Anyone self-hosting webmail?

[Telos]

I've been pondering where next to go with my self-hosting journey, and "webmail" popped up on my radar. Historically, I've bound myself to Mozilla Thunderbird, but working from multiple PCs and locations, webmail has some attractiveness.

So I'm wondering... how many here use webmail as their primary email interface? What program is preferred? I've looked (ever so briefly) at Roundcube, Rainloop, Snappymail, Mailpile and Cypht.

To keep things simple, I'll either do this via docker, or if native, from my RPi.

I'd love to hear your feedback. Is this worth doing? Or should I stick w/Thunderbird.

 

[RonV42]

I tried many times to adopt webmail, always gone back to Outlook or Thunderbird. Native clients just seems to have more features and better integrations. My last attempt was with SquirrelMail, 100% PHP and no JavaScript:

SquirrelMail - Webmail for Nuts!

www.squirrelmail.org

 

[Cyberwasp]

Don't know if this pertains to the question. I used Eudora email client on my pc and it is now obsolete and can't get my mail. So I used mail plus on my nas as my mail client. It goes out to my isp providers mail and dl's it to the nas, easy!!

 

[Telos]

Good point. I prefer not to lose features I rely on... Send later, Redirect, backups...

 

[fredbert]

I have standard Mail Server and Mail Station as an archive repository of our emails. My setup accounts on my email service provider to forward copies of messages to Mail Server, with our firewalls only permitting Internet SMTP from their mail servers (this way I stop all those login attempts and relaying).

Mail Station is currently on RoundCube 1.3.16, so not very current. Now, I cannot remember if the vCard support mine has is due to me adding it or if Synology added it... I definitely changed the branding to look like Mail Station icon etc.

A project you can try is to build RoundCube 1.5 or 1.6 either within Docker or as a Web Station virtual host. I bodged about with a virtual host with RC v1.5 but didn't progress to moving the test from sqlite. If you really want to use webmail then I'd give is try as it's only really another email client to the mail servers. Plus you can configure it to support multiple mail accounts from the login page.

Of course you can use Mail Plus if you have it and only need a few accounts. I wanted seven or eight and wasn't prepared to pay extra for licences.

 

[Telos]

Of course you can use Mail Plus if you have it and only need a few accounts. I wanted seven or eight and wasn't prepared to pay extra for licences.

Thanks, I'll look at Roundcube (docker). However, I'm not wanting to run a mail server. There's too much infrastructure risk for me. I'll find a hoster for that need (ex. Zoho).

 

[fredbert]

That's why I only run a mail server for receiving archive copies, a bit of backup. Running RoundCube can be configured to go out to other mail servers: I configured my test to access my email provider's mail, which has only just moved onto RC 1.3! Luckily I also have OWA 2019 and normal IMAP.

 

[BobW]

Thanks, I'll look at Roundcube (docker). However, I'm not wanting to run a mail server. There's too much infrastructure risk for me. I'll find a hoster for that need (ex. Zoho).

I can recommend Zoho, I’m using Zoho (free version) myself after migrating from mailplus.
Now I’m using Mailplus only as a backup/archive mail service.
Forgot to mention that I’m using the business (free version) with my own domain.

 

[Rusty]

The only element that I am not self-hosting is mail. Can do it, wanted it, tried it, decided not to use it. Mail is one of the essential elements that need to work, so I feel much more secure to use a major provider when it comes to mail. Proton user here for years, 0 issues.

 

[fredbert]

There is a difference between running the mail services (SMTP, IMAP, anti-malware etc) and web mail. While many email service providers (whether ISP or standalone provider) package these together it is possible to run your own web mail 'client' and still use the main mail servers. Which is where running your own RoundCube, or similar, comes in.

 

[RonV42]

Yes you have to decouple the backing services (Mail Server with transports SMTP, IMAP, POP), and the presentation layer Outlook, Thunderbird, Roundcube, etc. I still have my Linux bible and it has over 100 pages of MTA Sendmail configuration, I do host my own server and also have a cloud service. MailPlus server made things a lot easier to setup than any other mail server I have created (Postfix I am calling you out). I also worry that one day I wont be able to keep up with new standards that allow mail to be delivered.

 

[Telos]

Finding a usable, updated docker image is quite the challenge. I looked at Roundcube's image, but it seemed limited to one send/receive setup... and had a huge number of possible environmental variables that are beyond me.

So I may test using a regular installation on my RPi. My enthusiasm level for this "project" is waning.

 

[fredbert]

That’s one reason I still have a RC test going after all this time.

 

[Telos]

Well ... my RPi attempts did not go well. Need to do more digging (or, quit).

I discovered Rainloop in the repo, so I installed that initially. The installation went "well", but I never could coax the login screen to appear. Uninstalled.

Surely Roundcube would be easier... But during the installation, it wanted the "root" password... but the root account is inactive, so it has none... after trying "root", "raspberry" and my admin password unsuccessfully, I aborted the installation. Uninstalled.

Rainloop has a RPi procedure on GitHub, so I may try that... on another day...

 

[fredbert]

I did RoundCube as a virtual host in Web Station. I have a shared folder that I created specifically for doing these things, a bit like the web_packages one. I found this was more successful that the not success I was achieving trying with Docker, which I think was network related but I couldn't find why it wouldn't connect to Mail Server services (or my email provider) not matter what I tried.

In Web Station I had to create a new PHP profile so that it had the right extensions enabled, I probably should've written that down. Hmm!

 

[fredbert]

I did RoundCube as a virtual host in Web Station. I have a shared folder that I created specifically for doing these things, a bit like the web_packages one. I found this was more successful that the not success I was achieving trying with Docker, which I think was network related but I couldn't find why it wouldn't connect to Mail Server services (or my email provider) not matter what I tried.

In Web Station I had to create a new PHP profile so that it had the right extensions enabled, I probably should've written that down. Hmm!

Mail Station is currently on RoundCube 1.3.16, so not very current. Now, I cannot remember if the vCard support mine has is due to me adding it or if Synology added it... I definitely changed the branding to look like Mail Station icon etc.

I remember now, I added CardDAV (not vCard) support to Mail Station...

Info - Hacking CardDAV plugin into Mail Station

I have a semi-frequent irritation which is being fed up with Mail Station stuck on RoundCube v1.3 and wanting to use the elastic theme of RoundCube v1.4. This irritation usually has resulted in trying and failing to get the docker RoundCube image working, but yesterday I tried installing it...

www.synoforum.com

 

[Telos]

I tried Mailpile today after finding a dirt simple docker file.

version: '2'
services:
  mailpile:
    image: florianpiesche/mailpile
    restart: always
    volumes:
      - /volume1/docker/mailpile:/home/mailpile/.local/share/Mailpile
    ports:
      - 33411:33411

It's early stage. Only a handful of plug-ins (none useful to me). It was unable to locate my mail archive folder "/archive/2022", and message creation is text-only, and folder mapping seemed unsuccessful (presuming I did that correctly)

It does have mail-signing capability, and an option to use Tor for HTTPS connections.

So onto Rainloop/Roundcube if I can find a decent docker image, or a clear installation path.

 

[Telos]

Now running Rainloop. First impressions are good, except it does not allow Google OAuth2... so you must use "app passwords" for Gmail.

Another quirk is how you access Rainloop. After configuring IMAP/SMTP servers, you log in using your email login, and then see your various email folders. OK... that makes sense so far... even Gmail does that.

Next you add accounts for Email2 and Email3. So that when you log in using the initial Email1 account, you can switch between Email1, Email2 and Email3.

However... if you log in with Email2 (or Email3), only that account appears, and you cannot switch to the other accounts.

Basically...always log in with Email1, and everything is available (though no "combined" Inbox).

Send email via rich text editor is fine. All basic email functions are present, but features such as "redirect" and "send later" are not available. A decent webmail program if you do not need Gmail access. Also has CardDAV support.

So what's next... Well there is a Rainloop fork that looks interesting... Snappymail. It has a docker-compose that's fairly hefty which includes MariaDB, nginx, and PHP. As I only require single user, that all seems extreme for my use.

I've still not gotten around to the Roundcube, which is the "go to" webmail app for many.

More to come.

 

[Shadow]

Nextcloud has a builtin webmail feature that I use if I want to get to my self-hosted mailbox from various other computers other than my own.

 

[Telos]

For now, I'm going to land on Rainloop. Snappymail is positioned as a faster/sleeker Rainloop, but still has no OAuth2 implementation. When I find a simpler, docker implementation, I may revisit Snappymail.

Roundcube also seems to lack OAuth2 implementation, and for my purposes, doesn't seem as light and agile as Rainloop.
So here I am.

Nextcloud has a builtin webmail feature

I considered this earlier, but decided that NC offered me no compelling features, that I don't already have running Seafile and Radicale (CalDAV/CardDAV). Someday I may explore NC, but now I have too much on my plate, as it turns out my domain renewal is approaching, and its cost has increased significantly... so I may be migrating domains!