🎉 Now Available!
The OpenEFA installer is officially released and ready for production use. Deploy AI-powered email security in minutes with a single command.
curl -sSL http://install.openefa.com/install.sh | sudo bash
After months of development and testing, we're excited to announce the official release of the OpenEFA installer. You can now deploy enterprise-grade email security with a single command!
What is OpenEFA?
OpenEFA is an AI-powered email security system built as the modern successor to the discontinued EFA Project. It combines advanced machine learning with traditional email filtering to provide superior protection against:
- 🛡️ Spam and Phishing - 95%+ accuracy
- 💼 Business Email Compromise - BEC detection
- 📄 PDF Phishing (TOAD) - Document analysis
- 🔐 Authentication - SPF/DKIM/DMARC
- 🤖 Account Compromise - Behavioral detection
- 📧 Smart Learning - Reduces false positives
Installation in 10 Minutes
The installer handles everything automatically:
✅ System Packages
Postfix, MariaDB, Redis, Python 3.12
✅ OpenSpacy AI Modules
15+ security modules
✅ SpacyWeb Dashboard
Multi-tenant management
✅ APIs & Services
All systemd services configured
Interactive prompts guide you through domain configuration, admin account setup, relay server selection, and security tier choice.
System Requirements
Component | Minimum | Recommended |
---|---|---|
OS | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS or 22.04 LTS | |
CPU | 2 cores | 4 cores |
RAM | 2 GB | 4-8 GB |
Disk | 20 GB | 50 GB |
Two Security Tiers
Tier 1 - Core (Minimal Resources)
Essential email security:
- SPF/DKIM/DMARC authentication
- Sender/domain/country blocking
- Basic spam scoring
- RBL integration (Spamhaus, SORBS, SpamCop)
Tier 2 - Standard (Recommended)
Everything in Tier 1, plus:
- BEC detection with typosquatting analysis
- DNS reputation scoring
- Obfuscation detector
- Marketing spam filter
- PDF analyzer (TOAD detection)
- URL reputation (homograph attacks)
- Behavioral baseline analysis
⚠️ CRITICAL: MailGuard/EFA Integration
If you have an existing MailGuard or EFA server downstream, you must deploy SpamAssassin rules to make it trust OpenEFA's analysis.
Without this integration:
- ❌ MailGuard ignores OpenEFA's AI analysis
- ❌ Authentication checks run twice and fail
- ❌ Legitimate emails incorrectly blocked
Quick setup (3 minutes):
cd /opt/spacyserver/installer/templates/spamassassin
scp *.cf root@YOUR_EFA_SERVER_IP:/etc/mail/spamassassin/
ssh root@YOUR_EFA_SERVER_IP "spamassassin --lint && systemctl restart mailscanner"
Full integration guide included in installation.
Architecture
Internet → OpenEFA (AI Filtering) → Your Mail Server → Mailboxes
(Authentication) (Delivery)
OpenEFA sits in front of your existing infrastructure:
- Standalone - Direct to mailbox server
- Relay Mode - Front-end to EFA/Exchange/Zimbra
- Multi-Domain - Single installation protecting multiple domains
Key Features
AI & Machine Learning
- Conversation learning system (3,730+ patterns)
- Thread awareness for legitimate replies
- Adaptive scoring based on sender history
- Named Entity Recognition (NER) for compliance
Multi-Tenancy
- Domain-scoped access control
- Per-domain whitelist/blocklist management
- Client-specific blocking rules
- Audit logging per domain
Integration APIs
- Port 5001 - Release tracking (auto-whitelist after 3 releases)
- Port 5002 - "Always Allow" button integration
- Port 5003 - "Always Block" button integration
Non-Interactive Installation
Perfect for automation and configuration management:
export OPENEFA_DOMAIN="example.com"
export OPENEFA_ADMIN_EMAIL="admin@example.com"
export OPENEFA_ADMIN_PASSWORD="SecurePassword123"
export OPENEFA_RELAY_IP="192.168.1.100"
curl -sSL http://install.openefa.com/install.sh | sudo -E bash
Documentation
Comprehensive guides included:
- Installation Guide - README.md in repository
- EFA Integration - SpamAssassin rule deployment guide
- Quick Checklist - Step-by-step deployment verification
- Troubleshooting - Common issues and solutions
- API Reference - Integration endpoint documentation
Roadmap
- ✅ Full automated installation
- ✅ Multi-domain support
- ✅ AI-based spam/phishing detection
- ✅ BEC and typosquatting detection
- ✅ SpacyWeb management interface
- ✅ API integration endpoints
- ⏳ ClamAV antivirus integration
- ⏳ Enhanced quarantine management
- ⏳ End-user self-service portal
- ⏳ Let's Encrypt SSL automation
- ⏳ Multi-server clustering
Get Started Today
Deploy enterprise-grade email security in minutes
curl -sSL http://install.openefa.com/install.sh | sudo bash
Installation time: 10-15 minutes | Complexity: Low | Cost: Free and open source
View on GitHub →Success Stories
OpenEFA is currently protecting production email systems, processing thousands of emails daily with:
- 95%+ spam detection accuracy
- < 0.1% false positive rate
- Zero authentication false positives with proper integration
- Excellent resource efficiency (~1GB RAM total)
Support & Community
About the Author
Scott Barbour is the creator of OpenEFA and lead developer. With over 20 years of experience in email security and systems administration, he built OpenEFA to address the gap left by the discontinuation of the EFA Project, bringing modern AI capabilities to open-source email filtering.