Listmonk with Forward Email for Secure Newsletter Delivery

This guide provides developers with step-by-step instructions for setting up Listmonk, a powerful open-source newsletter and mailing list manager, to use Forward Email as its SMTP provider. This combination allows you to manage your campaigns effectively while ensuring secure, private, and reliable email delivery.

  • Listmonk: Handles subscriber management, list organization, campaign creation, and performance tracking.
  • Forward Email: Acts as the secure SMTP server, handling the actual sending of emails with built-in security features like SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and TLS encryption.

By integrating these two, you retain full control over your data and infrastructure while leveraging Forward Email's robust delivery system.

  • Open Source: Both Listmonk and the principles behind Forward Email emphasize transparency and control. You host Listmonk yourself, owning your data.
  • Privacy-Focused: Forward Email is built with privacy at its core, minimizing data retention and focusing on secure transmission.
  • Cost-Effective: Listmonk is free, and Forward Email offers generous free tiers and affordable paid plans, making this a budget-friendly solution.
  • Scalability: Listmonk is highly performant, and Forward Email's infrastructure is designed for reliable delivery at scale.
  • Developer-Friendly: Listmonk offers a robust API, and Forward Email provides straightforward SMTP integration and webhooks.

Before you begin, ensure you have the following:

  • A Virtual Private Server (VPS) running a recent Linux distribution (Ubuntu 20.04+ recommended) with at least 1 CPU and 1GB RAM (2GB recommended).
  • A domain name that you control (DNS access required).
  • An active account with Forward Email.
  • Root or sudo access to your VPS.
  • Basic familiarity with Linux command-line operations.

These steps guide you through installing Listmonk using Docker and Docker Compose on your VPS.

1. Update Your Server

Ensure your system's package list and installed packages are up-to-date.

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

2. Install Dependencies

Install Docker, Docker Compose, and UFW (Uncomplicated Firewall).

sudo apt install -y docker.io docker-compose ufw

3. Download Listmonk Configuration

Create a directory for Listmonk and download the official docker-compose.yml file.

mkdir listmonk && cd listmonk
curl -Lo docker-compose.yml https://raw.githubusercontent.com/knadh/listmonk/master/docker-compose.yml

This file defines the Listmonk application container and its required PostgreSQL database container.

4. Configure Firewall (UFW)

Allow essential traffic (SSH, HTTP, HTTPS) through the firewall. If your SSH runs on a non-standard port, adjust accordingly.

sudo ufw allow ssh
sudo ufw allow http
sudo ufw allow https
sudo ufw enable

Confirm enabling the firewall when prompted.

5. Configure HTTPS Access

Running Listmonk over HTTPS is crucial for security. You have two primary options:

Option A: Using Cloudflare Proxy (Recommended for Simplicity)

If your domain's DNS is managed by Cloudflare, you can leverage their proxy feature for easy HTTPS.

  1. Point DNS: Create an A record in Cloudflare for your Listmonk subdomain (e.g., listmonk.yourdomain.com) pointing to your VPS IP address. Ensure the Proxy status is set to Proxied (orange cloud).
  2. Modify Docker Compose: Edit the docker-compose.yml file you downloaded:
    sed -i 's/9000:9000/80:9000/' docker-compose.yml
    This makes Listmonk accessible internally on port 80, which Cloudflare can then proxy and secure with HTTPS.

Option B: Using a Reverse Proxy (Nginx, Caddy, etc.)

Alternatively, you can set up a reverse proxy like Nginx or Caddy on your VPS to handle HTTPS termination and proxy requests to Listmonk (running on port 9000 by default).

  • Keep the default ports: - "127.0.0.1:9000:9000" in docker-compose.yml to ensure Listmonk is only accessible locally.
  • Configure your chosen reverse proxy to listen on ports 80 and 443, handle SSL certificate acquisition (e.g., via Let's Encrypt), and forward traffic to http://127.0.0.1:9000.
  • Detailed reverse proxy setup is beyond this guide's scope, but many tutorials are available online.

6. Start Listmonk

Navigate back to your listmonk directory (if you aren't already there) and start the containers in detached mode.

cd ~/listmonk # Or the directory where you saved docker-compose.yml
docker compose up -d

Docker will download the necessary images and start the Listmonk application and database containers. It might take a minute or two the first time.

✅ Access Listmonk: You should now be able to access the Listmonk web interface via the domain you configured (e.g., https://listmonk.yourdomain.com).

7. Configure Forward Email SMTP in Listmonk

Next, configure Listmonk to send emails using your Forward Email account.

  1. Enable SMTP in Forward Email: Ensure you have generated SMTP credentials within your Forward Email account dashboard. Follow the Forward Email guide to send email with a custom domain via SMTP if you haven't already.
  2. Configure Listmonk: Log in to your Listmonk admin panel.

    • Navigate to Settings -> SMTP.

    • Listmonk has built-in support for Forward Email. Select ForwardEmail from the provider list, or manually enter the following details:

      Setting Value
      Host smtp.forwardemail.net
      Port 465
      Auth protocol LOGIN
      Username Your Forward Email SMTP username
      Password Your Forward Email SMTP password
      TLS SSL/TLS
      From e-mail Your desired From address (e.g., newsletter@yourdomain.com). Ensure this domain is configured in Forward Email.

    • Important: Always use Port 465 with SSL/TLS for secure connections with Forward Email. Do not use STARTTLS (port 587).

    • Click Save.

  3. Send Test Email: Use the "Send Test E-mail" button within the SMTP settings page. Enter a recipient address you can access and click Send. Verify that the email arrives in the recipient's inbox.

8. Configure Bounce Processing

Bounce processing allows Listmonk to automatically handle emails that couldn't be delivered (e.g., due to invalid addresses). Forward Email provides a webhook to notify Listmonk about bounces.

Forward Email Setup

  1. Log in to your Forward Email Dashboard.
  2. Navigate to Domains, select the domain you are using for sending, and go to its Settings page.
  3. Scroll down to the Bounce Webhook URL section.
  4. Enter the following URL, replacing <your_listmonk_domain> with the actual domain or subdomain where your Listmonk instance is accessible:
    https://<your_listmonk_domain>/webhooks/service/forwardemail
    Example: https://listmonk.yourdomain.com/webhooks/service/forwardemail
  5. Scroll down further to the Webhook Signature Payload Verification Key section.
  6. Copy the generated verification key. You will need this in Listmonk.
  7. Save the changes in your Forward Email domain settings.

Listmonk Setup

  1. In your Listmonk admin panel, navigate to Settings -> Bounces.
  2. Enable Enable bounce processing.
  3. Enable Enable bounce webhooks.
  4. Scroll down to the Webhook Providers section.
  5. Enable Forward Email.
  6. Paste the Webhook Signature Payload Verification Key you copied from the Forward Email dashboard into the Forward Email Key field.
  7. Click Save at the bottom of the page.
  8. Bounce processing is now configured! When Forward Email detects a bounce for an email sent by Listmonk, it will notify your Listmonk instance via the webhook, and Listmonk will mark the subscriber accordingly.
  9. Complete the steps below in Testing to ensure everything is working.

Here's a quick overview of core Listmonk functions:

Create a Mailing List

  • Go to Lists in the sidebar.
  • Click New List.
  • Fill in the details (Name, Type: Public/Private, Description, Tags) and Save.

Add Subscribers

  • Navigate to the Subscribers section.
  • You can add subscribers:
    • Manually: Click New Subscriber.
    • Import: Click Import Subscribers to upload a CSV file.
    • API: Use the Listmonk API for programmatic additions.
  • Assign subscribers to one or more lists during creation or import.
  • Best Practice: Use a double opt-in process. Configure this under Settings -> Opt-in & Subscriptions.

Create and Send a Campaign

  • Go to Campaigns -> New Campaign.
  • Fill in the campaign details (Name, Subject, From Email, List(s) to send to).
  • Choose your content type (Rich Text/HTML, Plain Text, Raw HTML).
  • Compose your email content. You can use template variables like {{ .Subscriber.Email }} or {{ .Subscriber.FirstName }}.
  • Always send a test email first! Use the "Send Test" option to preview the email in your inbox.
  • Once satisfied, click Start Campaign to send immediately or schedule it for later.

  • SMTP Delivery: Regularly send test emails via Listmonk's SMTP settings page and test campaigns to ensure emails are delivered correctly.
  • Bounce Handling: Send a test campaign to a known invalid email address (e.g., bounce-test@yourdomain.com if you don't have a real one handy, though results may vary). Check the campaign stats in Listmonk after a short while to see if the bounce is registered.
  • Email Headers: Use tools like Mail-Tester or inspect email headers manually to verify that SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are passing, indicating proper setup through Forward Email.
  • Forward Email Logs: Check your Forward Email dashboard logs if you suspect delivery issues originating from the SMTP server.

  • Templating: Listmonk uses Go's templating engine. Explore its documentation for advanced personalization: {{ .Subscriber.Attribs.your_custom_field }}.
  • API: Listmonk provides a comprehensive REST API for managing lists, subscribers, campaigns, templates, and more. Find the API documentation link in your Listmonk instance's footer.
  • Custom Fields: Define custom subscriber fields under Settings -> Subscriber Fields to store additional data.
  • Webhooks: Besides bounces, Listmonk can send webhooks for other events (e.g., subscriptions), allowing integration with other systems.

By integrating the self-hosted power of Listmonk with the secure, privacy-respecting delivery of Forward Email, you create a robust and ethical email marketing platform. You maintain full ownership of your audience data while benefiting from high deliverability and automated security features.

This setup provides a scalable, cost-effective, and developer-friendly alternative to proprietary email services, aligning perfectly with the ethos of open-source software and user privacy.

Happy Sending! 🚀