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First Success Setup

This guide gets you from a fresh Rspamd installation to working spam filtering in 30 minutes or less. We'll focus on the essential configuration needed to start filtering spam effectively.

Prerequisites Checklist​

Before starting, ensure you have:

  • ✅ Rspamd installed - Installation guide completed
  • ✅ Redis running - Required for statistics and caching
  • ✅ Mail server (MTA) - Postfix recommended, others supported
  • ✅ Root access - To modify configuration files
  • ✅ Test email accounts - To verify configuration works

Time estimate: 30 minutes for basic setup, +15 minutes for MTA integration

Step 1: Essential Configuration (10 minutes)​

Set Spam Filtering Thresholds​

Create the actions configuration that determines what happens at different spam scores:

sudo nano /etc/rspamd/local.d/actions.conf
# Basic spam filtering thresholds
# Adjust these based on your spam tolerance

reject = 15;        # Score 15+: Reject obvious spam outright
add_header = 6;     # Score 6-14.9: Add spam headers, deliver to inbox/spam folder  
greylist = 4;       # Score 4-5.9: Temporarily delay suspicious messages

Why these numbers?

  • reject = 15: High threshold to avoid false positives
  • add_header = 6: Catches most spam while allowing borderline messages through
  • greylist = 4: Delays suspicious messages (legitimate senders will retry)

Connect to Redis​

Create the Redis configuration:

sudo nano /etc/rspamd/local.d/redis.conf
# Redis connection for statistics and learning
servers = "127.0.0.1:6379";

Set Web Interface Password​

Generate a secure password for the web interface:

# Generate password hash
rspamadm pw
# Enter your desired password when prompted
# Copy the generated hash (starts with $2$...)

Create the controller configuration:

sudo nano /etc/rspamd/local.d/worker-controller.inc
# Replace with your generated password hash
password = "$2$your_generated_hash_here";
bind_socket = "localhost:11334";

Restart Rspamd​

sudo systemctl restart rspamd
sudo systemctl status rspamd

✅ Success Check: Service should show "active (running)"

Step 2: Test Basic Functionality (5 minutes)​

Test Message Scanning​

# Test with a sample message
echo -e "Subject: Test\n\nThis is a test message" | rspamc

Expected output:

Results for length: 33 bytes
    Action: no action
    Symbols: ...
    Messages: 
    Spam: false
    Score: X.XX / 15.00

Access Web Interface​

  1. Open your browser to http://your-server-ip:11334
  2. Log in with the password you set earlier
  3. You should see the Rspamd dashboard

✅ Success Check: You can log in and see the dashboard with statistics

Verify Redis Connection​

# Check if Rspamd can connect to Redis
rspamc stat

Expected output: Should show statistics including messages processed, learning data, etc.

Step 3: Mail Server Integration (15 minutes)​

For Postfix (Most Common)​

Step 3a: Configure Rspamd Proxy Worker

sudo nano /etc/rspamd/local.d/worker-proxy.inc
# Enable milter mode for Postfix integration
milter = yes;
timeout = 120s;
upstream "local" {
  default = yes;
  self_scan = yes;
}

Step 3b: Configure Postfix to Use Rspamd

Add to /etc/postfix/main.cf:

sudo nano /etc/postfix/main.cf

Add these lines:

# Rspamd spam filtering
smtpd_milters = inet:localhost:11332
non_smtpd_milters = inet:localhost:11332  
milter_default_action = accept
milter_protocol = 6

Step 3c: Restart Both Services

sudo systemctl restart rspamd
sudo systemctl restart postfix

# Verify both are running
sudo systemctl status rspamd postfix

For Other MTAs​

Step 4: Verify End-to-End Functionality (5 minutes)​

Send Test Messages​

Test 1: Normal Message Send a regular email to one of your test accounts and verify:

  • Message is delivered normally
  • X-Spam-Status header is added
  • Score should be low (< 4.0)

Test 2: Spam-like Message Send a message with spam characteristics:

# Example spam test (adjust recipient)
echo -e "Subject: FREE MONEY NOW!!!\n\nCLICK HERE FOR FREE MONEY VIAGRA CASINO WIN NOW!!!" | \
  sendmail test@yourdomain.com

Expected behavior:

  • Message should get higher spam score (6+)
  • Should have X-Spam-Status: Yes header
  • May be delivered to spam folder depending on your mail client

Check Processing in Web Interface​

  1. Go to the web interface (http://your-server:11334)
  2. Navigate to "History" tab
  3. You should see your test messages being processed
  4. Click on messages to see detailed analysis

✅ Success Check: You can see messages being processed with appropriate spam scores

Step 5: Fine-tune for Your Environment (5 minutes)​

Adjust Thresholds Based on Initial Testing​

Based on your test results, you might want to adjust thresholds:

sudo nano /etc/rspamd/local.d/actions.conf

Common adjustments:

  • Too many false positives: Increase add_header from 6 to 8
  • Missing obvious spam: Decrease add_header from 6 to 4
  • Greylisting causing delays: Increase greylist from 4 to 6

To improve accuracy over time, enable Bayesian learning:

sudo nano /etc/rspamd/local.d/classifier-bayes.conf
# Enable Bayesian learning
backend = "redis";
new_schema = true;
expire = 8640000; # 100 days

Restart Rspamd:

sudo systemctl restart rspamd

Quick Wins Checklist​

After completing this setup, you should have:

  • ✅ Working spam filtering - Messages are being analyzed and scored
  • ✅ Appropriate actions - Spam is rejected or marked based on score
  • ✅ Web interface access - You can monitor and manage Rspamd
  • ✅ MTA integration - Your mail server is using Rspamd for filtering
  • ✅ Basic monitoring - You can see message processing in the web interface

Common Issues and Quick Fixes​

Issue: "Connection refused" errors​

Symptoms: Mail server can't connect to Rspamd Quick fix:

# Check if Rspamd is listening on correct ports
sudo netstat -tlnp | grep rspamd

# Should show ports 11332 (proxy), 11334 (web interface)
# If not, check worker configuration

Issue: No spam headers added​

Symptoms: Messages processed but no X-Spam headers Quick fix:

# Check if milter headers module is enabled
rspamc configdump | grep milter_headers

# If not found, ensure milter_headers is not disabled

Issue: All messages marked as spam​

Symptoms: Every message gets high spam scores Quick fix:

# Check if Bayes database is corrupted or incorrectly trained
rspamc stat | grep Bayes

# Reset if necessary (caution: loses learning data)
# rspamc learn_spam --reset

Issue: Web interface won't load​

Symptoms: Can't access http://server:11334 Quick fix:

# Check controller worker configuration
sudo rspamd -t | grep controller

# Ensure controller is binding to correct address
# Default should be localhost:11334

What's Next?​

Now that you have working spam filtering:

Immediate Next Steps (Same Day)​

  1. Monitor for a few hours - Watch the history tab in web interface
  2. Test with real email - Send yourself messages from different sources
  3. Adjust thresholds if needed based on initial results

Within a Week​

  1. Learn configuration fundamentals - Understand what else you can customize
  2. Set up proper monitoring - Ensure you'll know if something breaks
  3. Configure backup - Protect your configuration and learning data

Ongoing Optimization​

  1. Choose your scenario - Find guides specific to your use case
  2. Rule writing basics - Create custom rules for your environment
  3. Performance optimization - Improve speed and accuracy

Getting Help​

If you run into issues:

Success Stories​

"Went from 50+ spam messages per day to 2-3 false positives per week after this 30-minute setup" - Small business admin

"The decision tree helped me choose package installation over Docker, saved me hours of debugging later" - Enterprise email admin

"Finally understanding what Rspamd actually configures made all the difference" - SpamAssassin migrator

Congratulations! 🎉 You now have working spam filtering with Rspamd. The foundation is solid, and you can build on this with more advanced configuration as needed.