How to Install Zimbra Collaboration Suite on CentOS 8

First you need to make sure of the capabilities of your server. For correct operation, the developer specifies the requirements for at least 4 processor cores, 16 GB of RAM and 10 GB of hard disk space.

You also need to have a domain name and correctly configure the DNS. To do this, you need to add an A record for your mail server (change domain-name.com with your FQDN) mail.domain-name.com with the IP address of the server on which you will install Zimbra. The second record is the MX record for your domain with the value mail.domain-name.com and any priority, such as 10.

The next thing to check is the NTP client. CentOS 8 has Chrony for this, which is installed and configured by default. To check its status, run:

If it is not installed:

To check the time in the system:

To set the correct time zone:

Now you need to download the distribution. To do this, go to the official website of the developer, fill out the form and you will receive links to download Zimbra Collaboration Suite 9 OSE to your email. Select one for CentOS 8 and use wget to download it.

Install Perl to the system.

Unzip the downloaded file.

Go to the installation folder.

Run the installation script.

During the installation process, read the information and follow the instructions. The necessary Zimbra components are Core, LDAP, MTA, Proxy, Store. The Rest can be omitted.

Upon request, you also need to check that the hostname matches the domain name of your mail server, which we wrote in DNS at the beginning of the tutorial - mail.domain-name.com.

In one moment, you will see a check of the list of basic parameters. If you see lines with asterisks there, you need to configure them. In my case, the administrator password was not configured.

To set it press 5 and then 4. When everything is done you will see:

Press ‘a’. After that, you can confirm the proposed default parameters, except for the request for configuration changes, where you need to enter a positive response:

After that, the installation process will start, and all you have to do is wait for it to finish.

When it's over you'll be able to access the Zimbra web client in your browser at mail.domain-name.com, and to the administration console at mail.domain-name.com:7071. Enter the username 'admin’ and the password you set earlier to access it.