Inboxen is a self-hosted webmail platform that allows you to manage your email accounts from a single dashboard. In this tutorial, we will guide you on how to install Inboxen on Debian Latest.
To install Inboxen on Debian Latest, you need to have:
Start by ensuring that your Debian system repository is up-to-date. To do this, run the following command:
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade
Inboxen runs on the Python programming language. Therefore, you need to install Python 3 and other necessary dependencies. Run the following command:
sudo apt-get install python3 python3-pip python3-venv python3-dev libpq-dev libxml2-dev libxslt-dev libldap2-dev libsasl2-dev libssl-dev zlib1g-dev build-essential git
Next, create a new user account for Inboxen. This makes Inboxen more secure since it is not running under the root user. Run the following command to create a new user account:
sudo adduser inboxen
You can replace 'inboxen' with a different username.
Log in as the inboxen user by running the following command:
sudo su - inboxen
Next, clone the Inboxen Git repository by running the following command:
git clone https://github.com/dgageot/inboxen.git ~/inboxen
Change into the cloned Inboxen directory by running:
cd ~/inboxen/
Create a virtual environment for the Inboxen installation by running the following command:
python3 -m venv inboxen-env
Activate the virtual environment and install necessary packages by running the following commands:
source inboxen-env/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt
Create a configuration file for Inboxen by running the following command:
cp ~/inboxen/config.example.py ~/inboxen/config.py
Edit the configuration file using your preferred text editor by running the following command:
nano ~/inboxen/config.py
Configure the following parameters:
- SECRET_KEY: This parameter is used for signing and encrypting data. Replace 'CHANGE_ME' with a secret key of your choice.
- DATABASE: This parameter specifies the location of Inboxen's database file. You can use sqlite or PostgreSQL as a database back-end.
- MAIL_SERVERS: This parameter specifies the mail servers that Inboxen will connect to. You will need to add your mail servers hostname, username, password, and port.
.
.
Ensure you save and close the file after you have made the necessary changes.
## Step 7: Configure Nginx
Next, you need to configure the Nginx web server to serve Inboxen. Run the following command to install Nginx:
```bash
sudo apt-get install nginx
Create a new server block file using your preferred text editor by running the following command:
sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/inboxen.example.com
Add the following Nginx configuration:
server {
listen 80;
server_name inboxen.example.com;
return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
}
server {
listen 443 ssl;
server_name inboxen.example.com;
ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/inboxen.example.com/fullchain.pem;
ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/inboxen.example.com/privkey.pem;
location / {
proxy_pass http://localhost:5000;
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;
}
error_page 500 502 503 504 /50x.html;
location = /50x.html {
root /usr/share/nginx/html;
}
}
Save the file and activate the server block by creating a symbolic link:
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/inboxen.example.com /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
Finally, restart the Nginx service:
sudo service nginx reload
Go back to the inboxen user and the Inboxen project directory:
sudo su - inboxen
cd ~/inboxen/
Start Inboxen by running the following command:
gunicorn inboxen:app -b localhost:5000 --name inboxen --workers 4 --log-level=DEBUG --access-logfile -
Inboxen is now successfully installed and running. You can access the Inboxen interface via your web browser using the domain name you set up earlier.
In this tutorial, you installed Inboxen on Debian Latest. You should now have a working webmail platform that makes managing your email accounts a breeze. However, you should remember always to keep your system and Inboxen application up-to-date to keep your webmail secure.
If you want to self-host in an easy, hands free way, need an external IP address, or simply want your data in your own hands, give IPv6.rs a try!
