How to Set Up MailDev: A Local Mail Server with Docker

Takahiro Iwasa

8/10/2021

1 min read

MailDev

Setting Up MailDev with Docker

Create a Dockerfile using the example below.

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FROM node:14-alpine
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EXPOSE 1080
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EXPOSE 1025
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RUN npm i -g maildev
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CMD ["maildev"]

MailDev uses the following ports:

• 1080 for the management console.
• 1025 for SMTP.

These ports can be customized using options.

Create a docker-compose.yml file with the following content:

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version: '3'
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services:
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  mail:
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    container_name: mail
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    build: ./
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    ports:
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      - "1080:1080"
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      - "1025:1025"

Run the Docker container using the command below:

docker-compose up -d mail

Once the container is running, you can access the MailDev Management Console by opening your browser and navigating to http://localhost:1080.

This console provides an interface to view and manage emails sent to the MailDev server.

Testing Email Functionality

If you’re using Windows, you can send test emails using the PowerShell Send-MailMessage command. Here’s an example:

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Send-MailMessage `
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  -from 'dev@localhost' `
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  -to 'dev.to@localhost' `
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  -subject 'Test Subject' `
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  -body 'This is a test email.' `
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  -smtpServer 'localhost' `
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  -port 1025

After sending an email, navigate to the MailDev Management Console to verify that the email has been received.