Home » Blog » Install RainLoop Webmail Client with Nginx on Ubuntu 18.04

Information

Install RainLoop Webmail Client with Nginx on Ubuntu 18.04

Benhcmark Administrator

09/09/2025

0 Views 0

SaveSavedRemoved 0

A Step-by-Step Guide to Installing RainLoop Webmail with Nginx on Ubuntu

In an age of data privacy concerns, hosting your own services provides unparalleled control and security. A self-hosted webmail client is a powerful step towards digital independence, and RainLoop stands out as a superb choice. It’s a modern, fast, and simple web-based email client written in PHP. A key advantage is its “databaseless” architecture, meaning it connects directly to your existing IMAP and SMTP servers without needing a complex database setup.

This guide provides a comprehensive walkthrough for installing and configuring the RainLoop webmail client with the high-performance Nginx web server on an Ubuntu system.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, ensure you have the following components ready:

• An Ubuntu Server: This guide is written for recent LTS versions like Ubuntu 18.04, 20.04, or 22.04.
• A Non-Root User: A user account with sudo privileges for executing administrative commands.
• A Functional Mail Server: RainLoop is a client, not a mail server. You must already have a working mail server stack (like Postfix for SMTP and Dovecot for IMAP) installed and configured.
• Nginx Web Server: The Nginx web server must be installed.
• A Domain Name: You need a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), such as webmail.yourdomain.com, with DNS records pointing to your server’s IP address.
• SSL/TLS Certificate: To secure your webmail, an SSL certificate is essential. We recommend using Let’s Encrypt for a free and trusted certificate.

Step 1: Install PHP and Required Extensions

RainLoop is a PHP application, and it depends on several PHP extensions to function correctly. We will install PHP-FPM (FastCGI Process Manager), which is the standard way to run PHP applications with Nginx.

Open your terminal and run the following command to install PHP and the necessary modules:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install php-fpm php-curl php-xml php-mbstring php-zip libapache2-mod-php -y

These extensions are crucial for various functions: curl is used for making HTTP requests, xml for data parsing, and mbstring for handling multi-byte character strings, which is vital for international character support in emails.

Step 2: Download and Prepare RainLoop

Next, we’ll create a directory for RainLoop, download the application files, and set the correct permissions.

1. Create the Installation Directory: We will install RainLoop in the /var/www/ directory, which is standard for web content.

   sudo mkdir -p /var/www/rainloop
   

2. Download RainLoop: Use wget to download the latest version of RainLoop. You can check the official RainLoop website for the most current download link.

   cd /tmp
   wget https://www.rainloop.net/repository/webmail/rainloop-community-latest.zip
   

3. Extract the Files: Unzip the downloaded archive directly into the directory you just created.

   sudo unzip rainloop-community-latest.zip -d /var/www/rainloop
   

4. Set Proper Permissions: The web server (running as the www-data user) needs to be able to read, write, and execute files within the RainLoop directory. This is a critical security step.
   bash
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/rainloop
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/rainloop


Step 3: Configure the Nginx Server Block

Now we need to tell Nginx how to serve the RainLoop application. We’ll do this by creating a new server block (also known as a virtual host).

1. Create a New Configuration File:

   sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/rainloop.conf
   

2. Paste the Following Configuration: Copy and paste the configuration below into the file. Be sure to replace webmail.yourdomain.com with your actual domain name.

   server {
       listen 80;
       server_name webmail.yourdomain.com;
   # Redirect all HTTP traffic to HTTPS
   return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
   }
   server {
   
   listen 443 ssl http2;
   
   server_name webmail.yourdomain.com;
   root /var/www/rainloop;
   index index.php;
   
   # SSL Configuration - Replace with your certificate paths
   ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/webmail.yourdomain.com/fullchain.pem;
   ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/webmail.yourdomain.com/privkey.pem;
   include /etc/letsencrypt/options-ssl-nginx.conf;
   ssl_dhparam /etc/letsencrypt/ssl-dhparams.pem;
   
   # Security Headers
   add_header X-Frame-Options "SAMEORIGIN";
   add_header X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block";
   add_header X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff";
   
   # Deny access to the sensitive data directory
   location /data {
       deny all;
   }
   
   location ~ \.php$ {
       try_files $uri =404;
       fastcgi_split_path_info ^(.+\.php)(/.+)$;
       fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php-fpm.sock; # Adjust path if needed
       fastcgi_index index.php;
       fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
       include fastcgi_params;
   }
   
   location / {
       try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$query_string;
   }
   }
   
   

This configuration sets up two server blocks: one to redirect HTTP to HTTPS, and the main block for serving the site over HTTPS. Crucially, it explicitly denies public access to the /data directory, which contains sensitive configuration files.

Step 4: Enable the Nginx Site and Restart

With the configuration file created, we need to enable it and restart Nginx for the changes to take effect.

1. Enable the Site: Create a symbolic link from the sites-available directory to the sites-enabled directory.

   sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/rainloop.conf /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
   

2. Test the Nginx Configuration: Always test your configuration before restarting to avoid downtime.

   sudo nginx -t
   

   If you see a “syntax is ok” message, you are good to go.

3. Restart Nginx:
   bash
sudo systemctl restart nginx


Step 5: Finalize the RainLoop Setup in Your Browser

Your RainLoop installation is now live. The final step is to configure it through its web-based admin panel.

1. Access the Admin Panel: Open your web browser and navigate to https://webmail.yourdomain.com/?admin_panel.
2. Log In: The default login credentials are:
   • Username: admin
   • Password: 12345
3. Change Your Password Immediately: The very first thing you should do is click on the “Security” tab and set a new, strong password for the admin account. Do not skip this step.
4. Configure Your Mail Server:
   • Navigate to the “Domains” tab.
   • Click “Add Domain.”
   • Enter the details for your IMAP and SMTP server (e.g., mail.yourdomain.com, port 993 with SSL/TLS for IMAP, and port 587 with STARTTLS for SMTP).
   • Save your configuration.

Once configured, you can visit https://webmail.yourdomain.com and log in with your regular email address and password to start using your secure, self-hosted webmail client.

By following these steps, you have successfully deployed a fast, modern, and secure webmail interface, giving you full control over your email experience.

Source: https://kifarunix.com/how-to-install-and-setup-rainloop-webmail-with-nginx-on-ubuntu-18-04/