EHCP force Mod Log.
Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2025 6:47 pm
April 2026 Version:
URL: https://downloads.ghostnetwork.co.uk/fixes/ehcpforce/2604/april26/ehcpforce_stable_snapshot.tar.gz
This is my first modified version of EHCP force for Ubuntu 26.04, in this version all the changes are installer based, as the main application file is the official one.
By far the most significant change is Dovecot, at install time you have an option to convert your installation to Dovecot, which is a much more industry standard and security orientated way of running an email server, as the standard version of EHCP force uses outdated applications like pop-before-smtp and saslauthd. The Dovecot conversion is optional, but I cannot comprehend any reason why someone would opt to use the default email system which is based on courier. There are numerous configuration problems with the standard email system, so if you choose the Dovecot option the entire email system is deleted and re-installed from scratch towards the end of the install process. The main EHCP force application is fully compatible with Dovecot, so I personally think this is well overdue.
If for some reason known only to you, you say no to the Dovecot option, as always when a new OS is launched, there is a problem with SMTP auth. The problem is that EHCP force uses crypt for its email passwords, which used to be incorporated into Python. In the Ubuntu 26.04 version of Python, crypt has been removed, so I have replaced it with Legacy crypt, this fixes SMTP auth, but breaks FTP auth. After Legacy crypt is installed, my installer reinstalls some parts of python to fix the issue. The custom SMTP auth Python script has had a slight change for Legacy crypt, also Legacy crypt has been locked, to prevent updates which could potentially break FTP auth again. This mess it another reason why you should not use legacy apps in modern versions of Linux, and choose Dovecot.
The next change is a small one, at install time you have an option to replace Ubuntu auto updates with a simple update script that runs in the early hours of the morning and then reboots your server, this is a good idea in my opinion as Ubuntu auto update can cause unexpected downtime.
I have made some minor changes the questions at instal time, by cutting out some pointless questions, and adding some missing but important questions, all password are now autogenerated for better security. There is no reason why you cannot change the admin user password for the EHCP force web control panel, if you wish. Also, the MySQL admin user is created at install time.
The invalid HELO name email bug is fixed, as is the missing MySQL root password from important system files.
Now both your local IP address and your public one are added to the EHCP force control panel by default, which saves you adding them by hand post install.
A lot of these changes have come directly from your feedback, so a big thank you to you all. Together we a making self-hosting a thing again. Also, a big thank you to the author of EHCP force for creating such an amazing fork of EHCP.
This has all been a lot of Work so hopefully my Ubuntu 26.04 version of EHCP force will be used as much as my Ubuntu 24.04 version was, which built up a substantial user base.
May 2025 Version:
URL: https://downloads.ghostnetwork.co.uk/fixes/ehcpforce/2404/may25/ehcpforce_stable_snapshot.tar.gz
Updated to the very latest courier version (when installing on Ubuntu 24.04 or above), in this version the courier-authdaemon has been replaced by a service called libcourier-auth. Because of this change you will not be able to use the SMTP auth fixing script in courier mode, however I cannot see any reason why you would ever need to run the script on this version.
I have moved all of the saslauthd (smtp auth service) configuration to the file install_lib.php, meaning that whenever you use the Fix Mail Configuration link in the control panel saslauthd will also be reconfigured in a much more efficient way than running the SMTP auth fixing script.
The new configuration should work on all previous versions of Ubuntu also, although I have not tested it on older versions of Ubuntu.
I have made a slight tweak to Fail2ban, as I was worried that file corruption could occur due to the file format of the main config file not being correct, I have also made a slight change to the install routine.
I have made a simple change to remove the blank line from the crontab file, which would prevent it from working as intended.
On some very rare occasions, when adding the very first mailbox to the very first domain, the mailbox directory structure would not be created. It is not clear what causes this bug, but I have added a short workaround routine to the main application file to fix this. EHCP force now checks the mailbox directory structure when adding the fisrt new email account, and then fixes it where needed. As this only appears to affect the first mailbox, on the first domain it does not matter if EHCP force update replaces the main application file, later down the line (removes the fix routine).
I have fixed the following bugs when installing in unattended mode:
When you entered a global email address during the installation, some email addresses where not actually getting passed validation, so would not be added to the panel, as the validator was flawed.
For example me@mydomain.com would be accepted but me@mydomain.co.uk would not be. This has now been fixed.
Even if the global email address was accepted the admin user email would always got set to myemail@test.com, it now gets set to the email address you enter during installation.
The global panel admin name now gets set to Admin, instead of myname.
April 2025 Version:
URL: https://downloads.ghostnetwork.co.uk/fixes/ehcpforce/2404/april25/ehcpforce_stable_snapshot.tar.gz
First release with basic courier email fix, smtp auth and Fail2ban fix.
This version of courier is what should have been included in Ubuntu 24.04, but was pulled a few days before the OS was released for NO GOOD REASON.
Fail2ban has had the action section of the main configuration file edited the restore the power to write to the IP tables.
Simple fix to the saslauthd configuration to work with Ubuntu 24.04 and Postfix.
URL: https://downloads.ghostnetwork.co.uk/fixes/ehcpforce/2604/april26/ehcpforce_stable_snapshot.tar.gz
This is my first modified version of EHCP force for Ubuntu 26.04, in this version all the changes are installer based, as the main application file is the official one.
By far the most significant change is Dovecot, at install time you have an option to convert your installation to Dovecot, which is a much more industry standard and security orientated way of running an email server, as the standard version of EHCP force uses outdated applications like pop-before-smtp and saslauthd. The Dovecot conversion is optional, but I cannot comprehend any reason why someone would opt to use the default email system which is based on courier. There are numerous configuration problems with the standard email system, so if you choose the Dovecot option the entire email system is deleted and re-installed from scratch towards the end of the install process. The main EHCP force application is fully compatible with Dovecot, so I personally think this is well overdue.
If for some reason known only to you, you say no to the Dovecot option, as always when a new OS is launched, there is a problem with SMTP auth. The problem is that EHCP force uses crypt for its email passwords, which used to be incorporated into Python. In the Ubuntu 26.04 version of Python, crypt has been removed, so I have replaced it with Legacy crypt, this fixes SMTP auth, but breaks FTP auth. After Legacy crypt is installed, my installer reinstalls some parts of python to fix the issue. The custom SMTP auth Python script has had a slight change for Legacy crypt, also Legacy crypt has been locked, to prevent updates which could potentially break FTP auth again. This mess it another reason why you should not use legacy apps in modern versions of Linux, and choose Dovecot.
The next change is a small one, at install time you have an option to replace Ubuntu auto updates with a simple update script that runs in the early hours of the morning and then reboots your server, this is a good idea in my opinion as Ubuntu auto update can cause unexpected downtime.
I have made some minor changes the questions at instal time, by cutting out some pointless questions, and adding some missing but important questions, all password are now autogenerated for better security. There is no reason why you cannot change the admin user password for the EHCP force web control panel, if you wish. Also, the MySQL admin user is created at install time.
The invalid HELO name email bug is fixed, as is the missing MySQL root password from important system files.
Now both your local IP address and your public one are added to the EHCP force control panel by default, which saves you adding them by hand post install.
A lot of these changes have come directly from your feedback, so a big thank you to you all. Together we a making self-hosting a thing again. Also, a big thank you to the author of EHCP force for creating such an amazing fork of EHCP.
This has all been a lot of Work so hopefully my Ubuntu 26.04 version of EHCP force will be used as much as my Ubuntu 24.04 version was, which built up a substantial user base.
May 2025 Version:
URL: https://downloads.ghostnetwork.co.uk/fixes/ehcpforce/2404/may25/ehcpforce_stable_snapshot.tar.gz
Updated to the very latest courier version (when installing on Ubuntu 24.04 or above), in this version the courier-authdaemon has been replaced by a service called libcourier-auth. Because of this change you will not be able to use the SMTP auth fixing script in courier mode, however I cannot see any reason why you would ever need to run the script on this version.
I have moved all of the saslauthd (smtp auth service) configuration to the file install_lib.php, meaning that whenever you use the Fix Mail Configuration link in the control panel saslauthd will also be reconfigured in a much more efficient way than running the SMTP auth fixing script.
The new configuration should work on all previous versions of Ubuntu also, although I have not tested it on older versions of Ubuntu.
I have made a slight tweak to Fail2ban, as I was worried that file corruption could occur due to the file format of the main config file not being correct, I have also made a slight change to the install routine.
I have made a simple change to remove the blank line from the crontab file, which would prevent it from working as intended.
On some very rare occasions, when adding the very first mailbox to the very first domain, the mailbox directory structure would not be created. It is not clear what causes this bug, but I have added a short workaround routine to the main application file to fix this. EHCP force now checks the mailbox directory structure when adding the fisrt new email account, and then fixes it where needed. As this only appears to affect the first mailbox, on the first domain it does not matter if EHCP force update replaces the main application file, later down the line (removes the fix routine).
I have fixed the following bugs when installing in unattended mode:
When you entered a global email address during the installation, some email addresses where not actually getting passed validation, so would not be added to the panel, as the validator was flawed.
For example me@mydomain.com would be accepted but me@mydomain.co.uk would not be. This has now been fixed.
Even if the global email address was accepted the admin user email would always got set to myemail@test.com, it now gets set to the email address you enter during installation.
The global panel admin name now gets set to Admin, instead of myname.
April 2025 Version:
URL: https://downloads.ghostnetwork.co.uk/fixes/ehcpforce/2404/april25/ehcpforce_stable_snapshot.tar.gz
First release with basic courier email fix, smtp auth and Fail2ban fix.
This version of courier is what should have been included in Ubuntu 24.04, but was pulled a few days before the OS was released for NO GOOD REASON.
Fail2ban has had the action section of the main configuration file edited the restore the power to write to the IP tables.
Simple fix to the saslauthd configuration to work with Ubuntu 24.04 and Postfix.