Version 3.x

Since Apache James version 3.1 we maintain a changelog as part of the code base under the form of a changelog file as well as details upgrade instructions.

Version 3.8.1

Released January 2024

Read the release announce.

Version 3.8.0

Released May 2023

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Version 3.7.5

Released January 2024

Read the release announce.

Version 3.7.4

Released March 2023

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Version 3.7.3

Released December 2022

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Version 3.7.2

Released October 2022

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Version 3.7.1

Released August 2022

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Version 3.7.0

Released March 2022

Read the release announce.

Version 3.6.1

Released December 2021

Read the release announce.

This release fixes the following vulnerability issues, that are present prior to 3.6.1:
• CVE-2021-38542: Apache James vulnerable to STARTTLS command injection (IMAP and POP3)
• CVE-2021-40110: Apache James IMAP vulnerable to a ReDoS
• CVE-2021-40111: Apache James IMAP parsing Denial Of Service
• CVE-2021-40525: Apache James: Sieve file storage vulnerable to path traversal attacks

Version 3.6.0

Released March 2021

Read the release announce.

Version 3.5.0

Released July 2020

Read the release announce.

Version 3.4.0

Released September 2019

Read the release announce.

Version 3.3.0

Released March 2019

Read the release announce.

Version 3.2.0

Released November 2018

Read the release announce.

Version 3.1.0

Released July 2018

Read the release announce.

Version 3.0.1

Released October 2017

The Apache James PMCs are glad to announce you the release version 3.0.1 of Apache James server.

It fixes vulnerability described in CVE-2017-12628. The JMX server, also used by the command line client is exposed to a java de-serialization issue, and thus can be used to execute arbitrary commands. As James exposes JMX socket by default only on local-host, this vulnerability can only be used for privilege escalation.

If you're interested in contributing to the James project, please subscribe to the James mailing lists.

Version 3.0.0

Released July 2017

The Apache James project is happy to announce the release of version 3.0.0 of its modular mail server.

After a long work, the team is really proud to announce the new release, James 3.0. This new version of the Apache James Server introduces many new features, like the IMAP protocol, experimental Sieve support, experimental JMAP support, and new email storage back-ends.

For the James 3.0 release, the team have been specifically committed to testing. We care about unit testing in a Test Driven Development way. We added many integration tests, using the Mail Protocol Tester suite, but also using various IMAP, SMTP and HTTP clients. We conducted load testing campaigns, and developed tools based on Gatling, a load testing framework, for the JMAP, IMAP and SMTP protocols. We introduced live metric collection and display in Grafana, as well as log collection in Kibana.

If you're interested in contributing to the James project, please subscribe to the James mailing lists.

Version 3.0-RC1

Released May 2017

The Apache James project is happy to announce the release of version 3.0.0-RC1 of its modular mail server.

We thank all Users for their feedback and tests and we encourage anyone to download and discover our RC1 release.

What have been done in James 3.0.0-RC1 :
• Add metrics in multiple components
• Improve the Cassandra backend (still experimental)
• Improve the ElasticSearch search index
• Add more support of the JMAP protocol
• Refactor some old mailets
• Enhance Mailbox and Message API

If you're interested in contributing to the James project, please subscribe to the James mailing lists.

Version 3.0-beta5

Released October 2016

The Apache James project is happy to announce the release of version 3.0-beta5 of its modular mail server.

We thank all Users for their feedback and tests and we encourage anyone to download and discover our Beta 5 release.

What have been done in James 3.0-beta5 :
• Introduce Guice as an alternative to Spring
• Create a search index based on ElasticSearch
• New IMAP extensions including Metadata, Quotas, optional command MOVE
• New Cassandra backend (still experimental)
• Introduction of JMAP protocol (experimental)
• Introduction of ManageSIEVE
• Correction on SIEVE Body extension, addition of Vacation extension

If you're interested in contributing to the James project, please subscribe to the James mailing lists.

Version 3.0-beta4

Released April 2012

The Apache James project is happy to announce the release of version 3.0-beta4 of its modular mail server.

We thank all Users for their feedback and tests and we encourage anyone to download and discover our Beta 4 release.

You can read the detailed release notes.

If you're interested in contributing to the James project, please subscribe to the James mailing lists.

Version 3.0-beta3 (Milestone 3)

Released 2011

The Apache James project is happy to announce the release of version 3.0-beta3 (Milestone 3) of its modular mail server.

We thank all Users for their feedback and tests and we encourage anyone to download and discover this Milestone 3 release.

If you're interested in contributing to the James project, please subscribe to the James mailing lists.

                * What's new in 3.0-beta3 for end users
                - Numerous IMAP bug fixes (better client support, memory improvement, NIO and IO support...)
                - Support for IMAP IDLE (RFC 2177, server transmit updates to the client in real time)
                - Telnet Management has been removed in favor of JMX with client shell
                - More metrics counters available via JMX
                - Better debug logging on protocols
                - JPA validated against more databases (among others Oracle)
                - Multiple address and port configurations per protocol
                - POP3 is now operational (was buggy in 3.0-M2)
                - Mailbox Tooling to copy from a persistence to another persistence
                - Upgrade tool from James 2.3 is available
                - Better logging on protocols with adjustable level
                - Full mailet package must be specified
                - Composite Matchers
                - Better debug logging on protocols
                - Mailing list functionality has been removed
                - More documentation on web site for configuration,...
                - ... and much more, see details on https://issues.apache.org/jira/secure/ReleaseNote.jspa?projectId=10411&version=12315512
                * What's new in 3.0-beta3 for developers
                - Less maven modules
                - Maven 3.0.2 required to build
                - Upgrade to latest frameworks versions (netty, activemq, jackrabbit...)
                - Code reports generation via 'mvn site -P site-reports' maven profile
                - Corrections further to findbugs,... reports
                - Code formatting
                - ... and much more, see details on https://issues.apache.org/jira/secure/ReleaseNote.jspa?projectId=10411&version=12315512

                * Quick Start  http://james.apache.org/server/3/quick-start.html
            

Version 3.0-M2 (Milestone 2)

Released 09 November 2010

The Java Apache Mail Enterprise Server (a.k.a. Apache James) Project is happy to announce the release of version 3.0-M2 (Milestone 2) of the Apache James server.

M2 is not only a fast corrective release on M1 (issues related to JMX security configuration on Windows platforms,...), but also contains an important number of enhancement and JIRA fixes.

For example, memory usage has been reduced thanks to optimizations on the ActiveMQ component usage (responsible for the mail spooling).

We thank all Users for their feedback and tests and we encourage anyone to discover this Milestone 2 release.

If you're interested in contributing to the James project, please subscribe to the James mailing lists.

Version 3.0-M1 (Milestone 1)

Released 01 November 2010

The Java Apache Mail Enterprise Server (a.k.a. Apache James) Project is happy to announce the release of version 3.0-M1 (Milestone 1) of the Apache James server.

The Apache James Server is a 100% pure Java enterprise mail server based on open protocols. Currently supported are SMTP/LMTP, POP3, IMAP4 protocols together with several different storage solutions (relational database via JPA and JDBC, File system with MailDir, JCR Content Repsitory).

The James server also serves as a mail application platform. It hosts the Apache Mailet API, and acts has a Mailet container. This feature makes it easy to design, write, and deploy custom applications for mail processing. This modularity and ease of customization is one of James' strengths, and can allow administrators to produce powerful applications surprisingly easily.

Features for that version include enhancements to nearly every area of functionality, including full IMAP support, improved mailing list capabilities, fastfail support, SMTP API for developing own fastfail filters and the next revision of the Mailet API.

This was an exciting time in James development and we thank all contributors.

We are still actively looking for eager, capable developers to contribute to James. If you're interested in contributing to the James project, please subscribe to the James mailing lists.

Information about James can be found at the James web site at http://james.apache.org/.

Version 2.3.1

Released 23 October 2006

Cryptography is now provided by Apache Crypto Mailets. Users should check that org.apache.james.mailet.crypto.mailet and org.apache.james.mailet.crypto.matcher packages have been added to the mailetpackages element in the configuration file.

Version 2.3.0 Final

Released 23 October 2006

Version 2.3.0rc5

Released 12 October 2006

Detail

• [JAMES-625] - an empty mbox will cause an error at pop3 login
• [JAMES-644] - FileRegexMatcher possibly leaks minor memory on startup
• [JAMES-649] - error "OutOfMemoryError: JAVA HEAP SPACE" in connections log file when doing a POP TOP for 4000 messages
• [JAMES-655] - MboxMailRepository throws NPE when storing mail with mail from: <>

Version 2.3.0rc4

Released 2 October 2006

Detail

• [JAMES-626] - Invalid (outdated) urls in config files.
• [JAMES-631] - Default host configuration for InSpammerBlacklist is relative: it should contain a trailing "." or it will reject all mail when the default domain has an "*" IN A rule.
• [JAMES-638] - Wrong default encoding in text message (Autoconverted: from 8bit to quoted-printable)
• [JAMES-639] - SerialUID is not hardcoded

• [JAMES-618] - Move server-site documents from james/server repository to james/site/server repository
• [JAMES-634] - Fix m2 projects to not lookup dependencies on ibiblio, to simplify the website build and to include 2.2.0 and 2.3.0 docs

Version 2.3.0rc3

Released 15 September 2006

Detail

• [JAMES-327] - Mailet overview not complete
• [JAMES-579] - Update license headers and NOTICE to follow the latest ASF requirements
• [JAMES-591] - LogMessage mailet use wrong configutre option
• [JAMES-594] - JVM-OPTS get passed two times
• [JAMES-603] - Outgoing spooling stuck over old mails when more than 1000 old mails are present in outgoing.
• [JAMES-609] - MailImpl.setMessage and possible NPE: regression from 2.2.0 and 2.3.0rc1

• [JAMES-541] - Check what we need to bundle bcprov BouncyCastle JCE provider
• [JAMES-613] - Define a new version for Mailet API and update James.java to return the new version.

• [JAMES-581] - Add an "Upgrade documentation" to our docs explaining the upgrade from 2.2.0 to 2.3.0

Version 2.3.0rc2

Released 12 August 2006

Detail

• [JAMES-574] - Annoying logging of whitelist/blacklist nomatching as "unknown host exception thrown: listname" if INFO is enabled
• [JAMES-580] - NPE is issued when receiving a "read receipt" from MS Outlook, and <checkValidSenderDomain> is set to true
• [JAMES-584] - FileStreamStore diskspace leak for removed messages in file based spool under windows
• [JAMES-585] - SMTP Server may leak temporary ($[JAMES}/temp/*.m64) files
• [JAMES-587] - CommandListServManager does not properly handle invalid commands.
• [JAMES-588] - XMLResource getString methods have incorrect javadocs, and one will throw an NPE.
• [JAMES-612] - James File Repository Error: Too many open files

• [JAMES-432] - Reorganize and update xdocs documentation and site generation

• [JAMES-582] - Released packages confusions (name, artifacts)

Version 2.3.0rc1

Released 25 July 2006

Detail

• [JAMES-566] - Fastfail DNSRBL blacklisted messages are rejected even if the sender user is successfully SMTP AUTHenticated
• [JAMES-570] - James insert a Return-Path: null in outgoing email

• [JAMES-568] - reorganize download area structure

Version 2.3.0b3

Released 15 July 2006

Detail

• [JAMES-554] - Set the right svn property for excutable files
• [JAMES-559] - Message body get lost after call saveChanges() and move to other processor
• [JAMES-560] - SetMimeHeader not throw an MessagingException if needed config values missed
• [JAMES-561] - User aliasing does not work

Version 2.3.0b2

Unreleased

Detail

• [JAMES-527] - data-source for default derby maildb is configured with a relative path
• [JAMES-535] - Denial of service (CPU consumption) via a long argument to the MAIL command.
• [JAMES-538] - Original headers are lost when trying to alter headers of a cloned message
• [JAMES-540] - catch lifecycle problems for handlers

• [JAMES-553] - Upgrade to Derby 10.1.3.1

• [JAMES-537] - Add ConfigOption to disable the RemoteManager

• [JAMES-496] - Add a default hardcoded configuration for the SMTPHandlerChain
• [JAMES-529] - Add a GenericAddFooter for use in AddFooter and CommandListservFooter
• [JAMES-536] - Decide what to do with repository implementations configured by default (db/dbfile/file)

Version 2.3.0b1

Released 9 June 2006

Details

• [JAMES-499] - Inconsistent usage of the lastUpdated field for Mail objects
• [JAMES-505] - ClassCastException in UsersRepositoryAliasingForwarding using file based users store
• [JAMES-512] - OutOfMemoryError -- object not released.
• [JAMES-522] - Having the ClamAVScan mailet configured, but clamd unavailable when JAMES starts, keeps JAMES from starting.
• [JAMES-524] - James fails to create mysql tables with mysql-4.1.

• [JAMES-513] - Rename AddHeader and AddHeaderHandler

Version 2.3.0a3

Details

• [JAMES-456] - AddFooter mailet javax.mail.internet.ParseException
• [JAMES-474] - NullPointerException and bodymessage lost with weird configurations in message spooling
• [JAMES-489] - ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException in RemoteDelivery when an mail has errorstate and error-message 0
• [JAMES-490] - Javamail 1.4 regression: SocketFetcher changed to require SocketFactory implementation
• [JAMES-501] - sendmail.py get not include in build
• [JAMES-503] - SpoolManager locking issues
• [JAMES-504] - RemoteDelivery threads do not unlock delayed mails

Version 2.3.0a2

Details

• [JAMES-368] - AddFooter couldn't process mails which MimeType is multipart/related
• [JAMES-419] - NPE during 8bit conversion of non-mime messages
• [JAMES-434] - NPE on empty sender and AUTHenticated user
• [JAMES-443] - AddFooter and Encoding issues
• [JAMES-446] - NPE while fetching mail (FetchMail)
• [JAMES-447] - ClassCastException when storing multipart message without Msg ID
• [JAMES-452] - Broken messages after passing james
• [JAMES-455] - AddFooter mailet throw UnsupportedEncodingException
• [JAMES-458] - SSL not working in James 2.3.0a1
• [JAMES-459] - Incompatible/Duplicate excalibur-cli-1.0.jar library in classpath
• [JAMES-460] - Running James as an NT service
• [JAMES-462] - Error in message.getLineCount (Error using NotifyPostmaster with James 2.3)
• [JAMES-466] - java.sql.SQLException: Error reading from InputStream java.io.IOException in current trunk
• [JAMES-467] - corrupt messages in james trunk
• [JAMES-470] - DNSRBLHandler config error
• [JAMES-473] - AddHeaderHandler configure bug
• [JAMES-475] - SQLException on james trunk after build and without modifications of config.xml
• [JAMES-476] - NPE in RemoteDelivery
• [JAMES-482] - incorrect state on duplicate mail (LinearProcessor)

• [JAMES-158] - Stream body in JDBCMailRepository.store(Mail)
• [JAMES-299] - Support for SMTP auth to gateway server in RemoteDelivery mailet
• [JAMES-371] - Speed improvement in SpoolManager
• [JAMES-438] - add GenericMailet.getInitParameter(name,default)
• [JAMES-440] - Improve DBCP: provide more DBCP options, like removeAbandoned
• [JAMES-441] - Add an option to support aliases (CNAME) for MX records
• [JAMES-445] - Enforcement for HELO/EHLO commands before MAIL
• [JAMES-450] - "LocalUsers" user repository should be wired in the assembly and not hardcoded in components
• [JAMES-469] - Make SMTP message queuing configurable (as an Handler)
• [JAMES-477] - Configure option to disable heloEhloEnforcement to be compatible with james < 2.3.0
• [JAMES-478] - Only check against RBL if the client is not allowed to relay

• [JAMES-427] - [PATCH] Introduce Unit Testing
• [JAMES-437] - add failed recipient address to log when authorization fails
• [JAMES-465] - Check for valid sender domain in mail from
• [JAMES-468] - Limit MaxRcpt per Email
• [JAMES-471] - Tarpit support

• [JAMES-416] - Upgrade to javamail-1.3.3

• [JAMES-451] - Check for valid domain in HELO

Version 2.3.0a1

Released 15 February 2006

James 2.3.0a1 is "storage" compatible with 2.2.0 (It uses the same files/db formats of James 2.2.0). Configuration should be updated following this instructions. Mailets developed against 2.2.0 are not binary compatible with 2.3.0 but rebuilding mailets in 2.3.0a1 should be an easy task: just replace "Component"s with "Service"s and replace "MailStore" with "Store" and rebuild. Below are some highlights of features and changes already available:

• Phoenix container upgraded to the latest trunk: better classpath management for mailets
• Derby support: also made it the default storage engine
• JavaMail 1.3.2 (not JavaMail 1.3.3 because of known bugs with Base64 encoding)
• Upgraded dependencies to the latest known stable releases (dnsjava, excalibur components, cornerstone, etc.)
• Removed FetchPop
• Command pattern for SMTPServer configuration (make it easier for developers to customize fastfail)
• Increased components granularity/flexibility: many top level components have been refactored to be more modular (look at the new assembly.xml)
• SMTP server now supports 8BITMIME, ENHANCEDSTATUSCODES, PIPELINING
• Introduced a few experimental S/MIME and Bayesian matcher/mailets
• Fixed more than 40 bugs against 2.2.0
• And much more!

Details

• [JAMES-138] - Don't keep all mailboxes in-memory forever
• [JAMES-152] - When a Received header is invalid mail may be created with a null remote address and host name
• [JAMES-154] - fetchmail config. files not copied to .sar
• [JAMES-237] - J2 1.5'enum' is a keyword
• [JAMES-250] - fail to start if installed under a "bin" directory
• [JAMES-264] - mail list loop caused by using Return-Path
• [JAMES-286] - Exceeding maximum value with MAIL SIZE causes NullPointerException
• [JAMES-295] - Missing sqlDefs wont be detected
• [JAMES-296] - James does not handle Source Routing
• [JAMES-300] - Fetchmail can't fetch mails
• [JAMES-305] - AttachmentFileNameIs never matches if the message is S/MIME signed
• [JAMES-306] - AttachmentFileNameIs may throw UnsupportedEncodingException
• [JAMES-311] - Nntp very picky with clients
• [JAMES-312] - AttachmentFileNameIs matcher may throw an Exception examining a multipart/alternative message
• [JAMES-316] - java.lang.ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException from RemoteDelivery
• [JAMES-317] - FromProcessor doesn't delete, throws ClassCastException
• [JAMES-318] - java.lang.NullPointerException when host is unknown
• [JAMES-320] - Some messages cause POP3 output stream to freeze on RETR.
• [JAMES-323] - using toUppercase, toLowerCase, equalsIgnoreCase without specifying the locale is a bug
• [JAMES-328] - TOP <msg> 0 does not return a terminator on error
• [JAMES-329] - DefaultUsersJdbcRepository readUserFromResultSet incorrect
• [JAMES-337] - Exception when FromRepository tries to delete a message
• [JAMES-343] - James does not compile using Sun JDK 5.0
• [JAMES-356] - MimeMessageWrapper does not handle multiline headers
• [JAMES-359] - remote address from Received header is not handled
• [JAMES-361] - DSNBounce often report the dsn Status 5.5.0 incorrectly
• [JAMES-372] - Inboxes deleted during OutOfMemoryError
• [JAMES-378] - DSNBounce creates not rfc1894 compliant notifications
• [JAMES-379] - MailImpl.duplicate() should also clone attributes and not only the container HashMap
• [JAMES-380] - ESMTP Compliance fix
• [JAMES-383] - new posts hanging
• [JAMES-387] - Exception in BayesianAnalysis
• [JAMES-396] - Wrong column order (IMHO) in primary key definition for SpoolRepositories.
• [JAMES-413] - James does not resolve CNAME DNS registrations
• [JAMES-417] - ClassCastException handling the recipients after a DSNBounce
• [JAMES-418] - Loader uses wrong method to obtain class loader/doesn't set context class loader
• [JAMES-420] - Sometimes messages are delayed or stalled in the spool
• [JAMES-421] - MailImpls sharing MimeMessages / LinearProcessor not cloning it after a partial match.
• [JAMES-428] - Deadlock in ServerConnection
• [JAMES-430] - MailImpl#writeContentTo leaks thread
• [JAMES-431] - Line ending and CRLF.CRLF issues in POP3 and SMTP
• [JAMES-435] - James Service Wrapper displays wrong James version
• [JAMES-436] - James trunk cannot be built with jdk1.4

• [JAMES-270] - Add MailAttributes to indicate when default values have been applied
• [JAMES-303] - AttachmentFileNameIs matcher should be able to analyze zip file attachments
• [JAMES-321] - Comments on configuri
• [JAMES-333] - Build Broken in HEAD revision
• [JAMES-338] - Upgrade to JavaMail 1.3.2
• [JAMES-357] - DSNBounce should be configured by default
• [JAMES-360] - Support for Additional "received for" headers: e.g. X-Envelope-To
• [JAMES-363] - Move PostmasterAlias from code to james-confix.xml
• [JAMES-369] - Always announce AUTH capability to clients
• [JAMES-375] - RFC 1854 - Command Pipelining support
• [JAMES-377] - rfc2034 ENHANCEDSTATUSCODES compliance
• [JAMES-388] - Upgrade to dnsjava 2.0.0
• [JAMES-389] - Invert "precompilation" logic for jdbc3
• [JAMES-395] - Support latest hsqldb in sqlResources.
• [JAMES-398] - Add SMIME mailets for signature verification and message decrypt
• [JAMES-399] - Update bouncycastle to 129 and remove jdk13 compatibility
• [JAMES-407] - James inprotocol handling framework
• [JAMES-410] - Re-enable EHLO support in RemoteDelivery
• [JAMES-411] - update Mailet's Mail to support most of the current james mailets
• [JAMES-412] - Increase James component granularity / flexibility
• [JAMES-414] - Add more flexibility to LocalDelivery

• [JAMES-257] - S/MIME Matchers/Mailets
• [JAMES-258] - Add Bayesian Filtering
• [JAMES-381] - Configurable RBL support
• [JAMES-390] - Add derby support
• [JAMES-423] - Give the remote manager a service promt

• [JAMES-149] - Add soft-fail to unresolved received from domains
• [JAMES-190] - Apache license 2.0
• [JAMES-391] - Move "candidates" libraries to the official lib / remove unused libraries
• [JAMES-392] - Resolve deprecation use from MailetAPI for the next release
• [JAMES-393] - Use Derby and db providers by default instead of file repositories.
• [JAMES-394] - Remove OLD mm.mysql driver (not compatible with newer MySQL db)
• [JAMES-400] - Move previous SMIME matcher/mailets to the new "smime" subpackages
• [JAMES-406] - Investigate about libraries upgradability (cornerstone/excalibur/avalon/phoenix)