Can not login from a Roundcube container

[PCarlsson]

Hello,

I have struggled (together with Gemini AI) to be able to use Roundcube in a container to login to Docker Mailserver. My current configuration looks like below.

Please let me know if you need any additional information. Any help would be extremely appreciated!

DMS docker-compose.yml

services:
  mailserver:
    image: mailserver/docker-mailserver:15.1.0
    container_name: mailserver
    hostname: mail.jmpcarlsson.se
    env_file: mailserver.env
    ports:
      - "25:25"
      - "143:143"
      - "465:465"
      - "587:587"
      - "993:993"
    volumes:
      - ./mail-data/:/var/mail/
      - ./mail-state/:/var/mail-state/
      - ./mail-logs/:/var/log/mail/
      - ./config/:/tmp/docker-mailserver/
      - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro
      - /var/lib/caddy/certs/jmpcarlsson.se/:/etc/ssl/mail/:ro
      - ./client_access_dms_local:/etc/postfix/client_access_dms_local
      - ./client_access_dms_local.db:/etc/postfix/client_access_dms_local.db
    environment:
      - DMS_VMAIL_UID=1000 # Peter's UID
      - DMS_VMAIL_GID=1000 # Peter's GID
      - TZ=Europe/Stockholm
    cap_add:
      - NET_ADMIN # For Fail2Ban to work
    networks:
      - shared_network
    restart: always
networks:
  shared_network:
    external: true
    name: shared_docker_network

Roundcube docker-compose.yml

services:
  roundcube:
    image: roundcube/roundcubemail:latest
    container_name: roundcube
    ports:
     - "8022:80"
     - "8023:443"
    environment:
      - ROUNDCUBEMAIL_DB_TYPE=sqlite
      - ROUNDCUBEMAIL_DEFAULT_HOST=tls://jmpcarlsson.se
      - ROUNDCUBEMAIL_SMTP_SERVER=tls://jmpcarlsson.se
      - ROUNDCUBEMAIL_SKIN=elastic
      - TZ=Europe/Stockholm
    volumes:
     - roundcube-data:/var/lib/roundcube
     - /home/peter/Eget/Docker/Roundcube/config:/var/roundcube/config
     - /home/peter/Eget/Docker/Roundcube/db:/var/roundcube/db
    networks:
     - shared_network
    restart: always
networks:
  shared_network:
    external: true
    name: shared_docker_network
volumes:
  roundcube-data:

This gives me the following error (docker compose logs -f roundcube)

...
roundcube  | errors: <6ce7615e> IMAP Error: Login failed for peter@jmpcarlsson.se against jmpcarlsson.se from 172.19.0.1. AUTHENTICATE PLAIN: Authentication failed. in /var/www/html/program/lib/Roundcube/rcube_imap.php on line 211 (POST /?_task=login&_action=login)
...

Thanks in advance,
Peter

[polarathene]

cap_add:
  - NET_ADMIN # For Fail2Ban to work

You may want to not have Fail2Ban active when troubleshooting authentication issues 😅

environment:
  - ROUNDCUBEMAIL_DEFAULT_HOST=tls://jmpcarlsson.se
  - ROUNDCUBEMAIL_SMTP_SERVER=tls://jmpcarlsson.se

I think for starters, you have DMS configured for mail.jmpcarlsson.se as the hostname, but you are configuring Roundcube for your specific mail domain (for mail accounts) instead of the FQDN that represents the mail server.

This is an important difference, since you can have many different mail domains for accounts, but you generally only have the one mail server FQDN to direct traffic to (mail clients for reading and submitting mail like ThunderBird and Roundcube, or other mail servers delivering mail to the MX host on port 25). Your mail domains direct traffic for delivery to DMS FQDN via the DNS records, which is also where the certificate is served from. DMS doesn't need certificates for any of your mail domains.

---

Failing that, try this reference as a basic setup, and go from there?:

# DISCLAIMER: This is an example config to demonstrate functionality,
# It does not represent any considerations for secure production deployments.
services:
  dms:
    image: mailserver/docker-mailserver:latest
    hostname: mail.example.test
    # `configs` is a feature that can embed files into this `compose.yaml` example, simplifying trying it out
    # NOTE: Normally this would be `volumes` with external files persisted to your host filesystem.
    configs:
      - source: dms-accounts
        target: /tmp/docker-mailserver/postfix-accounts.cf

  roundcube:
    image: roundcube/roundcubemail:latest
    # NOTE: If you've got a reverse proxy with TLS already with ports published,
    # Comment this out and have it route to this `roundcube` container instead.
    ports:
      - 80:80
    environment:
      - ROUNDCUBEMAIL_DB_TYPE=sqlite
      - ROUNDCUBEMAIL_SKIN=elastic
      - ROUNDCUBEMAIL_DEFAULT_HOST=tls://mail.example.test
      - ROUNDCUBEMAIL_SMTP_SERVER=tls://mail.example.test

# NOTE: The Docker Compose `configs.<name>.content` feature is supported in Docker Compose releases since 2024.
#
# Docker Compose has a variable interpolation feature which matches the `$` character, which we do not want to mistakenly use.
# - File content below avoids that feature via it's escape syntax of repeating that character (`$$`).
# - If you copy/paste to separate files for `volumes` make sure you revert that change.
configs:
  # Created via `setup email add john.doe@example.test secret`
  # - Username: `john.doe@example.test`
  # - Password: `secret`
  dms-accounts:
    content: |
      john.doe@example.test|{SHA512-CRYPT}$$6$$sbgFRCmQ.KWS5ryb$$EsWrlYosiadgdUOxCBHY0DQ3qFbeudDhNMqHs6jZt.8gmxUwiLVy738knqkHD4zj4amkb296HFqQ3yDq4UXt8.

I do point out at the link that there may be some issues with other forms of authentication like OAuth, but if you're only using our standard file-based postfix-accounts.cf for credentials, you should be ok with the above.

[PCarlsson]

Thanks!
Sorry for my late feedback. I have now done some changes and merged DMS and Roundcube into one common docker-compose.yml that looks like this:

services:
  mailserver:
    image: mailserver/docker-mailserver:15.1.0
    container_name: mailserver
    hostname: mailserver
    env_file: ./dms/mailserver.env
    ports:
      - "25:25"
      - "143:143"
      - "465:465"
      - "587:587"
      - "993:993"
    volumes:
      - ./dms/mail-data/:/var/mail/ 
      - ./dms/mail-state/:/var/mail-state/
      - ./dms/mail-logs/:/var/log/mail/
      - ./dms/config/:/tmp/docker-mailserver/  
      - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro  
      - /var/lib/caddy/certs/jmpcarlsson.se/:/etc/ssl/mail/:ro
      - ./dms/client_access_dms_local:/etc/postfix/client_access_dms_local
      - ./dms/client_access_dms_local.db:/etc/postfix/client_access_dms_local.db
    environment:
      - DOMAINNAME=jmpcarlsson.se
      - OVERRIDE_HOSTNAME=jmpcarlsson.se
      - DMS_VMAIL_UID=1000 # Peter's UID
      - DMS_VMAIL_GID=1000 # Peter's GID
      - TZ=Europe/Stockholm

  roundcube:
    image: roundcube/roundcubemail:latest
    container_name: roundcube
    hostname: roundcube
    ports:
      - "8022:80"
      - "8023:443"
    environment:
      - ROUNDCUBEMAIL_DB_TYPE=sqlite

      - ROUNDCUBEMAIL_DEFAULT_HOST=mailserver
      - ROUNDCUBEMAIL_DEFAULT_PORT=993

      - ROUNDCUBEMAIL_SMTP_SERVER=mailserver
      - ROUNDCUBEMAIL_SMTP_PORT=465

      - ROUNDCUBEMAIL_IMAP_CONN_OPTIONS='{"ssl":{"verify_peer":false,"verify_peer_name":false,"allow_self_signed":true}}'
      - ROUNDCUBEMAIL_SMTP_CONN_OPTIONS='{"ssl":{"verify_peer":false,"verify_peer_name":false,"allow_self_signed":true}}'

      - ROUNDCUBEMAIL_IMAP_AUTH_METHOD=LOGIN
      - ROUNDCUBEMAIL_SMTP_AUTH_METHOD=LOGIN

      - ROUNDCUBEMAIL_DEFAULT_DOMAIN=jmpcarlsson.se

      - ROUNDCUBEMAIL_SKIN=elastic
      - TZ=Europe/Stockholm
    volumes:
     - ./roundcube/data:/var/lib/roundcube
     - ./roundcube/config:/var/roundcube/config
     - ./roundcube/db:/var/roundcube/db

volumes:
  roundcube-data:

Then I have the mailserver.env

LOG_LEVEL=debug

#ENABLE_GETMAIL=1
#GETMAIL_POLL=1

DEFAULT_RELAY_HOST=[smtp.gmail.com]:587
RELAY_USER=peter.jm.carlsson@gmail.com
RELAY_PASSWORD=********

POSTFIX_CONFIG_smtp_sasl_auth_enable=yes
POSTFIX_CONFIG_smtp_sasl_security_options=noanonymous
POSTFIX_CONFIG_smtp_tls_security_level=encrypt

PERMIT_DOCKER=connected-networks

DMS_DOMAIN=jmpcarlsson.se
DMS_SET_HOSTNAME=jmpcarlsson.se

LOGWATCH_INTERVAL=daily

SSL_TYPE=manual
SSL_CERT_PATH=/etc/ssl/mail/fullchain.pem
SSL_KEY_PATH=/etc/ssl/mail/privkey.pem

POSTFIX_MYNETWORKS="127.0.0.0/8 10.0.0.0/8 172.16.0.0/12 192.168.0.0/16 172.19.0.0/16"

With that configuration I get:

roundcube  | errors: <a648a41f> IMAP Error: Login failed for peter against mailserver from 192.168.1.200. Empty startup greeting (mailserver:993) in /var/www/html/program/lib/Roundcube/rcube_imap.php on line 211 (POST /?_task=login&_action=login)

Maybe you can see something that is obviously wrong or please tell me if I should provide any additional information.

Thanks in advance,
Peter

[polarathene]

Maybe you can see something that is obviously wrong

TL;DR: Yes:

• The config looks too dependent upon AI assistance which has likely misconfigured your setup. Consult our docs for proper configuration.
• I'm taking a guess that DMS may not have been setup working first before the Roundcube issue itself? Troubleshooting 101, start with the basics and once that's working gradually bring back your full config.

---

hostname: mailserver
# ...
environment:
  - DOMAINNAME=jmpcarlsson.se
  - OVERRIDE_HOSTNAME=jmpcarlsson.se

You're relying on AI assistance too much here instead of reading our docs from the looks of it? Start simple before you complicate your configuration with more features, get your DMS up and running correctly first.

You should not be using DOMAINNAME that isn't listed in our docs as supported ENV, the AI advice is unreliable. OVERRIDE_HOSTNAME should not be needed either if you follow our docs advice.

Remove these two ENV, use only hostname: mail.jmpcarlsson.se, then add an A record for this FQDN to your server IP, and an MX record for jmpcarlsson.se that points to mail.jmpcarlsson.se.

You will need to provision a certificate separately for this mail subdomain if your existing certificate doesn't include a SAN entry with a wildcard *.jmpcarlsson.se entry. If you look at our SSL docs page we document how you can use a CertBot container to automate the certificate provisioning for you with LetsEncrypt. I can see you're using Caddy, but the way it stores the certificates is not reliable by default IIRC (there is a separate issue about this on our issue tracker), so I would not encourage that if you want to avoid issues.

If you do not want to provision a certificate that is compatible with mail.jmpcarlsson.se, then please look at our docs FAQ entry for "bare domain" setup. This will allow you to use a certificate for jmpcarlsson.se, which will require setting hostname: jmpcarlsson.se instead, along with a configuration change for Postfix (this has a minor caveat for internal mail for system users/aliases can no longer be handled, only your mailboxes you've configured with setup email add or setup alias add).

---

Did you try my compose.yaml example? You could run it locally, just connect to DMS through Roundcube via your web browser at http://localhost 👍

This would enable you to confirm a basic setup is working, and you can continue from that.

---

env_file: ./dms/mailserver.env

I am assuming this is the same mailserver.env you have shared after your compose config? This is used to set the ENV for the container. You have various ENV listed in that file which look like they've been imagined by the AI, look at our ENV docs page and remove those which aren't real.

---

I'm not that familiar with the Roundcube container config, but at this point it's probably safe to assume your AI assistance has been involved there and made similar mistakes too. I will not be able to hold your hand to walk you through that, and the AI is clearly having trouble.

You'll need to read the docs yourself and understand how to configure the Roundcube container service beyond the example I provided you (which actually works). If you're unable to manage that, this may be too difficult for you without the AI reliance and you'd need to pay someone with the technical ability to do what I've described above.

---

Please don't take all this in the wrong way BTW.

• I don't have an issue with using AI to help speed things along, but it does get in the way when it hallucinates gibberish config and the user shares that without taking time to verify against our docs when they're troubleshooting.
• As my entire involvement in this project is unpaid time, I can only assist where it is practical for the community, not as personal support.
• You may have technical skills elsewhere and trying to avoid having to learn all this mail specific jargon and config of services (which is not fun), I totally understand that but in cases like this you'll need to put in the same effort as I would need to which is not something I currently have time to spare on your behalf 😅

Goodluck 🙏

You might want to explore alternative projects for mail, DMS is not necessarily the best option out there and some competing projects may make this setup for you simpler (or perhaps the AI guidance understands it better than DMS and Roundcube).

[PCarlsson]

Hello again!

First I would like to say that I am extremely thankful for your help and I am very well aware that you do it unpaid.

On my old Debian server I used Dovecot/Postfix/etc on the host and Roundcube in a Docker container and it worked very well.
With that I thought I had enough knowledge to get Roundcube working together with DMS on my new Debian server. But when I failed I took help from AI.

Anyhow, now I have finally got it working after removing a lot of unneeded stuff and reading up a bit more.

Thank you for your assistance! Much appreciated!

/Peter

[casperklein]

If you want, you might contribute your solution to: https://github.com/docker-mailserver/docker-mailserver/tree/master/demo-setups