SquirrelMail is an open source standards-based webmail package written in PHP. When installed, SquirrelMail is ready out of the box. All it needs is an installed web server like Apache, SMTP server like Postfix, and IMAP server like Dovecot.

Here are the installation guides for Postfix and Dovecot.

Starting the Web Server

Package Manager1. If you did not add Web Server and squirrelmail during installation, you can add it now. Using the Package Manager tool, add the Web Server package in the Servers category. Also add the optional package squirrelmail located in the Mail Server package under the category Servers.
Service Configuration2. Start the httpd service. Learn how to start and stop services here.

Configuring SquirrelMail

SquirrelMail Configuration1. From a Terminal window, type in /usr/share/squirrelmail/config/conf.pl and press Enter. This will launch the SquirrelMail Configuration utility.
NoteIf your Terminal window has a white background, make sure that the colors are off by looking for the command Turn color on. If the command is Turn color off, type in C and press Enter to turn the colors off. This will ensure that you will be able to read all of the text.
SquirrelMail Configuration2. Type in 2 and press Enter to select the Server Settings menu.
SquirrelMail Configuration3. Type in 1 and press Enter to select the Domain menu. Type in your domain name and press Enter. Save your changes when you are done.
NoteI recommend installing the Retrieve User Data plugin so the user’s name will appear whenever he or she sends an email in SquirrelMail.

Testing SquirrelMail

Firefox
1. Click the globe icon at the top near the System menu to launch the Firefox web browser.
 
If an error occurs, you probably did not install the Graphical Internet package. You can add it now using the Package Manager tool.
SquirrelMail2. In the address box, type in http://localhost/webmail and press Enter. Type in a valid username and password and click Login.
SquirrelMail3. That’s it, it’s working.
NoteIf you encounter any problems, check the log file at /var/log/maillog.
 

Relocating SquirrelMail into the domain root

By default, SquirrelMail is located in the /webmail of your domain. If you prefer to access SquirrelMail from the root of your domain, follow the steps below.

Edit SQRoot.conf
1. Create the file /etc/httpd/conf.d/sqroot.conf containing the lines below. 
<VirtualHost *:80>
DocumentRoot /usr/share/squirrelmail
</VirtualHost>
NoteIf you are using SSL and you want to force users to use SSL, add the Redirect directive inside the VirtualHost section to redirect browsers to the secured version. See the example below.
redirect permanent / https://mail.acme.local
Service Configuration2. Restart the httpd service. Learn how to restart services here.
SquirrelMail3. Now try browsing http://localhost
 

Related Pages

SquirrelMailHow to customize the login page.
SquirrelMailHow to secure SquirrelMail using SSL.
SquirrelMailHow to add a password change utility.
SquirrelMailHow to add Active Directory/LDAP into the SquirrelMail Addressbook.
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Posted on 4/23/2007 and last updated on 2/13/2010
Filed under CentOS 5 , Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 , SquirrelMail