How to Install Excision Mail on NetBSD

Excision Mail is a self-hosted email server that you can set up on your own server. This tutorial will guide you through the steps to install Excision Mail on NetBSD.

Prerequisites

Before starting this installation, make sure that you have the following:

  • A server running NetBSD
  • Root access to the server
  • A domain name and access to its DNS settings

Step 1: Update the system

First, update the system to ensure that all packages are up-to-date:

pkgin update
pkgin full-upgrade

Step 2: Install dependencies

Next, install the necessary dependencies:

pkgin install git golang py38-psycopg2 py38-magic redis

Step 3: Clone the repository

Clone the Excision Mail repository:

git clone https://github.com/Excision-Mail/Excision-Mail.git
cd Excision-Mail

Step 4: Install Excision Mail

To install Excision Mail, run the following command:

make build

This will build the binaries and place them in the bin/ directory in the repository.

Step 5: Configure Excision Mail

Excision Mail needs some configuration before it can be used. Start by copying the config.example.yml file and renaming it:

cp config.example.yml config.yml

Edit config.yml to set the following values:

  • listen_address: The IP address and port to listen on. By default Excision Mail listens on 127.0.0.1:8000.
  • listen_tls_address: The IP address and port to listen on for TLS connections. By default Excision Mail listens on 127.0.0.1:8443.
  • jwt_secret: A secret key used to sign JWT tokens. Generate a secure random string to use for this.
  • database: The details of the PostgreSQL database to use. Set the host, port, user, password, and database fields.
  • redis: The details of the Redis cache to use. Set the host, port, and password fields.

You can also set other options like the allowed_domains and spam_check settings.

Step 6: Configure DNS

Before you can start using Excision Mail, you need to set up your DNS to point to your server's IP address. Create an A record that points to your server's IP address.

Step 7: Start Excision Mail

Finally, start Excision Mail with the following command:

./bin/excisionmail --config=config.yml

You can now access the web interface by visiting http://your-domain.com:8000 in your web browser.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, you have learned how to install and configure Excision Mail on NetBSD. With Excision Mail, you can have full control over your email communication on your own server.