Dada Mail Installation Guide Installation Guide

Dada Mail is a free and open-source Mailing List. Web-based list management system

Hardware Requirements:

CPU: 2 cores minimum (4+ cores recommended)

RAM: 2GB minimum (4GB+ recommended)

Storage: 1GB for installation

Network: 80/443 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 80/443 (default dada-mail port)

Dependencies:

perl, perl-CGI

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 dada-mail
sudo dnf install -y dada-mail perl, perl-CGI

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

# Configure firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=dada-mail
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

# Verify installation
dada-mail --version || systemctl status httpd

bash

# Update package index
sudo apt update

# Install dada-mail
sudo apt install -y dada-mail perl, perl-CGI

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

# Configure firewall
sudo ufw allow 80/443

# Verify installation
dada-mail --version || systemctl status httpd

bash

# Install dada-mail
sudo pacman -S dada-mail

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

# Verify installation
dada-mail --version || systemctl status httpd

bash

# Install dada-mail
apk add --no-cache dada-mail

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

# Verify installation
dada-mail --version || rc-service httpd status

bash

# Install dada-mail
sudo zypper install -y dada-mail perl, perl-CGI

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

# Configure firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=dada-mail
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

# Verify installation
dada-mail --version || systemctl status httpd

bash

# Using Homebrew
brew install dada-mail

# Start service
brew services start dada-mail

# Verify installation
dada-mail --version

bash

# Using pkg
pkg install dada-mail

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

# Start service
service httpd start

# Verify installation
dada-mail --version || service httpd status

powershell

# Using Chocolatey
choco install dada-mail

# Or using Scoop
scoop install dada-mail

# Verify installation
dada-mail --version

bash

# Create configuration directory if needed
sudo mkdir -p /var/www/dada

# Set up basic configuration
sudo tee /var/www/dada/dada-mail.conf << 'EOF'
# Dada Mail Configuration
batch_sending_amount = 300
EOF

# Test configuration
sudo dada-mail -t || sudo httpd configtest

# Reload service
sudo systemctl reload httpd

bash

# Set appropriate permissions
sudo chown -R dada-mail:dada-mail /var/www/dada
sudo chmod 750 /var/www/dada

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

bash

# Enable service
sudo systemctl enable httpd

# Start service
sudo systemctl start httpd

# Stop service
sudo systemctl stop httpd

# Restart service
sudo systemctl restart httpd

# Reload configuration
sudo systemctl reload httpd

# Check status
sudo systemctl status httpd

# View logs
sudo journalctl -u httpd -f

bash

# Enable service
rc-update add httpd default

# Start service
rc-service httpd start

# Stop service
rc-service httpd stop

# Restart service
rc-service httpd restart

# Check status
rc-service httpd status

bash

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

# Start service
service httpd start

# Stop service
service httpd stop

# Restart service
service httpd restart

# Check status
service httpd status

bash

# Using Homebrew services
brew services start dada-mail
brew services stop dada-mail
brew services restart dada-mail

# Check status
brew services list | grep dada-mail

powershell

# Start service
net start httpd

# Stop service
net stop httpd

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

# Check status
Get-Service httpd

bash

# Configure performance settings
cat >> /var/www/dada/dada-mail.conf << 'EOF'
batch_sending_amount = 300
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 httpd

bash

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

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

nginx

upstream dada-mail_backend {
    server 127.0.0.1:80/443;
    server 127.0.0.1:{default_port}1 backup;
}

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

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name dada-mail.example.com;

    ssl_certificate /etc/ssl/certs/dada-mail.example.com.crt;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/ssl/private/dada-mail.example.com.key;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://dada-mail_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 dada-mail.example.com
    Redirect permanent / https://dada-mail.example.com/
</VirtualHost>

<VirtualHost *:443>
    ServerName dada-mail.example.com
    
    SSLEngine on
    SSLCertificateFile /etc/ssl/certs/dada-mail.example.com.crt
    SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/ssl/private/dada-mail.example.com.key
    
    ProxyRequests Off
    ProxyPreserveHost On
    
    ProxyPass / http://127.0.0.1:80/443/
    ProxyPassReverse / http://127.0.0.1:80/443/
    
    # WebSocket support (if needed)
    RewriteEngine on
    RewriteCond %{HTTP:Upgrade} websocket [NC]
    RewriteCond %{HTTP:Connection} upgrade [NC]
    RewriteRule ^/?(.*) "ws://127.0.0.1:80/443/$1" [P,L]
</VirtualHost>

haproxy

frontend dada-mail_frontend
    bind *:80
    bind *:443 ssl crt /etc/ssl/certs/dada-mail.pem
    redirect scheme https if !{ ssl_fc }
    default_backend dada-mail_backend

backend dada-mail_backend
    balance roundrobin
    option httpchk GET /health
    server dada-mail1 127.0.0.1:80/443 check
    server dada-mail2 127.0.0.1:{default_port}1 check backup

bash

# Set appropriate permissions
sudo chown -R dada-mail:dada-mail /var/www/dada
sudo chmod 750 /var/www/dada

# Configure firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=dada-mail
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/dada-mail.conf << 'EOF'
[dada-mail]
enabled = true
port = 80/443
filter = dada-mail
logpath = /var/log/dada/*.log
maxretry = 5
bantime = 3600
EOF

bash

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

# Configure SSL in dada-mail
# See official documentation for SSL configuration

PostgreSQL Backend (if applicable)

bash

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

# Configure dada-mail to use PostgreSQL
# See official documentation for database configuration

bash

# Create database and user
sudo mysql << EOF
CREATE DATABASE dada-mail_db;
CREATE USER 'dada-mail_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'secure_password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON dada-mail_db.* TO 'dada-mail_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

# Dada Mail specific tuning
batch_sending_amount = 300

bash

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

yaml

# prometheus.yml configuration
scrape_configs:
  - job_name: 'dada-mail'
    static_configs:
      - targets: ['localhost:80/443']
    metrics_path: '/metrics'

bash

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

bash

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

bash

#!/bin/bash
# Dada Mail backup script
BACKUP_DIR="/backup/dada-mail"
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)

mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"

# Stop service (if required)
systemctl stop httpd

# Backup configuration
tar -czf "$BACKUP_DIR/dada-mail-config-$DATE.tar.gz" /var/www/dada

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

# Start service
systemctl start httpd

# 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 httpd

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

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

# Set permissions
sudo chown -R dada-mail:dada-mail /var/www/dada
sudo chown -R dada-mail:dada-mail /var/lib/dada-mail

# Start service
sudo systemctl start httpd

1. Service won't start:

bash

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

# Check configuration
sudo dada-mail -t || sudo httpd configtest

# Check permissions
ls -la /var/www/dada
ls -la /var/lib/dada-mail

2. Connection refused:

bash

# Check if service is listening
sudo ss -tlnp | grep 80/443
sudo netstat -tlnp | grep 80/443

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

# Test connection
telnet localhost 80/443
nc -zv localhost 80/443

3. Performance issues:

bash

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

# Check connections
ss -ant | grep :80/443 | wc -l

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

bash

# Run in debug mode
sudo dada-mail -d
# or
sudo httpd debug

# Increase log verbosity
# Edit configuration to enable debug logging

yaml

version: '3.8'
services:
  dada-mail:
    image: dada-mail:latest
    container_name: dada-mail
    ports:
      - "80/443:80/443"
    volumes:
      - ./config:/var/www/dada
      - ./data:/var/lib/dada-mail
    environment:
      - dada-mail_CONFIG=/var/www/dada/dada-mail.conf
    restart: unless-stopped
    networks:
      - dada-mail_net

networks:
  dada-mail_net:
    driver: bridge

yaml

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: dada-mail
spec:
  replicas: 3
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: dada-mail
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: dada-mail
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: dada-mail
        image: dada-mail:latest
        ports:
        - containerPort: 80/443
        volumeMounts:
        - name: config
          mountPath: /var/www/dada
      volumes:
      - name: config
        configMap:
          name: dada-mail-config
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: dada-mail
spec:
  selector:
    app: dada-mail
  ports:
  - port: 80/443
    targetPort: 80/443
  type: LoadBalancer

yaml

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

Maintenance

bash

# RHEL/CentOS/Rocky/AlmaLinux
sudo dnf update dada-mail

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade dada-mail

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -Syu dada-mail

# Alpine Linux
apk update && apk upgrade dada-mail

# openSUSE
sudo zypper update dada-mail

# FreeBSD
pkg update && pkg upgrade dada-mail

# Always backup before updates
tar -czf /backup/dada-mail-pre-update-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz /var/www/dada

# Restart after updates
sudo systemctl restart httpd

Regular Maintenance Tasks

bash

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

# Verify integrity
sudo dada-mail --verify || sudo httpd check

# Update databases (if applicable)
sudo dada-mail-update-db

# Optimize performance
sudo dada-mail-optimize

# Check for security updates
sudo dada-mail --security-check

Official Documentation: https://docs.dada-mail.org/

GitHub Repository: https://github.com/dada-mail/dada-mail

Community Forum: https://forum.dada-mail.org/

Wiki: https://wiki.dada-mail.org/

Comparison vs Mailman, phpList, Listmonk, Majordomo: https://docs.dada-mail.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

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