Mail-in-a-Box is a self-hosted email server solution that turns a fresh Ubuntu LTS machine into a working mail system with a web-based management interface.
It’s designed to make running your own email service much easier by automating installation and configuration of core mail components, webmail, contact and calendar synchronization, DNS records, TLS certificates, backups, monitoring, and other supporting services.
This is free and open source software.
Key Features
- Provides SMTP and IMAP services for sending and receiving email.
- Includes Roundcube webmail for browser-based access to mailboxes.
- Supports contacts and calendar synchronization with CardDAV and CalDAV.
- Configures important email DNS records such as SPF, DKIM, DMARC, DNSSEC, DANE TLSA, MTA-STS, and SSHFP.
- Automatically provisions TLS certificates with Let’s Encrypt.
- Offers spam filtering, greylisting, firewalling, and intrusion protection.
- Includes a control panel for managing users, aliases, DNS records, and backups.
- Performs comprehensive health checks for services, ports, certificates, and DNS configuration.
- Provides an API for control panel actions.
- Supports hosting mail for multiple users and multiple domains.
- Can also serve simple static websites.
Website: github.com/mail-in-a-box/mailinabox
Support:
Developer: Joshua Tauberer and contributors
License: CC0 1.0 Universal
Mail-in-a-Box is written in Python. Learn Python with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
Related Software
| Email Servers | |
|---|---|
| Exim | Highly configurable mail transfer agent |
| OpenSMTPD | Implementation of the server-side SMTP protocol with additional extensions |
| mox | Modern, secure, all-in-one email server |
| DBMail | Enables storing and retrieving mail messages from a database |
| WildDuck | Opinionated email server |
| Stalwart | All-in-one mail and collaboration server |
| Postfix | Popular mail transfer agent |
| Dovecot | Secure POP3 server that supports mbox and maildir mailboxes |
| Courier | Integrated mail/groupware server |
| Cyrus IMAP | Email, contacts and calendar server |
| Zimbra | Zimbra Collaboration Suite |
| Citadel | Exchange-killer groupware server |
| chasquid | SMTP server with a focus on simplicity, security, and ease of operation |
| Sendmail | Mail transfer agent for sophisticated mail configurations |
| qmail | Written as a more secure replacement for the Sendmail program |
| dma | DragonFly Mail Agent |
| DavMail | POP/IMAP/SMTP/Caldav/Carddav/LDAP exchange gateway |
Read our verdict in the software roundup.
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