‍Are you looking for an open-source mail server solution for your website or web server? Look no further than Postal Mail Server. Postal Mail Server is a complete and fully featured mail server that can be run on your own servers, similar to popular services like Sendgrid, Mailgun, or Postmark. Developed by Krystal, Postal Mail Server has been released as an open-source project for the community to use. In this article, we will guide you through the process of installing Postal Mail Server on Rocky Linux 8.

Prerequisites

Before we delve into the installation process, let’s ensure that you have the necessary prerequisites in place:

1. A system with Rocky Linux 8 installed and running.
2. Root access to the system.
3. Docker installed and running. If you don’t have Docker installed, you can refer to our guide on installing Docker on Rocky Linux 8.
4. LAMP Stack (Apache, MariaDB, and PHP) installed and running. If you haven’t set up the LAMP Stack yet, you can refer to our guide on installing the LAMP Stack.

Now that we have the prerequisites covered, let’s move on to the installation and configuration of Postal Mail Server.

Install Git, Curl & JSON data

To get started, we need to install a few system utilities. Open the terminal and run the following command to install Git, Curl, and JSON data:

yum install git curl jq

Download Postal Git Repository

Next, let’s download the Postal Git Repository by running the following commands:

git clone https://postalserver.io/start/install /opt/postal/install
ln -s /opt/postal/install/bin/postal /usr/bin/postal

Setup Database Connection using Docker

Postal Mail Server requires a database engine to store email and other configuration data. We will set up the database using Docker. Run the following command to ensure that there are no other services running on port 3306:

docker run -d \
--name postal-mariadb \
-p 127.0.0.1:3306:3306 \
--restart always \
-e MARIADB_DATABASE=examplecloud \
-e MARIADB_ROOT_PASSWORD=examplecloud_password \
mariadb

Make sure to replace “examplecloud” with your desired database name and “examplecloud_password” with a strong and secure password.

Install RabbitMQ using Docker

RabbitMQ is responsible for dispatching messages between different processes. Let’s set it up using Docker. Run the following command:

docker run -d \
--name postal-rabbitmq \
-p 127.0.0.1:5672:5672 \
--restart always \
-e RABBITMQ_DEFAULT_USER=examplencloud \
-e RABBITMQ_DEFAULT_PASS=examplecloud_password \
-e RABBITMQ_DEFAULT_VHOST=examplencloud \
rabbitmq:3.8

Again, make sure to replace “examplencloud” with your desired username and “examplecloud_password” with a strong password.

Install Postal Mail Server

Now, let’s install Postal Mail Server by running the following command:

postal bootstrap dev1.domainhere.info

Replace “dev1.domainhere.info” with the actual hostname you want to access your Postal web interface at. Make sure you have set up this domain with your DNS provider before continuing.

Configure Postal Mail Server

To configure Postal Mail Server, we need to modify the postal.yml file. Run the following command to open the file in the nano text editor:

nano /opt/postal/config/postal.yml

In the file, you will find various sections with configuration values. Modify the values in the DNS section to match your installation. Update the following values:

• dns.mx_records – Replace “postal.dev1.domainhere.info” with your actual domain name or IP address.
• smtp_server_hostname – Replace “postal.dev1.domainhere.info” with your actual domain name or IP address.
• track_domain – Replace “postal.dev1.domainhere.info” with your actual domain name or IP address.
• spf_include – Replace “spf.postal.dev1.domainhere.info” with your actual domain name or IP address.
• return_path – Replace “rp.postal.dev1.domainhere.info” with your actual domain name or IP address.
• route_domain – Replace “routes.postal.dev1.domainhere.info” with your actual domain name or IP address.

Once you have made the necessary changes, save the file and exit the text editor.

Install Docker Compose

To install Docker Compose, run the following commands:

curl -L "https://github.com/docker/compose/releases/download/1.29.2/docker-compose-$(uname -s)-$(uname -m)" -o /usr/local/bin/docker-compose
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/docker-compose
ln -s /usr/local/bin/docker-compose /usr/bin/docker-compose

Initialize the Database

Now, let’s initialize the Postal Mail Server database by running the following command:

postal initialize

Create a User Account

To create a user account for Postal Mail Server, use the following command:

postal make-user

Start Postal Mail Server

To start Postal Mail Server, run the following command:

postal start

Enable Firewall

To ensure that Postal Mail Server is accessible, we need to enable the necessary ports in the firewall. Run the following commands:

firewall-cmd --zone=public --permanent --add-port5000/tcp
firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http
firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=https
firewall-cmd --reload

Install Caddy Server using Docker

To handle SSL termination and web traffic, we will use Caddy Server. Run the following command to install Caddy Server using Docker:

docker run -d \
--name postal-caddy \
--restart always \
--network host \
-v /opt/postal/config/Caddyfile:/etc/caddy/Caddyfile \
-v /opt/postal/caddy-data:/data \
caddy

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Postal Mail Server on Rocky Linux 8. Now, let’s explore how to access and manage your Postal Mail Server.

Accessing and Managing Postal Mail Server

To access your Postal Mail Server, open your browser and enter the following URL, replacing “dev1.domainhere.info” with the actual IP address or domain name configured on your server:

https://dev1.domainhere.info:5000

This URL will redirect you to the Postal Mail Server web interface, where you can configure the final parts of the installation.

Once you have access to the web interface, you can start managing your mail server and utilizing its features to send and receive emails efficiently.

Conclusion

In this guide, we have walked you through the installation and configuration process of Postal Mail Server on Rocky Linux 8. By following these steps, you now have a fully functional open-source mail server that you can run on your own servers. Postal Mail Server offers a reliable and scalable solution for handling your email needs.

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Christian Wells