7.9 KiB
Install iRedMail on Debian or Ubuntu Linux
[TOC]
System Requirements
!!! warning
iRedMail is designed to be deployed on a __FRESH__ server system, which
means your server does __NOT__ have mail related components installed,
e.g. MySQL, OpenLDAP, Postfix, Dovecot, Amavisd, etc. iRedMail will install
and configure them for you automatically. Otherwise it may override your
existing files/configurations althought it will backup files before
modifying, and it may not be working as expected.
To install iRedMail on Debian or Ubuntu Linux, you need:
- A FRESH, working Debian/Ubuntu Linux. Supported releases are listed on Download page.
2 GB
of memory is recommended for a low traffic production server. Spam/Virus scanning will take most system resource.
Notes:
- All binary packages will be installed from Debian/Ubuntu official apt repositories.
- If you choose Ubuntu Linux, it's recommended to use the latest Ubuntu LTS (Long Term Support) release for production use.
Preparations
Set a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) hostname on your server
No matter your server is a testing machine or production server, it's strongly recommended to set a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) hostname.
Enter command hostname -f
to view the current hostname:
$ hostname -f
mx.example.com
On Debian/Ubuntu Linux, hostname is set in two files: /etc/hostname
and /etc/hosts
.
/etc/hostname
: short hostname, not FQDN.
mx
/etc/hosts
: static table lookup for hostnames. Warning: Please list the FQDN hostname as first item.
# Part of file: /etc/hosts
127.0.0.1 mx.example.com mx localhost localhost.localdomain
Verify the FQDN hostname. If it wasn't changed after updating above two files, please reboot server to make it work.
$ hostname -f
mx.example.com
Enable default official Debian/Ubuntu apt repositories
- iRedMail needs official Debian/Ubuntu apt repositories, please enable them in
/etc/apt/sources.lists
. - Install package
bzip2
so that you can uncompress downloaded iRedMail package.
# sudo apt-get install bzip2
Download the latest release of iRedMail
-
Visit Download page to get the latest stable release of iRedMail.
-
Upload iRedMail to your mail server via ftp or scp or whatever method you can use, login to the server to install iRedMail. We assume you uploaded it to
/root/iRedMail-x.y.z.tar.bz2
(replace x.y.z by the real version number). -
Uncompress iRedMail tarball:
# cd /root/
# tar xjf iRedMail-x.y.z.tar.bz2
Start iRedMail installer
It's now ready to start iRedMail installer, it will ask you several simple questions, that's all required to setup a full-featured mail server.
Note to Chinese users:
Our domain name
iredmail.org
is blocked in mainland China since Jun 04, 2011, please run command below to finish the installation:
IREDMAIL_MIRROR='http://42.159.241.31' bash iRedMail.sh
Additional variables are:
- EPEL repo:
IREDMAIL_EPEL_MIRROR='http://mirrors.aliyun.com/epel'
- SOGo repo:
SOGO_PKG_MIRROR='http://42.159.241.31/SOGo'
# cd /root/iRedMail-x.y.z/
# bash iRedMail.sh
Screenshots of installation:
- Welcome and thanks for your use
- Specify location to store all mailboxes. Default is
/var/vmail/
.
- Choose backend used to store mail accounts. You can manage mail accounts with iRedAdmin, our web-based iRedMail admin panel.
!!! note
There's no big difference between available backends, so
it's strongly recommended to choose the one you're familiar with for easier
management and maintenance after installation.
- If you choose to store mail accounts in OpenLDAP, iRedMail installer will ask you two questions about OpenLDAP.
LDAP suffix.
Password of LDAP root dn.
!!! note "To MySQL/MariaDB/PostgreSQL users"
If you choose to store mail accounts in MySQL/MariaDB/PostgreSQL, iRedMail
installer will generate a random, strong password for you. You can find it
in file `iRedMail.tips`.
- Add your first mail domain name
- Set password of admin account of your first mail domain.
Note: This account is an admin account and a mail user. That means you can login to webmail and admin panel (iRedAdmin) with this account, login username is full email address.
- Choose optional components
After answered above questions, iRedMail installer will ask your confirm to
start installation. It will install and configure required packages
automatically. Type y
or Y
and press Enter
to start.
Configuration completed.
*************************************************************************
**************************** WARNING ***********************************
*************************************************************************
* *
* Please do remember to *REMOVE* configuration file after installation *
* completed successfully. *
* *
* * /root/iRedMail-x.y.z/config
* *
*************************************************************************
<<< iRedMail >>> Continue? [Y|n] # <- Type 'Y' or 'y' here, and press 'Enter' to continue
Important things you MUST know after installation
The weakest part of a mail server is user's weak password. Spammers don't want to hack your server, they just want to send spam from your server. Please ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS force users to use a strong password.
-
Read file
/root/iRedMail-x.y.z/iRedMail.tips
first, it contains:- URLs, usernames and passwords of web-based applications
- Location of mail service related software configuration files. You can also check this tutorial instead: Locations of configuration and log files of major components.
- Some other important and sensitive information
-
It's highly recommended to get a SSL cert to avoid annonying warning message in web browser or mail clients when accessing mailbox via HTTPS/IMAPS/POP3/SMTPS. Let's Encrypt offers FREE SSL certificate. We have a document for you to use a SSL certificate.
-
If you need to bulk create mail users, check our document for OpenLDAP and MySQL/MariaDB/PostgreSQL.
-
If you're running a busy mail server, we have some suggestions for better performance.
Access webmail and other web applications
After installation successfully completed, you can access web-based programs
if you choose to install them. Replace your_server
below by your real server
hostname or IP address.
- Roundcube webmail: https://your_server/mail/
- SOGo Groupware: https://your_server/SOGo
- Web admin panel (iRedAdmin): httpS://your_server/iredadmin/
- Awstats: httpS://your_server/awstats/awstats.pl?config=web (or
?config=smtp
for SMTP log)
Get technical support
Please post all issues, feedbacks, feature requests, suggestions in our online support forum, it's more responsible than you expected.