From 46297d48391dec1b9a109894b6025e57a8ee477a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: link2xt <link2xt@testrun.org>
Date: Mon, 14 Oct 2024 06:40:47 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] Document setting up DNAT

---
 README.md | 112 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 112 insertions(+)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 8fc4a3a5..4c620d5f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -187,3 +187,115 @@ to MAIL FROM with
 and rejects incorrectly authenticated emails with [`reject_sender_login_mismatch`](reject_sender_login_mismatch) policy.
 `From:` header must correspond to envelope MAIL FROM,
 this is ensured by `filtermail` proxy.
+
+## Setting up a reverse proxy
+
+A chatmail server does not depend on the client IP address
+for its operation, so it can be run behind a reverse proxy.
+This will not even affect incoming mail authentication
+as DKIM only checks the cryptographic signature
+of the message and does not use the IP address as the input.
+
+For example, you may want to self-host your chatmail server
+and only use hosted VPS to provide a public IP address
+for client connections and incoming mail.
+You can also setup multiple reverse proxies
+for your chatmail server in different networks
+to ensure your server is reachable even when
+one of the IPs becomes inaccessible due to
+hosting or routing problems.
+
+Note that your server still needs
+to be able to make outgoing connections on port 25
+to send messages outside.
+
+To setup a reverse proxy
+(or rather Destination NAT, DNAT)
+for your chatmail server,
+put the following configuration in `/etc/nftables.conf`:
+```
+#!/usr/sbin/nft -f
+
+flush ruleset
+
+define wan = eth0
+
+# Which ports to proxy.
+#
+# Note that SSH is not proxied
+# so it is possible to log into the proxy server
+# and not the original one.
+define ports = { smtp, http, https, imap, imaps, submission, submissions }
+
+# The host we want to proxy to.
+define ipv4_address = AAA.BBB.CCC.DDD
+define ipv6_address = [XXX::1]
+
+table ip nat {
+        chain prerouting {
+                type nat hook prerouting priority dstnat; policy accept;
+                iif $wan tcp dport $ports dnat to $ipv4_address
+        }
+
+        chain postrouting {
+                type nat hook postrouting priority 0;
+
+                oifname $wan masquerade
+        }
+}
+
+table ip6 nat {
+        chain prerouting {
+                type nat hook prerouting priority dstnat; policy accept;
+                iif $wan tcp dport $ports dnat to $ipv6_address
+        }
+
+        chain postrouting {
+                type nat hook postrouting priority 0;
+
+                oifname $wan masquerade
+        }
+}
+
+table inet filter {
+        chain input {
+                type filter hook input priority filter; policy drop;
+
+                # Accept ICMP.
+                # It is especially important to accept ICMPv6 ND messages,
+                # otherwise IPv6 connectivity breaks.
+                icmp type { echo-request } accept
+                icmpv6 type { echo-request, nd-neighbor-solicit, nd-router-advert, nd-neighbor-advert } accept
+
+                # Allow incoming SSH connections.
+                tcp dport { ssh } accept
+
+                ct state established accept
+        }
+        chain forward {
+                type filter hook forward priority filter; policy drop;
+
+                ct state established accept
+                ip daddr $ipv4_address counter accept
+                ip6 daddr $ipv6_address counter accept
+        }
+        chain output {
+                type filter hook output priority filter;
+        }
+}
+```
+
+Run `systemctl enable nftables.service`
+to ensure configuration is reloaded when the proxy server reboots.
+
+Uncomment in `/etc/sysctl.conf` the following two lines:
+
+```
+net.ipv4.ip_forward=1
+net.ipv6.conf.all.forwarding=1
+```
+
+Then reboot the server or do `sysctl -p` and `nft -f /etc/nftables.conf`.
+
+Once proxy server is set up,
+you can add its IP address to the DNS.