# Chatmail server docker deployment **URL:** \ **Category:** Chatmail Relays\ **Created:** [February 13, 2024, 1:20pm UTC](https://support.delta.chat/t/chatmail-server-docker-deployment/2927 "2024-02-13T13:20:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![indridieinarsson](https://support.delta.chat/user_avatar/support.delta.chat/indridieinarsson/32/2061_2.png) [@indridieinarsson](https://support.delta.chat/u/indridieinarsson)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 1:20pm UTC](https://support.delta.chat/t/chatmail-server-docker-deployment/2927/1 "2024-02-13T13:20:16Z")
Hello, I’m looking to deploy a chatmail server. Since it would fit the rest of the stuff deployed on my private-projects machine, I would like to deploy in form of a container, instead of doing it directly on the machine. Has someone done this already, perhaps? I haven’t found a ready made image or Dockerfile for it. If I just run the instructions from [GitHub - chatmail/relay: chatmail service deployment scripts and docs](https://github.com/deltachat/chatmail) inside a Dockerfile, and run the resulting container, would that be likely to work? Or is there some advanced stuff going on in the background that I need to be aware of that I would need to manually expose from the docker side? Sorry for the rather fuzzy question. This project just looks really interesting, and the chatmail repo seems to make it easy to setup. I was hoping to try it out on my test-server without risking to mess up the other things setup there with my limited sysadmin skills, and containers are my go-to for that. Greetings, Indriði ---
**Author:** ![hpk](https://support.delta.chat/user_avatar/support.delta.chat/hpk/32/9_2.png) [@hpk](https://support.delta.chat/u/hpk)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 3:38pm UTC](https://support.delta.chat/t/chatmail-server-docker-deployment/2927/2 "2024-02-13T15:38:33Z")
Thanks for your interest. IIRC, last time a docker chatmail image was discussed the following was noted: - Chatmail deployment uses various UID/GID permissions for postfix/dovecot/etc. … with Docker this needs to happen with the docker-host. For someone who is routinely doing docker, it might be easier but note that mailcow puts postfix and dovecot and cron and other services into separate docker containers but then a lot of wiring together needs to be happen. - Ports/networking would need to be configured on the host so that the host exposes SMTP/IMAP properly. Maybe instead of docker, some other virtualization tech could be easier, where you can run a debian11+chatmail setup and run it as a VM image? In either case, feel free to experiment 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![indridieinarsson](https://support.delta.chat/user_avatar/support.delta.chat/indridieinarsson/32/2061_2.png) [@indridieinarsson](https://support.delta.chat/u/indridieinarsson)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 4:00pm UTC](https://support.delta.chat/t/chatmail-server-docker-deployment/2927/3 "2024-02-13T16:00:17Z")
Thanks for the reply. I think the UID/GID stuff can be solved - have seen some scripts that take care of that inside the Dockerfile. But I need to look into how to properly expose the SMTP/IMAP ports - I’m running most stuff behind a traefik reverse proxy, and have until now only exposed websites through it. ---
**Author:** ![gotjoshua](https://support.delta.chat/user_avatar/support.delta.chat/gotjoshua/32/1379_2.png) [@gotjoshua](https://support.delta.chat/u/gotjoshua)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2024, 9:22am UTC](https://support.delta.chat/t/chatmail-server-docker-deployment/2927/4 "2024-10-08T09:22:56Z")
i am also running most of my stuff behind traefik and have the same question. Did anyone make progress on a docker-compose setup for chatmail? ---
**Author:** ![hpk](https://support.delta.chat/user_avatar/support.delta.chat/hpk/32/9_2.png) [@hpk](https://support.delta.chat/u/hpk)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2024, 7:16pm UTC](https://support.delta.chat/t/chatmail-server-docker-deployment/2927/5 "2024-10-13T19:16:58Z")
Seems that Feld is currently trying to dockerize things [FriedCheese](https://friedcheese.us/objects/49356c9e-de19-4d4c-b30d-94e90d4f3f81) ---
**Author:** ![milinddeore](https://support.delta.chat/user_avatar/support.delta.chat/milinddeore/32/2417_2.png) [@milinddeore](https://support.delta.chat/u/milinddeore)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 12:35pm UTC](https://support.delta.chat/t/chatmail-server-docker-deployment/2927/6 "2025-02-21T12:35:49Z")
Did anyone nailed it using Docker? ---
**Author:** ![adonm](https://support.delta.chat/user_avatar/support.delta.chat/adonm/32/2461_2.png) [@adonm](https://support.delta.chat/u/adonm)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2025, 5:40am UTC](https://support.delta.chat/t/chatmail-server-docker-deployment/2927/7 "2025-02-23T05:40:29Z")
It’s a tad complex but feasible, next few months pending work/kids ill chip away at - [Setup container version · Issue #1 · adonm/chatmail-server · GitHub](https://github.com/adonm/chatmail-server/issues/1) is my notes so far (I think I’ll tailor existing pyinfra stuff to work on a chunky systemd capable debian 12 container for simplicity) My goal would be getting a variant easy to run in minikube / devcontainers and rebuilt weekly on github infra to make self hosting a bit easier (especially eg changing storage / domains) ---
**Author:** ![tompatulpan](https://support.delta.chat/user_avatar/support.delta.chat/tompatulpan/32/918_2.png) [@tompatulpan](https://support.delta.chat/u/tompatulpan)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2025, 1:22pm UTC](https://support.delta.chat/t/chatmail-server-docker-deployment/2927/8 "2025-07-04T13:22:33Z")
I just stumbled on to this one - [GitHub - trufae/delta-docker-relay: WIP: Setup your Delta chatmail with Docker](https://github.com/trufae/delta-docker-relay) Not tested by me though… ---
**Author:** ![dcbyers13](https://support.delta.chat/user_avatar/support.delta.chat/dcbyers13/32/2794_2.png) [@dcbyers13](https://support.delta.chat/u/dcbyers13)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2025, 10:12am UTC](https://support.delta.chat/t/chatmail-server-docker-deployment/2927/9 "2025-09-04T10:12:31Z")
I plan on trying the same thing.. i wonder if i will be able to make it work?? Any input would be appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![9er](https://support.delta.chat/user_avatar/support.delta.chat/9er/32/2678_2.png) [@9er](https://support.delta.chat/u/9er)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2025, 2:46pm UTC](https://support.delta.chat/t/chatmail-server-docker-deployment/2927/10 "2025-09-04T14:46:10Z")
> [@hpk](#): > > Seems that Feld is currently trying to dockerize things > [https://friedcheese.us/objects/49356c9e-de19-4d4c-b30d-94e90d4f3f81](https://friedcheese.us/objects/49356c9e-de19-4d4c-b30d-94e90d4f3f81) Actually he made Chef cookbook. [https://github.com/feld/chatmail-cookbook](https://github.com/feld/chatmail-cookbook) > **[feld (@feld@friedcheese.us)](https://friedcheese.us/notice/ArUWYwH5EDJA2uyAQi)** > > Made a quick video showing how to install a DeltaChat Chatmail server using my Chef cookbook. You do not need any existing Chef server infrastructure to use it. https://video.infosec.exchange/w/o9... ---
**Author:** ![9er](https://support.delta.chat/user_avatar/support.delta.chat/9er/32/2678_2.png) [@9er](https://support.delta.chat/u/9er)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2025, 2:54pm UTC](https://support.delta.chat/t/chatmail-server-docker-deployment/2927/11 "2025-09-04T14:54:33Z")
[[https://redd.it/1ka0w7l](https://redd.it/1ka0w7l) ] There is dockerized mailcow, which can work as server for DC, but it’s not recommended. And there is maddy [[Frequently Asked Questions - maddy](https://maddy.email/faq) ], which has some issues but probably may be used for DC. Seems like it’s dockerized. [Feature request: Quotas and CONDSTORE for Delta Chat · Issue #727 · foxcpp/maddy · GitHub](https://github.com/foxcpp/maddy/issues/727) Sure, chatmail docker image would be much appreciated. So this is a feature request `}:-)` ---
**Author:** ![cyber-lis](https://support.delta.chat/user_avatar/support.delta.chat/cyber-lis/32/3063_2.png) [@cyber-lis](https://support.delta.chat/u/cyber-lis)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2026, 10:14pm UTC](https://support.delta.chat/t/chatmail-server-docker-deployment/2927/12 "2026-01-09T22:14:36Z")
I was able to deploy chatmail relay with Docker on my RasberryPI Here is github repo [GitHub - cyberlis/chatmail-relay-docker: Dockerfile and docker-compose for chatmail relay deployment](https://github.com/cyberlis/chatmail-relay-docker) @r10s maybe it can be a starting point to add docker deployment support to main chatmail relay repo ---
**Author:** ![WofWca](https://support.delta.chat/user_avatar/support.delta.chat/wofwca/32/1702_2.png) [@WofWca](https://support.delta.chat/u/WofWca)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 1:20pm UTC](https://support.delta.chat/t/chatmail-server-docker-deployment/2927/13 "2026-08-24T13:20:25Z")
Now there is also an “official” repo apparently: > **[GitHub - chatmail/docker: Dockerized chatmail/relay](https://github.com/chatmail/docker)** > > Dockerized chatmail/relay ---
**Author:** ![mrdkknonm](https://support.delta.chat/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@mrdkknonm](https://support.delta.chat/u/mrdkknonm)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2026, 11:24am UTC](https://support.delta.chat/t/chatmail-server-docker-deployment/2927/14 "2026-09-13T11:24:54Z")
Any instructions on how to do this? I have couple of wp sites behind traefik with auto cert renewal. Would be great if I could spawn relay easily.