How to Install Mailcow on Kali Linux Latest?

In this tutorial, we will be going through the process of installing Mailcow on Kali Linux Latest. Mailcow is a comprehensive mail server suite that includes all the necessary components required for setting up and managing a mail server, including Postfix, Dovecot, Roundcube, and many more.

Before we begin the installation process, make sure you have the following prerequisites:

  • A fresh installation of Kali Linux Latest
  • Root or sudo privileges

Step 1 - Install Docker

Mailcow runs on Docker, a container platform that simplifies the process of deploying and managing applications. To install Docker on Kali Linux, follow the steps below:

  1. Update and upgrade the system packages:
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
  1. Install the necessary packages:
sudo apt install apt-transport-https ca-certificates gnupg lsb-release -y
  1. Add the Docker GPG key to your system:
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/debian/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg
  1. Add the Docker repository:
echo "deb [arch=amd64 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
  1. Update the package cache:
sudo apt update
  1. Install Docker:
sudo apt install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io -y
  1. Verify that Docker is installed and running:
sudo systemctl status docker

Step 2 - Install Docker Compose

Docker Compose is a tool that allows you to define and run multi-container Docker applications. To install Docker Compose, follow the steps below:

  1. Download the latest version of Docker Compose:
sudo curl -L "https://github.com/docker/compose/releases/download/1.29.2/docker-compose-$(uname -s)-$(uname -m)" -o /usr/local/bin/docker-compose
  1. Set the executable permission:
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/docker-compose
  1. Verify that Docker Compose is installed:
docker-compose --version

Step 3 - Clone the Mailcow Repository

Now, we can clone the Mailcow repository to start the installation process:

  1. Change into the /opt directory:
cd /opt
  1. Clone the Mailcow repository:
sudo git clone https://github.com/mailcow/mailcow-dockerized.git
  1. Change into the Mailcow directory:
cd mailcow-dockerized

Step 4 - Configure Mailcow

Before we can run Mailcow, we need to configure some settings:

  1. Copy the default configuration files:
sudo cp .env.sample .env
sudo cp mailcow.conf.in mailcow.conf
  1. Edit the .env file using your favorite editor:
sudo nano .env

Update the following settings:

[email protected]
...

# Change this to 'false' if you want to use your own TLS certificate
LETS_ENCRYPT=internal

# Set this to 'true' if you want to use DKIM
ENABLE_DKIM=true

Save and close the file.

  1. Edit the mailcow.conf file:
sudo nano mailcow.conf

Update the following settings:

MAILCOW_HOSTNAME=mail.example.com

Save and close the file.

Step 5 - Start Mailcow

Now, we can start Mailcow:

  1. Run the following command to start the containers:
sudo ./generate-config.sh && docker-compose up -d

This will download and start all the necessary containers.

  1. Wait for the containers to start, and then run the following command to confirm that they are running:
docker ps

You should see the following containers:

mailcowdockerized_vmail_1
mailcowdockerized_dovecot_1
mailcowdockerized_postfix_1
mailcowdockerized_nginx_1
...

Step 6 - Access Mailcow

You can now access Mailcow by navigating to your server's IP address or domain name in your web browser:

https://mail.example.com

You will be prompted to create a new account for the admin interface. Once you have created your account, you can access the admin interface by navigating to:

https://mail.example.com/admin

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Mailcow on Kali Linux Latest. You can now start configuring your mail server and creating accounts for your users.