Kolab Installation Guide Installation Guide

Kolab is a free and open-source Groupware Suite. A comprehensive groupware solution with email, calendaring, and collaboration

Hardware Requirements:

CPU: 2 cores minimum (4+ cores recommended)

RAM: 2GB minimum (4GB+ recommended)

Storage: 1GB for installation

Network: 443/143/993 ports

Operating System:

Linux: Any modern distribution (RHEL, Debian, Ubuntu, CentOS, Fedora, Arch, Alpine, openSUSE)

macOS: 10.14+ (Mojave or newer)

Windows: Windows Server 2016+ or Windows 10

FreeBSD: 11.0+

Network Requirements:

Port 443/143/993 (default kolab port)

Dependencies:

kolab-webadmin, roundcubemail

System Access: root or sudo privileges required

This guide supports installation on:

RHEL 8/9 and derivatives (CentOS Stream, Rocky Linux, AlmaLinux)

Debian 11/12

Ubuntu 20.04/22.04/24.04 LTS

Arch Linux (rolling release)

Alpine Linux 3.18+

openSUSE Leap 15.5+ / Tumbleweed

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 15+

macOS 12+ (Monterey and later)

FreeBSD 13+

Windows 10/11/Server 2019+ (where applicable)

bash

# Install EPEL repository if needed
sudo dnf install -y epel-release

# Install kolab
sudo dnf install -y kolab kolab-webadmin, roundcubemail

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl enable --now kolab

# Configure firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=kolab
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

# Verify installation
kolab --version || systemctl status kolab

bash

# Update package index
sudo apt update

# Install kolab
sudo apt install -y kolab kolab-webadmin, roundcubemail

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl enable --now kolab

# Configure firewall
sudo ufw allow 443/143/993

# Verify installation
kolab --version || systemctl status kolab

bash

# Install kolab
sudo pacman -S kolab

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl enable --now kolab

# Verify installation
kolab --version || systemctl status kolab

bash

# Install kolab
apk add --no-cache kolab

# Enable and start service
rc-update add kolab default
rc-service kolab start

# Verify installation
kolab --version || rc-service kolab status

bash

# Install kolab
sudo zypper install -y kolab kolab-webadmin, roundcubemail

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl enable --now kolab

# Configure firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=kolab
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

# Verify installation
kolab --version || systemctl status kolab

bash

# Using Homebrew
brew install kolab

# Start service
brew services start kolab

# Verify installation
kolab --version

bash

# Using pkg
pkg install kolab

# Enable in rc.conf
echo 'kolab_enable="YES"' >> /etc/rc.conf

# Start service
service kolab start

# Verify installation
kolab --version || service kolab status

powershell

# Using Chocolatey
choco install kolab

# Or using Scoop
scoop install kolab

# Verify installation
kolab --version

bash

# Create configuration directory if needed
sudo mkdir -p /etc/kolab

# Set up basic configuration
sudo tee /etc/kolab/kolab.conf << 'EOF'
# Kolab Configuration
imap_max_connections = 1000
EOF

# Test configuration
sudo kolab -t || sudo kolab configtest

# Reload service
sudo systemctl reload kolab

bash

# Set appropriate permissions
sudo chown -R kolab:kolab /etc/kolab
sudo chmod 750 /etc/kolab

# Enable security features
# See security section for detailed hardening steps

bash

# Enable service
sudo systemctl enable kolab

# Start service
sudo systemctl start kolab

# Stop service
sudo systemctl stop kolab

# Restart service
sudo systemctl restart kolab

# Reload configuration
sudo systemctl reload kolab

# Check status
sudo systemctl status kolab

# View logs
sudo journalctl -u kolab -f

bash

# Enable service
rc-update add kolab default

# Start service
rc-service kolab start

# Stop service
rc-service kolab stop

# Restart service
rc-service kolab restart

# Check status
rc-service kolab status

bash

# Enable in /etc/rc.conf
echo 'kolab_enable="YES"' >> /etc/rc.conf

# Start service
service kolab start

# Stop service
service kolab stop

# Restart service
service kolab restart

# Check status
service kolab status

bash

# Using Homebrew services
brew services start kolab
brew services stop kolab
brew services restart kolab

# Check status
brew services list | grep kolab

powershell

# Start service
net start kolab

# Stop service
net stop kolab

# Using PowerShell
Start-Service kolab
Stop-Service kolab
Restart-Service kolab

# Check status
Get-Service kolab

bash

# Configure performance settings
cat >> /etc/kolab/kolab.conf << 'EOF'
imap_max_connections = 1000
EOF

# Apply system tuning
sudo sysctl -w net.core.somaxconn=65535
sudo sysctl -w net.ipv4.tcp_max_syn_backlog=65535

# Restart service
sudo systemctl restart kolab

bash

# Configure clustering (if supported)
# See official documentation for cluster setup

# Basic load balancing setup example
# Configure multiple instances on different ports

nginx

upstream kolab_backend {
    server 127.0.0.1:443/143/993;
    server 127.0.0.1:{default_port}1 backup;
}

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name kolab.example.com;
    return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name kolab.example.com;

    ssl_certificate /etc/ssl/certs/kolab.example.com.crt;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/ssl/private/kolab.example.com.key;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://kolab_backend;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        
        # WebSocket support (if needed)
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
    }
}

apache

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName kolab.example.com
    Redirect permanent / https://kolab.example.com/
</VirtualHost>

<VirtualHost *:443>
    ServerName kolab.example.com
    
    SSLEngine on
    SSLCertificateFile /etc/ssl/certs/kolab.example.com.crt
    SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/ssl/private/kolab.example.com.key
    
    ProxyRequests Off
    ProxyPreserveHost On
    
    ProxyPass / http://127.0.0.1:443/143/993/
    ProxyPassReverse / http://127.0.0.1:443/143/993/
    
    # WebSocket support (if needed)
    RewriteEngine on
    RewriteCond %{HTTP:Upgrade} websocket [NC]
    RewriteCond %{HTTP:Connection} upgrade [NC]
    RewriteRule ^/?(.*) "ws://127.0.0.1:443/143/993/$1" [P,L]
</VirtualHost>

haproxy

frontend kolab_frontend
    bind *:80
    bind *:443 ssl crt /etc/ssl/certs/kolab.pem
    redirect scheme https if !{ ssl_fc }
    default_backend kolab_backend

backend kolab_backend
    balance roundrobin
    option httpchk GET /health
    server kolab1 127.0.0.1:443/143/993 check
    server kolab2 127.0.0.1:{default_port}1 check backup

bash

# Set appropriate permissions
sudo chown -R kolab:kolab /etc/kolab
sudo chmod 750 /etc/kolab

# Configure firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=kolab
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

# Enable SELinux policies (if applicable)
sudo setsebool -P httpd_can_network_connect on

# Configure fail2ban
sudo tee /etc/fail2ban/jail.d/kolab.conf << 'EOF'
[kolab]
enabled = true
port = 443/143/993
filter = kolab
logpath = /var/log/kolab/*.log
maxretry = 5
bantime = 3600
EOF

bash

# Generate SSL certificates
sudo openssl req -x509 -nodes -days 365 -newkey rsa:2048 \
    -keyout /etc/ssl/private/kolab.key \
    -out /etc/ssl/certs/kolab.crt

# Configure SSL in kolab
# See official documentation for SSL configuration

PostgreSQL Backend (if applicable)

bash

# Create database and user
sudo -u postgres psql << EOF
CREATE DATABASE kolab_db;
CREATE USER kolab_user WITH ENCRYPTED PASSWORD 'secure_password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE kolab_db TO kolab_user;
EOF

# Configure kolab to use PostgreSQL
# See official documentation for database configuration

bash

# Create database and user
sudo mysql << EOF
CREATE DATABASE kolab_db;
CREATE USER 'kolab_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'secure_password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON kolab_db.* TO 'kolab_user'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EOF

bash

# Kernel parameters
sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf << EOF
net.core.somaxconn = 65535
net.ipv4.tcp_max_syn_backlog = 65535
net.ipv4.ip_local_port_range = 1024 65535
net.core.netdev_max_backlog = 5000
vm.swappiness = 10
EOF

sudo sysctl -p

# Kolab specific tuning
imap_max_connections = 1000

bash

# Configure system limits
sudo tee -a /etc/security/limits.conf << EOF
kolab soft nofile 65535
kolab hard nofile 65535
kolab soft nproc 32768
kolab hard nproc 32768
EOF

yaml

# prometheus.yml configuration
scrape_configs:
  - job_name: 'kolab'
    static_configs:
      - targets: ['localhost:443/143/993']
    metrics_path: '/metrics'

bash

# Basic health check script
#!/bin/bash
if systemctl is-active --quiet kolab; then
    echo "Kolab is running"
    exit 0
else
    echo "Kolab is not running"
    exit 1
fi

bash

# Configure log rotation
sudo tee /etc/logrotate.d/kolab << 'EOF'
/var/log/kolab/*.log {
    daily
    rotate 14
    compress
    delaycompress
    missingok
    notifempty
    create 0640 kolab kolab
    postrotate
        systemctl reload kolab > /dev/null 2>&1 || true
    endscript
}
EOF

bash

#!/bin/bash
# Kolab backup script
BACKUP_DIR="/backup/kolab"
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)

mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"

# Stop service (if required)
systemctl stop kolab

# Backup configuration
tar -czf "$BACKUP_DIR/kolab-config-$DATE.tar.gz" /etc/kolab

# Backup data (adjust paths as needed)
tar -czf "$BACKUP_DIR/kolab-data-$DATE.tar.gz" /var/lib/kolab

# Start service
systemctl start kolab

# Clean old backups (keep 30 days)
find "$BACKUP_DIR" -name "*.tar.gz" -mtime +30 -delete

echo "Backup completed: $BACKUP_DIR"

bash

# Stop service
sudo systemctl stop kolab

# Restore configuration
sudo tar -xzf /backup/kolab/kolab-config-*.tar.gz -C /

# Restore data
sudo tar -xzf /backup/kolab/kolab-data-*.tar.gz -C /

# Set permissions
sudo chown -R kolab:kolab /etc/kolab
sudo chown -R kolab:kolab /var/lib/kolab

# Start service
sudo systemctl start kolab

1. Service won't start:

bash

# Check logs
sudo journalctl -u kolab -n 100
sudo tail -f /var/log/kolab/*.log

# Check configuration
sudo kolab -t || sudo kolab configtest

# Check permissions
ls -la /etc/kolab
ls -la /var/lib/kolab

2. Connection refused:

bash

# Check if service is listening
sudo ss -tlnp | grep 443/143/993
sudo netstat -tlnp | grep 443/143/993

# Check firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --list-all
sudo iptables -L -n

# Test connection
telnet localhost 443/143/993
nc -zv localhost 443/143/993

3. Performance issues:

bash

# Check resource usage
top -p $(pgrep kolabd)
htop -p $(pgrep kolabd)

# Check connections
ss -ant | grep :443/143/993 | wc -l

# Monitor I/O
iotop -p $(pgrep kolabd)

bash

# Run in debug mode
sudo kolab -d
# or
sudo kolab debug

# Increase log verbosity
# Edit configuration to enable debug logging

yaml

version: '3.8'
services:
  kolab:
    image: kolab:latest
    container_name: kolab
    ports:
      - "443/143/993:443/143/993"
    volumes:
      - ./config:/etc/kolab
      - ./data:/var/lib/kolab
    environment:
      - kolab_CONFIG=/etc/kolab/kolab.conf
    restart: unless-stopped
    networks:
      - kolab_net

networks:
  kolab_net:
    driver: bridge

yaml

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: kolab
spec:
  replicas: 3
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: kolab
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: kolab
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: kolab
        image: kolab:latest
        ports:
        - containerPort: 443/143/993
        volumeMounts:
        - name: config
          mountPath: /etc/kolab
      volumes:
      - name: config
        configMap:
          name: kolab-config
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: kolab
spec:
  selector:
    app: kolab
  ports:
  - port: 443/143/993
    targetPort: 443/143/993
  type: LoadBalancer

yaml

---
- name: Install and configure Kolab
  hosts: all
  become: yes
  tasks:
    - name: Install kolab
      package:
        name: kolab
        state: present
    
    - name: Configure kolab
      template:
        src: kolab.conf.j2
        dest: /etc/kolab/kolab.conf
        owner: kolab
        group: kolab
        mode: '0640'
      notify: restart kolab
    
    - name: Start and enable kolab
      systemd:
        name: kolab
        state: started
        enabled: yes
  
  handlers:
    - name: restart kolab
      systemd:
        name: kolab
        state: restarted

Maintenance

bash

# RHEL/CentOS/Rocky/AlmaLinux
sudo dnf update kolab

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade kolab

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -Syu kolab

# Alpine Linux
apk update && apk upgrade kolab

# openSUSE
sudo zypper update kolab

# FreeBSD
pkg update && pkg upgrade kolab

# Always backup before updates
tar -czf /backup/kolab-pre-update-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz /etc/kolab

# Restart after updates
sudo systemctl restart kolab

Regular Maintenance Tasks

bash

# Clean logs
find /var/log/kolab -name "*.log" -mtime +30 -delete

# Verify integrity
sudo kolab --verify || sudo kolab check

# Update databases (if applicable)
sudo kolab-update-db

# Optimize performance
sudo kolab-optimize

# Check for security updates
sudo kolab --security-check

Official Documentation: https://docs.kolab.org/

GitHub Repository: https://github.com/kolab/kolab

Community Forum: https://forum.kolab.org/

Wiki: https://wiki.kolab.org/

Comparison vs Exchange, Zimbra, Kopano, SOGo: https://docs.kolab.org/comparison

---

Note: This guide is part of the HowToMgr collection. Always refer to official documentation for the most up-to-date information.

1. Prerequisites

2. Supported Operating Systems

3. Installation

RHEL/CentOS/Rocky Linux/AlmaLinux

Debian/Ubuntu

Arch Linux

Alpine Linux

openSUSE/SLES

macOS

FreeBSD

Windows

Initial Configuration

Basic Configuration

Security Hardening

5. Service Management

systemd (RHEL, Debian, Ubuntu, Arch, openSUSE)

OpenRC (Alpine Linux)

rc.d (FreeBSD)

launchd (macOS)

Windows Service Manager

Advanced Configuration

Performance Optimization

Clustering and High Availability

Reverse Proxy Setup

nginx Configuration

Apache Configuration

HAProxy Configuration

Security Configuration

Basic Security Setup

SSL/TLS Configuration

Database Setup

PostgreSQL Backend (if applicable)

MySQL/MariaDB Backend (if applicable)

Performance Optimization

System Tuning

Resource Limits

Monitoring

Prometheus Integration

Health Checks

Log Monitoring

9. Backup and Restore

Backup Script

Restore Procedure

6. Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Debug Mode

Integration Examples

Docker Compose

Kubernetes Deployment

Ansible Playbook

Maintenance

Update Procedures

Regular Maintenance Tasks

Additional Resources

Related Groupware Guides

Kopano Installation Guide

Zimbra Installation Guide