How to Install Isotope Mail on OpenBSD

Isotope Mail is a fancy email client that allows users to organize their emails and manage their accounts in one place. In this tutorial, we will guide you on how to install Isotope Mail on OpenBSD.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, make sure that you have the following:

• A running OpenBSD instance
• A user account with sudo access
• A stable internet connection

Step 1: Update your OpenBSD System

Update your OpenBSD system to ensure that you have the latest packages and security patches.

sudo sysupgrade

Step 2: Install Required Packages

Install the packages that Isotope Mail depends on:

sudo pkg_add gmake libgnome-keyring libical libnotify libsecret libxml2 \
    libxslt node nss postgresql-client v8

Step 3: Create a PostgreSQL Database

Isotope Mail requires a PostgreSQL database to store your email account settings, emails, and attachments. If you don't have a PostgreSQL server already, kindly install it using the command sudo pkg_add postgresql-server.

Create a new PostgreSQL database and user for Isotope Mail:

1. Switch to the PostgreSQL default user by typing sudo su _postgresql.
2. Start the PostgreSQL interactive session by executing psql.
3. Enter the following commands to create a new database and user:

CREATE DATABASE isotope;
CREATE USER isotope WITH PASSWORD 'password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE isotope TO isotope;

Note: Replace 'password' in the second command with a secure password of your choice.

4. Exit the PostgreSQL interactive session by typing \q.
5. Log out from the PostgreSQL default user session by typing exit.

Step 4: Install Isotope Mail

Download the Isotope Mail client source code from the GitHub repository using the following command:

git clone https://github.com/marcnuri/isotope-mail.git

Install Isotope Mail by running the following commands:

cd isotope-mail
npm install
npm run build

Step 5: Configure Isotope Mail

After installation, you need to configure Isotope Mail by editing the ~/.config/isotope.json configuration file. Here's a sample configuration file:

{
  "database": {
    "url": "postgres://isotope:password@localhost/isotope"
  },
  "email": {
    "from": "your-email@example.com",
    "sendmail": "/usr/sbin/sendmail -t -i"
  },
  "smtp": {
    "host": "smtp.example.com",
    "secure": true,
    "port": 465,
    "auth": {
      "user": "your-email@example.com",
      "pass": "password"
    }
  },
  "accounts": [
    {
      "email": "your-email@example.com",
      "password": "your-email-password",
      "host": "mail.example.com",
      "port": 993,
      "security": "ssl",
      "kind": "imap",
      "inboxPath": "INBOX",
      "displayName": "Your Name"
    }
  ]
}

Update the configuration file to your specifics and save the changes.

Step 6: Launch Isotope Mail

Finally, launch Isotope Mail by running the following command:

node dist/start.js

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Isotope Mail on OpenBSD. You can now enjoy managing your email accounts efficiently.

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!

Alternatively, for the best virtual desktop, try Shells!