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Set up email for a customer

Create mailboxes, send DNS records to the right places, get mail flowing in under five minutes.

Before you start

Email accounts are a Pro-tier feature — the Mail page is locked on Community installs. If you're on Community, this guide won't apply. Confirm you're on Pro by checking https://<your-host>:2087/license — the badge at the top of the page should say Pro or Developer.

You also need port 25 to be reachable outbound. Most VPS providers block port 25 by default to prevent spam. Hetzner, OVH, Scaleway will lift the block after a verification step; DigitalOcean and Vultr typically won't. If your provider blocks 25, you'll need to configure an SMTP relay (Mailgun / SES / Postmark) for outbound — inbound still works fine on 25 once your DNS points at the panel.

Step 1 — Add the customer's domain

Admin → Domains → Add domain. Pick the customer who'll own it. The panel automatically:

  • Creates a DNS zone in PowerDNS (if PowerDNS is your authoritative DNS).
  • Generates SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records you'll need at the registrar.
  • Provisions a Let's Encrypt cert for mail.<domain> via Caddy — needed for IMAP/SMTP TLS.

Step 2 — Create the mailbox

Switch to the customer panel (port 2083, log in as that customer) → Email → Create mailbox.

  • Address: e.g. info@example.com
  • Password: minimum 12 chars; the panel rejects anything weaker.
  • Quota: per-mailbox disk cap; defaults to whatever the customer's package allows.

Step 3 — Point DNS at the right places

Back in admin → Domains → <domain> → DNS. Copy these three records and add them at the customer's registrar (or directly in PowerDNS if it's authoritative for the domain): 

; replace mail.example.com with the panel hostname
@        MX  10 mail.example.com.

; SPF — auto-generated, looks like:
@        TXT "v=spf1 mx ~all"

; DKIM — auto-generated, looks like:
panel._domainkey  TXT "v=DKIM1; k=rsa; p=MIGfMA0G..."

; DMARC — auto-generated, looks like:
_dmarc   TXT "v=DMARC1; p=quarantine; rua=mailto:postmaster@example.com"

Step 4 — Wait for propagation, then test

Give the DNS records 5-30 minutes to propagate. Then from the customer panel → Email → <mailbox> → Send test email. The panel sends a probe to the address and checks delivery + spam score.

Or test manually — log into the bundled Roundcube webmail at https://mail.<domain>/ using the mailbox address + password and send yourself a message.

Common issues

"Mail accepted by us but never arriving at Gmail"

Almost always SPF / DKIM / DMARC misalignment. Run mail-tester.com on a test send — it tells you exactly which check is failing. Most common cause: SPF record published at the wrong subdomain (it must be on the bare zone, not mail.).

"Connection refused on port 25"

Your VPS provider is blocking outbound 25. Two options: (1) ask them to lift the block (most will after a verification email), (2) configure an SMTP relay in admin → Mail Server → Relay. Postmark and SES both work well.

"DKIM signature failed"

Confirm the TXT record is published exactly as the panel shows it — line breaks and quotes are easy to mangle in registrar UIs. Some registrars (Hover, GoDaddy) insert linebreaks silently; paste into a text editor first to confirm there's only one logical line.

Next steps