mailcow Installation Guide

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

# Install mailcow
sudo dnf install -y mailcow docker, docker-compose

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

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

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

# Update package index
sudo apt update

# Install mailcow
sudo apt install -y mailcow docker, docker-compose

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

# Configure firewall
sudo ufw allow 443

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

# Install mailcow
sudo pacman -S mailcow

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

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

# Install mailcow
apk add --no-cache mailcow

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

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

# Install mailcow
sudo zypper install -y mailcow docker, docker-compose

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

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

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

# Using Homebrew
brew install mailcow

# Start service
brew services start mailcow

# Verify installation
mailcow --version

# Using pkg
pkg install mailcow

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

# Start service
service mailcow start

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

# Using Chocolatey
choco install mailcow

# Or using Scoop
scoop install mailcow

# Verify installation
mailcow --version

# Create configuration directory if needed
sudo mkdir -p /opt/mailcow

# Set up basic configuration
sudo tee /opt/mailcow/mailcow.conf << 'EOF'
# mailcow Configuration
COMPOSE_PROJECT_NAME=mailcow
EOF

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

# Reload service
sudo systemctl reload mailcow

# Set appropriate permissions
sudo chown -R mailcow:mailcow /opt/mailcow
sudo chmod 750 /opt/mailcow

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

# Enable service
sudo systemctl enable mailcow

# Start service
sudo systemctl start mailcow

# Stop service
sudo systemctl stop mailcow

# Restart service
sudo systemctl restart mailcow

# Reload configuration
sudo systemctl reload mailcow

# Check status
sudo systemctl status mailcow

# View logs
sudo journalctl -u mailcow -f

# Enable service
rc-update add mailcow default

# Start service
rc-service mailcow start

# Stop service
rc-service mailcow stop

# Restart service
rc-service mailcow restart

# Check status
rc-service mailcow status

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

# Start service
service mailcow start

# Stop service
service mailcow stop

# Restart service
service mailcow restart

# Check status
service mailcow status

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

# Check status
brew services list | grep mailcow

# Start service
net start mailcow

# Stop service
net stop mailcow

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

# Check status
Get-Service mailcow

# Configure performance settings
cat >> /opt/mailcow/mailcow.conf << 'EOF'
COMPOSE_PROJECT_NAME=mailcow
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 mailcow

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

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

upstream mailcow_backend {
    server 127.0.0.1:443;
    server 127.0.0.1:{default_port}1 backup;
}

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

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

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

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://mailcow_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";
    }
}

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

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

frontend mailcow_frontend
    bind *:80
    bind *:443 ssl crt /etc/ssl/certs/mailcow.pem
    redirect scheme https if !{ ssl_fc }
    default_backend mailcow_backend

backend mailcow_backend
    balance roundrobin
    option httpchk GET /health
    server mailcow1 127.0.0.1:443 check
    server mailcow2 127.0.0.1:{default_port}1 check backup

# Set appropriate permissions
sudo chown -R mailcow:mailcow /opt/mailcow
sudo chmod 750 /opt/mailcow

# Configure firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=mailcow
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/mailcow.conf << 'EOF'
[mailcow]
enabled = true
port = 443
filter = mailcow
logpath = /var/log/mailcow/*.log
maxretry = 5
bantime = 3600
EOF

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

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

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

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

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

# 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

# mailcow specific tuning
COMPOSE_PROJECT_NAME=mailcow

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

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

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

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

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

mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"

# Stop service (if required)
systemctl stop mailcow

# Backup configuration
tar -czf "$BACKUP_DIR/mailcow-config-$DATE.tar.gz" /opt/mailcow

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

# Start service
systemctl start mailcow

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

echo "Backup completed: $BACKUP_DIR"

# Stop service
sudo systemctl stop mailcow

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

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

# Set permissions
sudo chown -R mailcow:mailcow /opt/mailcow
sudo chown -R mailcow:mailcow /var/lib/mailcow

# Start service
sudo systemctl start mailcow

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

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

# Check permissions
ls -la /opt/mailcow
ls -la /var/lib/mailcow

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

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

# Test connection
telnet localhost 443
nc -zv localhost 443

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

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

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

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

# Increase log verbosity
# Edit configuration to enable debug logging

version: '3.8'
services:
  mailcow:
    image: mailcow:latest
    container_name: mailcow
    ports:
      - "443:443"
    volumes:
      - ./config:/opt/mailcow
      - ./data:/var/lib/mailcow
    environment:
      - mailcow_CONFIG=/opt/mailcow/mailcow.conf
    restart: unless-stopped
    networks:
      - mailcow_net

networks:
  mailcow_net:
    driver: bridge

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

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

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

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

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -Syu mailcow

# Alpine Linux
apk update && apk upgrade mailcow

# openSUSE
sudo zypper update mailcow

# FreeBSD
pkg update && pkg upgrade mailcow

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

# Restart after updates
sudo systemctl restart mailcow

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

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

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

# Optimize performance
sudo mailcow-optimize

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