Mail Server
Initial setup
1 - Updates
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
2 - Install docker and docker compose
# Install required packages
sudo apt install -y apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl gnupg lsb-release
# Add Docker's official GPG key
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/debian/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg
# Set up the stable repository
echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/debian $(lsb_release -cs) stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null
# Install Docker
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-compose-plugin
# Add your user to docker group
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
3 - Create DNS Records
- A record:
mail.yourdomain.com → your server IP
- MX record:
@ → mail.yourdomain.com (priority 10)
- TXT record (SPF):
v=spf1 mx ~all
4 - Install and configure mailserver
# Create directory for mail server
mkdir -p ~/mailserver
cd ~/mailserver
# Download docker-compose.yml and .env template
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/docker-mailserver/docker-mailserver/master/compose.yaml
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/docker-mailserver/docker-mailserver/master/mailserver.env
# Rename for easier use
mv compose.yaml docker-compose.yml
mv mailserver.env .env
5 - Edit .env variables
HOSTNAME=mail
DOMAINNAME=yourdomain.com
OVERRIDE_HOSTNAME=mail.yourdomain.com
ENABLE_SPAMASSASSIN=1
ENABLE_CLAMAV=1
ENABLE_FAIL2BAN=1
SSL_TYPE=letsencrypt (or manual if you have your own certs)
ACCOUNT_PROVISIONER=FILE