Mailcow Complete Email Server

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Full-featured email server with Dovecot, Postfix, SOGo webmail, and rspamd spam filtering.

Overview

Mailcow is a complete, dockerized mail server solution that combines the most robust open-source email components into a unified platform. Originally developed as an alternative to complex manual email server setups, mailcow integrates Postfix for SMTP services, Dovecot for IMAP/POP3, SOGo for webmail and groupware functionality, and rspamd for advanced spam filtering and reputation management. This creates a production-ready email infrastructure that rivals commercial solutions while maintaining full control over your data. The architecture leverages Postfix as the mail transfer agent handling incoming and outgoing messages, while Dovecot manages mailbox storage and client connections through IMAP and POP3 protocols. SOGo provides a modern web interface for email, calendar, and contacts with ActiveSync support for mobile devices. Rspamd performs real-time spam analysis using machine learning algorithms, DKIM signing, and reputation scoring, with Redis caching frequently accessed data and MySQL storing user accounts, configurations, and message metadata. This combination addresses the critical challenge of running enterprise-grade email infrastructure without the complexity of manually configuring and maintaining individual components. Small to medium businesses, privacy-conscious organizations, and system administrators benefit from mailcow's integrated approach, which provides advanced features like two-factor authentication, alias management, automatic backup capabilities, and comprehensive logging while eliminating the traditional pain points of email server administration.

Key Features

Rspamd advanced spam filtering with Bayes classification, neural networks, and real-time reputation scoring
SOGo ActiveSync protocol support for native mobile device integration with push notifications
Postfix multi-instance architecture with automatic DKIM key generation and DNS record management
Dovecot full-text search with Solr backend integration and server-side mail filtering via Sieve
Built-in quarantine management system with user self-service portal for reviewing blocked messages
Automatic Let's Encrypt certificate provisioning and renewal with DANE TLSA record support
Real-time monitoring dashboard with mail queue status, spam statistics, and system resource usage
Multi-domain support with per-domain policies, quotas, and administrator delegation

Common Use Cases

1Small business email infrastructure replacing expensive hosted solutions like Microsoft 365
2Privacy-focused organizations requiring full control over email data and encryption keys
3Managed service providers offering white-label email hosting to multiple clients
4Educational institutions needing cost-effective email with calendar and contact synchronization
5Development teams requiring dedicated email services for application notifications and user communications
6Remote work environments needing reliable email with mobile device management capabilities
7Compliance-sensitive industries requiring email archiving, audit trails, and data residency control

Prerequisites

Minimum 4GB RAM and 20GB storage space for production deployment with multiple domains
Valid domain name with ability to configure MX, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC DNS records
Clean IP address reputation (not blacklisted) with reverse DNS properly configured
SSL certificate or ability to obtain Let's Encrypt certificates for mail.yourdomain.com
Open firewall ports 25, 80, 110, 143, 443, 465, 587, 993, 995 for full functionality
Basic understanding of email protocols (SMTP, IMAP, POP3) and DNS record management

For development & testing. Review security settings, change default credentials, and test thoroughly before production use. See Terms

docker-compose.yml

1services: 
2  unbound-mailcow: 
3    image: mailcow/unbound:latest
4    volumes: 
5      - ./data/hooks/unbound:/hooks:Z
6      - ./data/conf/unbound/unbound.conf:/etc/unbound/unbound.conf:ro,Z
7    networks: 
8      mailcow-network: 
9        aliases: 
10          - unbound
11
12  mysql-mailcow: 
13    image: mariadb:10.11
14    command: --innodb-buffer-pool-size=256M
15    volumes: 
16      - mysql-vol-1:/var/lib/mysql
17      - mysql-socket-vol-1:/var/run/mysqld
18      - ./data/conf/mysql/:/etc/mysql/conf.d/:ro,Z
19    environment: 
20      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: ${DBROOT}
21      MYSQL_DATABASE: ${DBNAME}
22      MYSQL_USER: ${DBUSER}
23      MYSQL_PASSWORD: ${DBPASS}
24    networks: 
25      - mailcow-network
26    restart: unless-stopped
27
28  redis-mailcow: 
29    image: redis:alpine
30    volumes: 
31      - redis-vol-1:/data
32    networks: 
33      - mailcow-network
34    restart: unless-stopped
35
36  rspamd-mailcow: 
37    image: mailcow/rspamd:latest
38    depends_on: 
39      - redis-mailcow
40    volumes: 
41      - ./data/conf/rspamd/custom/:/etc/rspamd/custom:Z
42      - ./data/conf/rspamd/override.d/:/etc/rspamd/override.d:Z
43      - ./data/conf/rspamd/local.d/:/etc/rspamd/local.d:Z
44      - rspamd-vol-1:/var/lib/rspamd
45    networks: 
46      - mailcow-network
47    restart: unless-stopped
48
49  dovecot-mailcow: 
50    image: mailcow/dovecot:latest
51    depends_on: 
52      - mysql-mailcow
53    volumes: 
54      - ./data/conf/dovecot:/etc/dovecot:Z
55      - ./data/assets/ssl:/etc/ssl/mail:ro,Z
56      - vmail-vol-1:/var/vmail
57    environment: 
58      DBNAME: ${DBNAME}
59      DBUSER: ${DBUSER}
60      DBPASS: ${DBPASS}
61    networks: 
62      - mailcow-network
63    restart: unless-stopped
64
65  postfix-mailcow: 
66    image: mailcow/postfix:latest
67    depends_on: 
68      - mysql-mailcow
69    volumes: 
70      - ./data/conf/postfix:/etc/postfix:Z
71      - ./data/assets/ssl:/etc/ssl/mail:ro,Z
72      - postfix-vol-1:/var/spool/postfix
73    environment: 
74      DBNAME: ${DBNAME}
75      DBUSER: ${DBUSER}
76      DBPASS: ${DBPASS}
77    ports: 
78      - "25:25"
79      - "465:465"
80      - "587:587"
81    networks: 
82      - mailcow-network
83    restart: unless-stopped
84
85  sogo-mailcow: 
86    image: mailcow/sogo:latest
87    depends_on: 
88      - mysql-mailcow
89      - redis-mailcow
90    environment: 
91      DBNAME: ${DBNAME}
92      DBUSER: ${DBUSER}
93      DBPASS: ${DBPASS}
94      MAILCOW_HOSTNAME: ${MAILCOW_HOSTNAME}
95    networks: 
96      - mailcow-network
97    restart: unless-stopped
98
99  nginx-mailcow: 
100    image: nginx:alpine
101    depends_on: 
102      - sogo-mailcow
103      - rspamd-mailcow
104    ports: 
105      - "80:80"
106      - "443:443"
107    volumes: 
108      - ./data/conf/nginx:/etc/nginx/conf.d:ro,Z
109      - ./data/assets/ssl:/etc/ssl/mail:ro,Z
110    networks: 
111      - mailcow-network
112    restart: unless-stopped
113
114volumes: 
115  mysql-vol-1: 
116  mysql-socket-vol-1: 
117  redis-vol-1: 
118  rspamd-vol-1: 
119  vmail-vol-1: 
120  postfix-vol-1: 
121
122networks: 
123  mailcow-network: 
124    driver: bridge

.env Template

.env

1# Hostname
2MAILCOW_HOSTNAME=mail.example.com
3
4# Database
5DBNAME=mailcow
6DBUSER=mailcow
7DBPASS=secure_db_password
8DBROOT=secure_root_password
9
10# Timezone
11TZ=UTC

Usage Notes

1Access admin at https://mail.example.com/admin
2SOGo webmail at https://mail.example.com/SOGo
3Configure DNS records (MX, SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
4Use mailcow generate_config.sh for initial setup

Individual Services(8 services)

Copy individual services to mix and match with your existing compose files.

unbound-mailcow

unbound-mailcow:
  image: mailcow/unbound:latest
  volumes:
    - ./data/hooks/unbound:/hooks:Z
    - ./data/conf/unbound/unbound.conf:/etc/unbound/unbound.conf:ro,Z
  networks:
    mailcow-network:
      aliases:
        - unbound

mysql-mailcow

mysql-mailcow:
  image: mariadb:10.11
  command: "--innodb-buffer-pool-size=256M"
  volumes:
    - mysql-vol-1:/var/lib/mysql
    - mysql-socket-vol-1:/var/run/mysqld
    - ./data/conf/mysql/:/etc/mysql/conf.d/:ro,Z
  environment:
    MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: ${DBROOT}
    MYSQL_DATABASE: ${DBNAME}
    MYSQL_USER: ${DBUSER}
    MYSQL_PASSWORD: ${DBPASS}
  networks:
    - mailcow-network
  restart: unless-stopped

redis-mailcow

redis-mailcow:
  image: redis:alpine
  volumes:
    - redis-vol-1:/data
  networks:
    - mailcow-network
  restart: unless-stopped

rspamd-mailcow

rspamd-mailcow:
  image: mailcow/rspamd:latest
  depends_on:
    - redis-mailcow
  volumes:
    - ./data/conf/rspamd/custom/:/etc/rspamd/custom:Z
    - ./data/conf/rspamd/override.d/:/etc/rspamd/override.d:Z
    - ./data/conf/rspamd/local.d/:/etc/rspamd/local.d:Z
    - rspamd-vol-1:/var/lib/rspamd
  networks:
    - mailcow-network
  restart: unless-stopped

dovecot-mailcow

dovecot-mailcow:
  image: mailcow/dovecot:latest
  depends_on:
    - mysql-mailcow
  volumes:
    - ./data/conf/dovecot:/etc/dovecot:Z
    - ./data/assets/ssl:/etc/ssl/mail:ro,Z
    - vmail-vol-1:/var/vmail
  environment:
    DBNAME: ${DBNAME}
    DBUSER: ${DBUSER}
    DBPASS: ${DBPASS}
  networks:
    - mailcow-network
  restart: unless-stopped

postfix-mailcow

postfix-mailcow:
  image: mailcow/postfix:latest
  depends_on:
    - mysql-mailcow
  volumes:
    - ./data/conf/postfix:/etc/postfix:Z
    - ./data/assets/ssl:/etc/ssl/mail:ro,Z
    - postfix-vol-1:/var/spool/postfix
  environment:
    DBNAME: ${DBNAME}
    DBUSER: ${DBUSER}
    DBPASS: ${DBPASS}
  ports:
    - "25:25"
    - "465:465"
    - "587:587"
  networks:
    - mailcow-network
  restart: unless-stopped

sogo-mailcow

sogo-mailcow:
  image: mailcow/sogo:latest
  depends_on:
    - mysql-mailcow
    - redis-mailcow
  environment:
    DBNAME: ${DBNAME}
    DBUSER: ${DBUSER}
    DBPASS: ${DBPASS}
    MAILCOW_HOSTNAME: ${MAILCOW_HOSTNAME}
  networks:
    - mailcow-network
  restart: unless-stopped

nginx-mailcow

nginx-mailcow:
  image: nginx:alpine
  depends_on:
    - sogo-mailcow
    - rspamd-mailcow
  ports:
    - "80:80"
    - "443:443"
  volumes:
    - ./data/conf/nginx:/etc/nginx/conf.d:ro,Z
    - ./data/assets/ssl:/etc/ssl/mail:ro,Z
  networks:
    - mailcow-network
  restart: unless-stopped

Quick Start

terminal

1# 1. Create the compose file
2cat > docker-compose.yml << 'EOF'
3services:
4  unbound-mailcow:
5    image: mailcow/unbound:latest
6    volumes:
7      - ./data/hooks/unbound:/hooks:Z
8      - ./data/conf/unbound/unbound.conf:/etc/unbound/unbound.conf:ro,Z
9    networks:
10      mailcow-network:
11        aliases:
12          - unbound
13
14  mysql-mailcow:
15    image: mariadb:10.11
16    command: --innodb-buffer-pool-size=256M
17    volumes:
18      - mysql-vol-1:/var/lib/mysql
19      - mysql-socket-vol-1:/var/run/mysqld
20      - ./data/conf/mysql/:/etc/mysql/conf.d/:ro,Z
21    environment:
22      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: ${DBROOT}
23      MYSQL_DATABASE: ${DBNAME}
24      MYSQL_USER: ${DBUSER}
25      MYSQL_PASSWORD: ${DBPASS}
26    networks:
27      - mailcow-network
28    restart: unless-stopped
29
30  redis-mailcow:
31    image: redis:alpine
32    volumes:
33      - redis-vol-1:/data
34    networks:
35      - mailcow-network
36    restart: unless-stopped
37
38  rspamd-mailcow:
39    image: mailcow/rspamd:latest
40    depends_on:
41      - redis-mailcow
42    volumes:
43      - ./data/conf/rspamd/custom/:/etc/rspamd/custom:Z
44      - ./data/conf/rspamd/override.d/:/etc/rspamd/override.d:Z
45      - ./data/conf/rspamd/local.d/:/etc/rspamd/local.d:Z
46      - rspamd-vol-1:/var/lib/rspamd
47    networks:
48      - mailcow-network
49    restart: unless-stopped
50
51  dovecot-mailcow:
52    image: mailcow/dovecot:latest
53    depends_on:
54      - mysql-mailcow
55    volumes:
56      - ./data/conf/dovecot:/etc/dovecot:Z
57      - ./data/assets/ssl:/etc/ssl/mail:ro,Z
58      - vmail-vol-1:/var/vmail
59    environment:
60      DBNAME: ${DBNAME}
61      DBUSER: ${DBUSER}
62      DBPASS: ${DBPASS}
63    networks:
64      - mailcow-network
65    restart: unless-stopped
66
67  postfix-mailcow:
68    image: mailcow/postfix:latest
69    depends_on:
70      - mysql-mailcow
71    volumes:
72      - ./data/conf/postfix:/etc/postfix:Z
73      - ./data/assets/ssl:/etc/ssl/mail:ro,Z
74      - postfix-vol-1:/var/spool/postfix
75    environment:
76      DBNAME: ${DBNAME}
77      DBUSER: ${DBUSER}
78      DBPASS: ${DBPASS}
79    ports:
80      - "25:25"
81      - "465:465"
82      - "587:587"
83    networks:
84      - mailcow-network
85    restart: unless-stopped
86
87  sogo-mailcow:
88    image: mailcow/sogo:latest
89    depends_on:
90      - mysql-mailcow
91      - redis-mailcow
92    environment:
93      DBNAME: ${DBNAME}
94      DBUSER: ${DBUSER}
95      DBPASS: ${DBPASS}
96      MAILCOW_HOSTNAME: ${MAILCOW_HOSTNAME}
97    networks:
98      - mailcow-network
99    restart: unless-stopped
100
101  nginx-mailcow:
102    image: nginx:alpine
103    depends_on:
104      - sogo-mailcow
105      - rspamd-mailcow
106    ports:
107      - "80:80"
108      - "443:443"
109    volumes:
110      - ./data/conf/nginx:/etc/nginx/conf.d:ro,Z
111      - ./data/assets/ssl:/etc/ssl/mail:ro,Z
112    networks:
113      - mailcow-network
114    restart: unless-stopped
115
116volumes:
117  mysql-vol-1:
118  mysql-socket-vol-1:
119  redis-vol-1:
120  rspamd-vol-1:
121  vmail-vol-1:
122  postfix-vol-1:
123
124networks:
125  mailcow-network:
126    driver: bridge
127EOF
128
129# 2. Create the .env file
130cat > .env << 'EOF'
131# Hostname
132MAILCOW_HOSTNAME=mail.example.com
133
134# Database
135DBNAME=mailcow
136DBUSER=mailcow
137DBPASS=secure_db_password
138DBROOT=secure_root_password
139
140# Timezone
141TZ=UTC
142EOF
143
144# 3. Start the services
145docker compose up -d
146
147# 4. View logs
148docker compose logs -f

One-Liner

Run this command to download and set up the recipe in one step:

terminal

1curl -fsSL https://docker.recipes/api/recipes/mailcow-full-stack/run | bash

Troubleshooting

Database connection errors in dovecot logs: Verify DBPASS environment variable matches MySQL password and mysql-mailcow container is running
Redis connection timeouts in rspamd: Check redis-vol-1 volume permissions and ensure Redis container has sufficient memory allocation
DKIM verification failures: Regenerate DKIM keys through mailcow admin interface and update DNS TXT records with new public key
SOGo calendar sync issues with mobile devices: Verify MAILCOW_HOSTNAME environment variable matches certificate common name and ActiveSync is enabled
Mail delivery delays or queue buildup: Check postfix logs for DNS resolution issues and verify sending IP reputation with major providers

Community Notes

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Includes docker-compose.yml, .env template, README, and license

Components

mailcowdovecotpostfixsogorspamdredismysql

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