How to Install Mailcow on NixOS Latest

This tutorial will guide you through the process of installing Mailcow on NixOS Latest, which is a Linux distribution based on the Nix package manager. Mailcow is a self-hosted mail server solution that includes various services such as SMTP, IMAP, POP3, and webmail.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, make sure you have the following prerequisites:

• Access to a NixOS Latest machine
• Root access to the machine
• Basic knowledge of the Linux command line

Step 1: Update and Upgrade the System

First, we need to update and upgrade the system packages to ensure that we have the latest packages installed. To do this, run the following command:

sudo nix-channel --update
sudo nixos-rebuild switch --upgrade

Step 2: Install Required Packages

Next, we need to install the required packages to install and run Mailcow. Run the following command to install the required packages:

sudo nix-env -iA nixos.curl nixos.gnupg nixos.docker

Step 3: Clone the Mailcow Repository

Now, we will clone the Mailcow repository using Git. Run the following command to clone the repository:

sudo git clone https://github.com/mailcow/mailcow-dockerized.git /opt/mailcow/

Step 4: Configure Mailcow

Next, we will configure Mailcow. Navigate to the Mailcow directory using the following command:

cd /opt/mailcow/

Step 4.1: Generate Passwords

First, we need to generate passwords for the Mailcow installation using the provided command in the Mailcow directory:

sudo ./generate_config.sh

Step 4.2: Configure Mailcow Settings

Next, we need to configure the Mailcow settings. Run the following command to edit the Mailcow configuration file:

sudo nano mailcow.conf

Edit the following settings in the configuration file:

# Mailcow settings
MAILCOW_HOSTNAME="your_domain.com"
SYSLOG_MAIL="logfile"

# MySQL settings
DBNAME="mailcow"
DBUSER="mailcow"
DBPASS="database_password"
DBROOT="root_password"

# Mailcow credentials
ACME_EMAIL="admin@your_domain.com"
MAILCOW_EMAIL="admin@your_domain.com"
MAILCOW_PASSWORD="mailcow_password"

Make sure to replace the values with your own.

Step 4.3: Configure Docker-compose

Next, we need to configure Docker-compose by running the following command:

sudo nano docker-compose.yml

Edit the following settings in the configuration file:

version: '2'
services:
  #...
  nginx-mailcow:
    #...
    hostname: mailcow
    domainname: your_domain.com
  mysql-mailcow:
    #...
    environment:
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: root_password
      MYSQL_DATABASE: mailcow
      MYSQL_USER: mailcow
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: database_password
  #...

Replace the values with your own.

Step 5: Deploy Mailcow

Next, we will deploy Mailcow using Docker-compose. Run the following command to deploy Mailcow:

sudo mailcow up -d

Wait for the deployment to complete.

Step 6: Access Mailcow

Finally, we can access Mailcow by navigating to the Mailcow web interface. Open a web browser and navigate to:

https://your_domain.com

You should see the Mailcow web interface login page. Login using the credentials you set in the configuration file.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Mailcow on NixOS Latest.