How to Install SquirrelMail on Void Linux

SquirrelMail is a popular, open-source web-based email client that allows users to access their emails over the internet. In this tutorial, we will outline the steps to install SquirrelMail on Void Linux.

Pre-requisites

Before you can install SquirrelMail on your Void Linux system, you need to ensure that you have the following:

  • Root access to the system
  • An active internet connection
  • A web server (such as Apache or Nginx)

Steps to Install SquirrelMail

Follow the below steps to install SquirrelMail on your Void Linux System:

Step 1 - Install Apache and PHP

SquirrelMail requires a web server and PHP to function. If you do not already have a web server installed, your Void Linux system may use the lightweight web server called "boa". In this case, we need to install Apache and PHP before we can proceed.

To install Apache and PHP, run the below command in your terminal window:

sudo xbps-install -S apache php

Step 2 - Download SquirrelMail

You can download SquirrelMail from the official website. Once you have downloaded it, extract it to your web server's document root directory.

sudo tar -xzf squirrelmail-<version>.tar.gz -C /srv/http/

This command will extract the contents of the SquirrelMail archive to the "/srv/http" directory.

Step 3 - Set Permissions

Set directory permissions to allow the web server to access SquirrelMail files.

sudo chown -R http:http /srv/http/squirrelmail

Step 4 - Configure SquirrelMail

SquirrelMail required configuration before it can be used. To configure it, run the setup script:

sudo sh /srv/http/squirrelmail/config/conf.pl

Follow the prompts to configure SquirrelMail.

Step 5 - Configure Apache

The Apache web server needs to be configured to serve SquirrelMail. To do this, create a virtual host configuration file with the below content:

sudo vi /etc/httpd/conf/squirrelmail.conf

Alias /squirrelmail /srv/http/squirrelmail

<Directory "/srv/http/squirrelmail">
  AllowOverride None
  Options FollowSymLinks
  Require all granted
</Directory>

Save and exit the file.

Step 6 - Restart Apache

Restart the Apache web server to apply the changes:

sudo service httpd restart

Step 7 - Access SquirrelMail

You can now access SquirrelMail in your web browser by navigating to the below URL:

http://<server-ip>/squirrelmail

Conclusion

You have successfully installed SquirrelMail on your Void Linux system. You can now start using it to access your emails over the internet.