the other webmail application you can see once login to webmail.

the NeoMail address book can not be imported to other webmail but can be downloaded in plain text format: FTP into your hosting account, go to .neomail-emailuser/cpaneluser directory, there is a file called addressbook, download it into your computer, and open by any text editor.

so far we have not received any report of lost email or folder. however according to Cpanel, the mbox-maildir conversion process is not error-free, some users may not be able to find email/folders (that were accessed or created in NeoMail before) via Horde. if you encounter the problem, as suggested by Cpanel, please try: login to Horde, go to “Folders” icon > ” Show Unsubscribed” > click on each folder especially sent-mail folder to check whether any mails are there.

if it does not work, please open support ticket.

last, but not least, pls do NOT use webmail as primary method for email access. it’s always advisable to use email client software to access email. webmail is meant for emergency use only, for instance while travelling.

i do not see any reason or benifit to use webmail when you’re back home/office where you can download all emails to your own computer. it can only hurt.

thank you for your kind understanding and support.

one question that’s frequently asked by clients is, how should i go about setting up my email accounts?

here’s my step by step instructions, in layman’s words, assuming you have hosting account with us on our Unix servers.

you need to complete 3 steps: 1)point domain name to our server 2)create email accounts on our server 3)configure your email client software. details follow:

1)point your domain to our server. as mentioned in this post, you must have/own domain name AND hosting account in order to set up web site or emails addresses under this domain. and you need to point the domain to your hosting account on our server (in other words, “connect” the domain name with your hosting account).

if the domain name is registered through us, we should have setup this step (domain DNS) for you. if it’s existing domain you registered with another registrar, you have to update DNS yourself.

2)create email accounts on our server, under your hosting account. login to control panel at http://www.yourdomain:2082 , username and password is in order confirmation email we have sent to you. go to email management section by clicking on “mail” icon, then go to “manage/add/remove accounts”, you can manage email accounts here. to create new email accounts, click on “add account”, enter email ID, password, quota, as instructed, then click “create” button. done.

3)configure your email client software. email client software refers to the software you use to access emails. on PC/Windows, it can be Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird, Eudora, etc.

now take Outlook Express as example, go to “tools” menu, select “accounts”, accounts setup window will pop up. click on “add mail”, follow instructions on screen. after account is created successfully, go to “tools” -> “accounts” again, select the email account you just created, click on “properties” and make sure settings are correct:

Mail server type: POP3
Mail server (for both incoming and outgoing): mail.yourdomain
Account name: your entire email address (note: entire email address)
Password: your password
Select “my mail server requires authentication” check box
Do NOT select “logon using secure password authentication”
Select “Remember password”
Unckeck “leave a copy of messages on server” under “advanced tab”

now, try sending/receiving emails, it should work. if it doesn’t, read this post again carefully, make sure you’ve done all 3 steps correctly. if it still does not work, please open support ticket with details.

recently we received two spam complaints against our client’s domain.

we suspended the accounts immediately and informed the clients. further, the accounts were removed completely three days later, without refund.

please take note, we have ZERO tolerance to spamming. no discussion, no second chance. one spam complaint with proof, spammer’s account is gone. no refund. and we reserve the rights to claim from spammer the cost/damage that might be caused to us and our other clients. we take it seriously.

so what’s spamming? email that is not requested and of commercial nature.

a few points i would like to address regarding spam, spammer, spamming.

some may think one time mailing is not spamming. yes, it is spamming as long as the recipient did not request it.

some may argue, according to singapore law, it’s ok to send emails to people as long as you give them unsubscribe option. i’m not lawer, no comment on it. maybe it’s legal to send mass mailing this way in singapore, BUT it does not mean you can do it on any serious hosting providers’ server. we do not allow it, unless the recipient requested to receive email from you.

some may buy email addresses from somewhere and say, hi it’s not our fault. maybe it’s not your fault, but it’s still your responsibility. you have to make sure people on the list actually requested to receive emails from you. the fact is, most of the email address list that someone can sell to you are not opt-in subscribers. chances are, the seller harvest the email addresses from web sites, forums, etc. if you use their list, sure it’s very standard spamming.

script that’s written with no security in mind might be exploited and used to send out spams by script kiddies, spammers, hackers, whoever. both scripts you code yourself or you download from somewhere may have serious security holes. it is your (i mean, the account owner) resposibility to secure your srcripts and applications.

the only way that we can unsuspend such account is that you can prove that the recipients subscribed to your mailing list themselves. you have to provide where is your subscription form, date of subscription, IP address logged, subscriber’s name.

we are very strict on this issue, for good reason. in fact, all hosting providers are. if we do not take action fast and seriously, our IPs and servers might be blacklisted by ISPs and spamcop.