Webmail Setup¶

Mailyte uses Docker Compose profiles for webmail, so you only run the client you need — or none at all if you're using the API only.

Available Clients¶

Choosing a Client¶

Set COMPOSE_PROFILES in your .env file:

# First-party Mailyte webmail
COMPOSE_PROFILES=webmail

# Roundcube only
COMPOSE_PROFILES=roundcube

# SOGo only
COMPOSE_PROFILES=sogo

# Several at once (different ports)
COMPOSE_PROFILES=webmail,roundcube

# No webmail (API-only mode)
# Simply omit COMPOSE_PROFILES or leave it empty

Then start services:

docker compose up -d

Only the selected profiles' containers start. You can also start one ad hoc: docker compose --profile webmail up -d webmail.

Mailyte Webmail (First-Party)¶

The webmail service runs ghcr.io/techies-africa/mailyte-webmail (source: Techies-Africa/mailyte-webmail). Unlike Roundcube/SOGo it does not speak IMAP directly from the browser — it proxies every call server-side to the Mailyte API, which keeps the mailbox session token out of page scripts.

Configuration¶

Access¶

• Development: http://localhost:3200 after docker compose --profile webmail up -d webmail
• Production: served by Traefik on two hostnames — WEBMAIL_HOST (default webmail.<domain>) and MAIL_HOSTNAME (the advertised IMAP/SMTP hostname), so typing the mail hostname into a browser lands on webmail, mail.google.com-style. Both names get certificates from cert_manager. (Live since 2026-08-28.)

Log in with a mailbox email address and password — authentication is verified against Dovecot via the API, so it always matches what IMAP would accept.

Roundcube¶

Roundcube is a lightweight, PHP-based webmail client with a modern responsive UI.

Configuration¶

As wired in docker-compose.yml, Roundcube connects to IMAP at dovecot:143 and — importantly — sends through tls://postfix:587 with LOGIN authentication, not port 25.

Access¶

Open http://your-server:8880 and log in with your mailbox email and password.

Plugins¶

The following plugins are enabled by default (ROUNDCUBEMAIL_PLUGINS):

• archive — Archive button for messages
• zipdownload — Download multiple messages as ZIP
• managesieve — Manage Sieve mail filters from webmail

Extra configuration is mounted from config/mailer/roundcube/custom.config.inc.php:

# config/mailer/roundcube/custom.config.inc.php
$config['plugins'] = array_merge($config['plugins'], [
    'newmail_notifier', # Desktop notifications
]);

SOGo¶

SOGo is a full groupware solution — webmail, calendar, and contacts.

Configuration¶

SOGo connects to dovecot for IMAP and postfix for SMTP, using its own MySQL database.

Access¶

Open http://your-server:8881/SOGo/ and log in with your mailbox email and password.

Mobile and Desktop Clients (instead of webmail)¶

Since 2026-08-27 Mailyte serves client auto-setup for every hosted domain: Thunderbird autoconfig at autoconfig.<domain>, Outlook autodiscover at autodiscover.<domain>, and MTA-STS policies — all pointing clients at the advertised MAIL_HOSTNAME with the right ports. For Exchange-style mobile sync there is a native ActiveSync service (activesync, host port 8084). Users can usually just type their email address and password into their mail app.

Adding a Custom Webmail Client¶

You can add any webmail client that supports IMAP/SMTP. The pattern:

1. Add to docker-compose.yml (or an override file)¶

services:
  my-webmail:
    image: your-webmail-image:latest
    container_name: my-webmail
    profiles: ["my-webmail"]           # <-- profile name
    ports:
      - "${MY_WEBMAIL_PORT:-8882}:80"
    environment:
      # Point to Mailyte's Dovecot and Postfix
      - IMAP_HOST=dovecot
      - IMAP_PORT=143                  # STARTTLS
      - SMTP_HOST=postfix
      - SMTP_PORT=587                  # STARTTLS + SASL auth (see note below)
      - DB_HOST=mysql
      - DB_NAME=my_webmail
      - DB_USER=${DB_USER:-mailuser}
      - DB_PASSWORD=${DB_PASSWORD}
    depends_on:
      mysql:
        condition: service_healthy
      dovecot:
        condition: service_started
      postfix:
        condition: service_started
    networks:
      - mailserver_network
    restart: unless-stopped

2. Add to .env¶

COMPOSE_PROFILES=my-webmail
MY_WEBMAIL_PORT=8882

3. Create the database¶

docker exec mysql mysql -u root -p"$(cat secrets/db_root_password)" -e \
  "CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS my_webmail;
   GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON my_webmail.* TO 'mailuser'@'%';
   FLUSH PRIVILEGES;"

4. Start it¶

docker compose up -d

Connection Details for Any Webmail¶

Popular Alternatives¶

All of these work with Mailyte by pointing IMAP at dovecot:143 and authenticated SMTP at postfix:587.