Docker

The recommended way to run MXHook in production.

Docker Compose

Create a docker-compose.yml:

services:
  mxhook:
    image: ghcr.io/mxhook/mxhook:latest
    ports:
      - "25:25"       # SMTP
      - "8080:8080"   # API
    environment:
      MXHOOK_SMTP_ADDR: "0.0.0.0:25"
      MXHOOK_SMTP_DOMAIN: "mail.yourdomain.com"
      MXHOOK_API_ADDR: "0.0.0.0:8080"
      MXHOOK_POSTGRES_DSN: "postgres://mxhook:mxhook@postgres:5432/mxhook?sslmode=disable"
    depends_on:
      - postgres

  postgres:
    image: postgres:16-alpine
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: mxhook
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: mxhook
      POSTGRES_DB: mxhook
    volumes:
      - pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data

volumes:
  pgdata:

Start the stack:

docker compose up -d

Standalone Docker

docker run -d \
  --name mxhook \
  -p 25:25 \
  -p 8080:8080 \
  -e MXHOOK_SMTP_ADDR=0.0.0.0:25 \
  -e MXHOOK_SMTP_DOMAIN=mail.yourdomain.com \
  -e MXHOOK_POSTGRES_DSN=postgres://user:pass@host:5432/mxhook?sslmode=disable \
  ghcr.io/mxhook/mxhook:latest

Health Check

Verify MXHook is running:

curl http://localhost:8080/health

{"status": "ok"}

Production Considerations

• Port 25: Most cloud providers block outbound port 25 by default. For inbound SMTP, ensure your firewall allows TCP port 25 from the internet.
• TLS: Configure a reverse proxy (nginx, Caddy) for HTTPS on the API. SMTP STARTTLS support is built-in.
• Persistence: Always mount a volume for PostgreSQL data.
• Resources: MXHook is lightweight — 128MB RAM and 0.5 vCPU is sufficient for moderate traffic.