A catch-all email address is used to receive or reject emails sent to invalid addresses within your domain. However, implementing a catch-all address is generally not recommended due to several drawbacks:

  • It prevents the mail server from rejecting unwanted emails early in the delivery process.
  • Your server could face increased load from processing full spam messages and viruses, impacting overall performance.
  • A better practice is to create specific aliases as needed, which allows for more efficient email handling and reduces the risk of spam.

Creating a catch-all alias in Virtualmin

If you decide a catch-all address is necessary, here’s how to set one up in Virtualmin:

  1. Select the domain
    From Virtualmin’s dropdown menu, choose the domain for which you want to set up the catch-all address.

  2. Edit Mail Aliases
    Navigate to Edit Mail Aliases to manage email routing for the selected domain.

  3. Add alias
    Click Add an alias to this domain to create a new email alias. This will open a new page where you can configure the alias:

  4. Configure alias

    • Set the Name field to All users to designate this alias as a catch-all.
    • Configure the delivery settings as you normally would, typically directing to a local mailbox.

  5. Bounce option
    If you wish to bounce emails sent to invalid addresses, enable the Bounce mail option.

  6. Save changes
    Once configured, save the new alias to activate the catch-all functionality.

Disabling the catch-all alias

To stop the catch-all behavior and prevent the bouncing of emails to invalid addresses, simply delete the catch-all alias you previously created.