Roundcube

Roundcube is a full-featured, PHP web-based mail client.

Installation

Install the roundcubemail package. Further you will need a database (e.g. MariaDB) and a web server with PHP-support (this guide will assume the Apache HTTP Server).

Configuration

MariaDB

Here is an example on how you could setup a database for Roundcube with MariaDB called roundcubemail for the user roundcube identified by the password password:

$ mysql -u root -p

CREATE DATABASE `roundcubemail` DEFAULT CHARACTER SET `utf8` COLLATE `utf8_unicode_ci`;
CREATE USER `roundcube`@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON `roundcubemail`.* TO `roundcube`@`localhost`;
\q

For any database you use, you will need to initialize the roundcubemail database tables. Here is an example of how to do this with MariaDB:

$ mysql -u root -p roundcubemail < /usr/share/webapps/roundcubemail/SQL/mysql.initial.sql

SQLite

A SQLite DB will be created automatically by Roundcube. Ensure the file specified in the configuration is located in a basedir location. Consider adding /var/lib/roundcubemail to your basedir definition. This implies creating the directory and chowning it to http.

Other Databases

Roundcubemail has installation scripts for mssql, Oracle, and PostgreSQL.

Roundcube

Copy the example configuration file and adjust it to your configuration:

# cd /etc/webapps/roundcubemail/config
# cp config.inc.php.sample config.inc.php
# chown http:http config.inc.php

Set your mail server settings, and set enable_installer to enable the setup wizard:

/etc/webapps/roundcubemail/config/config.inc.php

$config['db_dsnw'] = 'mysql://roundcube:****@localhost/roundcubemail';
$config['default_host'] = 'tls://localhost'; // IMAP host
$config['smtp_server'] = 'tls://localhost';
$config['smtp_port'] = 587;
$config['des_key'] = 'some_awesome_long_semi_random_string';
$config['enable_installer'] = true;

For roundcube to be able to detect mime-types from filename extensions you need to point it to a mime.types file. Apache usually comes with one.

# cp /etc/httpd/conf/mime.types /etc/webapps/roundcubemail/config/mime.types
# chown http:http /etc/webapps/roundcubemail/config/mime.types

/etc/webapps/roundcubemail/config/config.inc.php

$config['mime_types'] = '/etc/webapps/roundcubemail/config/mime.types';

If you are not using Apache, check the information available in /etc/webapps/roundcubemail/config/defaults.inc.php .

PHP

Make sure to adjust following variables to these minimal values in your PHP configuration:

/etc/php/php.ini

date.timezone = "UTC"

and uncomment

extension=iconv

If you have configured open_basedir in php.ini, make sure it includes /etc/webapps and /usr/share/webapps, so PHP can open the required Roundcube files. If open_basedir is disabled/commented out (the default setting), you do not have to do anything.

Webserver (Apache)

Copy the configuration file for Apache to its configuration directory:

# cp /etc/webapps/roundcubemail/apache.conf /etc/httpd/conf/extra/roundcube.conf

And include it at the bottom of

/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf

Include conf/extra/roundcube.conf

Restart Apache (httpd.service).

Webserver (Nginx)

Warning: This is an example configuration of RoundCube running in an subdirectory of the web root and has been compiled based on experiments with information from multiple sources, proceed with caution

Note: This assumes you already have a working nginx server setup with php7-fpm. Roundcube is not compatible with php versions 8 and above

Add a location block for RoundCube

/etc/nginx/nginx.conf

location /webmail {
        alias /usr/share/webapps/roundcubemail;
        access_log /var/log/nginx/roundcube_access.log;
        error_log /var/log/nginx/roundcube_error.log;
        # Favicon
        location ~ ^/webmail/favicon.ico$ {
                root /usr/share/webapps/roundcubemail/skins/classic/images;
                log_not_found off;
                access_log off;
                expires max;
        }
        # Robots file
        location ~ ^/webmail/robots.txt {
                allow all;
                log_not_found off;
                access_log off;
        }
        # Deny Protected directories 
        location ~ ^/webmail/(config|temp|logs)/ {
                 deny all;
        }
        location ~ ^/webmail/(README|INSTALL|LICENSE|CHANGELOG|UPGRADING)$ {
                deny all;
        }
        location ~ ^/webmail/(bin|SQL)/ {
                deny all;
        }
        # Hide .md files
        location ~ ^/webmail/(.+\.md)$ {
                deny all;
        }
        # Hide all dot files
        location ~ ^/webmail/\. {
                deny all;
                access_log off;
                log_not_found off;
        }
        # Roundcube fastcgi config
        location ~ /webmail(/.*\.php)$ {
                include fastcgi.conf;
                fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php-fpm7/php-fpm.sock;
                fastcgi_split_path_info ^/webmail/(.+\.php)(/.*)$;
                fastcgi_index index.php;
                fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $request_filename;
                fastcgi_param PATH_INFO $fastcgi_path_info;
                fastcgi_param PHP_VALUE open_basedir="/tmp/:/var/cache/roundcubemail:/usr/share/webapps/roundcubemail:/etc/webapps/roundcubemail:/usr/share/pear/:/var/log/roundcubemail";
        }
}

Finally restart the nginx.service unit.

Note: If you use the password plugin, add also /dev/null to the open_basedir list.

Install Roundcube

Finally you can visit the Roundcube installation wizard in your browser: http://localhost/roundcube/installer

For security reasons, you should disable the installer when you have completed the wizard: remove $config['enable_installer'] = true; from config.inc.php.

Because the ~/roundcube/config directory contains sensitive information about your server, it is also a good idea to disallow access to this directory by adding these lines, too.

/etc/httpd/conf/extra/roundcube.conf

  <Directory /usr/share/webapps/roundcubemail/config>
     Options -FollowSymLinks
     AllowOverride None
     Require all denied
  </Directory>

Tips and tricks

Setting Roundcube up for use with an IMAP/SMTP server that only allows TLS authentication

It is quite common for modern IMAP/SMTP servers to only allow encrypted authentication, say using STARTTLS. If you are setting Roundcube up for TLS authentication, the web-based installer will not help you. You will need to edit the /etc/webapps/roundcubemail/config/config.inc.php by hand, adding the following lines:

 $config['default_host'] = 'tls://mail.my_domain.org';
 // For STARTTLS IMAP
 $config['imap_conn_options'] = array(
     'ssl' => array(
       'verify_peer'       => true,
       // certificate is not self-signed if cafile provided
       'allow_self_signed' => false,
       'cafile'  => '/etc/ssl/certs/Your_CA_certificate.pem',
       // For Letsencrypt use the following two lines and remove the 'cafile' option above.
       //'ssl_cert' => '/etc/letsencrypt/live/mail.my_domain.org/fullchain.pem',
       //'ssl_key'  => '/etc/letsencrypt/live/mail.my_domain.org/privkey.pem',
       // probably optional parameters
       'ciphers' => 'TLSv1+HIGH:!aNull:@STRENGTH',
       'peer_name'         => 'mail.my_domain.org',
     ),
 );
 // For STARTTLS SMTP
 $config['smtp_conn_options'] = array(
     'ssl' => array(
       'verify_peer'       => true,
       // certificate is not self-signed if cafile provided
       'allow_self_signed' => false,
       'cafile'  => '/etc/ssl/certs/Your_CA_certificate.pem',
       // For Letsencrypt use the following two lines and remove the 'cafile' option above.
       //'ssl_cert' => '/etc/letsencrypt/live/mail.my_domain.org/fullchain.pem',
       //'ssl_key'  => '/etc/letsencrypt/live/mail.my_domain.org/privkey.pem',
       // probably optional parameters
       'ciphers' => 'TLSv1+HIGH:!aNull:@STRENGTH',
       'peer_name'         => 'mail.my_domain.org',
     ),
 );

where mail.my_domain.org is the CN host name in your SSL certificate (i.e. the hostname of your IMAP server), and /etc/ssl/certs/Your_CA_certificate.pem is the path to your SSL certificate. You might need to adjust the ciphers element to correspond to the ciphers allowed by your IMAP server.

A complete list of PHP SSL configuration options can be found here.

PDF and OpenDocument file preview

The following Roundcube extensions enable you to preview PDF or OpenDocument file attachements.

Install the roundcubemail-plugins-kolab^AUR package and adjust following configuration file to enable the extensions.

/etc/webapps/roundcubemail/config/config.inc.php

$config['plugins'] = array(
    'pdfviewer',
    'odfviewer'
);

If you encounter any file permission issues, than try this command:

chown -R http:http /usr/share/webapps/roundcubemail/plugins/odfviewer/files

Calendar Support

Install the roundcubemail-plugins-kolab^AUR package.

Update the roundcube database

# mysql -u root -p roundcubemail < /usr/share/webapps/roundcubemail/plugins/calendar/drivers/database/SQL/mysql.initial.sql

Configure the calendar service

The default configuration should suffice for most applications, however we still need to move it into place.

# cp /usr/share/webapps/roundcubemail/plugins/calendar/config.inc.php.dist /usr/share/webapps/roundcubemail/plugins/calendar/config.inc.php

Sabre\VObject\Property\Text Not Found

If you get this error, it means that either Sabre was not included with the plugin or it is out of date

# cd /usr/share/webapps/roundcubemail ; composer update ; composer require sabre/dav ~3.1.3

Enable the Plugin

/etc/webapps/roundcubemail/config/config.inc.php

$config['plugins'] = array(
    'calendar'
);

Synchronize address book with CardDav contacts

It is useful to use the Roundcube address book to have auto-completion features for address fields etc. If you have your contacts stored somewhere else and the remote application offers a CardDav server for synchronization, then you can use the roundcubemail-plugin-carddav^AUR extension from the AUR to access your remote address book in Roundcube. To enable it, adjust following lines in your config file:

/etc/webapps/roundcubemail/config/config.inc.php

$config['plugins'] = array(
    'carddav'
);

Further usage instructions can be found here.

Troubleshooting

SMTP Error: Authentication failure

You may first try to disable(comment) the following settings in config.inc.php as shown:

//$config['smtp_user'] = '%u';
//$config['smtp_pass'] = '%p';

Recipient address rejected

You may get one of these errors, depending if you use TLS or STARTTLS:

 530 5.7.0 Must issue a STARTTLS command first
 554 5.7.1 <>: Recipient address rejected: Access denied

If that happens try adding the following lines to config.inc.php:

$config['smtp_user'] = '%u';
$config['smtp_pass'] = '%p';

Running php8 and php7 on the same server with apache

If you run php7 and php8 on your server you have to run roundcube with php7-fpm. For this install the php7-fpm package.

After this you have to enable the mysql extensions in the '/etc/php7/php.ini'

extension=mysqli
extension=pdo_mysql

Now enable + start 'php-fpm7.service'

You have to edit your roundcube conf in '/etc/httpd/conf/extra/roundcube.conf' like this:

<Directory "/usr/share/webapps/roundcubemail">
    AllowOverride All
    Options FollowSymlinks
    Require all granted
    php_admin_value open_basedir "/tmp/:/var/cache/roundcubemail:/usr/share/webapps/roundcubemail:/etc/webapps/roundcubemail:/usr/share/pear/:/var/log/roundcubemail"
        <FilesMatch \.php$>
             SetHandler "proxy:unix:/var/run/php-fpm7/php-fpm.sock|fcgi://localhost/"
        </FilesMatch>
</Directory> 

After this you have to restart the 'httpd.service'

See also

• The Roundcube Howto Config Wiki page
• Offical web page
• Official installation manual