ulaknode — Your email. Your server. Your rules.

A complete business email server in a single container. Deploy in minutes. No cloud dependency. No data leaving your premises.

The problem with cloud email

Every email your company sends or receives passes through servers owned by Google, Microsoft, or another cloud provider. Your business communications, contracts, customer data, and internal discussions sit on infrastructure you do not control — subject to their terms, their jurisdiction, and their pricing.

For many small and medium-sized businesses this is not a conscious choice. It is simply the default.

ulaknode is the alternative.

What is ulaknode?

ulaknode is a self-hosted business email server packaged as a single Docker container. Install it on any server you own or rent — on-premises, private cloud, or a VPS — and your email infrastructure is yours.

No accounts to create with third parties. No monthly per-seat fees to a cloud provider. No data leaving your environment.

# docker-compose.yml
services:
  ulaknode:
    image: registry.example.com/ulaknode:latest
    hostname: mail.yourcompany.com
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "25:25"     # SMTP
      - "587:587"   # Submission
      - "993:993"   # IMAPS
    volumes:
      - ulak_mail:/var/mail                  # mailboxes
      - ulak_logs:/var/log                   # all service logs
      - ulak_clamav:/var/lib/clamav          # virus database
      - ulak_postfix:/etc/postfix            # postfix config (persistent)
      - ulak_dovecot:/etc/dovecot            # dovecot config (persistent)
      - ulak_rspamd:/etc/rspamd              # rspamd config (persistent)
      - ulak_certs:/etc/ssl/mail             # managed TLS store
      - /etc/letsencrypt/live/mail.yourcompany.com/fullchain.pem:/run/certs/fullchain.pem:ro
      - /etc/letsencrypt/live/mail.yourcompany.com/privkey.pem:/run/certs/privkey.pem:ro

...

Everything included

ulaknode bundles a full, production-grade email stack. There is nothing else to install or configure separately.

Managed from the command line

Every operational task has a dedicated command. No config files to edit by hand.

# Add a domain and mailboxes
ulaknode-domain  add yourcompany.com
ulaknode-mailbox add alice@yourcompany.com
ulaknode-mailbox add bob@yourcompany.com

# Set a storage quota
ulaknode-mailbox quota-set alice@yourcompany.com 5G

# Add an alias
ulaknode-alias add info@yourcompany.com alice@yourcompany.com

# Generate DKIM key and get the DNS record to publish
ulaknode-dkim generate yourcompany.com

# Install a TLS certificate
ulaknode-cert install /path/to/fullchain.pem /path/to/privkey.pem

# Check everything is running
ulaknode-version

Built-in email security

Deliverability and security are configured out of the box.

• TLS encryption on all connections (SMTP and IMAP)
• DKIM signing — cryptographic proof that mail originates from your domain
• SPF and DMARC — tools and guidance to publish the right DNS records
• Spam filtering — Rspamd scores and rejects spam before it reaches inboxes
• Antivirus — ClamAV scans every incoming attachment
• Brute-force protection — host-level Fail2ban reads mail logs and blocks attacking IPs at the firewall before they reach the container

Why self-host?

Data sovereignty. Your emails are stored on your server, in your jurisdiction. No third party can read, scan, or hand over your communications without your knowledge.

Compliance. Industries with strict data handling requirements — legal, healthcare, finance, public sector — benefit from keeping data within a defined perimeter. ulaknode makes it straightforward.

Cost. Cloud email pricing scales with headcount. ulaknode is licensed per installation, not per mailbox. One fixed cost regardless of how many users you add.

Independence. No vendor lock-in. Your data is in standard Maildir format. If you ever want to migrate to different software, your emails go with you.

Who is ulaknode for?

ulaknode is designed for small and medium-sized companies that:

• Want to keep email data on their own infrastructure
• Have or can provision a Linux server (on-premises or VPS)
• Have basic technical staff or an IT provider who can run a Docker container
• Are subject to data residency requirements (GDPR, sector-specific regulation)
• Are tired of per-seat cloud email costs growing with the team

It is not a fit for organisations that have no server infrastructure at all and need everything fully managed by a third party.

Pricing

ulaknode is licensed per installation, billed annually. The license covers all software updates released during the year. At the end of the period your server keeps running — you simply stop receiving new builds until you renew.

There are no per-mailbox fees, no per-domain limits, and no user caps. Add as many domains and mailboxes as your server can handle.

System requirements

Get started

Not ready to commit? Contact us for a trial license. We'll get you a fully functional installation to evaluate at your own pace — no feature restrictions, no sales pressure.

When you're ready to purchase, visit our checkout portal us to get your registry credentials and license file. Once you have both, you are up and running in under ten minutes.