How to Install Mailcow on Kali Linux Latest?

In this tutorial, we will be going through the process of installing Mailcow on Kali Linux Latest. Mailcow is a comprehensive mail server suite that includes all the necessary components required for setting up and managing a mail server, including Postfix, Dovecot, Roundcube, and many more.

Before we begin the installation process, make sure you have the following prerequisites:

• A fresh installation of Kali Linux Latest
• Root or sudo privileges

Step 1 - Install Docker

Mailcow runs on Docker, a container platform that simplifies the process of deploying and managing applications. To install Docker on Kali Linux, follow the steps below:

1. Update and upgrade the system packages:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

2. Install the necessary packages:

sudo apt install apt-transport-https ca-certificates gnupg lsb-release -y

3. Add the Docker GPG key to your system:

curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/debian/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg

4. Add the Docker repository:

echo "deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/debian $(lsb_release -cs) stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null

5. Update the package cache:

sudo apt update

6. Install Docker:

sudo apt install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io -y

7. Verify that Docker is installed and running:

sudo systemctl status docker

Step 2 - Install Docker Compose

Docker Compose is a tool that allows you to define and run multi-container Docker applications. To install Docker Compose, follow the steps below:

1. Download the latest version of Docker Compose:

sudo curl -L "https://github.com/docker/compose/releases/download/1.29.2/docker-compose-$(uname -s)-$(uname -m)" -o /usr/local/bin/docker-compose

2. Set the executable permission:

sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/docker-compose

3. Verify that Docker Compose is installed:

docker-compose --version

Step 3 - Clone the Mailcow Repository

Now, we can clone the Mailcow repository to start the installation process:

1. Change into the /opt directory:

cd /opt

2. Clone the Mailcow repository:

sudo git clone https://github.com/mailcow/mailcow-dockerized.git

3. Change into the Mailcow directory:

cd mailcow-dockerized

Step 4 - Configure Mailcow

Before we can run Mailcow, we need to configure some settings:

1. Copy the default configuration files:

sudo cp .env.sample .env
sudo cp mailcow.conf.in mailcow.conf

2. Edit the .env file using your favorite editor:

sudo nano .env

Update the following settings:

SYSADMIN_EMAIL=your_email_address@example.com
...

# Change this to 'false' if you want to use your own TLS certificate
LETS_ENCRYPT=internal

# Set this to 'true' if you want to use DKIM
ENABLE_DKIM=true

Save and close the file.

3. Edit the mailcow.conf file:

sudo nano mailcow.conf

Update the following settings:

MAILCOW_HOSTNAME=mail.example.com

Save and close the file.

Step 5 - Start Mailcow

Now, we can start Mailcow:

1. Run the following command to start the containers:

sudo ./generate-config.sh && docker-compose up -d

This will download and start all the necessary containers.

2. Wait for the containers to start, and then run the following command to confirm that they are running:

docker ps

You should see the following containers:

mailcowdockerized_vmail_1
mailcowdockerized_dovecot_1
mailcowdockerized_postfix_1
mailcowdockerized_nginx_1
...

Step 6 - Access Mailcow

You can now access Mailcow by navigating to your server's IP address or domain name in your web browser:

https://mail.example.com

You will be prompted to create a new account for the admin interface. Once you have created your account, you can access the admin interface by navigating to:

https://mail.example.com/admin

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Mailcow on Kali Linux Latest. You can now start configuring your mail server and creating accounts for your users.

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