This guide covers mail server Windows Server step by step, with every setting in the order you will use it. Windows Server includes a basic SMTP server used to send mail from applications, printers and services. It does not receive your inbox mail (that is Exchange territory) but it is a great lab exercise and genuinely useful when an app needs to relay notifications.
dns LAB TOPOLOGY & PREREQUISITES
# example values used while writing and testing this guide
LAB VM
WINDOWS BUILD
VALIDATION
01constructionStep 1: Install the SMTP Server Feature
In Server Manager → Add Roles and Features → Features, select SMTP Server and install. The install creates the IIS 6 Manager console that manages it, and the service starts automatically.
02downloadStep 2: Configure the SMTP Virtual Server
Open IIS 6.0 Manager, right-click the SMTP Virtual Server #1:
- General: set the IP address the service listens on, and leave port 25 unless something else needs it
- Access: under Relay restrictions, allow relay only for the hosts/subnet that need to send (the machine itself plus your application servers); open relay is what gets servers blacklisted
- Delivery → Outbound connections: keep default port 25 for talking to the world
- Delivery → Advanced: set the fully qualified domain name and, if your ISP blocks direct outbound mail, a smart host that relays for you
03usbStep 3: Create Domains
Right-click Domains → New → Domain. Create remote domains for each destination you want special handling for, and optionally an alias domain for your own namespace. Lab-wise, the defaults are fine.
04terminalStep 4: Test and Troubleshoot
Simplest test: telnet to port 25 and speak SMTP by hand:
telnet mailserver 25 → HELO test → MAIL FROM:test@lab.local → RCPT TO:you@example.com → DATA, type a message, end with a lone period, then QUIT.
Watch the mail queues under the SMTP server’s queue folder: stuck mail usually means DNS or the smart host is wrong. For full mailboxes, calendars and webmail, the next step up is Exchange Server, or a Linux stack like the Ubuntu mail server.
Related Content
How to Install and Configure Windows Mail Server (Exchange Server 2019)
Finish this lab, then continue down the track. Each guide builds on the one before it.