Once iRedMail is installed, the next step is adding mail domains and user accounts. You can do this through the iRedAdmin web panel or directly in the database. This guide covers both approaches, along with the DNS records each new domain needs to actually receive and send email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Current as of March 2026<\/strong>. Works with iRedMail 1.7.x on any supported OS (Ubuntu 24.04\/22.04, Debian 12, Rocky Linux 10\/9, AlmaLinux 10\/9, FreeBSD 14).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you haven’t installed iRedMail yet, start with the installation guide for your OS: Ubuntu 24.04\/22.04<\/a>, Debian 12<\/a>, or Rocky Linux \/ AlmaLinux<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Log in to iRedAdmin at From the dashboard, click Add<\/strong> in the top menu, then select Domain<\/strong>. Enter the new domain name (e.g., Click Add<\/strong> to save. The domain appears immediately in the Domains list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you prefer the command line, or need to script bulk domain additions, insert directly into the database. The examples below use PostgreSQL (adjust for MySQL\/MariaDB if that’s your backend).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Connect to the vmail database:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Insert the new domain:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Verify the domain was added:<\/p>\n\n\n\n You should see the new domain listed with For MariaDB\/MySQL backends, connect with In iRedAdmin, click Add<\/strong> then User<\/strong>. Fill in the required fields:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Click Add<\/strong> to create the account. The user can immediately log in to Roundcube at For scripted user creation, generate a password hash first:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This outputs a hash like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Insert the user into the database (PostgreSQL example):<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Also add the user to the forwardings table so local delivery works:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adding a domain in iRedMail only configures the server side. For email to actually flow, you need DNS records on the new domain. Without these, incoming mail won’t reach your server and outgoing mail will land in spam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Points email delivery for the new domain to your mail server:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Authorizes your mail server to send email for the new domain:<\/p>\n\n\n\n iRedMail generates one DKIM key per domain. Generate a key for the new domain:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Add the new domain to the Amavisd DKIM signing configuration. Open Find the Also add the domain to the Retrieve the public key for DNS:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Create a TXT record at Check that all records resolve correctly:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Aliases forward email from one address to another without creating a full mailbox. In iRedAdmin, go to Add<\/strong> then Alias<\/strong>. You can also add them via SQL:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This forwards all mail sent to Send a test email from the new account using Roundcube or the command line:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Check the mail log for delivery status:<\/p>\n\n\n\n A successful delivery shows A few common management tasks:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Set the quota to 2048 MB (2 GB):<\/p>\n\n\n\n All of these operations can also be done through iRedAdmin’s web interface. The CLI approach is faster for bulk changes and easier to automate. For SSL certificate management on your mail server, see our guide on securing iRedMail with Let’s Encrypt<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Once iRedMail is installed, the next step is adding mail domains and user accounts. You can do this through the iRedAdmin web panel or directly in the database. This guide covers both approaches, along with the DNS records each new domain needs to actually receive and send email. Current as of March 2026. Works with … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":36461,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[299,328,50],"tags":[142,16130,16129],"class_list":["post-36468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-how-to","category-email","category-linux-tutorials","tag-email","tag-iredmail","tag-mail"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36468"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36468\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":164919,"href":"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36468\/revisions\/164919"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/computingforgeeks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Add a Mail Domain via iRedAdmin<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
https:\/\/mail.example.com\/iredadmin\/<\/code> with your postmaster credentials.<\/p>\n\n\n\nnewdomain.com<\/code>) and configure these settings:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
newdomain.com<\/code><\/li>\n\n\n\nAdd a Mail Domain via CLI<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
sudo -u postgres psql -d vmail<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nINSERT INTO domain (domain, transport, active)\nVALUES ('newdomain.com', 'dovecot', 1);<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nSELECT domain, active FROM domain ORDER BY domain;<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nactive = 1<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nmysql -u root -p vmail<\/code> and the same SQL works.<\/p>\n\n\n\nCreate a User Account via iRedAdmin<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
john<\/code>) and select the domain from the dropdown<\/li>\n\n\n\nhttps:\/\/mail.example.com\/mail\/<\/code> or SOGo at https:\/\/mail.example.com\/SOGo\/<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nCreate a User Account via CLI<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
doveadm pw -s SSHA512 -p 'UserPassword123'<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n{SSHA512}k3x9y7z...<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nsudo -u postgres psql -d vmail<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nINSERT INTO mailbox (username, password, name, maildir, quota, domain, active, local_part)\nVALUES (\n 'john@newdomain.com',\n '{SSHA512}YOUR_HASH_HERE',\n 'John Smith',\n 'newdomain.com\/j\/o\/h\/john-2026.03.28.01.02.03\/',\n 1024,\n 'newdomain.com',\n 1,\n 'john'\n);<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nmaildir<\/code> path follows iRedMail’s hashed directory layout: domain\/first_char\/second_char\/third_char\/username-timestamp\/<\/code>. The quota<\/code> value is in MB.<\/p>\n\n\n\nINSERT INTO forwardings (address, forwarding, domain, dest_domain, is_forwarding)\nVALUES ('john@newdomain.com', 'john@newdomain.com', 'newdomain.com', 'newdomain.com', 0);<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nSet Up DNS Records for the New Domain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
MX record<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
newdomain.com. IN MX 10 mail.example.com.<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nSPF record<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
newdomain.com. IN TXT \"v=spf1 mx a:mail.example.com -all\"<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nDKIM record<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
sudo amavisd genrsa \/var\/lib\/dkim\/newdomain.com.pem 2048<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n\/etc\/amavis\/conf.d\/50-user<\/code> and add the domain to the dkim_key<\/code> list:<\/p>\n\n\n\nsudo vi \/etc\/amavis\/conf.d\/50-user<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\ndkim_key<\/code> section and add a line for the new domain:<\/p>\n\n\n\ndkim_key('newdomain.com', 'dkim', '\/var\/lib\/dkim\/newdomain.com.pem');<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n@dkim_signature_options_bysender_maps<\/code> array in the same file. Then restart Amavisd:<\/p>\n\n\n\nsudo systemctl restart amavis<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nsudo amavisd showkeys<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\ndkim._domainkey.newdomain.com<\/code> with the public key from the output. Verify the key propagated:<\/p>\n\n\n\nsudo amavisd testkeys<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nDMARC record<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
_dmarc.newdomain.com. IN TXT \"v=DMARC1; p=reject; rua=mailto:postmaster@newdomain.com\"<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nVerify DNS propagation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
dig MX newdomain.com +short\ndig TXT newdomain.com +short\ndig TXT dkim._domainkey.newdomain.com +short\ndig TXT _dmarc.newdomain.com +short<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nCreate Email Aliases<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
INSERT INTO alias (address, domain, active)\nVALUES ('info@newdomain.com', 'newdomain.com', 1);\n\nINSERT INTO forwardings (address, forwarding, domain, dest_domain, is_forwarding)\nVALUES ('info@newdomain.com', 'john@newdomain.com', 'newdomain.com', 'newdomain.com', 1);<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\ninfo@newdomain.com<\/code> to john@newdomain.com<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nTest the New Domain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
echo \"Subject: Test from newdomain.com\nFrom: john@newdomain.com\nTo: your-external@gmail.com\n\nTest email from new iRedMail domain.\" | sendmail -t -f john@newdomain.com<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nsudo tail -20 \/var\/log\/mail.log | grep newdomain<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nstatus=sent<\/code> with dsn=2.0.0<\/code>. If the email lands in spam, check SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records using MXToolbox<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nManaging Existing Accounts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Reset a user password<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
NEW_HASH=$(doveadm pw -s SSHA512 -p 'NewPassword456')\nsudo -u postgres psql -d vmail -c \"UPDATE mailbox SET password = '$NEW_HASH' WHERE username = 'john@newdomain.com';\"<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nDisable an account without deleting it<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
sudo -u postgres psql -d vmail -c \"UPDATE mailbox SET active = 0 WHERE username = 'john@newdomain.com';\"<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nChange mailbox quota<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
sudo -u postgres psql -d vmail -c \"UPDATE mailbox SET quota = 2048 WHERE username = 'john@newdomain.com';\"<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nList all domains and user counts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
sudo -u postgres psql -d vmail -c \"SELECT d.domain, COUNT(m.username) as users FROM domain d LEFT JOIN mailbox m ON d.domain = m.domain GROUP BY d.domain ORDER BY d.domain;\"<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n