Roundcube Webmailer – Your Ultimate Guide!

Roundcube is a free, open source Website Mailer that allows you to manage your emails via a browser. It offers a variety of features that both beginners and experienced users will benefit from. In this Article Get detailed instructions on how to use Roundcube Webmailer!

What is Roundcube Webmailer?

Roundcube Web Mailer is a free and open source webmail program that you can install on your own web server. It offers many useful functions such as an integrated address book and calendar function. It is also compatible with all common email servers and supports all standards (IMAP, SMTP, etc.).

The different types of Roundcube webmailers

Roundcube Web Mailers are available in many different versions. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages. This article explains and compares the different types of Roundcube webmailers.

Desktop Roundcube webmailer

The first Roundcube Web Mailer is the desktop Roundcube Web Mailer. This round cube Website Mailer is installed on your desktop computer. It's a great choice because you have everything you need to send and receive emails without having to log in. Most desktop Roundcube webmailers also offer a variety of other features such as contact management, calendar functionality and task functionality. However, some desktop Roundcube webmailers have disadvantages. For example, you may have to pay a monthly fee to get full functionality.

Online Roundcube webmailer

The second Roundcube Web Mailer is the online Roundcube Web Mailer. This type of Roundcube Web Mailer is hosted online and can be accessed via a web browser on your Desktop or mobile device. The advantage of an online Roundcube webmailer is that you don't need any additional software on your Desktop need to install. All you need is a web browser. Another advantage is that there is no monthly fee for using the Roundcube webmailer. However, most online Roundcube webmailers only offer basic email features.

Enterprise and company-wide Roundcube webmailer

The third Roundcube Web Mailer is the enterprise and company-wide Roundcube Webmailer. This type of Roundcube Web Mailer is generally used by large companies and organizations. It offers a range of advanced features required for day-to-day business operations. Some of the features include contact management, calendar feature, tasks feature, email forwarding and much more. However, most enterprise and company-wide Roundcube webmailers require a fee.

You can download and install Roundcube for free. However, there is also a premium version intended for large companies. Additional features include contacts, calendar and task management as well as additional plugins and Themes.

The best features of Roundcube

Roundcube is an excellent webmailer with many useful features. Here are some of the best:

Support for IMAP and SMTP:

Roundcube supports both protocols so you can send and receive your emails with ease.
User friendliness:

Drag & Drop function:

Thanks to the drag and drop function, you can easily move your emails around the folders.

Quickly delete emails:

Roundcube makes it easy to delete emails without having to open them first.

spamfilter:

Roundcube has an excellent spam filter that will save you a lot of time and effort deleting unwanted emails.

Calendar:

With the integrated calendar you can easily manage your appointments.

Contact list:

The contact list allows you to easily manage your contacts.

Custom Email Templates:

Roundcube allows you to create your own email templates so you can send your emails even faster and easier.

Excellent Search:

The Search is also very good, so you can find your emails quickly and easily.

Overall, Roundcube is an excellent webmailer with many useful features.

Advantages and disadvantages of a Roundcube webmailer

The Roundcube webmailer is a popular one tool to manage emails. However, there are some pros and cons you should consider when deciding if this tool is right for you.

Advantages:
Roundcube is free and open source. This means there are no license fees and you can customize the software to suit your needs.
Roundcube offers a wide range of features. For example, you can filter emails, automatically archive them, or even encrypt emails. The calendar and contact functions are also very helpful.
Roundcube is relatively easy to install and use. The graphical interface is intuitively designed and easy to navigate. The documentation is also well written and helpful.

Disadvantages:
Roundcube is not a perfect solution. For example, there are some security vulnerabilities that have not yet been completely closed. There are also some problems with importing and exporting contacts.
Some users report that Roundcube is slow. However, this can be solved by installing additional extensions.
Overall, however, Roundcube is a very popular and versatile tool that is suitable for both beginners and advanced users.

The 10 best plugins for your Roundcube webmailer

Roundcube is a free and open source web mailer that can be installed both as a web-based service and as a local application. It offers many advanced features such as skins, spam and virus protection, filtering, contact management, integration with many popular calendaring and messaging services, etc. However, there are no pre-installed plugins in Roundcube and you have to install them manually. In this Article we introduce you to the 10 best Roundcube plugins.

FETCH MAIL

This plugin helps you import emails from an external POP3/IMAP account into your Roundcube account. It also supports automatic updates option.
It is similar to the encryption plugin, but some differences are the following:

Fetchmail plugin does not support user or server configuration!

It requires installation on your Server & Hosting.

Fetchmail has its own service that needs to be activated automatically. It does not need any control function in Roundcube. This is a big advantage over the encryption plugin that requires downloading every connection.

To install and start the Fetchmail service: 

yum install fetchmail -y service fetchmail start chkconfig fetchmail on

To stop this service:

service fetchmail stop chkconfig fetchmail off

To restart this service:

service fetchmail restart chkconfig fetchmail on

Use your browser to access your Roundcube account. Fetchmail plugin should already be installed and you can select it from the top menu bar. If not, visit http://www.yourserver.com/roundcube/?_task=settings&_action=plugins and activate it.

Click on the plugin icon in the top menu bar or navigate to Settings -> Plugins -> Fetchmail Plugin -> Settings (or http://www.yourserver.com/roundcube/?_task=settings&_action=plugin.fetchmail).

Add the following Parameter added:
Hostname: mail.yourserver.com
POP3 port: 995
IMAP port: 993
SSL/TLS: Yes
Username: [email protected]
Password: XXXXXXXX
Mailbox: Measuring Service (Use a different mailbox if you wish.)
Click on “Test Connection” to check whether everything is correct and then click on “Save Changes”.

PASSWORD

The Password plugin allows you to change your password for the Roundcube webmailer.

NOTE:
To use this plugin, your web server must be able to execute a PHP function (passthru or exec) to run command line programs.

INSTALLATION:

Unzip the archive to a directory of your choice and rename it to password.
Add the following line to the inc/main.inc.php file at the end of the include_path entry:
|include_path = '/your/path/to/password';
Log in to Roundcube and select 'Change password' under the 'Options' menu bar.

APPLICATION:

Go to a command line command of your choice that you want to run with your old password and the new password and add the following arguments:
-u user[%password] -n new_password -o old_password -s salt

NOTE: 
If the account name for the account contains '%', this will be used as a separator for the username and password (e.g. 'user%secret').
In this case, do not enter a password.
The salt parameter is only required if salt encoding is disabled in the PHP configuration.
Your Server & Hosting but must have a connection to each account you want to change.
Edit the config/main.inc.php file and add the following line:
$rcmail_config['password_driver'] = 'password';
Log in to Roundcube and select 'Change password' under the 'Options' menu bar.

FOR DEVELOPERS:

The Password plugin can be used by other plugins to change a password without having to create a new interface. To do this, simply call the password::change() method and pass it the user's credentials (username and old and new password). The method returns true or false depending on whether it was successful or not.
*/

class password extends rcube_plugin {

public $task = 'login|logout';

function init () {
$this->add_hook('template_object_passwordform', array($this, 'change_template'));
$this->add_hook('login_after', array($this, 'change'));

// require ajax support for backend action
if ($this->rcmail->action == 'plugin.password-save') {
$this->require_ajax();
$this->register_action('plugin.password-save', array($this, 'save'));
}

// add tab on prefs page (requires jquery UI)
if ($tab = $this->load_config('prefs')) {
$this->additional_prefs[] = array(array('password', JAVASCRIPT_OBJECT . '.utils.env.data'), $tab);
$label = rcmail::Q($tab['title'] ?: ('password.' . strtolower($tab['id'])));
$this->register_action('plugin.password-prefs', array($this, 'preferences'));
$this->api->output->add_header(sprintf(“”, ASSETS_PATH));
}
}

private function load_config($filename) {
static $config = array();
if (!isset($config[$filename])) {
$file = realpath(dirname(__FILE__) . “/$filename.inc”);
if ($file && is_readable($file)) {
include($file); // loads $tab/$props[] array; setup() method may be defined as well.
// support old style $tab['id']/['title'] definition (without ['url']) by using action name as id and title for label translation key
if (!array_key_exists('url', $tab)) { // NOTE: keep this check after setup() has a chance to change it!
$tab['url'] = “./?_action=plugin.password-prefs&_id={$tab['id']}”;
if (empty($tab['title'])) {
$tab['title'] = 'password.' . strtolower($tab['id']);
}
}
if (array_key_exists('setup', $tab) && is_callable($tab['setup'])) {
$config[$filename] = $tab; // save initial config before calling setup() for possible modification
call_user_func($tab['setup'], $this->api); // let's call it… we need to get some things done before loading the config file!
} Else {
$config[$filename] = $props; // no setup(), just assign props array to the tab config file.
}
// check if a localized label translation key is defined in the original Setup() method... this will override $label and set a localized value. 

READYCONTACTS

ReadyContacts is a contact management plugin for Roundcube that allows you to import, export and manage your contacts. It also offers contacts search and a T9 keyboard for easy typing.
I developed the plugin because I was tired of saving my contacts in different formats on different devices. From now on, all you need to do is create a single CSV file and import it across all your devices. Please note that the plugin requires the new API from Roundcube 1.3!

To get started:

Create a CSV file with the fields first name, last name, email, company, telephone, cell phone and/or fax. The only requirement is that you provide at least one name.
Import the CSV file into your Roundcube account.
On all other devices, you just need to download this file and drag it to the same folder for it to import.

In just XNUMX steps:

In Roundcube, click “Address Book” and then click “Import”. Select the CSV file you want to import and click Open. If you want to import more than one file, hold down Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac) and click each file. Click on Continue". Select the type of file to import (CSV, vCard or LDIF) and the encoding (UTF-8, ISO-8859-1, etc.). Click on Continue". Roundcube will now list all fields in the CSV file. Map these fields to the roundcube fields. Click “Import”.
If you use Roundcube on another Desktop To use it, you just need to download the CSV file and drag it to the same folder for it to import.

SPAM FILTER

The Spam Filter plugin allows you to automatically filter and mark emails in your Roundcube account as spam. You can also customize the filter rules to achieve exactly what you want.

REQUIREMENTS

Roundcube 1.1 or later.

INSTALLATION

Unzip the plugin archive and copy the “spamfilter” folder into your Roundcube plugins “plugins” folder. Log in to the Roundcube web interface and navigate to “Settings” -> “Plugins”. Look there for the entry “Spam filter” and activate the option with the checkbox. Go to the “Spam Filter” tab on the top left Page. Enable or disable the spam feature using the checkbox, depending on which feature is best for you. If desired, adjust the filter rules here and click the “Save” button. The changes will now be applied immediately.

VIRUS SCANNER

The VirusScanner plugin integrates ClamAV with Roundcube and automatically scans all downloaded attachments for viruses. If a virus is found, the attachment will be deleted and you will be notified via email.

INSTALLATION

There are two ways to install the plugin:

Install it via Roundcube Installer (or download and unzip it to the plugin folder). Download and extract it to the plugin folder If you used the first method, you need to have ClamAV on your Server & Hosting install and configure. If you used the second method, after installation a configuration wizard will automatically start that installs and configures ClamAV. 

To install/configure only ClamAV without Roundcube integration, follow these steps: Run sudo php clamav_installer.php –onlyclamav from the plugin directory. Follow the assistant. Look in clamd.conf and adjust the settings if necessary (e.g. clamd connection over a network).

To install/configure Roundcube only, follow these steps: Run sudo php clamav_installer.php from the plugin directory. Follow the assistant. Look in clamd.conf and adjust the settings if necessary (e.g. clamd connection over a network)

AFTER INSTALLATION

Configure the plugin after the installation wizard in the Roundcube Config. If you only have ClamAV installed, you need to adjust the clamd settings: set the path to the socket under “ClamAV socket” to /tmp/clamd.socket or /var/run/clamav/clamd.ctl, whichever path the assistant used (see also clamd.conf). By default, virus definitions are automatically updated every 4 hours. However, you can adjust this time manually: set the desired value for “Update Interval” and ensure that the cron job is running (see below). The update is triggered automatically after the first scan. You can adjust the last update manually: set the desired value for “Last Update” and ensure that the cron job is running (see below). If you don’t want to use ClamAV, simply disable it under “Enable Plugin”.

TROUBLESHOOTING

Error when opening the socket / connecting to the clamd service Please check the configuration file at /etc/clamav/clamd.conf. On Ubuntu/Debian you can find clamd.conf in the /etc/clamav-unofficial-addons/ folder. Make sure the clamd settings are correct: UNIX socket/network, location, etc. If you are using a network socket, make sure the service is started locally (not on the server) and try again.
ClamAV update error Please check the configuration file at /etc/clamav/freshclam.conf. On Ubuntu/Debian you can find freshclam.conf in the /etc/clamav-unofficial-addons/ folder. Make sure your proxy and other settings are correct.

SSH

Connection to a virus scanner via SSH Please note that this plugin only works locally! If your Virus Scanner is installed on another server and you want to connect it via SSH, you can use ClamAV through the SSH tunnel to the local proxy. In this case you need to do the following:
1. Install the plugin and start the configuration wizard
2. When the wizard asks if you want to configure a proxy for ClamAV, type “y” and press Enter
3. Follow the wizard and select/select your proxy
4. Add the line ProxyServer 127.0.0.1:3128 to the end of the /etc/clamav/freshclam.conf file (or as per your configuration)
5. Update FreshClam manually: freshclam -v
6. Make sure the cron job is running (see below). The update is triggered automatically after the first scan.

CRON JOB

Make sure the clamav_scanner.cron file exists in /etc/cron.d/ and the cron job is running. The times specified here are default values, but you can change them by manually editing the cron job or adjusting them in the Roundcube configuration under “Update Interval” (see configuration above). If you don't want to use ClamAV, just disable the cron job: Remove the clamav_scanner.cron file from /etc/cron.d/.

PERSISTENT LOGIN

The PersistentLogin plugin allows you to automatically log in to your Roundcube account without having to enter your password every time. You can also enable/disable the login option if you want.
Where can you find the plugin?

The plugin is available in the Roundcube online administration.

NOTE:
Installing this plugin requires a command line walkthrough with full SSH access to the server. If you don't know how to navigate your server on the command line.

How do you install the PersistentLogin plugin?

Installing the Persistent Login plugin is relatively easy and is based on 3 steps:

1) Create a new folder named mysqli in the /usr/share/roundcube/plugins/ directory (or wherever your roundcube installation is). This step is very important because the plugin is special Database required that is compatible with the mysqli database driver.

2) Download the mysqli plugin. This plugin is required for Roundcube to work with the newly created mysqli database can communicate.

3) Copy the contents of the mysqli plugin to the /usr/share/roundcube/plugins/mysqli folder (or wherever your roundcube installation is).

4) Install the Persistent Login plugin following the instructions from the official Roundcube wiki. If you have already done this, just skip this step.

5) Configure the plugin by editing the config.inc.php file and adding the following lines:
$rcmail_config['plugins'] = array('persistent_login');

$rcmail_config['persistent_login_db_dsn'] = 'mysqli://roundcube:[email protected]/roundcubedb';

That's all you have to do. The plugin should now work. If you have any questions or problems, please visit the official Roundcube wiki.

CHANGE PASSWORD

The ChangePassword plugin allows you to change the password for your Roundcube account. It also offers the option to send the new password to a different email address in case you forget it.

To install the ChangePassword plugin, follow these steps:

Install the plugin in the Roundcube plugin directory. Copy the plugins/password/config.inc.php.dist files to plugins/password/config.inc.php and adjust them to your needs (the default settings are sufficient for this plugin). If you override the 'password_min_length' setting with a new value, make sure it is at least 8 characters long, as many servers accept such a password by default (However, if possible, change the server value to match this plugin). The following options must be configured in the main.inc.php file: $rcmail_config['plugins

SEVEN

The Sieve plugin allows you to create and manage email filtering rules in Roundcube. You can customize the filter rules to achieve exactly what you want.

User interface & installation of the Sieve plugin

The interface of the Sieve plugin looks exactly like the Managesieve plugin. Installing the Sieve plugin is very simple: make sure the “plugins” folder exists in your Roundcube installation directory. Next, mount the “sieve” plugin folder in this directory and download the latest version of the Sieve plugin from github.

The reason for using the Sieve plugin as opposed to the Managesieve plugin is the simpler filtering process achieved with the Sieve plugin. So if you are looking for a simple filter plugin for Roundcube, you can try using Sieve.

MANAGESIEVE

The ManageSieve plugin allows you to create and manage Sieve filter rules in Roundcube. It also provides a graphical interface that allows you to visually customize the filter rules.
The plugin is included in Roundcube from version 3.0. To activate it, go to the configuration page of the Plugins (Settings > Plugins).

The plugin has multiskin support and can be loaded at any time in the pre-compiled mobile-skinnable version reissturm. All you have to do is select the rules you need and press the “Apply Rules” entry. The messages are then filtered accordingly and the set actions are applied.

The plugin provides an API that allows you to write plugins to be developed in Roundcube that interact with the ManageSieve plugin. For more information, see the Developer Guide (http://trac.roundcube.net/wiki/Plugin_APIs).',

API commands for the ManageSieve plugin:

'managesieve' => 'Manage Sieve Filter Rules',
'managesieve+action' => 'Action',
'managesieve+active' => 'Activate',
'managesieve+add_rule' => 'Add new rule',
'managesieve+add_rule_form' => 'Add rule',
'managesieve+after' => 'After…',
'managesieve+before' => 'Before…',
'managesieve+bcc' => 'Bcc…',
'managesieve+body' => 'Body…',
'managesieve+cc' => 'Cc…',
'managesieve+contains' => 'contains…',
'managesieve+contains_not' => 'does not contain…',
'managesieve+copy_to' => 'Copy to…',
'managesieve+deactivate' => 'Deactivate',
'managesieve+delete_rule' => 'Delete rule',
'managesieve+delete_selected' => 'Delete selected',
'managesieve+discard' => 'Discard and return to existing rules.',
'managesieve+edit_rule' => 'Edit rule',
'managesieve+ends_with' => 'ends with…',
'managesieve+ends_with_not' => 'does not end with…',
'managesieve+exists' => 'exists…',
'managesieve+filemanagererrorinvalidextension' => “File extension is invalid”,
'managesieve+filemanagererrormaxsizeexceeded' => “File size exceeds the maximum allowed size”,
'managesieve+filemanagererrorrequiredfield' => “File path is a required field”,
'managesieve+filename' => 'filename',
'managesieve+filesize' => 'Size',
'managesieve+from' => 'From…',
'managesieve+header_contains' => 'Header contains…',
'managesieve+header_containsnot' => 'Header does not contain…',
'managesieve+header_endswith' => 'Header ends with…',
'managesieve+header_exists' => 'Header exists…',
'managesieve+header_is' => 'Header is…',
'managesieve+header_isnot' => 'Header is not…',
'managesieve+header_startswith' => 'Header starts with…',
'managesieve+i_have_recently_sent_messages' => “I recently sent a message”,
'managesieve+if' => 'If',
'managesieve+imap_copy' => 'Save copy on IMAP server…',
'managesieve+imap_move' => 'Move to IMAP server…',
'managesieve+indexing_subject' => 'Index subject',
'managesieve+indexing_text' => 'Index body text',
'managesieve+larger' => 'larger than...',
'managesieve+mark_as_junk' => 'Mark as spam',
'managesieve+mark_as_notjunk' => 'Mark as not spam.',
'managesieve+matches' => “Matches with”,
'managesieve+message' => 'Message',
'managesieve+message_date' => 'Message date…',
'managesieve+message_number' => “Message Number”,
'managesieve+message_size' => “message size”,
'managesieve+message_size_smaller' => “smaller than…”,
'managesieve+message_subject' => “Message Subject”,
'managesieve+move_to_folder' => 'Move to folder…',
'managesieve+name' => 'Name',
'managesieve+not' => 'not…',
'managesieve+no_rules_found' => 'No rule found.',
'managesieve+operator' => 'Operator',
'managesieve+or' => “or”,
''redirectionurl' => 'Redirection URL', // needs translation
And many, many more!!

RECIPIENT BODY FILTER

The RecipientBodyFilter plugin allows you to automatically filter and mark emails as spam in your Roundcube account. You can also customize the filter rules to achieve exactly what you want.
Recipient Body Filter Plugin is a simple but powerful plugin that you can use to automatically filter and mark your email traffic as spam in Roundcube. This Plugin offers a range of filtering options such as keyword, sender and recipient filters, as well as filter rules for subject lines, body text, etc. With this plugin you can easily specify which messages should be treated as spam in your Roundcube account.

There are many different types of email filters you can use to detect and block unwanted emails. However, the Recipient Body Filter plugin offers some of the most powerful filtering options of any plugin available. This plugin allows you to create filter rules that meet your exact needs. You can create a filter for a specific keyword or specify a rule based on the sender or recipient of the email. You can even create a rule that only applies to emails with specific subject lines and body text. This plugin is very powerful and gives you full control over your Roundcube email traffic.

If you are looking for a simple but powerful plugin to block and mark unwanted emails as spam in Roundcube, you should try the Recipient Body Filter Plugin.

Server requirements

The Roundcube Web Mailer is a freely available, powerful and lightweight open source webmailer. It offers extensive functionality and an attractive, modern interface. Roundcube is an excellent choice for companies looking for a reliable webmailer.
Roundcube runs on many different operating systems and servers. To use Roundcube Webmail, all you need is a web server with PHP and a relational one Database like MySQL, MariaDB or PostgreSQL.

Roundcube webmailer user interface

Roundcube is a free and open-source webmailer that was first released in 2005. Since then, the user interface has evolved significantly and now offers an attractive, modern interface. In this article we will show you how to install and set up Roundcube on your web server.

Roundcube has a very clear and modern user interface. The navigation is intuitive and self-explanatory. In the top menu bar you will find the most important functions such as reading, writing or editing emails. Sending attachments or deleting emails is also very easy here.

Roundcube Webmailer's interface is very intuitive and easy to use. It offers a variety of functions that make working with emails easier. Useful features include the ability to filter and sort emails, as well as an integrated calendar and contact manager.

Alternatives to the Roundcube webmailer

Roundcube Webmailer is a popular email client that is free and open source. However, there are some other great email clients you can try. In this article we will introduce you to four great Roundcube alternatives.

Conclusion

Roundcube Webmailer is a free, open source webmail client that is feature-rich and easy to use. In this article, we've highlighted some of Roundcube's best features and explained why the client is worth giving a try.
In summary, Roundcube is a great choice for users looking for a powerful yet simple webmail client. The client offers a variety of functions and is both free and open source. We hope this article helped you decide whether Roundcube is the right webmail client for you.

Note..is important!

All external sites linked on this website are independent sources. 
These links are not sponsored and no financial contribution was received for their inclusion. 
All information on this website is provided without guarantee.
This site is a private project by Jan Domke and solely reflects personal opinions and experiences.

Jan Domke

Prompt Engineer | Social Media Manager | Hosting Manager | Web administrator

I have been running the online magazine privately since the end of 2021 SEO4Business and thus turned my job into a hobby.
I have been working as a since 2019 Senior Hosting Manager, at one of the largest internet and marketing agencies in Germany and am constantly expanding my horizons.

Jan Domke