Setup mail server with Postfix, Dovecot, Roundcube

huijial

Prerequisites

• 　　CentOS 6: minimal installation
  
• 　　Postfix: SMTP
  
• 　　Dovecot: IMAP, POP3
  
• 　　Roundcube: web-based IMAP client
  
• 　　Postfix admin: to easily manage Postfix
  

　　To work properly, system needs to have selinux disabled.
　　# vi /etc/selinux/config

Install Postfix
　　From the console, install Postfix with yum command.
　　# yum install postfix

　　Edit configuration file /etc/postfix/main.cf and set the parameters as follow:
　　______________________________________________________________________
　　myhostname = hostname.domain.com
　　mydomain = domain.com
　　myorigin = $mydomain
　　inet_interfaces = all
　　mydestination = $myhostname, localhost.$mydomain, localhost, $mydomain
　　mynetworks = 192.168.1.0/24, 127.0.0.0/8
　　home_mailbox = Maildir/
　　______________________________________________________________________
　　# vi /etc/postfix/main.cf
　　________________________________
　　myhostname = hostname.domain.com
　　mydomain = domain.com
　　myorigin = $mydomain
　　________________________________

　　inet_interfaces = all
　　
　　mydestination = $myhostname, localhost.$mydomain, localhost, $mydomain
　　
　　mynetworks = 192.168.1.0/24, 127.0.0.0/8
　　
　　home_mailbox = Maildir/
　　
　　Once all the parameters have been set, set application to start during system boot and start the service.
　　# chkconfig postfix on
　　# service postfix start

Testing Postfix
　　To check if everything works as expected, type from console the following commands to send an email:
　　# telnet localhost smtp

　　To check if the email has been received, have a look at the /home/username/Maildir/newdirectory.
　　# cd /home/username/Maildir/new/
　　# ll
　　# cat xxxxx.xxxxx.server.domain.com

　　The email wasreceived by the system then the mail server is working properly.
Install Dovecot
　　While Postfix acts as Mail Transfer Agent (MTA) only, in order to retrieve emails using modern tools we need to enable IMAP/POP3 protocols. Dovecot is an application that acts as a secureIMAP and POP3 server.
　　Use the yum command to install Dovecot.
　　# yum install dovecot

　　Edit the configuration file /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf to enable the needed protocols.
　　# vi /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf

　　Then we need to specify the mail location by editing the file /etc/dovecot/conf.d/10-mail.conf.
　　# vi /etc/dovecot/conf.d/10-mail.conf

　　Edit the file /etc/dovecot/conf.d/10-auth.conf and set the following parameters:
　　# vi /etc/dovecot/conf.d/10-auth.conf

　　Last file to edit /etc/dovecot/conf.d/10-master.conf.
　　# vi /etc/dovecot/conf.d/10-master.conf

　　Set Dovecot to start at system boot and start the service.
　　# chkconfig dovecot on
　　# service dovecot start

Testing Dovecot
　　To check if Dovecot is working, we test the program through the POP3 protocol.
　　# telnet localhost pop3

Install Roundcube
　　Roundcube is a browser-based IMAP client with an application-like user interface.
　　To configure the application, firstly we need to install MySQL server and Apache in the system.
　　# yum install mysql-server mysql-devel httpd

　　Enable both MySQL and Apache to start at system boot and enable services.
　　# chkconfig mysqld on
　　# service mysqld start
　　# chkconfig httpd on
　　# service httpd start
Install EPEL repository
　　To install Roundcube with yum command, we need to install the EPEL repository in the system.
　　# wget http://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/6/x86_64/epel-release-6-8.noarch.rpm
　　# rpm -ivh epel-release-6-8.noarch.rpm

　　Once EPEL repo has been installed, use yum to install Roundcube.
　　# yum install roundcubemail

Configure MySQL
　　To define the database used by the application, we need to access MySQL configuration.
　　# mysql -u root -p

　　Edit configuration file /etc/roundcubemail/db.inc.php to set the parameters to access the database.
　　# vi /etc/roundcubemail/db.inc.php

　　Edit the file /etc/roundcubemail/main.inc.php to set the hostname chosen to perform the login.
　　# vi /etc/roundcubemail/main.inc.php

　　To make the system accessible outside the server, edit the file/etc/httpd/conf.d/roundcubemail.conf and set the correct parameter.
　　# vi /etc/httpd/conf.d/roundcubemail.conf

　　Edit the /etc/php.ini file and set the time zone.
　　
　　Because the log could report errors>, set the correct encryption parameter.
　　# vi /etc/php.d/mcrypt.ini

　　Restart Apache.
　　# service httpd restart
Testing Roundcube
　　Access Roundcube typing from your browser the address:

　　http://IP_address/roundcubemail

　　Enter your credential then click Login.

　　The main screen appears showing the email received when Postfix was previously tested.

Install Postfix Admin
　　To make Postfix administration easier, the Postfix admin is a web-based tool used to manage mailboxes, virtual domains and aliases.
　　If not already present in the system, install the PHP component needed by the application.
　　# yum install php-imap
　　Access MySQL and create the database used by Postfix Admin.
　　# mysql -u root -p

　　Using the wget command, download the latest>　　# wget http://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/postfixadmin/postfixadmin/postfixadmin-2.3.6/postfixadmin-2.3.6.tar.gz

　　Extract the content and move the directory to /var/www/html folder.
　　# tar -vxzf postfixadmin-2.3.6.tar.gz
　　# mv postfixadmin-2.3.6 /var/www/html/postfixadmin

　　Edit the configuration file /var/www/html/postfixadmin/config.inc.php to enable the applicationand set the password.
　　# vi /var/www/html/postfixadmin/config.inc.php

　　Set the correct parameters to access the database previously created.

　　Add the following line to allow the creation of the administration password.

　　Restart Apache.
　　# service httpd restart
　　To execute the Postfix Admin Setup Checker, type in your browser the address:

　　http://IP_address/postfixadmin/setup.php

　　Change the setup password.

　　Create the Superadmin account by filling the fields at the bottom of the screen. Click Add Admin.

　　The Superadmin account is then created.

　　To access the Administration interface, type in your browser the address:

　　http://IP_address/postfixadmin

　　The Postfix Admin main screen.

Sending emails through a>　　If the corporate network has an antispam system to checkinbound and outbound emails, Postfix needs to be configured in order to relay the emails to the antispam.
　　To allow the correct emails flow, set the relayhost field with the address of the antispam system.
　　# vi /etc/postfix/main.cf

　　The mail server is now up and running with the basic functions toproperly manage emailmessages.