How to Install DadaMail on OpenBSD

DadaMail is a well-known email marketing tool that allows you to manage a mass email list and create email newsletters. It features a web-based interface that enables you to create, send, and manage your email campaigns. In this tutorial, we will show you how to install DadaMail on OpenBSD.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, we assume that you have an OpenBSD server set up and running.

Step 1: Update the Package System

OpenBSD's package system is responsible for installing and maintaining software on the system. Before installing DadaMail, update the package system to ensure that you have the latest software:

sudo pkg_add -u

Step 2: Install Required Dependencies

Next, make sure you install the required dependencies for DadaMail. DadaMail requires Perl, MySQL, an HTTP server (such as Apache), and several Perl modules. To install the dependencies, use the following command:

sudo pkg_add mysql perl-DBD-mysql p5-URI p5-MIME-Lite httpd

Step 3: Configure MySQL

DadaMail requires an existing MySQL database. If you don't have one, create it by running the following command:

sudo mysql_install_db

Once you have a database, create a new user and grant them privileges:

sudo mysql -u root -p
CREATE DATABASE dadamail;
CREATE USER 'dadauser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON dadamail.* TO 'dadauser'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Replace 'password' with a strong password for the user.

Step 4: Install DadaMail

Download DadaMail using the following command:

curl -L https://dadamailproject.com/download.dada.cgi -o dadamail.tar.gz

Extract the archives:

tar xf dadamail.tar.gz

Move the DadaMail directory to the HTTP server's document root:

sudo mv DadaMail-11.11.2 /var/www/htdocs/dadamail

Step 5: Set Permissions

Set the permissions of the DadaMail directory to allow for proper functionality:

sudo chown -R www:www /var/www/htdocs/dadamail
sudo chmod -R 775 /var/www/htdocs/dadamail

Step 6: Configure DadaMail

Set up the DadaMail configuration files:

sudo mv /var/www/htdocs/dadamail/dada/Config.pm-default /var/www/htdocs/dadamail/dada/Config.pm

Edit the Config.pm file and change the database settings:

sudo vi /var/www/htdocs/dadamail/dada/Config.pm

Change the database and db_pass sections to match the values you set earlier.

Step 7: Start the HTTP Server

Start the HTTP server to run DadaMail:

sudo /etc/rc.d/httpd start

Step 8: Access DadaMail

Go to your web browser and visit http://server-ip/dadamail/dada/index.cgi. Follow the installation wizard to set up your DadaMail installation.

Conclusion

You should now have DadaMail installed and running on your OpenBSD server. From here, you can configure the email list and customize the email newsletters to suit your needs.