Email and Calendars with Zimbra 6 on

Debian 5 (Lenny)
Updated Monday, October 8th, 2012 by Linode
This guide has been deprecated and is no longer being maintained.
Zimbra is a groupware system that provides email, calendaring, integrated antivirus and
spam filtering, and more for multiple domains. Available in several editions, this guide
will help you get the Open Source Edition installed on your Debian 5 (Lenny) Linux VPS.
Please note that Zimbra is a fairly heavy (resource-intensive) product compared to
some other groupware offerings. We recommend a Linode 2048 or higher for best
results; you may encounter issues using Zimbra with lower-resource plans. Additionally,
note that Zimbra works best as a standalone product on your VPS; installation alongside
other common software such as web or email servers is not advised.
We assume youve already followed the steps outlined in our getting started guide, and
that your system is up to date. All configuration will be performed through the terminal;
please make sure youre logged into your Linode as root via SSH.

Installing Prerequisite Packages

Make sure your package repositories and installed programs are up to date by issuing
the following commands:
apt-get update
1
apt-get upgrade --show-upgraded
2

Issue the following commands to install several packages required by Zimbra:

apt-get install sudo libpcre3 libgmp3c2 libgmp3-dev sysstat libexpat1 libidn11 perl1modules wget

Depending on the requirements for the current version of Zimbra, you may need to
install additional packages later. The install program will notify you if there additional
packages are required.

System Files Prerequisites

Before proceeding, make sure your /etc/hosts file has valid entries. For reference, your
file should resemble the following:
/etc/hosts
127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost
1
12.34.56.78 hostname.example.com hostname
2

Be sure to replace 12.34.56.78 with your Linodes IP address. Replace

hostname.example.com with your Linodes fully qualified domain name. Next, make
sure your hostname is set in /etc/hostname by issuing the following commands (insert
your one-word hostname in place of hostname).
echo "hostname" > /etc/hostname
1
hostname -F /etc/hostname
2

Issue the following commands to check your setup:

hostname
1
hostname -f
2

The first command should return only the one-word hostname for your system, while the
second command should return the systems FQDN.

Installing Zimbra
Visit the download page for Zimbra Open Source Edition and copy the link to the current
version of the software for Debian 5 (Lenny) to your clipboard. Issue the following
commands on your Linode via the shell to download and unpack the install package,
replacing the filenames shown below after wget and tar with the current version. Please
note that the version you download (32 or 64-bit) must match your Linodes architecture.
wget http://files2.zimbra.com/downloads/6.0.7_GA/zcs16.0.7_GA_2473.DEBIAN5.20100616212143.tgz
2tar -xzvf zcs*
3cd zcs*

Launch the installer with the following command:

./install.sh
1

The install will begin, prompting you to respond to a number of questions, and
consuming a moment to perform various tasks. You can safely assume the default
configuration. The system will offer the following prompt:
The system will be modified. Continue? [N] Y
1

As noted, answer Y to continue with the installation. The installation will take a few
moments to install of the system packages.
After the installation completes, you may receive a warning similar to the one shown
below:
DNS ERROR resolving MX for hostname.example.com
1
It is suggested that the domain name have an MX record configured in DNS
2
Change domain name? [Yes] No
3

It is recommended (but not required) that the fully qualified domain name for your
system ( hostname.example.com ) have an MX record pointing to it. You may wish to visit
your DNS control panel and add such a record now, or proceed if you wont be receiving
mail for your FQDN on this system (for example, if youll be receiving email for your
base domain or others).
Youll then be presented with an admin menu next.
1Main menu
2
3 1) Common Configuration:
4 2) zimbra-ldap:
Enabled
5 3) zimbra-store:
Enabled
6
+Create Admin User:
yes
7
+Admin user to create:
admin@hostname.example.com
8******* +Admin Password
UNSET
9
+Enable automated spam training:
yes
1
+Spam training user:
spam.5jdzb7fy@hostname.example.com
0
+Non-spam(Ham) training user:
ham.vhdq0mhzo@hostname.example.com
1
+Global Documents Account:
wiki@hostname.example.com
1
+SMTP host:
hostname.example.com
1
+Web server HTTP port:
80
2
+Web server HTTPS port:
443
1
+Web server mode:
http
3
+IMAP server port:
143

1
+IMAP server SSL port:
993
4
+POP server port:
110
1
+POP server SSL port:
995
5
+Use spell check server:
yes
1
+Spell server URL:
http://hostname.example.com:7780/aspell.php
6
+Configure for use with mail proxy: FALSE
1
+Configure for use with web proxy:
FALSE
7
+Enable version update checks:
TRUE
1
+Enable version update notifications: TRUE
8
+Version update notification email: admin@hostname.example.com
1
+Version update source email:
admin@hostname.example.com
9
2 4) zimbra-mta:
Enabled
0 5) zimbra-snmp:
Enabled
2 6) zimbra-logger:
Enabled
1 7) zimbra-spell:
Enabled
2 8) Default Class of Service Configuration:
2 r) Start servers after configuration
yes
2 s) Save config to file
3 x) Expand menu
2 q) Quit
4
2Address unconfigured (**) items (? - help)
5
2
6
2
7
2
8
2
9
3
0
3
1
3
2
3
3
3
4
3
5
3
6
3
7
3
8
3

9
4
0

Enter 3 to enter the zimbra-store menu, which will look similar to the following:
1Store configuration
2
3 1) Status:
Enabled
4 2) Create Admin User:
yes
5 3) Admin user to create:
admin@hostname.example.com
6** 4) Admin Password
UNSET
7 5) Enable automated spam training:
yes
8 6) Spam training user:
spam.5jdzb7fy@hostname.example.com
9 7) Non-spam(Ham) training user:
ham.vhdq0mhzo@hostname.example.com
1 8) Global Documents Account:
wiki@hostname.example.com
0 9) SMTP host:
hostname.example.com
1 10) Web server HTTP port:
80
1 11) Web server HTTPS port:
443
1 12) Web server mode:
http
2 13) IMAP server port:
143
1 14) IMAP server SSL port:
993
3 15) POP server port:
110
1 16) POP server SSL port:
995
4 17) Use spell check server:
yes
1 18) Spell server URL:
http://hostname.example.com:7780/aspell.php
5 19) Configure for use with mail proxy:
FALSE
1 20) Configure for use with web proxy:
FALSE
6 21) Enable version update checks:
TRUE
1 22) Enable version update notifications:
TRUE
7 23) Version update notification email:
admin@hostname.example.com
1 24) Version update source email:
admin@hostname.example.com
8
1Select, or 'r' for previous menu [r] 4
9
2
0
2
1
2
2
2
3
2
4
2
5
2
6
2

7
2
8

You can configure various options here; but, the most important option is the one for
setting the administrator password. Enter 4 to set it, choosing a strong password
comprised of letters, numbers, and non-alphanumeric characters. After setting the
admin password, enter r to return to the main menu. At this point you can enter a to
apply the configuration that you have set, and follow this procedure. This allows Zimbra
to proceed with the remaining installation steps.
After installation has completed, you may wish to reboot your Linode to make sure
everything comes back up properly. After doing so, visit the Zimbra admin URL in your
browser. It will be in the form https://hostname.example.com:7071/ . Youll need to accept
the SSL certificate presented to access the admin panel, which you may then use to
continue configuring your new Zimbra server.
Once you have configured the server and added accounts, users may log in using a link
similar to http://hostname.example.com/zimbra/mail . Enjoy!

Monitor for Software Updates and Security Notices

When running software compiled or installed directly from sources provided by upstream
developers, you are responsible for monitoring updates, bug fixes, and security issues.
After becoming aware of releases and potential issues, update your software to resolve
flaws and prevent possible system compromise. Monitoring releases and maintaining up
to date versions of all software is crucial for the security and integrity of a system.
Please monitor the Zimbra Updates page to ensure that you are aware of all updates to
the software and can upgrade appropriately or apply patches and recompile as needed.
When upstream sources offer new releases, repeat the instructions for installing Zimbra
and recompile your software when needed. These practices are crucial for the ongoing
security and functioning of your system.

More Information
You may wish to consult the following resources for additional information on this topic.
While these are provided in the hope that they will be useful, please note that we cannot
vouch for the accuracy or timeliness of externally hosted materials.

Zimbra Community Documentation

Zimbra Wiki

Zimbra Developer Zone