How to Install Zimbra Mail Server the correct way

 

Prerequisites 

• OS: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (64-bit)
• RAM: 8 GB+ recommended.
• CPU: 4 cores+.
• Storage space – 50 GB+
• Hostname: must resolve properly (ex: mail.example.com)
• Ports open: 25, 80, 443, 7071, 465, 587

DNS Setup

You need to create few records for domain to get started. They are as follows.

Type	Host	Value
A	@	Your IP address
A	mail	Your IP address
MX	@	mail.yourdomain.com 10
TXT	@	v=spf1 a mx ip4:138.68.14.182 ~all
TXT	_dmarc		v=DMARC1; p=quarantine; rua=mailto:admin@cybertech-arena.com; ruf=mailto:admin@cybertech-arena.com; fo=1 Auto

Wait 5-15 minutes for propagation.

Set Hostname and Hosts File on VPS

SSH into your Contabo VPS:

ssh root@your_vps_ip

Set the hostname:

hostnamectl set-hostname mail.yourdomain.com

Replace mail.yourdomain.com  with your domain.

Edit /etc/hosts:

nano /etc/hosts

Add your VPS IP and hostname:

123.45.67.89   mail.yourdomain.com mail

Save (CTRL+O → ENTER → CTRL+X).
Test:

hostname -f

Should print:

mail.yourdomain.com

Install System Dependencies

apt update && apt upgrade -y
apt install net-tools wget curl unzip tar dnsutils -y

Download Zimbra OSE 10.1.4 (Community Build)

cd /opt
wget https://github.com/maldua/zimbra-foss-builder/releases/download/zimbra-foss-build-ubuntu-22.04/10.1.4/zcs-10.1.4_GA_4200000.UBUNTU22_64.20241224171952.tgz

Extract and enter folder:

tar xvf zcs-10.1.4_GA_4200000.UBUNTU22_64.20241224171952.tgz
cd zcs-10.1.4_GA_4200000.UBUNTU22_64.20241224171952

Run the Installer               

sudo ./install.sh

During installation:

• Accept license → Y

• Enable components:

zimbra-ldap
zimbra-logger
zimbra-mta
zimbra-snmp
zimbra-store
zimbra-apache
zimbra-spell
zimbra-memcached
zimbra-proxy

When asked:

The system will be modified. Continue? [N] Y
choose Y

Set Admin password when prompted.

Verify domain: it should detect mail.yourdomain.com.

When finished, installer outputs:
Configuration complete - press return to exit

Start Zimbra and Check Services

su - zimbra
zmcontrol status

Access Zimbra Admin Portal & Web Mail Client

To access the Zimbra Admin Portal, type below URL in Web Browser

https://mail.yourdomain.com:7071

To access Zimbra Mail Web Client, type the following URL in the browser

https://mail.yourdomain.com

Enter Your Username And PassWord

Note: For both the URLs we can use user name as “admin” and password that we set during the installation

Create User Mailboxes (via CLI)

su - zimbra
zmprov ca user1@example.com strongpassword displayName "User One"
zmprov ca user2@example.com strongpassword displayName "User Two"

Verify:

zmprov -l gaa

Setting Up DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)

 su - zimbrazmprov ms mail.yourdomain.com zimbraDomainKeyStatus enabled
zmprov ms mail.yourdomain.com zimbraDomainKeySelector selector1
zmprov ms mail.yourdomain.com zimbraDomainKeyBits 1024
zmprov ms mail.yourdomain.com zimbraDomainKeyAlgo rsa
zmprov ms mail.yourdomain.com zimbraDomainKeyMethod rsa
zmprov ms mail.yourdomain.com zimbraDomainKeyPrefix dkim

Run this command to verify:

zmprov gms mail.yourdomain.com

You should see DKIM keys enabled.

Add DKIM DNS Record:

Zimbra will automatically generate the DKIM DNS entry for you. You will need to add the generated DKIM TXT record to your DNS settings.

You can retrieve the DKIM public key:

cat /opt/zimbra/dkim/domainkeys/mail.yourdomain.com

The public key will look something like:

v=DKIM1; k=rsa; p=MIIBIjANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAAOCAQ8A...

Add this as a TXT record in your Namecheap DNS settings:

Verify DKIM:
After adding the DKIM record, you can verify the setup by sending an email to an external address (like Gmail) and checking if the email passes the DKIM check.