Ever wanted to quickly set up your own dedicated mail server? mark here with servermania. For over 10 years, I have worked in the server hosting industry, setting up thousands of servers and writing countless articles on the simplest and most effective ways to achieve server goals.
Setting up a personal email server is very easy to do. we’ll show you everything you need to quickly implement your own mail server
this tutorial will work on centos, debian, ubuntu or any other linux distribution that supports docker using the popular free and open source mailcow software.
see also: how to set up a free email server video course
why create your own mail server?
There are many reasons why you should set up your own cloud mail server:
- privacy: When you set up your own mail server, you know that you are the only mailbox on that server that sends mail. this means you can be sure that server privacy is optimal.
- security: managing your own mail server in the cloud means you can maintain the highest level of security . when other mail users are on the same server, you never know what security policies might be compromised.
- reliability: when you create your own mail server in the cloud, you never you have to worry about other users sending abusive mail on the server. this ensures reliability and uptime can be easily maintained.
what you will need
- a domain name such as example.com, which will be used to configure an email address such as [email protected]. you can use a domain registrar like hover to register a domain if you don’t have one. .
- a cloud server or a servermania dedicated server.
server requirements
our cloud mail server will require the following server specifications:
minimum server requirements:
- 1 ghz processor
- 1 gb+ ram
- 5 gb disk space
recommended server requirements:
- 2 ghz processor
- 4 gb ram
- 100 gb disk space
see also: (live webinar) meet servermania: transform your server hosting experience
preparing for installation
We’ll start by requesting a cloud or dedicated server from servermania.com; this will be the server that will host the email server software.
If you’re setting up an email server for yourself, then a cloud server is often the best option. it is a portion of a dedicated server. combines the power of a dedicated server with the price of a virtual server. cloud servers start at just $5/mo, and when you consider that you can use the server for multiple activities, like creating your own vpn, setting up your own cloud backup, or hosting a site website is an excellent option. deal.
If you’re setting up an email server for your business, you may want to consider a dedicated server. dedicated servers start from $50/month and it is a server completely dedicated to you. is the perfect choice for those looking for the ultimate in server power and performance.
Under products/services, simply navigate to the type of server you’d like to select, choose a server, and click customize.
During checkout, select the latest version of debian or centos as your operating system:
Your cloud server will be ready within minutes after order verification, and dedicated servers are typically provisioned within 8-24 hours.
Once you have received the login credentials for your cloud or dedicated server from servermania, you need to perform the following tasks:
configure dns records
When setting up dns on a domain, you have the option of using free nameservers that are included with most domain registrars, or you can use a third party dns provider like cloudflare.
using the domain registrar’s dns
Sign in to your domain’s registrar and navigate to the dns records for the domain you want to set up email on. we will use “example.com” to represent your domain.
you will need to configure the following dns records:
- set nameservers for example.com to your domain registrar’s nameservers.
- set mail.example.com as a record for the primary server ip with us
- set example.com mx record to mail.example.com
using an external dns provider
log in to your dns provider and navigate to the dns records for the domain you want to set up email on. we will use “example.com” to represent your domain.
you will need to configure the following dns records:
- set the nameservers for example.com to your external dns provider’s nameservers
- set up mail.example.com with a record on the main server ip with us
- set the mx record for example.com to mail.example.com
If you have changed domain nameservers, please allow 24-48 hours for these dns records to propagate before you can fully send and receive email. you can add your server ip to your hosts file to manage the server while you wait.
unblock port 25 and reverse dns records
contact support to unblock port 25 on your server. you should also request that the reverse dns records of your server ip be set to mail.example.com, the hostname of your server.
mail server installation
We’ve created a free video course that walks you through every step of the email server setup process. click here to watch it for free.
step 1: ssh into the server
if you are using linux or mac, you can use the built-in terminal to connect with the following command:
ssh [protected email]
if you are using windows, you can download putty to connect to the server via ssh.
Step 2: Update System Packages
apt-get update
step 3: install curl and git
apt-get install curl git
Step 4: Download the docker
Step 5: Download the docker components
Step 6: Update docker permissions to executable
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/docker-compose
Step 7: Make sure your umask is equal to 0022.
mask
look for exit 0022
Step 8: Change to the /opt directory
cd /opt
Step 9: Download the mailcow files
Step 10: Change to the mailcow directory
cd mailcow-dockerized
step 11: generate configuration file
./generate_config.sh
provide the hostname of the mail server you want to use. ie: mail.example.com
step 12: take the images
docker-compose pull
Step 13: Run the composer. the -d parameter will start mailcow: dockerizedstrikethrough:
docker-compose up -d
The installation is now complete. you can login to mail.example.com with username admin and password moohoo.
settings
Log in to mail.example.com with the username and password above to get started.
change administrator password
once logged in, click the edit button next to the admin user to set a unique password.
set domains and users
click settings in the upper right corner and click mail settings to create email addresses and domains.
click add domain to create an email domain. You’ll start by creating example.com and you can add as many email domains as you like.
Once you have completed the domain setup details, click add domain and restart sogo.
You can then click the mailboxes tab to add email users. click add mailbox.
access mailbox
webmail
once the mailbox is created, you can use the webmail interface at http://mail.example.com/sogo/ to send and receive email, check your calendar, and manage your address book:
email client settings
You can also use your favorite desktop or mobile email client to send and receive mail.
Setup instructions for android, ios, and a variety of mac and pc clients can be found here.
next steps and support
Your mail server is now installed and configured! need help? Contact our support team at any time and we’ll be happy to help.