# Description A poorly named "Mailserver" is essentially a Whisper node that stores message history in either a LevelDB or PostgreSQL database. A Status app user can run their own Mailserver for faster message retrieval or additional security. # Service Ports * `30303` TCP/UDP - [DevP2P](https://github.com/ethereum/devp2p) wire protocol port. Must __ALWAYS__ be public. * `8545` TCP - [JSON RPC](https://github.com/ethereum/wiki/wiki/json-rpc) management port. Must __NEVER__ be public. * `9090` TCP - [Prometheus](https://prometheus.io/docs/concepts/data_model/) metrics port. Should not be public. # Setup methods This document describes the two alternative ways to start a Status Mailserver: * [Docker Compose](https://docs.docker.com/compose/) - More self-contained and portable * [Systemd Service](https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd/) - More local and configurable ## Docker Compose The simplest way is to just use: ``` make run-mailserver-docker ``` This will generate the necessary config, compose and then start the container. For more details read the [README](_assets/compose/mailserver/README.md). ## Systemd Service The other way is to run the `mailserver` under `systemd`: ``` make run-mailserver-systemd ``` This will generate the necessary config, define and then start a user service. Use `sudo` if you want it to be a system service. For more details read the [README](_assets/systemd/mailserver/README.md). # Service Healthcheck There's two simple ways to verify your Mailserver is up and running. ## Query Metrics By making an HTTP request to the metrics port(`9090` by default) you can check if you Mailserver is receiving envelopes: ```sh $ curl -s localhost:9090/metrics | grep '^whisper_envelopes_received_total' whisper_envelopes_received_total 123 ``` ## JSON RPC Calls The JSON RPC port (`8545` by default) allows you to manage your node. You can list connected peers by doing: ```sh $ export DATA='{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"admin_peers", "params": [], "id":1}' $ curl -s -H 'content-type: application/json' -d $DATA localhost:8545 \ | jq -r '.result[].network.remoteAddress' 34.68.132.118:30305 134.209.136.123:30305 178.128.141.249:443 ```