ispmail-workaround-org/src/content/docs/ispmail-trixie/130-install-packages.mdx

70 lines
3 KiB
Text
Raw Blame History

This file contains ambiguous Unicode characters

This file contains Unicode characters that might be confused with other characters. If you think that this is intentional, you can safely ignore this warning. Use the Escape button to reveal them.

---
title: Install software packages
lastUpdated: 2025-08-14
slug: ispmail-trixie/install-the-software-packages
sidebar:
order: 130
---
import { Aside } from "@astrojs/starlight/components";
Let's install the necessary Debian packages. Run this command as root on your server as _root_:
```sh
apt update
DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive \
apt -y install postfix-mysql dovecot-mysql \
dovecot-imapd dovecot-lmtpd dovecot-managesieved \
apache2 python3-certbot-apache libapache2-mod-php \
php-intl php-mbstring php-xml unzip certbot \
roundcube-mysql roundcube swaks ufw mutt \
unattended-upgrades mariadb-server
postfix chroot off
```
While the server is downloading and installing the packages, let me give you a quick explanation of each package:
- **postfix** / **postfix-mysql** \
Postfix is the MTA (mail transport agent) that speaks SMTP to send and receive emails. This package installs Postfix
with support for MariaDB databases.
- **dovecot** \
Dovecot manages the emsrc/content/docs/ispmail-trixie/140-install-packages.mdx emails using IMAP.
- **-lmtpd** \
LMTP (Local Mail Transfer Protocol) provides the glue between Postfix and Dovecot.
- **-managesieved** \
Lets you configure automatic processing rules on the server. Like out-of-office emails or filtering incoming emails
to folders.
- **-mysql** \
Makes Dovecot able to query MariaDB databases.
- **apache** \
Web server. Needed for webmail.
- **php-\*** \
PHP is the programming language that Roundcube (the webmail software) is written in.
- **mariadb-server** \
Database server that helps us store control data in a MariaDB database on the mail server.
- **roundcube** / **roundcube-mysql** \
Webmail software that lets you access your emails in any web browser. Roundcube speaks to Dovecot to fetch emails. And
to Postfix to send emails.
- **swaks** \
The SWiss Army Knife of Smtp. Helpful command-line tool to send test emails to a mail server.
- **certbot** \
Gets a free TLS certificate from [_Let's Encrypt_](https://letsencrypt.org/) for encrypting network communication.
- **ufw** \
Universal FireWall. A simple tool to manage firewall rules to limit access to your server. TODO: omit?
- **rspamd** \
It reliably detects spam. Also handles adding DKIM signature to outgoing email to prevent spoofing your domains. TODO:
later/optional
- **mutt** \
A console-based program that can speak IMAP and also read Maildirs directly. Very helpful for testing the
functionality of your mail server. Think of it as a text-based Thunderbird.
- **unattended-upgrades** \
Installs security updates automatically.
<Aside type="note" title="postfix chroot off?">
By default, Debian enables Postfix to run in chroot mode. While this may sound like a security improvement, even
Postfixs author advises against it, arguing that it mostly creates a false sense of security. For this reason, we are
disabling chroot mode—which also simplifies some configuration later on.
</Aside>