iRedMail Setup Guide: Full-Featured Email Server

iRedMail: The Flexible Middle Ground

iRedMail sits between Mail-in-a-Box's simplicity and Mailcow's Docker-based architecture. It installs a full email stack directly on the OS, supports multiple Linux distros, and gives you more control over the underlying components than either alternative.

For a comparison with other options, see Mailcow vs iRedMail vs Modoboa. It's the right choice when you want a guided installation but need to customize the stack afterward — different database backends, specific distro requirements, or integration with existing infrastructure.

Prerequisites

1. Fresh Linux server — Ubuntu 22.04/24.04, Debian 12, Rocky Linux 9, or OpenBSD
2. 2 GB RAM minimum (4 GB recommended with ClamAV)
3. Clean IP address — check blacklists before installing
4. Domain name with DNS access
5. Port 25 open — verify with your VPS provider
6. PTR record — set reverse DNS to your mail hostname

VPS Recommendations

Provider	Port 25	Starting Price	Notes
Hetzner	Open	~$4/mo	Best value, EU-based
OVH	Open	~$5/mo	EU-based, good IP reputation
DigitalOcean	Request	$6/mo	Need to request port 25 unblock
Vultr	Request	$6/mo	Need to request port 25 unblock

Installation

Download and run the installer:

wget https://github.com/iredmail/iRedMail/archive/refs/tags/1.7.1.tar.gz
tar xzf 1.7.1.tar.gz
cd iRedMail-1.7.1
bash iRedMail.sh

The installer prompts for:

1. Mail storage path — default /var/vmail (keep it)
2. Web server — Nginx (recommended) or Apache
3. Database backend — MySQL/MariaDB, PostgreSQL, or OpenLDAP
4. First domain — your primary email domain
5. Admin password — for the postmaster account
6. Optional components — Roundcube, SOGo, Fail2ban, iRedAdmin

Choose MySQL/MariaDB unless you have a specific reason for PostgreSQL or LDAP. It's the most widely documented backend.

DNS Configuration

After installation, configure these DNS records:

# MX Record
yourdomain.com    MX    10    mail.yourdomain.com

# A Record
mail.yourdomain.com    A    [your-server-ip]

# SPF
yourdomain.com    TXT    "v=spf1 mx ip4:[your-server-ip] -all"

# DKIM (key generated during install, check /var/lib/dkim/)
dkim._domainkey.yourdomain.com    TXT    "v=DKIM1; k=rsa; p=MIIBIjAN..."

# DMARC
_dmarc.yourdomain.com    TXT    "v=DMARC1; p=quarantine; rua=mailto:[email protected]"

# PTR (set in VPS control panel)
[your-ip]    PTR    mail.yourdomain.com

The installer generates the DKIM key automatically. Find it at:

cat /var/lib/dkim/yourdomain.com.pem
# Or check the iRedAdmin panel for the public key
amavisd-new showkeys

Post-Installation Setup

Access the Admin Panel

Navigate to https://mail.yourdomain.com/iredadmin/ and log in with [email protected].

Create User Accounts

In iRedAdmin → Add → User. Each user gets IMAP access, webmail, and SMTP sending ability.

Configure Webmail

Roundcube is available at https://mail.yourdomain.com/mail/. SOGo (if installed) at https://mail.yourdomain.com/SOGo/.

Test Email Flow

1. Send a test email to an external Gmail account
2. Check Gmail headers for SPF=pass, DKIM=pass, DMARC=pass
3. Reply from Gmail to test inbound delivery
4. Check spam scores at mail-tester.com

iRedMail vs. Mailcow vs. Mail-in-a-Box

Feature	iRedMail	Mailcow	Mail-in-a-Box
Installation	Script on OS	Docker Compose	Script on OS
Distro support	Many	Any with Docker	Ubuntu only
Web admin	iRedAdmin	Mailcow UI	Custom panel
Database options	MySQL, PG, LDAP	MySQL only	SQLite
Customization	High	Medium	Low
Maintenance	Manual updates	Docker pull	Re-run script
Learning curve	Medium	Low-Medium	Low

Practitioner note: I recommend iRedMail for organizations that already have Linux sysadmin staff and want email running alongside existing infrastructure. It integrates better with existing systems than Docker-based solutions because it uses standard OS packages and configs. But if you don't have sysadmin experience, Mailcow's Docker approach is easier to manage.

Maintenance Checklist

• Daily: Check mail queue (mailq), monitor disk space
• Weekly: Review logs (/var/log/mail.log), check blacklists
• Monthly: Update OS packages (apt update && apt upgrade), check iRedMail releases
• Quarterly: Rotate DKIM keys, verify backups, review user accounts

Practitioner note: The biggest iRedMail maintenance gotcha is ClamAV updates. ClamAV's virus definitions update via freshclam, and if freshclam breaks silently (often due to rate limiting from ClamAV's servers), you're running outdated virus definitions. Monitor freshclam logs or set up a cron alert.

If you're choosing between iRedMail and other self-hosted options, schedule a consultation — I'll evaluate your requirements and recommend the right stack.

Sources

• iRedMail: Official Documentation
• iRedMail: GitHub Repository
• Postfix: Configuration Documentation
• Dovecot: Configuration Manual

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v1.0 · April 2026