How to Install Dada Mail on NixOS

Dada Mail is a mailing list management software that enables you to send emails to your subscribers, manage your mailing list subscribers, and create newsletters. In this tutorial, we will provide you with the steps to install Dada Mail on NixOS.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure that you have the following:

• A NixOS system with sudo privileges
• Access to the internet

Step 1: Update system packages

First, update the system packages by running the following command:

sudo nixos-rebuild switch --upgrade

Step 2: Install required packages

Dada Mail depends on various packages to function smoothly. You can install these packages using the following command:

sudo nix-env -iA nixos.pkgs.cpanminus nixos.pkgs.mysql nixos.pkgs.apacheHttpd mod_perl

Step 3: Create a Database

Dada Mail uses a MySQL database to store its data. So, create a new MySQL database using the following command:

sudo mysql -u root -p

CREATE DATABASE dadamail;
GRANT ALL ON dadamail.* TO 'dada_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'your_password_here';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
exit

Step 4: Install Dada Mail

Now, download the Dada Mail source code from the official website using the following command:

cd /tmp/
curl -LJO "https://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/dadamailproject/DadaMail%20Stable%20Releases/Current%20Release%20v12.1.1/dada-12_1_1.tar.gz"

Next, extract the downloaded archive file and move it to the Apache root directory using the following commands:

tar zxvf dada-12_1_1.tar.gz
sudo mv dada-12_1_1 /var/www/dada_mail

Step 5: Configure Dada Mail

To configure Dada Mail, navigate to the /var/www/dada_mail directory and run the following commands:

cd /var/www/dada_mail
sudo perl dadaconf.pl

The above command will open the Dada Mail configuration menu. Follow the instructions provided in the menu to configure Dada Mail settings.

Step 6: Setup Apache server

Dada Mail requires the Apache server to function. To enable the Apache server and mod_perl, edit the /etc/nixos/configuration.nix file using the following command:

sudo nano /etc/nixos/configuration.nix

Add the following code at the end of the file:

services.apacheHttpd.enable = true;
services.apacheHttpd.modperl = true;
services.apacheHttpd.documentRoot = "/var/www";
services.apacheHttpd.extraConfig = ''
    <Directory "/var/www/dada_mail">
        Options ExecCGI FollowSymLinks
        AddHandler cgi-script .cgi
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
'';

Save and close the file, then run the following command to activate the changes:

sudo nixos-rebuild switch

Step 7: Start the Apache Server

Finally, start the Apache server using the following command:

sudo systemctl start apache2.service

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Dada Mail on NixOS. You can now access the Dada Mail web interface by navigating to http://your_nixos_ip_address/dada_mail from your web browser.