Mailcow Setup & Usage

Deploy a full-featured self-hosted mail server with Mailcow on Docker.

Category: Mailcow

Prerequisites

  • Ubuntu 22.04 LTS server with at least 2GB RAM
  • A domain name with DNS control
  • Ports 25, 80, 443, 465, 587, 993, 995, 4190 open in firewall
  • Docker and Docker Compose installed

DNS Records Required

# MX record
@  MX  10  mail.yourdomain.com

# A records
mail  A  your.server.ip

# SPF
@  TXT  "v=spf1 mx ~all"

# DMARC
_dmarc  TXT  "v=DMARC1; p=quarantine; rua=mailto:admin@yourdomain.com"

Install Mailcow

# Clone Mailcow
cd /opt
sudo git clone https://github.com/mailcow/mailcow-dockerized
cd mailcow-dockerized

# Generate config (answer prompts for your hostname)
sudo ./generate_config.sh

# Pull and start
sudo docker compose pull
sudo docker compose up -d

Access the Admin Panel

After startup, access the web UI at https://mail.yourdomain.com. Default credentials:

  • Username: admin
  • Password: moohoo

Change the admin password immediately after first login.

Add a Domain and Mailbox

  • Go to Email → Domains → Add Domain
  • Go to Email → Mailboxes → Add Mailbox
  • Configure DKIM under Email → Configuration → ARC/DKIM Keys

Useful Management Commands

# Check container status
cd /opt/mailcow-dockerized
sudo docker compose ps

# View logs
sudo docker compose logs --tail=50 -f

# Restart all services
sudo docker compose restart