Folders and files
| Name | Name | Last commit date | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
- Dockerfile repository for automated builds.
- Run MTA, Virtual Domains or Webmail
- Build Scripts
- Test Status
- SUPPORT INFORMATION
Created by gh-md-toc
This repo contains repository for Dockerfiles used for building docker/podman images for indimail-mta, indimail and indimail with roundcube web frontend. Read this document on how to run a fully functional mail server using docker / podman images. In just less than an hour, you will read how to run an indimail container and the bonus will be that you will understand how docker and podman works. The correct way to read this document is to read from top to bottom without clicking on any URL. You may click the URL for more information, but there is a chance that you will get distracted / overwhelmed.
You can use either docker or podman. One of the downsides of Docker is it has a central daemon that runs as the root user, and this has security implications. But this is where Podman comes in handy. Podman is a daemonless container engine for developing, managing, and running OCI Containers on your Linux system in root or rootless mode. The complete set of instructions for installing podman is given here. If you decide to use docker, the complet set of instructions for installing docker is given here.
You have to decide the image that you want.
- indimail-mta - for a minimal server that gives you a MTA. This server can receive mails from the internet and send mails to users within the same server or to the internet. This also provides you IMAP(S), POP3(S) protocols to access emails received on the server.
- indimail - For a complete mail server. You can create many virtual domains, access the mails using IMAP(S), POP3(S) and do everything that the indimail-mta image does.
- indimail-web - Like the indimail image with the addition of a web based email client based on Roundcube Mail.
- indimail-mta-web - Like the indimail-mta image with the addition of a web based email client based on Roundcube Mail. Use this if you just want to access your own personal mailbox or you want to host few local accounts on your server.
| Name | Docker Repository Location |
|---|---|
| indimail-mta | indimail-mta Repository |
| indimail | indimail Repository |
| indimail-web | indimail+Roundcube Repository |
| indimail-mta-web | indimail-mta+Roundcube Repository |
The following tags/images can be pulled by executing the commands
Docker
docker pull ghcr.io/indimail/indimail-mta:tag docker pull ghcr.io/indimail/indimail:tag docker pull ghcr.io/indimail/indimail-web:tag
or
podman
podman pull ghcr.io/indimail/indimail-mta:tag podman pull ghcr.io/indimail/indimail:tag podman pull ghcr.io/indimail/indimail-web:tag
Replace tag in the above command with one of the following tags from the below tables (built from Open Build Service or from github sources).
Runtime Container images built from indimail, indimail-mta packages from Open Build Service
| tag | OS Distribution | indimai-mta | indimail | webmail |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| jammy | Ubuntu 22.04 |  |
 |
 |
| noble | Ubuntu 24.04 |  |
 |
 |
| focal | Ubuntu 26.04 |  |
 |
 |
| debian11 | Debian11 |  |
 |
 |
| debian12 | Debian12 |  |
 |
 |
| debian13 | Debian13 |  |
 |
 |
| Tumbleweed | openSUSE Tumbleweed |  |
 |
 |
| oracle8 | Orace Linux 8 |  |
 |
 |
| oracle9 | Orace Linux 9 |  |
 |
 |
| almalinux8 | Alma Linux 8 |  |
 |
 |
| almalinux9 | Alma Linux 9 |  |
 |
 |
| rockylinux8 | Rocky Linux 8 |  |
 |
 |
| rockylinux9 | Rocky Linux 9 |  |
 |
 |
| fc43 | Fedora Core 43 |  |
 |
 |
| fc44 | Fedora Core 44 |  |
 |
 |
Runtime Container images built from indimail, indimail-mta packages from copr
| tag | OS Distribution | indimai-mta | indimail | webmail |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| amznlinux2023 | Amazon Linux 2023 |  |
 |
NA |
| mageia8 | Mageia 8 |  |
 |
NA |
| mageia9 | Mageia 9 |  |
 |
NA |
Runtime Container images built from Source
Distributions like alpine, gentoo, archlinux and ubi8 are not supported on the Open Build Service. The runtime images are built using Dockerfiles that pull the source from github, compile and install them. See this Section for more details. To reduce the build time, these are built in two steps.
- Build an intermediate image with all source packages installed in the image. The base image comes from the OS distribution images. This image takes very long to build (2.5 hours for gentoo) and is refreshed on a need basis. The dockerfiles used have .src extension in indimail-src directory.
directory. - Build the final image by pulling the base images built and pushed above in step 1. The dockerfiles used have .bin extension in indimail-src directory.
.
| tag | OS Distribution | indimai-mta | indimail | webmail | source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| alpine | alpine Linux v3.19.x |  |
 |
TODO |  |
| gentoo | Gentoo |  |
 |
TODO |  |
| archlinux | Arch Linux |  |
 |
TODO |  |
| ubi8 | Redhat ubi8 |  |
 |
TODO |  |
| ubi9 | Redhat ubi9 |  |
 |
TODO |  |
| stream8 | CentOS Stream 8 |  |
 |
 |
 |
| stream9 | CentOS Stream 9 |  |
 |
 |
 |
| fedora | lastest Fedora |  |
 |
 |
 |
Let's say you want to use the indimail image and CentOS8
$ podman pull ghcr.io/indimail/indimail:stream8 Trying to pull ghcr.io/indimail/indimail:stream8... Getting image source signatures Copying blob 6910e5a164f7 skipped: already exists Copying blob 9c29f394b0db done Copying blob 6db186b8f3c7 [======>-------------------------------] 33.8MiB / 187.3MiB Copying blob 6db186b8f3c7 done Copying config e543dee69a done Writing manifest to image destination Storing signatures e543dee69ab797c3a496295c96228265c45f5d221718a24ed8d230c5d79f943f
You can list the image using the podman images command
$ podman images REPOSITORY TAG IMAGE ID CREATED SIZE ghcr.io/indimail/indimail stream8 e543dee69ab7 38 hours ago 1.03 GB ghcr.io/indimail/indimail fc41 a5266643441b 4 days ago 1.13 GB
indimail, indimail-mta uses docker-entrypoint to execute svscan and start indimail-mta, indimail-mta. Passing webmail argument starts apache and php-fpm in addition to indimail. You just need to pass any argument other than indimail, indimail-mta, svscan or webmail to bypass the default action in docker-entrypoint.
The below command will start svscan process
$ podman run -d -h indimail.org --name indimail fba3b42e0164 08a4df5054d920cfdf8869aa777a7afc39bab19591394ea283c0c082f8b0a876
The below command will execute bash instead of the default svscan process in the docker-entrypoint.
$ podman run -it --h indimail.org --name=indimail 4fce1055b1e7 bash docker-entrypoint: executing bash
You can use --net host to map the container's network to the HOST
$ docker run --net host -d -h indimail.org --name indimail fba3b42e0164 or $ podman run --net host -d -h indimail.org --name indimail fba3b42e0164
You can combine the pull and run in a single command. Below are 3 use cases of invocation.
1. Run the container in detached mode with systemd (init), just like a normal machine.
In most cases you will require `--privileged` argument to docker / podman.
$ podman run -v /sys/fs/cgroup:/sys/fs/cgroup:ro \
--privileged -d --rm -h indimail.org --name indimail \
cprogrammer/indimail:stream8 /usr/lib/systemd/systemd
# Connect to the above container
$ podman exec -ti indimail bash
# Run a command inside the container
indimail.org:(root) / > ps -ef
2. Run the container with just indimail with a controlling terminal and bash shell.
NOTE: You need to give /bin/bash in the below command
$ podman run -it --rm -h indimail.org --name indimail \
ghcr.io/indimail/indimail:stream8 /bin/bash
# Start indimail in the above container
indimail.org:(root) / > /usr/libexec/indimail/svscanboot &
# Run a command inside the container
indimail.org:(root) / > ps -ef
3. Run the container with just indimail in detached mode and svscan running as PID 1
The containers have been configured with 5 queues as default and hence you will
see 5 qmail-send, qmail-lspawn, qmail-rspawn, qmail-lspawn. You can pass the argument
-d for selecting a domain name, -t for selecting a timezone. Read the man page for
docker-entrypoint(8)
$ podman run -d --rm -h indimail.org --name indimail \
ghcr.io/indimail/indimail:stream8
# Connect to the above container
$ podman exec -ti indimail bash
# Run a command inside the container
indimail.org:(root) / >ps -ef|egrep "svscan|qmail-send|qmail-smtpd|qmail-clean|spawn"
root 1 0 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/svscan /service
root 2 1 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 supervise log .svscan
root 15 1 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 supervise qmail-smtpd.587
root 16 1 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 supervise log qmail-smtpd.587
qmaill 19 2 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/multilog t /var/log/svc/svscan
root 32 1 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 supervise qmail-send.25
root 33 1 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 supervise log qmail-send.25
root 46 1 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 supervise qmail-smtpd.25
root 47 1 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 supervise log qmail-smtpd.25
root 48 1 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 supervise qmail-smtpd.465
root 49 1 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 supervise log qmail-smtpd.465
root 76 1 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 supervise qmail-smtpd.366
root 77 1 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 supervise log qmail-smtpd.366
indimail 110 76 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 /usr/bin/tcpserver -v -H -R -l indimail.org -x /etc/indimail/tcp/tcp.smtp.cdb -c variables/MAXDAEMONS -o -b 150 -u 555 -g 555 0 366 /usr/sbin/qmail-smtpd
root 175 88 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 qmail-lspawn ./Maildir/
qmailr 176 88 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 qmail-rspawn
qmailq 177 88 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 qmail-clean
qmails 338 335 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 qmail-send
qmails 339 335 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 qmail-send
qmails 340 335 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 qmail-send
qmails 341 335 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 qmail-send
qmails 342 335 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 qmail-send
root 343 338 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 qmail-lspawn ./Maildir/
root 344 339 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 qmail-lspawn ./Maildir/
qmailr 345 338 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 qmail-rspawn
qmailr 346 339 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 qmail-rspawn
root 347 340 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 qmail-lspawn ./Maildir/
qmailq 348 338 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 qmail-clean
qmailr 349 340 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 qmail-rspawn
qmailq 350 339 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 qmail-clean
qmailq 352 340 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 qmail-clean
qmailq 354 338 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 qmail-clean
qmailq 356 339 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 qmail-clean
qmailq 357 340 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 qmail-clean
root 358 342 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 qmail-lspawn ./Maildir/
qmailr 359 342 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 qmail-rspawn
qmailq 360 342 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 qmail-clean
qmailq 362 342 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 qmail-clean
root 363 341 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 qmail-lspawn ./Maildir/
qmailr 364 341 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 qmail-rspawn
qmailq 365 341 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 qmail-clean
qmailq 367 341 0 17:23 ? 00:00:00 qmail-clean
root 505 481 0 17:29 pts/0 00:00:00 grep -E --color=auto svscan|qmail-send|qmail-smtpd|qmail-clean|spawn
There are other cool things you can do with the docker/podman images. You can have the images have their own filesystem with the queue and the user's home directory. It is better to have them on the host running the containers.
The big advantage of using docker / podman container is the ease with which you can maintain your server config. You can easily make snapshots of the configuration, push the image to your own docker / podman repository, pull it whenever required and deploy with exactly the same configuration. You don't have to run custom scripts to configure your server. Now we need to decide few things. indimail / indimail-mta requires a filesystem for the queue and a filesystem to store the user's emails. We call it the queue directory and the maildir directory. i.e.
- The mail queue denoted by queue
- The user's mail directories denoted by maildir
These two directories change often and change continuously. You don't want the snapshots to take too long to complete. Hence it is best to have these two directories on your host rather than be a part of the container image. You can have it part of the container. But when you run the podman commit command, the changes to the container since you started it, will be huge. Hence the commit might take very long. It is best that you backup the queue and the maildir directories on the host itself. To achieve this you can do the following
$ podman volume create queue
queue
$ podman volume create mail
mail
$ docker run --net host -d -h indimail.org --name indimail \
-v queue:/var/indimail/queue -v mail:/home fba3b42e0164
or
$ podman run --net host -d -h indimail.org --name indimail \
-v queue:/var/indimail/queue -v mail:/home fba3b42e0164
If you do this way you will have to initialize the queue the first time.
$ podman exec -ti indimail bash indimail.org:(root) / > cd /var/indimail/queue indimail.org:(root) /var/indimail/queue > for i in 1 2 3 4 5 6 > do > queue-fix queue"$i" >/dev/null > done indimail.org:(root) /var/indimail/queue >queue-fix nqueue queue-fix finished... indimail.org:(root) /var/indimail/queue >ls -l total 24 drwxr-x--- 12 qmailq qmail 4096 Jul 6 04:07 nqueue drwxr-x--- 12 qmailq qmail 4096 Jul 6 04:07 queue1 drwxr-x--- 12 qmailq qmail 4096 Jul 6 04:07 queue2 drwxr-x--- 12 qmailq qmail 4096 Jul 6 04:07 queue3 drwxr-x--- 12 qmailq qmail 4096 Jul 6 04:07 queue4 drwxr-x--- 12 qmailq qmail 4096 Jul 6 04:07 queue5
The volumes are created in your home directory. You can inspect them using the podman volume inspect command
$ podman volume inspect queue
[
{
"Name": "queue",
"Driver": "local",
"Mountpoint": "/home/mbhangui/.local/share/containers/storage/volumes/queue/_data",
"CreatedAt": "2020-07-06T09:44:18.83317159+05:30",
"Labels": {
},
"Scope": "local",
"Options": {
},
"UID": 0,
"GID": 0,
"Anonymous": false
}
]
$ cd /home/mbhangui/.local/share/containers/storage/volumes/queue/\_data
$ ls -l
total 24
drwxr-x--- 12 101003 101000 4096 Jul 6 09:37 nqueue
drwxr-x--- 12 101003 101000 4096 Jul 6 09:37 queue1
drwxr-x--- 12 101003 101000 4096 Jul 6 09:37 queue2
drwxr-x--- 12 101003 101000 4096 Jul 6 09:37 queue3
drwxr-x--- 12 101003 101000 4096 Jul 6 09:37 queue4
drwxr-x--- 12 101003 101000 4096 Jul 6 09:37 queue5
If you backup the user's home directory (e.g. /home/mbhangui), the backup will include /home/mail of the container. You can specifically take a backup of container's user mail directory by doing podman volume inspect mail and backup the directory referenced by Mountpoint.
There is an alternate way, without having podman volumes, to have the queue and the home directories on the host server. All you need to do is create directories on the host system.
Create Directories
You can create the queue and the maildir directories anywhere where you have space. These two could be on a separate filesystems or on the same filesystem. Below is a simple example where both have been created on the /home filesystem.
NOTE: every command is being done with your own non-privileged UNiX user id.
- Create the queue directory
$ mkdir -p /home/podman/queue
- Create the maildir directory
$ mkdir -p /home/podman/mail
Now we can start the container with the podman run command. Here podman mounts /home/podman/queue as /var/indimail/queue and /home/podman/mail as /home/mail. To backup the mail directory, you just need to backup /home/podman/mail. Like the previous examples where we used volumes, you will have to initialize the queue using the queue-fix command in /var/indimail/queue directory.
$ podman run -d -h indimail.org \
-v /home/podman/queue:/var/indimail/queue \
-v /home/podman/mail:/home/mail \
--name indimail e543dee69ab7
0deab2154ef89688fc1953dc32dcf0c3a4fcde50ce79ed6a47e4886415093304
If your host has SELinux enabled, volumes you pass to podman will need to have appropriate labels, otherwise the container won’t be able access the volume, no-matter what the filesystem permissions are.
Shared Labels
If you have selinux enabled on your host then you have to use :z SELinux volume option. The :z option creates a shared label which will allow all containers to access the directory
$ podman run -d -h indimail.org \
-v /home/podman/queue:/var/indimail/queue:z \
-v /home/podman/mail:/home/mail:z \
--name indimail e543dee69ab7
0deab2154ef89688fc1953dc32dcf0c3a4fcde50ce79ed6a47e4886415093304
Private Labels
So what if you wanted to restrict a volume to a specific container only? Well, that’s what the the UPPERCASE :Z option can be used. It tells podman to set the context on the volume, like lowercase :z, but it also ensures that other containers are not able to access it.
$ podman ps CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS NAMES 0deab2154ef8 ghcr.io/indimail/indimail:stream8 indimail About a minute ago Up About a minute ago indimail
$ podman exec -ti indimail /bin/bash indimail:/>
indimail:/> ps -ef UID PID PPID C STIME TTY TIME CMD root 1 0 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/svscan /service root 2 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise qmail-smtpd.587 root 3 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise log root 4 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise qmail-pop3d.110 root 5 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise log root 6 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise qmail-qmqpd.628 root 7 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise log root 8 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise qmail-imapd.143 root 9 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise log root 10 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise qmail-qmtpd.209 root 11 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise log root 12 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise fetchmail root 13 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise log root 14 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise qscanq root 15 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise log root 16 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise qmail-poppass.106 root 17 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise log root 18 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise libwatch root 19 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise log root 20 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise log root 21 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise proxy-imapd-ssl.9143 root 22 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise log root 23 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise qmail-send.25 root 24 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise log root 25 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise proxy-pop3d-ssl.9110 root 26 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise log root 27 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise qmail-logfifo root 28 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise log root 29 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise qmail-pop3d-ssl.995 root 30 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise log qmaill 31 5 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/multilog t /var/log/svc/pop3d.110 root 32 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise qmail-smtpd.366 root 33 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise log indimail 34 2 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/bin/tcpserver -v -H -R -l 0 -x /etc/indimail/tcp/tcp.smtp.cdb -c /service/q root 35 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise udplogger.3000 root 36 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise log root 37 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise mrtg root 38 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise log root 39 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise qmail-smtpd.25 root 40 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise log root 41 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise proxy-pop3d.4110 root 42 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise log indimail 43 4 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/bin/tcpserver -v -c /service/qmail-pop3d.110/variables/MAXDAEMONS -C 25 -x root 44 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise mysql.3306 root 45 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise log root 46 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise indisrvr.4000 root 47 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise log root 48 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise qmail-daned.1998 root 49 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise log root 50 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise pwdlookup root 51 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise log qscand 52 14 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/cleanq -l -s 200 /var/indimail/qscanq/root/scanq root 53 18 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /bin/sh ./run qmaill 54 3 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/multilog t /var/log/svc/smtpd.587 root 55 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise greylist.1999 root 56 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise log qmaill 57 9 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/multilog t /var/log/svc/imapd.143 qmaill 58 7 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/multilog t /var/log/svc/qmqpd.628 root 59 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise qmail-smtpd.465 root 60 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise log indimail 61 10 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/bin/tcpserver -v -H -R -l 0 -x /etc/indimail/tcp/tcp.qmtp.cdb -c /service/q root 62 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise proxy-imapd.4143 root 63 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise log indimail 64 16 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/bin/tcpserver -v -H -R -l 0 -x /etc/indimail/tcp/tcp.poppass.cdb -X -c /ser root 65 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise inlookup.infifo root 66 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise log qmaill 67 15 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/multilog t /var/log/svc/qscanq root 68 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise qmail-imapd-ssl.993 root 69 1 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 supervise log qmaill 70 19 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/multilog t /var/log/svc/libwatch qmaill 71 11 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/multilog t /var/log/svc/qmtpd.209 indimail 72 8 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/bin/tcpserver -v -c /service/qmail-imapd.143/variables/MAXDAEMONS -C 25 -x indimail 73 21 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/bin/tcpserver -v -c /service/proxy-imapd-ssl.9143/variables/MAXDAEMONS -C 2 qmaill 74 17 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/multilog t /var/log/svc/poppass.106 qmaill 75 24 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/multilog t /var/log/svc/deliver.25 qmaill 76 20 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/multilog t /var/log/svc/svscan qmaill 77 22 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/multilog t /var/log/svc/proxyIMAP.9143 root 78 23 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 qmail-daemon ./Maildir/ qmaill 79 26 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/multilog t /var/log/svc/proxyPOP3.9110 qmaill 80 13 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/multilog t /var/log/svc/fetchmail indimail 81 25 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/bin/tcpserver -v -c /service/proxy-pop3d-ssl.9110/variables/MAXDAEMONS -C 2 indimail 82 27 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/bin/qmail-cat /tmp/logfifo qmaill 83 30 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/multilog t /var/log/svc/pop3d-ssl.995 qmaill 84 28 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/multilog t /var/log/svc/logfifo qmaill 85 36 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/multilog t /var/log/svc/udplogger.3000 indimail 86 32 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/bin/tcpserver -v -H -R -l 0 -x /etc/indimail/tcp/tcp.smtp.cdb -c /service/q qmaill 87 33 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/multilog t /var/log/svc/smtpd.366 indimail 88 35 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/udplogger -p 3000 -t 10 0 indimail 89 41 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/bin/tcpserver -v -c /service/proxy-pop3d.4110/variables/MAXDAEMONS -C 25 -x root 90 37 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /bin/sh ./run qmaill 91 38 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/multilog t /var/log/svc/mrtg indimail 92 39 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/bin/tcpserver -v -h -R -l 0 -x /etc/indimail/tcp/tcp.smtp.cdb -c /service/q qmaill 93 40 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/multilog t /var/log/svc/smtpd.25 qmaill 94 42 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/multilog t /var/log/svc/proxyPOP3.4110 indimail 96 29 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/bin/tcpserver -v -c /service/qmail-pop3d-ssl.995/variables/MAXDAEMONS -C 25 qmaill 97 45 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/multilog t /var/log/svc/mysql.3306 indimail 98 48 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/qmail-daned -w /etc/indimail/control/tlsa.white -t 30 -s 5 -h 65535 12 qmaill 99 49 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/multilog t /var/log/svc/daned.1998 indimail 101 46 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/indisrvr -i 0 -p 4000 -b 40 -n /etc/indimail/certs/servercert.pem indimail 104 50 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/nssd -d notice qmaill 105 47 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/multilog t /var/log/svc/indisrvr.4000 qmaill 106 51 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/multilog t /var/log/svc/pwdlookup indimail 107 55 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/qmail-greyd -w /etc/indimail/control/greylist.white -t 30 -g 24 -m 2 - qmaill 108 56 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/multilog t /var/log/svc/greylist.1999 qmaill 109 60 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/multilog t /var/log/svc/smtpd.465 indimail 112 59 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/bin/tcpserver -v -h -R -l 0 -x /etc/indimail/tcp/tcp.smtp.cdb -c /service/q indimail 113 62 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/bin/tcpserver -v -c /service/proxy-imapd.4143/variables/MAXDAEMONS -C 25 -x indimail 114 68 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/bin/tcpserver -v -c /service/qmail-imapd-ssl.993/variables/MAXDAEMONS -C 25 qmaill 115 69 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/multilog t /var/log/svc/imapd-ssl.993 qmaill 116 66 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/multilog t /var/log/svc/inlookup.infifo qmaill 117 63 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/multilog t /var/log/svc/proxyIMAP.4143 root 154 53 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /usr/bin/inotify -n /usr/lib64 root 155 53 1 13:39 ? 00:00:00 /bin/sh ./run qmails 162 78 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 qmail-send qmails 163 78 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 qmail-send qmails 166 78 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 qmail-send qmails 168 78 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 qmail-send qmails 169 78 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 qmail-send root 171 163 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 qmail-lspawn ./Maildir/ qmailr 172 163 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 qmail-rspawn qmailq 173 163 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 qmail-clean qmails 174 163 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 qmail-todo qmailq 175 163 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 qmail-clean root 177 162 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 qmail-lspawn ./Maildir/ qmailr 178 162 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 qmail-rspawn qmailq 179 162 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 qmail-clean qmails 180 162 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 qmail-todo qmailq 181 162 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 qmail-clean root 182 166 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 qmail-lspawn ./Maildir/ qmailr 183 166 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 qmail-rspawn qmailq 184 166 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 qmail-clean qmails 185 166 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 qmail-todo qmailq 186 166 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 qmail-clean root 188 168 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 qmail-lspawn ./Maildir/ qmailr 189 168 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 qmail-rspawn qmailq 190 168 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 qmail-clean qmails 191 168 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 qmail-todo qmailq 192 168 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 qmail-clean root 197 169 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 qmail-lspawn ./Maildir/ qmailr 198 169 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 qmail-rspawn qmailq 199 169 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 qmail-clean qmails 200 169 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 qmail-todo qmailq 201 169 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 qmail-clean root 284 90 0 13:39 ? 00:00:00 sleep 300 root 301 0 0 13:39 pts/0 00:00:00 /bin/bash mysql 353 44 48 13:40 ? 00:00:02 /usr/sbin/mysqld --defaults-file=/etc/indimail/indimail.cnf --port=3306 --basedi indimail 406 65 0 13:40 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/inlookup -i 5 -c 5184000 root 407 301 0 13:40 pts/0 00:00:00 ps -ef indimail:/> exit
NOTE: The ps list has been deliberately truncated to keep the size of this document small.
Now we create a IndiMail virtual domain example.com. The pass parameter is the password of the postmaster user. It can be used to connect the the postmaster account using IMAP or POP3 with that password.
indimail.org:(root) / > vadddomain example.com pass
Adding alias abuse@example.com --> postmaster@example.com
Adding alias mailer-daemon@example.com --> postmaster@example.com
Sending SIGHUP to /service/qmail-smtpd.25
Sending SIGHUP to /service/qmail-smtpd.465
Sending SIGHUP to /service/qmail-smtpd.587
Sending SIGHUP to /service/inlookup.infifo
Sending SIGHUP to /service/qmail-send.25
---- Domain example.com -------------------------------
domain: example.com
uid: 555
gid: 555
Domain Dir: /var/indimail/domains/example.com
Base Dir: /home/mail
Dir Control = /home/mail/L2P
cur users = 1
dir prefix =
Users per level = 100
level_cur = 0
level_max = 3
level_index 0 = 0
1 = 0
2 = 0
level_start 0 = 0
1 = 0
2 = 0
level_end 0 = 61
1 = 61
2 = 61
level_mod 0 = 0
1 = 2
2 = 4
Users: 1
vlimits: disabled
Creating standard users for spam filter (bogofilter)
name : prefilt@example.com
passwd : xxxxxxxx (DES)
uid : 1
gid : 0
-all services available
gecos : prefilt
dir : /home/mail/L2P/example.com/prefilt
quota : 524288000 [500.00 MiB]
curr quota : 0S,0C
Mail Store IP : 127.0.0.1 (NonClustered - local
Mail Store ID : non-clustered domain
Sql Database : localhost
Unix Socket : /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock
Table Name : indimail
Relay Allowed : NO
Days inact : 0 Secs
Added On : (127.0.0.1) Thu Jun 25 07:56:55 2020
last auth : Not yet logged in
last IMAP : Not yet logged in
last POP3 : Not yet logged in
PassChange : Not yet Changed
Inact Date : Not yet Inactivated
Activ Date : (127.0.0.1) Thu Jun 25 07:56:55 2020
Delivery Time : No Mails Delivered yet / Per Day Limit not configured
name : postfilt@example.com
passwd : xxxxxxxx (DES)
uid : 1
gid : 0
-all services available
gecos : postfilt
dir : /home/mail/L2P/example.com/postfilt
quota : 524288000 [500.00 MiB]
curr quota : 0S,0C
Mail Store IP : 127.0.0.1 (NonClustered - local
Mail Store ID : non-clustered domain
Sql Database : localhost
Unix Socket : /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock
Table Name : indimail
Relay Allowed : NO
Days inact : 0 Secs
Added On : (127.0.0.1) Thu Jun 25 07:56:55 2020
last auth : Not yet logged in
last IMAP : Not yet logged in
last POP3 : Not yet logged in
PassChange : Not yet Changed
Inact Date : Not yet Inactivated
Activ Date : (127.0.0.1) Thu Jun 25 07:56:55 2020
Delivery Time : No Mails Delivered yet / Per Day Limit not configured
creating rules for spam, virus detected emails
drwxr-x--- 2 indimail indimail 4096 Jun 25 07:56 /var/indimail/domains/example.com
total 16
drwxr-x--- 2 indimail indimail 4096 Jun 25 07:56 .
drwxrwxr-x 4 root indimail 4096 Jun 25 07:56 ..
-rw-r----- 1 indimail indimail 15 Jun 25 07:56 .filesystems
-rw-rw---- 1 indimail indimail 46 Jun 25 07:56 .qmail-default
adding example.com to spamignore control file
adding example.com to nodnscheck control file
Let us now send an email to this account
indimail.org:(root) / > echo "testing email to postmaster" | mail -s "Test Email" postmaster@example.com indimail.org:(root) / > tail -20 /var/log/svc/deliver.25/current 2020-06-25 07:50:42.582514500 qmail-daemon: qStart/qCount 1/5 2020-06-25 07:50:42.585980500 qmail-daemon: pid 187, queue /var/indimail/queue/queue1 started 2020-06-25 07:50:42.586586500 qmail-daemon: pid 188, queue /var/indimail/queue/queue2 started 2020-06-25 07:50:42.587227500 qmail-daemon: pid 189, queue /var/indimail/queue/queue3 started 2020-06-25 07:50:42.587839500 qmail-daemon: pid 190, queue /var/indimail/queue/queue4 started 2020-06-25 07:50:42.588521500 qmail-daemon: pid 191, queue /var/indimail/queue/queue5 started 2020-06-25 07:50:42.855081500 status: local 0/10 remote 0/20 queue2 2020-06-25 07:50:42.860865500 status: local 0/10 remote 0/20 queue5 2020-06-25 07:50:42.903783500 status: local 0/10 remote 0/20 queue4 2020-06-25 07:50:42.925976500 status: local 0/10 remote 0/20 queue1 2020-06-25 07:50:42.937832500 status: local 0/10 remote 0/20 queue3 2020-06-25 08:00:09.681525500 new msg 100926020 queue5 2020-06-25 08:00:09.681533500 info msg 100926020: bytes 814 from <root@indimail.org> qp 555 uid 0 queue5 2020-06-25 08:00:09.682393500 local: root@indimail.org postmaster@example.com 814 queue5 2020-06-25 08:00:09.682401500 starting delivery 1: msg 100926020 to local example.com-postmaster@example.com queue5 2020-06-25 08:00:09.682407500 status: local 1/10 remote 0/20 queue5 2020-06-25 08:00:09.713833500 delivery 1: success: did_0+0+1/ queue5 2020-06-25 08:00:09.718460500 status: local 0/10 remote 0/20 queue5 2020-06-25 08:00:09.718523500 end msg 100926020 queue5
We can retrieve or read the email using POP3 or IMAP
indimail.org:(root) / > telnet 0 110 Trying 0.0.0.0... Connected to 0. Escape character is '^]'. +OK POP3 Server Ready. user postmaster@example.com +OK Password required. pass pass +OK logged in. list +OK POP3 clients that break here, they violate STD53. 1 1004 . retr 1 +OK 1004 octets follow. Return-Path: <root@indimail.org> Delivered-To: example.com-postmaster@example.com X-Filter: None Received: (indimail 557 invoked by uid 555); Thu Jun 25 08:00:09 2020 Received: (indimail-mta 555 invoked by uid 0); Thu, 25 Jun 2020 08:00:09 +0000 DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha1; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=indimail.org; s=default; x=1593676809; h=Message-ID:From:Date: To:Subject:User-Agent:MIME-Version:Content-Type: Content-Transfer-Encoding; bh=6hp9qseDUIP2i1ZogtcVM/Y6sE4=; b=Ky cnt77fJ2KsygcFF1cOh+CzGHGglCaKj7riudZca3KY11++XZW0X5SrbAqY7tzW3l 90Kc5oORTKkM1dYnVhqCskQd2GiQgiek7/ykcjnINsGln/Zp+at/LKZ4ga2GblKO b3TNlrzzWapsprtoGGIlcTF+/X4qOqUSbkcdOHBtE= Message-ID: <20200625080009.550.indimail@indimail.org> From: root@indimail.org Date: Thu, 25 Jun 2020 08:00:09 +0000 To: postmaster@example.com Subject: Test Email User-Agent: Heirloom mailx 12.5 7/5/10 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit testing email to postmaster . quit +OK Phir Kab Miloge? Connection closed by foreign host.
The image that we pulled sets the hostname as indimail.org (-h argument when we ran the podman run command). Also the docker images have been configured with indimail.org as the hostname. We will now change this configuration and commit the image.
# find the list of files having indimail.org
indimail.org:(root) / > cd /var/indimail
indimail.org:(root) /var/indimail/control > find . -type f -exec grep -l indimail.org {} \;
./me
./envnoathost
./smtpgreeting
./defaultdomain
./defaulthost
./nodnscheck
./rcpthosts
./plusdomain
./locals
# Now let us change indimail.org to mydomain.com
indimail.org:(root) /var/indimail/control > for i in `find . -type f -exec grep -l indimail.org {} \;`
> do
> sed -i -e 's{indimail.org{mydomain.com{' $i
> done
indimail.org:(root) /var/indimail/control >
# send qmail-send a sighup
indimail.org:(root) /var/indimail/control > svc -h /service/qmail-send.25
We have changed the configuration of the indimail container above. We can quit the container by exiting the shell or open another terminal and run the following command on the original host (not on the container).
$ podman commit indimail mycontainer Getting image source signatures Copying blob eb29745b8228 skipped: already exists Copying blob 145f10c50be1 skipped: already exists Copying blob 0b76d212b7b9 skipped: already exists Copying blob ff006700b93b done Copying config 7bcf4b2ff8 done Writing manifest to image destination Storing signatures 7bcf4b2ff83e599d6ca8176f53fd7b0f24412d6f4f0c021f00310ed281477ca3 $ podman images REPOSITORY TAG IMAGE ID CREATED SIZE localhost/mycontainer latest 7bcf4b2ff83e 53 seconds ago 1.16 GB ghcr.io/indimail/indimail stream8 e543dee69ab7 39 hours ago 1.03 GB ghcr.io/indimail/indimail fc41 a5266643441b 4 days ago 1.13 GB
The original container is now longer needed to run. We can stop it and remove the image from memory
$ podman stop indimail 0deab2154ef89688fc1953dc32dcf0c3a4fcde50ce79ed6a47e4886415093304 $ podman rm indimail 0deab2154ef89688fc1953dc32dcf0c3a4fcde50ce79ed6a47e4886415093304
You can now use the container with id 7bcf4b2ff83e to run the indimail server with mydomain.org as the domain.
I use this script to run my indimail containers. It should be invoked like this
$ runpod --id=7bcf4b2ff83e --name=indimail --host=mydomain.org --args="-d"
podman run -d
--name indimail
--cap-add SYS_PTRACE --cap-add SYS_ADMIN --cap-add IPC_LOCK --cap-add SYS_RESOURCE
-h mydomain.org
-p 2025:25 -p 2106:106 -p 2110:110 -p 2143:143 -p 2209:209 -p 2366:366 -p 2465:465 -p 2587:587 -p 2628:628 -p 2993:993 -p 2995:995 -p 4110:4110 -p 4143:4143 -p 9110:9110 -p 9143:9143 -p 8080:80
-v queue:/var/indimail/queue -v mail:/home
-v /sys/fs/cgroup:/sys/fs/cgroup:ro
--device /dev/fuse
image=7bcf4b2ff83e systemd=/usr/lib/systemd/systemd
471b4e53020b350c5e62e4913fe815203d16827e3e6cfc5e14fced8579c4a2b3
The argument --name=indimail is needed. It is actually an entry point in all the indimail, indimail-mta containers to start svscan command. The svscan command further runs supervise command for all services in the /service directory. Similarly the indimail-web container images have the entry point webmail which does everything that indimail entrypoint does and addiotionally runs the apache web server.
If you use this script it will
- mount mail volume as the /home, queue volume as the /var/indimail/queue
- Map high number ports on the host to low number ports on the container. If you want to map low number ports or to map the same ports (like port 25 on the host to be mapped to port 25 on the container), you will have to run podman with root privileges. You can map high number ports and set iptable(8) rules to map the same ports on the host system to a port on the container. If you run podman with root privileges, you can use --net host to map the container's network to the HOST. In that case you don't have to map the ports using the -p argument.
- Use the docker entrypoint indimail to start all indimail services.
- Run the container with special privileges that allows it to start like a normal OS with systemd, privileges to do strace and IPC locking
$ podman stop \`podman ps -q\` 08a4df5054d920cfdf8869aa777a7afc39bab19591394ea283c0c082f8b0a876
$ podman rm \`podman ps -aq\` 08a4df5054d920cfdf8869aa777a7afc39bab19591394ea283c0c082f8b0a876
The Dockerfile for each of the images is located in a separate subdirectory for each linux distro
COPY .alias .bash_profile .bashrc .exrc .gfuncs .glogout .indent.pro .vimrc /root/
To build the image use need to use the docker/podman build command .e.g.
$ docker build -t indimail:fc41 ./Dockerfile . or $ podman build -t indimail:fc41 ./Dockerfile .
If may want to build the image yourself instead of using ghcr.io. All you need is the Dockerfile and the files .alias, .bash_profile, .bashrc, .exrc, .gfuncs, .glogout, .indent.pro, .vimrc.
The Dockerfile for each of the images is located in a separate subdirectory for each linux distro
To build the image ensure that you create a build directory and copy Dockerfile and .alias, .bash_profile, .bashrc, .exrc, .gfuncs, .glogout, .indent.pro, .vimrc to the build directory
$ mkdir -p /usr/local/src $ cd /usr/local/src # let us say you want to build the alpine image for indimail-mta $ git clone https://github.com/indimail/indimail-docker.git $ cd docker $ cp indimail-mta/alpine/Dockerfile . for building a docker container use $ docker build -t localhost/indimail-mta:alpine . for building a podman container use $ podman build -t localhost/indimail-mta:alpine . You can use the docker images or podman images command to list the container images $ podman images REPOSITORY TAG IMAGE ID CREATED SIZE ghcr.io/indimail/indimail-mta stream8 108c6e83242e 2 hours ago 717 MB ghcr.io/indimail/indimail alpine 62f9d0d95427 15 hours ago 468 MB localhost/indimail alpine 62f9d0d95427 15 hours ago 468 MB ghcr.io/indimail/indimail-mta alpine 0dffb4b398af 28 hours ago 404 MB localhost/indimail-mta alpine 0dffb4b398af 28 hours ago 404 MB ghcr.io/indimail/tinydnssec alpine dc1c37c76a50 41 hours ago 97.2 MB localhost/tinydnssec alpine dc1c37c76a50 41 hours ago 97.2 MB registry.access.redhat.com/rhel7 latest 538460c14d75 2 weeks ago 216 MB localhost/indimail-mta tumbleweed 999a86c2bc61 2 weeks ago 413 MB localhost/indimail-mta debian13 f3a8194282d7 3 weeks ago 306 MB registry.opensuse.org/opensuse/leap latest accc3d285fe7 4 weeks ago 108 MB docker.io/library/almalinux 8 7a497d63e726 4 weeks ago 216 MB docker.io/library/debian 10 7a4951775d15 5 weeks ago 119 MB docker.io/library/alpine latest d4ff818577bc 6 weeks ago 5.87 MB registry.fedoraproject.org/fedora 44 abec9a7a7dc6 6 weeks ago 184 MB docker.io/library/almalinux latest 11c550a4f6c5 8 weeks ago 216 MB docker.io/gentoo/stage3 latest e95526ecc92d 3 months ago 919 MB docker.io/library/archlinux latest 3de742be9254 4 months ago 416 MB docker.io/library/debian 8 3aaeab7a4777 4 months ago 135 MB k8s.gcr.io/pause 3.5 ed210e3e4a5b 4 months ago 690 kB registry.opensuse.org/opensuse/tumbleweed latest cdd77ba4b087 4 months ago 94.7 MB docker.io/library/oraclelinux 8 f4a1f2c861ca 6 months ago 436 MB docker.io/library/ubuntu resolute f643c72bc252 8 months ago 75.3 MB docker.io/library/ubuntu bionic 2c047404e52d 8 months ago 65.6 MB docker.io/library/fedora 41 b3048463dcef 8 months ago 181 MB docker.io/opensuse/tumbleweed latest 2eac6045a15c 8 months ago 93.4 MB
NOTE
The images above have been installed without clam anti-virus to keep the image size as low as possible. You may install and configure it using the below steps.
$ sudo dnf -y install clamav clamav-update clamd # use apt-get for ubuntu/debian, zypper for openSUSE $ sudo svctool --clamd --clamdPrefix=/usr --servicedir=/service --sysconfdir=/etc/clamd.d $ sudo svctool --config=clamd $ sudo svctool --config=foxhole
The images are without man pages. You do the following
On Debian # apt-get install man-db On Fedora/CentOS/Oracle Linux/AlmaLinux/RockyLinux # yum/dnf --setopt=tsflags='' # yum/dnf install man-db man-pages On openSUSE # zypper install man man-pages
Now that you have learned the basics, you can use the container images to run three types of server explained below. If you have podman or docker command installed, it just takes less than 5 seconds (seriously) to run indimail and that too without any installation and configuration. The qmail control files are automatically adjusted based on the hostname of your container host. Container Host is the host where you have pulled the indimail container images.
-
indimail-mta container image: A basic server that servers as a MTA. You can also map your local /etc/passwd, /etc/group, /etc/shadow in the container to allow your users to send, receive emails. The server will provide SMTP/SMTPS, IMAP/IMAPS, POP3/POP3S services. You can use any email client that support these standard protocols. To start this container all you need to do is
runpod --id=container_id -h your_host -n indimail-mta
-
indimail container image: An advanced email server that allows you to create virtual users. These users can send, receive emails. The server will provide the usual SMTP/SMTPS, IMAP/IMAPS, POP3/POP3S protocols. You can use any email client that support these standard protocols.
runpod --id=container_id -h your_host -n indimail
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indimail-web container image: An advanced email server that also provides a webmail interface to send, receive and read emails. Like the above two, the server will continue to provide the usual SMTP/SMTPS, IMAP/IMAPS, POP3/POP3S protocols. Like the above, you can use any email client that support these standard protocols. The web interface uses roundcubemail to provide a responsive web UI that works on all devices. To use the web interface all you need to do is point your browser to your container host IP at port 8080 on the container host or port 80 if you run the container with -net host option.
runpod --id=container_id -h your_host -n webmail
When you use runpod on a container host to run a container OS with the above names (-n options), few ports will be mapped on the container OS as shown in the table below. Container Host is the host on which the container images are stored and also the host where you run the podman/docker command. Ports on the the container OS can be accessed by connecting to the mapped port. e.g. Connecting to port 2025 will get you connected to the SMTP port on the cotainer OS. If you are the root privileged user, you can use --net host to map the container's network to the HOST. In such a case you don't required to map ports on the container host to ports on the container OS. The indimail-web container image also comes with an administrative web interface named iwebadmin which allows you to carry out basic user, mailbox and ezmlm-idx mailing list administration.
Roundcubemail interface - http://container_IP:8080/indimail iwebadmin interface - http://container_IP:8080/cgi-bin/iwebadmin
You can use the port 8081 on the container host to access the SSL port 443 on the container OS. The mapped ports are as below. To use an email client all you need is to use the below ports in the settings of your email client. e.g. 2025 for SMTP, 2587 for submission port, 2993 for IMAPS, and so on. As explained before you can use the standard ports instead of the below mapped ports if you run the container with -net host option. But using -net host option requires root privileges.
| Port on Container Host | Port on Container OS |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 25 |
| 2106 | 106 |
| 2110 | 110 |
| 2143 | 143 |
| 2209 | 209 |
| 2366 | 366 |
| 2465 | 465 |
| 2587 | 587 |
| 2628 | 628 |
| 2993 | 993 |
| 2995 | 995 |
| 3110 | 4110 |
| 3143 | 4143 |
| 5110 | 9110 |
| 5143 | 9143 |
| 8080 | 80 |
| 8081 | 443 |
Since the host has a mapped port for every port on the container (SMTP, SMTPS, IMAP, IMAPS, POP3, POP3S, HTTP, HTTPS), we can run any email client on the host machine by using the mapped ports. In fact one doesn't need the webmail container image for indimail. You are free to use any webmail, desktop, command line client and use port 2025 for SMTP, 2587 for SMTP submission, 2465 for SMTPS, 2143 for IMAP, 2993 for IMAPS, etc. Below is an example on using the official Roundcubemail docker image to provide a webmail interface for indimail-mta or indimail container images
# Run a webmail interface for indimail on port 8000 using the official # roundcube docker image. # This example assumes that the IP of the host is 192.168.2.108 $ podman run -ti -e ROUNDCUBEMAIL_DEFAULT_HOST=ssl://192.168.2.108 \ -e ROUNDCUBEMAIL_DEFAULT_PORT =2993 \ -e ROUNDCUBEMAIL_SMTP_SERVER=192.168.2.108 \ -e ROUNDCUBEMAIL_SMTP_PORT=2025 \ -p 8000:80 roundcube/roundcubemail
The indimail-mta, indimail-mta and indimail-web images are tested for sending, receiving, reading emails, imap/pop3 login, roundcubemail login, iwebadmin login, etc using the script testdocker. The script test all important functions of IndiMail server. The indimail-web images gives you webmail using roundcubemail and mail/ezmlm mailing list administration using iwebadmin.
You can also use the official roundcubemail docker container. The official image for roundcubemail however does not have the iwebadmin, spamassasin plugins. So you will not be able to change the password, mark emails as spam using the official roundcubemail container image. However you can copy roundcubemail/plugins to /usr/share/roundcubemail/plugins directory of the container and make the plugins work. You will also need to install iwebadmin package to get indimail web admin interface and ezmlm maililing list management interface.
Another advice would be to avoid Redhat images. Use the Rockylinux, Almalinux images instead. Avoid the ubi8, ubi9 like plague. The ubi images are mostly unusable missing out on important language like R, tcl, tk. Due to unavailibility of pam-devel on ubi9, courier-imap build fails. So ubi9 container is without IMAP and POP3 access, which pretty much makes it the most useless image pressent in this repository. See how brazenly they have closed this bugid. With takeover by IBM, Redhat has been messing around with the GPL license. I have successfully managed to persuade few of my clients using Indimail to use Rockylinux and they had absolutely no issue switching from CentOS.
Webmail Login Interface
Webmail Mailbox Interface
Webmail Mailbox Interface on mobile device
iwebadmin Administration Login Interface. The cool thing about iwebadmin interface is it displays a random fortune cookie in the footer of every page.
iwebadmin Administration Interface
This repository also has build scripts that help in generating docker/podman images. These are the main scripts for building docker/podman images for indimail, indimail-mta, indimail-web. They build and push the images to hub.docker.com
The recommended steps are
- run buildall-bin-from-obs.yml to build indimail, indimail-mta packages for packages availabe on OpenSUSE Build Service. This are almalinux8, almalinux9, jammy, noble, resolute, debian11, debian12, debian13, fc44, fc43, leap16.0, oracle8, rockylinux8, rockylinux9, tumbleweed.
- run buildall-bin-from-src when indimail, indimail-mta sources are updated or when a new distribution is added
- run buildall-src-image occasionaly. This will build intermediate base images having development and other packages needed to build the indimail, indimail-mta packages. This is done only for alpine, archlinux, gentoo, ubi8, centos-stream8, centos-stream9. Once you have the intermediate base images you can run buildall-bin-from-src as and when indimail, indimail-mta sources are updated.
| Name | Purpose | Status |
|---|---|---|
| buildall-bin-from-obs.yml | Build deployable indimail/indimail-mta docker/podman images by installing rpm/deb from open build service. This excludes alpine archlinux gentoo ubi8 centos8-stream centos9-stream |  |
| buildall-bin-from-src.yml | Build deployable indimail/indimail-mta images for alpine, archlinux, gentoo, ubi8, centos8-stream, centos9-stream using images from buildall-src-image.yml. This builds only the indimail, indimail-mta packages. The base packages were already built by buildall-src-image.yml. This should be used as and when indimail-mta, indimail-mta sources are modified. | |
| buildall-web-from-obs.yml | Build deployable webmail docker images. This excludes alpine archlinux gentoo ubi8 centos8-stream centos9-stream |  |
| build-single-src.yml | Requires Dockerfile ending with .src extension in indimail-src directory. Builds an intermediate base images for a single distribution from github sources. This can be used by build-single-bin-from-src to reduce build times. This will have all base packages built and installed. This should be used once in a while to keep upto date with the base OS. |  |
| build-single-bin.yml | Requires Dockerfile ending with .bin extension in indimail-src directory. Builds deployable images for a single distribution. This requires source docker image to be pre-built. |  |
| buildall-src-image.yml | Build intermediate base images for alpine, archlinux, gentoo, ubi8, centos8-stream, centos9-stream from github sources. This can be used by buildall-bin-from-src to reduce build times. This has high build times as packages (all for gentoo) are downloaded and built from source. This has all base packages built and installed. This should be used once in a while to keep upto date with the base OS. | |
You can run the above scripts if you clone this repository. To authenticate with docker container registry and github container registry you need to set two personal access tokens - DOCKER_PAT for docker registry and GHCR_TOKEN for github container registry. Read this and this to learn how to create Personal Access Tokens (PAT) for github and docker container registries. Once you have generated PATs for your repository you need to enter add them to our repository secrets by clicking github Settings --> Secrets and variables --> Actions for your repository.
You can also build your own docker images by cloning this repository and then running the scripts in the scripts folder manually. This method will require you to install docker and podman command on your host.
All images on the docker.io and ghcr.io are now tested using the testdocker script. The results are tabulated as below
Built using indimail binary packages
Build Date: Sat, 11 Jul 2026 (Testing not yet started)
| Image | indimail-mta | virtualdomains | webmail |
|---|---|---|---|
| almalinux8 | NO | NO | NO |
| almalinux9 | NO | NO | NO |
| oracle8 | NO | NO | NO |
| oracle9 | NO | NO | NO |
| rockylinux8 | NO | NO | NO |
| rockylinux9 | NO | NO | NO |
| stream8 | NO | NO | NO |
| stream9 | NO | NO | NO |
| fc43 | NO | NO | NO |
| fc44 | NO | NO | NO |
| leap16.0 | NO | NO | NO |
| amznlinux2023 | NO | NO | NO |
| mageia8 | NO | NO | NA |
| mageia9 | NO | NO | NA |
| debian11 | NO | NO | NO |
| debian12 | NO | NO | NO |
| jammy | NO | NO | NO |
| noble | NO | NO | NO |
| resolute | NO | NO | NO |
- indimail-mta, indimail Tested on XX-Jul-2026
- indimail-web Tested on XX-Jul-2026
- indimail, indimail-mta for mageia8, mageia9 Tested on XX-Jul-2026
Built using indimail source packages
Build Date: Sat, 11 Jul 2026
| Image | indimail-mta | virtualdomains | webmail |
|---|---|---|---|
| alpine | NO | NO | NA |
| archlinux | NO | NO | NA |
| gentoo | NO | NO | NA |
| fedora | NO | NO | NO |
| ubi8 | NO | NO | NA |
| ubi9 | NO | NO | NA |
-
Tested on XX-Jul-2026
-
OK - Test successful
-
NO - Test failed
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NA - Not tested/Not Available
- Matrix Invite Link #indimail:matrix.org
- IndiMail has an IRC channel on libera #indimail-mta
There are two Mailing Lists for IndiMail
- indimail-support - You can subscribe for Support here. You can mail indimail-support for support. Old discussions can be seen here
- Archive at Google Groups. This groups acts as a remote archive for indimail-support and indimail-devel.
There is also a Project Tracker for IndiMail (Bugs, Feature Requests, Patches, Support Requests)