| Haraka | |
|---|---|
| Developer | Matt Sergeant |
| Release | May 2011 |
| Stable release | 3.3.1[1] 
/ 12 June 2026 |
| Written in | Node.js, JavaScript |
| Operating system | Unix-like, Windows |
| Type | Mail transfer agent |
| License | MIT License |
| Website | haraka |
| Repository | github |
Haraka is an open source[2] SMTP server. Its architecture is plugin-oriented[3] and event-driven. The server and its plugins are written in JavaScript[4] using the Node.js framework.[5]
Haraka follows a plugin model, implementing a very lightweight SMTP core and providing developers hooks into the mail flow.[6] Almost all of Haraka's functionality is built as plugins.
Through its use of the V8 JavaScript engine and asynchronous I/O, the author claims the server is capable of handling thousands of messages per second.[7]
Bounce.io announced that they regularly handle 2 to 5 thousand simultaneous SMTP connections[8] with Haraka.
Typical Usage
editHaraka is frequently used as a filtering MTA in front of other MTAs that lack the performance and/or filtering capabilities of Haraka. Craigslist uses Haraka[9] to handle inbound and then forward validated connections to Postfix.[10] Bounce.io similarly uses Haraka to accept incoming messages and deliver them to their application engine. Mail Toaster 6 uses Haraka[11] similarly to accept incoming mail and forward to a qmail based message store.
Features
edit- SMTP Authentication via LDAP,[12] vpopmaild,[13] flat_file, or SMTP proxy.
- Access control by domain, IP, sender, or recipient.[14]
- Bounce validation, optionally blocking forged or invalid bounces.
- Virus filtering with ClamAV and AVG
- ASN lookups and filtering
- Forward Confirmed reverse DNS validation
- GeoIP reporting and optional filtering
- Detection of remote Operating System
- Header validation: make sure required headers are present, singular headers are not duplicated, and values are credible.
- URIBL lookups of senders IP, helo hostname, envelope sender, and message contents
- DKIM validation and signing (native)
- DNSBL support
- Early talker detection
- HELO hostname validation (8 tests)
- Karma, a heuristics scoring engine that weighs the results of all plugins and smites or blesses each connection.
- Messagesniffer (requires SNF installation)
- Rate limiting, by host, sender, or recipient
- Recipient validation in flat file, LDAP, Redis, or qmail-deliverabled.
- SpamAssassin, via spamd.
- SPF (native)
- TLS / SSL
- Overload detection and automatic deferral of new connections.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Release 3.3.1". 12 June 2026. Retrieved 13 June 2026.
- ^ "Haraka License". GitHub. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
- ^ "Haraka Plugins". Haraka Source Code. GitHub. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
- ^ "Haraka Language Statistics". Haraka Source Repository. GitHub. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
- ^ "Haraka Manual » README". Archived from the original on 2017-10-28. Retrieved 2017-11-01.
- ^ "Writing Haraka Plugins". Haraka Docs. GitHub. Archived from the original on 14 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
- ^ "Haraka Readme". Haraka. GitHub. Archived from the original on 28 October 2017. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
- ^ "Tech Shoutout - Haraka at bounce.io". Bounce.io. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
- ^ "Craigslist Uses Haraka". Matt Sergeant. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
- ^ "About, Thanks". Craigslist. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
- ^ "SMTP Haraka". Mail Toaster 6. tnpi.net. Archived from the original on 19 October 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
- ^ "auth_ldap". Haraka. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
- ^ "auth_vpopmaild". Haraka. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
- ^ "access". Haraka. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
