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Running MailDev as a Local Mail Server with Docker

Running MailDev as a Local Mail Server with Docker

This note describes how to set up maildev: a local mail server with docker.

Takahiro Iwasa
1 min read

Setting Up MailDev with Docker

Create a Dockerfile using the example below.

Dockerfile
FROM node:14-alpine
EXPOSE 1080
EXPOSE 1025
RUN npm i -g maildev
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:

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

Run the Docker container using the command below:

Terminal window
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.

Management Console

Testing Email Functionality

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

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

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

Received Email

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About the author

Takahiro Iwasa

Takahiro Iwasa

Software Developer

This blog shares technical notes from hands-on projects—architecture, implementation, and AWS service integrations.