How to Set Up a Mailbox on Your VPS

Сreating an email on a VPS server

🔹 Why You Need Email on Your Own Server

A mail service on a VPS allows you to use professional email addresses such as info@yourdomain.com, send system notifications, or deliver emails directly from your website without third-party services.
You can configure it through a control panel (ISPmanager, cPanel, Plesk) or manually in Linux.

🧭 Option 1. Using a Control Panel

✅ If your server runs ISPmanager, cPanel, or Plesk, follow these steps:

1. Log in to the control panel.
   
2. Go to Mail → Mailboxes.
   
3. Click Create mailbox.
   
4. Fill in the following fields:
   
   • Domain name — your domain (e.g., yourdomain.com)
     
   • Mailbox name — for example, info
     
   • Password — set a strong password
     
5. Click Save.

Your mailbox is now created. You can connect it to an email client (Thunderbird, Outlook) or access it via webmail (Roundcube, RainLoop).

🧠 Option 2. Manual Setup in Linux

1. Install the Mail Server
   A common combination for Linux is Postfix + Dovecot:

apt install postfix dovecot-imapd dovecot-pop3d -y

During installation:

• Choose Internet Site as the configuration type.
  
• Enter your domain (e.g., yourdomain.com).

2. Create a Mail User

adduser mailuser
passwd mailuser

3. Configure Postfix
   Edit the file /etc/postfix/main.cf:

myhostname = mail.yourdomain.com
mydestination = $myhostname, localhost.$mydomain, localhost, yourdomain.com

Save the changes and restart the services:

systemctl restart postfix dovecot

🔧 DNS Settings for Proper Mail Delivery

Type	Example	Purpose
MX	mail.yourdomain.com	Primary mail server
A	mail.yourdomain.com → IP VPS	Server IP address
SPF	v=spf1 mx ~all	Protects against sender spoofing
DKIM	(generated by the mail server)	Adds signature to outgoing mail
DMARC	v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc@yourdomain.com	Collects email delivery reports

⚠️ Without proper SPF, DKIM, and DMARC setup, your messages may end up in the spam folder.

📬 Testing Your Mail Server

After creating the mailbox, open your webmail client (for example, Roundcube — usually available at https://mail.yourdomain.com/roundcube).
Log in with your new credentials, send a test email to an external address (e.g., Gmail), and verify that the message is delivered successfully.

🧩 Recommendations

• Use an SSL certificate for encrypted connections (SMTP ports 465/587, IMAP port 993).
  
• Avoid sending mail from the same IP that hosts websites or scripts prone to spam.
  
• Regularly scan your server for viruses.
  
• For large-scale email needs, consider professional platforms such as Google Workspace or Zoho Mail.