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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