Email forwarders, autoresponders and spam filters in DirectAdmin

Beyond mailboxes, DirectAdmin's E-Mail Manager handles forwarding, automatic replies and spam protection. Setting these up correctly keeps mail flowing to the right people and keeps junk out. This guide covers each tool.

Before you start

• Mail for the domain is hosted on the DirectAdmin server (MX points to it).
• Mailboxes already created; see DirectAdmin email accounts and DNS.

Create a forwarder

1. Select the domain at the top and go to E-Mail Manager → Forwarders.
2. Click Create Forwarder.
3. Enter the Forwarder Name (the part before @, for example sales).
4. Enter one or more Destination addresses, separated by commas.
5. Click Create.

A forwarder can exist without a mailbox. To keep a copy and forward, create a mailbox with the same name and add a forwarder pointing to both the mailbox and the external address.

Catch-all email

Go to E-Mail Manager → Catch-All E-Mail. Choose :fail: (bounce, recommended), :blackhole: (silently discard) or an address to receive all mail sent to unknown names. A catch-all address attracts a lot of spam, so use it only temporarily.

Autoresponders

1. Go to E-Mail Manager → Autoresponders and click Create Autoresponder.
2. Choose the address, enter the message and set the Reply Frequency (for example once per day per sender).
3. Optionally send a copy (CC) of incoming mail to another address.
4. Click Create.

Vacation messages

For a time-limited out-of-office, use E-Mail Manager → Vacation Messages. Set the start and end date and time, the subject and the text. DirectAdmin enables and disables it automatically, so you do not forget to switch it off.

Spam filtering with SpamAssassin

1. Go to E-Mail Manager → SpamAssassin Setup.
2. Choose Enable SpamAssassin.
3. Set Required hits (score): 5 is the default, 6–7 is gentler.
4. Choose where spam goes: Send spam to the spam folder (recommended), delete, or label the subject.
5. Optionally set High score to delete obvious spam (for example score 15+).
6. Add trusted senders to the whitelist and spammers to the blacklist.
7. Click Save.

Email filters

E-Mail Manager → E-Mail Filters (or Spam Filters) lets you block mail by sender, domain, keyword or size and handle adult-content rules. Users can also create personal rules in Roundcube under Settings → Filters.

Troubleshooting

• Forwarded mail rejected by Gmail: forwarding spam damages reputation. Enable SpamAssassin and consider pointing users to IMAP instead of forwarding.
• Autoresponder not sending: replies are skipped for mailing lists and bulk mail, and limited per sender by the frequency setting.
• Legitimate mail in spam: whitelist the sender and raise the required hits slightly.
• Forwarder loop: two forwarders point to each other; delete one.

Next steps

• Manage SPF and MX records.
• Create email accounts in DirectAdmin.
• Back up your email.