Complete Guide to Setting Up Zimbra Collaboration Suite (ZCS) on Linux

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Zimbra Collaboration Suite (ZCS) is a powerful open-source mail server and collaboration tool that provides email, calendaring, contacts, and document sharing. This guide walks through the full setup of Zimbra on a Linux server with step-by-step instructions and commands.

Prerequisites

Ensure you have the following before starting:

  • A clean installation of Ubuntu 20.04/22.04 or CentOS 8
  • At least 8 GB RAM and 4 CPU cores (recommended for Zimbra performance)
  • A registered domain (e.g., yourdomain.com)
  • Root or sudo access

Step 1: Prepare Your System

Update and Set Hostname

  1. Update system packages:
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y # Ubuntu sudo yum update -y # CentOS
  1. Set the hostname:
sudo hostnamectl set-hostname mail.yourdomain.com
  1. Add an entry in /etc/hosts:
sudo nano /etc/hosts

Add this line:

127.0.0.1 mail.yourdomain.com mail localhost

Step 2: Install Required Dependencies

Ubuntu

sudo apt install net-tools perl unzip -y

CentOS

sudo yum install net-tools perl tar unzip -y

Step 3: Download and Install Zimbra Collaboration Suite

  1. Download the latest Zimbra package from the official site:
wget https://files.zimbra.com/downloads/9.0.0_GA/zcs-9.0.0_GA.tgz
  1. Extract the package:
tar -xvzf zcs-9.0.0_GA.tgz cd zcs-9.0.0_GA
  1. Start the installation:
sudo ./install.sh
  1. Accept the license agreement by typing Y.
  2. During the package selection, press Y for the following:
    • Zimbra LDAP
    • Zimbra Logger
    • Zimbra Mailbox
    • Zimbra MTA
    • Zimbra Store
    • Zimbra SNMP (optional)
  3. Verify the hostname and domain, then press Y to continue.

Step 4: Configure Zimbra Mail Server

  1. Set the Zimbra admin password:
Main Menu > zimbra-store > Admin Password

Enter your desired password and confirm.

  1. Apply the configuration:
Press 'r' to return to the main menu, and 'a' to apply.
  1. Restart Zimbra services:
sudo su - zimbra -c "zmcontrol restart"

Step 5: Access Zimbra Web Console

Open a browser and go to:

https://mail.yourdomain.com:7071

Login with:

  • Username: admin@yourdomain.com
  • Password: (your admin password)

Step 6: Secure Zimbra Collaboration Suite

  1. Set up a firewall to allow necessary ports:
sudo ufw allow 25,80,443,465,587,7071/tcp sudo ufw reload
  1. Enable SSL encryption using Let’s Encrypt:
sudo apt install certbot -y sudo certbot certonly --standalone -d mail.yourdomain.com
  1. Install the certificate:
sudo su - zimbra /opt/zimbra/bin/zmcertmgr deploycrt self /etc/letsencrypt/live/mail.yourdomain.com/fullchain.pem /etc/letsencrypt/live/mail.yourdomain.com/privkey.pem zmcontrol restart

Step 7: Manage Users and Domains

  1. Add a new user:
sudo su - zimbra -c 'zmprov ca user@yourdomain.com password'
  1. List all users:
sudo su - zimbra -c 'zmprov gaa'
  1. Add a new domain:
sudo su - zimbra -c 'zmprov cd newdomain.com'

Step 8: Monitor and Maintain Zimbra

  1. Check service status:
sudo su - zimbra -c 'zmcontrol status'
  1. Check mail queue:
sudo su - zimbra -c 'zmqueuectl'
  1. View logs:
tail -f /var/log/zimbra.log

Recommended Services for Zimbra

  • SpamAssassin: Spam filtering
  • ClamAV: Antivirus
  • Fail2Ban: Prevent brute-force attacks
  • OpenDKIM: DKIM signing

Final Thoughts

You have successfully installed and configured Zimbra Collaboration Suite (ZCS) on your Linux server. Regularly monitor logs and apply security updates to ensure stable and secure operation.

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