Installing Inboxen on Arch Linux

Inboxen is an open-source email server that allows you to host your own encrypted email service. This tutorial will guide you on how to install Inboxen on Arch Linux.

Prerequisites

Before installing Inboxen, you need to have a few things in place.

  • A VPS or dedicated server running Arch Linux
  • A valid domain name pointing to your server's IP address
  • A basic knowledge of Linux commands

Step 1: Update your system

Start by updating your system packages using the following command:

sudo pacman -Syu

This will ensure that your system is up-to-date and ready for the installation of Inboxen.

Step 2: Install required packages

Next, install the necessary packages for Inboxen. Run the following command in your terminal:

sudo pacman -S git ruby ruby-rdoc ruby-gpgme imagemagick

This will install Git, Ruby, RDoc, GPGME, and ImageMagick.

Step 3: Clone Inboxen repository

Inboxen is available on GitHub. Clone the Inboxen repository to your server by running:

git clone https://github.com/dani-garcia/inboxen.git

This will download Inboxen's source code to your server.

Step 4: Install dependencies

Navigate to the Inboxen directory you cloned in the previous step:

cd inboxen

You'll need to install all of Inboxen's dependencies using Bundler. Install Bundler if you don't have it:

gem install bundler

Next, run the following command to install Inboxen's dependencies:

bundle

This will create a Gemfile.lock file in the Inboxen directory.

Step 5: Configure Inboxen

Navigate to the config directory within Inboxen:

cd config

Copy the example configuration file:

cp server.example.yml server.yml

Edit the server.yml file and make sure to set the following configuration options:

  • domain_name – your email server's domain name
  • server_name – your email server's host name
  • secret_key_base – a random secret key used for encryption; generate one by running bundle exec rake secret

Step 6: Create admin user

To create an admin user, run the following command:

bundle exec rake user:create_admin

This will create an admin user account with the username admin and a random password.

Step 7: Start Inboxen

You can now start Inboxen:

bundle exec rake server

Inboxen should now be up and running on your server.

Conclusion

Inboxen is now installed and running on your Arch Linux server, and you can use it to host your own encrypted email service.