Mail clients maximize and make even more efficient the use of email services in companies. Many of them add many features that make the service better. Especially if we have our own email service helping the flexibility of it. Today, I will show you how to install RoundCube on Ubuntu 18.04, a modern web client for email compatible with many external services.
Roundcube is according to its website, a browser-based multilingual IMAP client with an application-like user interface. It provides full functionality you expect from an email client, including MIME support, address book, folder manipulation, message searching and spell checking.
A great advantage of Roundcube is the possibility to add Plugins. Thus, it is possible to extend even more the functionalities of the application. On the other hand, the application is compatible with Google, Yahoo, and other email services. All these advantages on your own server.
So let’s get started.
Install Apache web server and PHP
To install Rouncube on Ubuntu 18.04 the first step is to have a web server installed on our system. So for this tutorial, I will use Apache web server and PHP.
Open a terminal or connect to your server using SSH and run the following command:
:~$ sudo apt install apache2 php7.2 libapache2-mod-php7.2 php7.2-common php7.2-curl php7.2-mbstring php7.2-xmlrpc php7.2-mysql php7.2-gd php7.2-xml php7.2-intl php7.2-ldap php7.2-imagick php7.2-json php7.2-cli
After that, changes some configurations of values in order to have a better performance.
:~$ sudo nano /etc/php/7.2/apache2/php.ini
file_uploads = On allow_url_fopen = On short_open_tag = On memory_limit = 256M upload_max_filesize = 80M max_execution_time = 360
Save the changes and close the file. Next, restart Apache.
:~$ sudo systemctl restart apache2
Then, create a new file to test PHP.
:~$ sudo nano /var/www/html/test.php
And add the following:
<?php phpinfo(); ?>
Next, open your web browser and go to http://your-server-ip/test.php. If you see something like this, everything is OK.
Install MariaDB
Now it is the turn to install MariaDB. MariaDB is in the official Ubuntu repositories, so it will not be a problem to install it.
:~$ sudo apt install mariadb-server
Next, using the mysql_secure_installation set the root password.
:~$ sudo mysql_secure_installation
After defining the root password, you will be asked some security questions that you will have to answer as you like. I will answer Y, N, Y, Y.
Then, you need to create a MariaDB user for Rouncube.
:~$ sudo mysql -u root -p CREATE DATABASE roundcube; GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON roundcube.* TO 'rounduser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'roundpss'; FLUSH PRIVILEGES; exit;
Install Roundcube on Ubuntu 18.04
It is now possible to install Rouncube on Ubuntu 18.04. First, let’s download it:
:~$ cd /tmp/ :~$ wget https://github.com/roundcube/roundcubemail/releases/download/1.3.8/roundcubemail-1.3.9-complete.tar.gz
Next, decompress it.
:~$ tar -xvzf tar -xvzf roundcubemail-1.3.9-complete.tar.gz
And move it to the Apache folder.
:~$ sudo mv roundcubemail-1.3.9 /var/www/html/roundcube
After that, the Roundcube database has to be started. To do this, run the following command:
:~$ cd /var/www/html/roundcube :~$ sudo mysql -u [user] -p [database] < SQL/mysql.initial.sql
After all this, it is necessary to assign the Rouncube folder the necessary permissions to avoid execution problems.
:~$ sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/roundcube/
:~$ sudo find /var/www/html/roundcube/ -type d -exec chmod 750 {} \;
:~$ sudo find /var/www/html/roundcube/ -type f -exec chmod 640 {} \;
Next, you need to create a new virtual host for Roundcube.
:~$ sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/roundcube.conf
And add the following:
<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerAdmin [email protected]
DocumentRoot /var/www/html/roundcube
ServerName your-server.com
<Directory /var/www/html/roundcube/>
Options FollowSymlinks
AllowOverride All
Require all granted
</Directory>
ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined
</VirtualHost>
Save the changes and close it.
Finally, enable the new virtual host and restart Apache.
:~$ sudo a2ensite roundcube.conf :~$ sudo systemctl reload apache2
Now, you can complete the installation using the web interface.
Set up Rouncube
Now, open your web browser and access to your server and start the installer. http://your-server/installer
Next, config the database and the IMAP parameters and start the installation.
Next, log in on http://your-server/
And that’s it.
Conclusion
Roundcube is a great alternative to many web clients who are heavy. In addition, Rouncube is easy to install on our private server, which gives us total control over it.
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