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Rob Wood edited this page Aug 8, 2024 · 21 revisions

Downloading from github releases

If you don't want to use the dotnet global tool or Docker (see below if you know what those mean), you can download a standalone (or .NET Core runtime dependent) release from github.

  • Download a release and unzip. To choose the right file, refer to the table below:
Prefix Description
Rnwood.Smtp4dev-win-x64 Windows x64 (Intel 64 bit) binary standalone
Rnwood.Smtp4dev-noruntime Architecture dependent version. Should run on any platform where the .NET 8+ runtime is installed
Rnwood.Smtp4dev-linux-x64 Linux x64 (Intel 64 bit) binary standalone
Rnwood.Smtp4dev-linux-musl-x64 Linux x64 (Intel 64 bit) binary standalone for MUSL based distros (Alpine Linux)
Rnwood.Smtp4dev-linux-arm Linux ARM (Intel 32 bit) binary standalone
Rnwood.Smtp4dev-osx-x64 Currently unavailable due to changes in OSX that force signing.
Rnwood.Smtp4dev-win-arm Windows ARM 32-bit binary standalone

  • On Linux chmod +x the Rnwood.Smtp4dev file to make it executable

  • Edit appsettings.json and set the port number you want the SMTP server to listen on.

  • Run Rnwood.Smtp4dev (.exe on Windows). (If you downloaded the noruntime version, you need the .NET Core 3.1 (.NET 6.0 if using smtp4dev version >= 3.2.x) runtime on your machine and you should execute dotnet Rnwood.Smtp4dev.dll to run it.)

Accessing the Web User Interface

Once the service is running, access to the app's interface via a browser.

  • The default port is 5000, open your browser at http://localhost:5000.

To run the webserver on a different port or make it listen on interfaces other than loopback, add the command line arg --urls "http://0.0.0.0:5001/" when starting the executable.

How to run smtp4dev as a dotnet global tool

If you're using the .NET 8+ SDK you can install smtp4dev as a global tool using the following command:

dotnet tool install -g Rnwood.Smtp4dev

The above will install the most recent non pre-release version.

If you want to use the pre-release development versions, add --prerelease

Then you can start smtp4dev by running

smtp4dev

How to run smtp4dev in Docker

Docker images for both Windows and Linux are available. To run with the web interface on port 5000 and SMTP on port 2525:

docker run --rm -it -p 5000:80 -p 2525:25 rnwood/smtp4dev

Remove --rm -it if you want to leave smtp4dev running in the background, otherwise it will run until you hit CTRL+C.

The above will install the most recent non pre-release version. If you want to use the pre-release development versions use rnwood/smtp4dev:prerelease. Both 'latest' and 'prerelease' are cross platform tag which will work on either Windows x64 or Linux x64. To see the full list of available tags see the Docker hub page for smtp4dev.

The folder /smtp4dev will be used for the database and auto-generated TLS certificate. You can mount a directory outside of the container here for peristent storage.

An example docker-compose.yml can be found here.

How to run smtp4dev as a Windows service

Download one the Windows standalone versions which is applicable for your OS/architecture.

Install service in PowerShell

New-Service -Name Smtp4dev -BinaryPathName "{PathToExe} --service"

Install service in Cmd or PowerShell

sc.exe create Smtp4dev binPath= "{PathToExe} --service"

How to run smtp4dev in Windows IIS

Make sure you have installed the ASP.NET Core Runtime - Windows Hosting Bundle so that IIS can host ASP.NET Core apps.

Also make sure the IIS application pre-initialisation feature is installed.

Download a smtp4dev release and unzip. You must pick the noruntime version.

Create a site in IIS and set the root path to where you unzipped smtp4dev (do not point at wwwroot or ClientApp). You can also host in a virtual directory under another site, but don't forget to convert the directory to an application.

Grant permission to the IIS app pool to read the files. The principal name is IIS APPPOOL\<name> where <name> is the name of the app pool, which is the name of the site you created unless you changed something.

Edit the application pool advanced settings and ensure:

  • '.NET CLR version' is set to 'No managed code'
  • 'Start Mode' is set to 'AlwaysRunning'
  • 'Idle Time-out (minutes)' is set to '0'
  • Recycling > 'Regular Time Interval (minutes)' is set to '0'
  • 'Preload enabled' is set to 'True'.

You can then access the site via the ports/hostname set in bindings that are set in IIS. If you see an error check the Application event log for details and you'll see any errors output from IIS.

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