How to Install Mail-in-a-Box on Windows 10

Mail-in-a-Box is a free and open-source email server that allows you to create your own email address with your own domain name. In this tutorial, we will guide you through the installation process of Mail-in-a-Box on Windows 10.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, make sure you have the following:

• A Windows 10 machine
• Administrative privileges
• Internet connection
• SSH client (PuTTY)

Step 1: Download and Install VirtualBox

Mail-in-a-Box requires a virtual machine to run on your Windows 10 machine. Therefore, the first step is to download and install VirtualBox.

1. Go to the VirtualBox website and download the latest version of VirtualBox for Windows hosts.

2. Once the download is complete, double-click on the executable file to launch the installation process.

3. Follow the on-screen instructions to install VirtualBox on your system.

Step 2: Download Mail-in-a-Box

1. Go to the Mail-in-a-Box website and download the latest version of Mail-in-a-Box by clicking on the "Download" button.

2. Once the download is complete, extract the downloaded ZIP file to a folder on your computer.

Step 3: Start the Virtual Machine

1. Open VirtualBox and click on the "New" button to create a new virtual machine.

2. In the "Name and Operating System" screen, enter a name for your virtual machine (e.g., Mail-in-a-Box) and select "Linux" as the type and "Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (64-bit)" as the version.

3. Click on the "Next" button.

4. In the "Memory Size" screen, allocate at least 1024 MB of RAM to the virtual machine.

5. Click on the "Next" button.

6. In the "Hard Disk" screen, select "Create a virtual hard disk now" and click on the "Create" button.

7. In the "Hard Disk File Type" screen, select "VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image)" and click on the "Next" button.

8. In the "Storage on Physical Hard Disk" screen, select "Dynamically allocated" and click on the "Next" button.

9. In the "File Location and Size" screen, enter a name for the virtual hard disk and allocate at least 20 GB of disk space.

10. Click on the "Create" button.

11. In the VirtualBox main window, right-click on the virtual machine you just created and select "Settings".

12. In the "Settings" window, select "Storage" from the left menu.

13. Under the "Storage Devices" section, click on the "+" icon to add a new optical drive.

14. Click on the "Choose/Create a Disk Image" button.

15. Browse to the folder where you extracted the Mail-in-a-Box ZIP file and select the "ubuntu-18.04.3-server-amd64.iso" file.

16. Click on the "Open" button.

17. Click on the "OK" button to close the "Settings" window.

18. Start the virtual machine by clicking on the "Start" button in the VirtualBox main window.

Step 4: Install Mail-in-a-Box

1. Once the virtual machine has started, select "Install Ubuntu" from the menu.

2. Follow the on-screen instructions to install Ubuntu.

3. Once the installation is complete, log in to Ubuntu with the username "box" and the password "box".

4. Open the terminal by pressing "CTRL+ALT+T".

5. Navigate to the folder where you extracted the Mail-in-a-Box ZIP file by entering the following command:

cd path/to/mailinabox

6. Run the installation script by entering the following command:

sudo ./setup/start.sh

7. Follow the on-screen instructions to configure Mail-in-a-Box to your liking.

8. Once the installation is complete, you can access Mail-in-a-Box by going to http://box.local.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Mail-in-a-Box on Windows 10.

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Alternatively, for the best virtual desktop, try Shells!