How to Install Mailcow on Void Linux

Mailcow is a free and open-source software for self-hosted mail server administration. This tutorial will guide you through the installation of Mailcow on Void Linux.

Prerequisites

Before starting the installation process, ensure that you have the following:

  • A newly deployed instance of Void Linux
  • Root access to the server
  • A domain name with DNS records configured properly
  • A functioning MTA (Mail Transfer Agent) like Exim or Postfix

Step 1: Update the System

The first step is to update the Void Linux packages to ensure that you have the latest versions.

xbps-install -Su

Step 2: Install the Required Dependencies

Mailcow requires a set of dependencies to be installed on the server. Run the following command to install the needed packages.

xbps-install -y curl fail2ban git openssl perl tar wget gnupg mariadb mariadb-client mariadb-libs libcrypt-openssl-rsa-perl libcrypt-openssl-rsa-perl

During the installation, you will be prompted to enter the root user password for the MariaDB server.

Step 3: Install Docker and Docker Compose

Mailcow runs on Docker containers, so we need to install Docker and Docker Compose on Void Linux. Run the commands below to install these dependencies:

Install Docker

xbps-install docker

Install Docker Compose

curl -L "https://github.com/docker/compose/releases/download/VERSION_NUMBER/docker-compose-$(uname -s)-$(uname -m)" -o /usr/local/bin/docker-compose

Note: Replace the VERSION_NUMBER with the latest version number of Docker Compose.

Next, make the Docker Compose binary executable.

chmod +x /usr/local/bin/docker-compose

Step 4: Clone the Mailcow repository

To install Mailcow, we need to clone its repository from Github.

git clone https://github.com/mailcow/mailcow-dockerized.git
cd mailcow-dockerized

Step 5: Configure Mailcow

Before building the Mailcow images, we need to set up the configuration files.

cp env.sample .env
./generate_config.sh

Edit the .env file to match your configuration. Ensure to set the MAILCOW_HOSTNAME to your domain name.

Step 6: Build the Mailcow images

Now we can build the Mailcow images. Run the following command:

docker-compose up -d --build

Note that this step can take some time to complete, especially if you have a slow internet connection.

Step 7: Start Mailcow

After the Mailcow images are built successfully, start the Mailcow services by running the following commands:

docker-compose up -d

Step 8: Access Mailcow web interface

Now that Mailcow is up and running, you can access the web interface by visiting your domain name in your browser. This will present you with a login page where you should enter [email protected] as the username and moohoo as the password.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Mailcow on Void Linux. You can now start using your self-hosted mail server.