Retro-Proxy-Stack/README.md

Retro-Proxy-Stack

A collection of Docker configurations designed to bridge the gap between modern internet services (email, web) and legacy clients (Outlook Express 6, IE 5/6 on Windows 9x/XP).

Note: This project is an orchestration layer. All core functionality is provided by the following upstream projects:

Architecture & Credits

• Stunnel: Used for SMTP/POP3/IMAP protocol/TLS translation.
• WebOne: Modern-to-legacy HTTP proxy for browsing.
• WRP (Web Rendering Proxy): Visual-rendering proxy that converts modern web pages into clickable image maps.

Features

• Legacy Mail Proxy: Uses Stunnel to translate non-SSL legacy client connections into secure TLS 1.3 tunnels for modern servers. Note: Best used with your own private mail server (like Synology MailPlus) that supports standard basic authentication (PLAIN/LOGIN).
• WebOne Proxy: An HTTP proxy that strips modern security requirements and complex scripts, allowing vintage browsers to access the modern web.
• WRP (Web Rendering Proxy): A visual proxy that renders modern webpages as clickable image maps for hardware that cannot handle modern web standards.

Services

Service	Role	Host Port	Purpose
Stunnel	Mail Proxy	25, 110, 143	Bridges legacy mail clients to modern TLS-enabled servers.
WebOne	HTTP Proxy	8081	Allows retro browsers to access the modern web (strips TLS/scripts).
WRP	Visual Proxy	8082	Renders modern sites as image maps for very limited hardware.

Quick Start

1. Launch: Run docker compose up -d to start all services.
2. Mail Client Configuration:
   • Configure your client (Outlook Express 6) to use the host's IP address for SMTP/POP/IMAP.
   • Crucial: Disable "Secure Password Authentication" (SPA) in the client's account settings.
   • Set connection security to "None" (the proxy handles the encryption).
3. Retro Browsing:
   • For WebOne: Set your browser's proxy settings to host-ip:8081.
   • For WRP: Navigate to http://host-ip:8082 in your legacy browser.

Configuration

• All infrastructure and service mappings are defined in compose.yml.
• Mail proxy settings are defined in stunnel.conf.