Tachyon¶

License: AGPLv3

This guide is tested with Tachyon 4.0.4 on Uberspace 8.0.91. We can't guarantee it to work with newer versions.

Tachyon is an open-source webmail client. It is a fork of SnappyMail, but without legacy code. It requires no database, is free of trackers, and supports features like multiple accounts and undo send, while also serving as a Sieve editor. It can function as a drop-in replacement for SnappyMail.

Note

For this guide you should be familiar with the basic concepts of:

Prerequisites¶

We're using PHP version 8.4.

[isabell@moondust ~]$ uberspace tool version set php 8.4
OK: Set version of php to 8.4

Installation¶

Enter your DocumentRoot directory, download the latest version, unpack the archive and then delete it.

[isabell@moondust ~]$ cd /var/www/virtual/$USER/html/
[isabell@moondust html]$ wget https://github.com/kimusan/Tachyon/releases/download/v4.0.4/tachyon-latest.tar.gz
[isabell@moondust html]$ tar -xzf tachyon-latest.tar.gz
[isabell@moondust html]$ rm tachyon-latest.tar.gz

For security reasons, it is a good idea to move the data directory from the DocumentRoot to a directory that cannot be accessed by the web server. The home directory is suitable for this purpose. Move the directory data and rename it tachyon-data at the same time, so that you know later it is a part of Tachyon.

[isabell@moondust ~]$ cd /var/www/virtual/$USER/html/
[isabell@moondust html]$ mv data ~/tachyon-data

Configuration¶

Configure Tachyon¶

You must tell Tachyon about the moved data directory. To do this, enter the new path in the ~/html/_include.php file as the value of the constant APP_DATA_FOLDER_PATH. To achieve this, add the following line:

define('APP_DATA_FOLDER_PATH', '/home/isabell/tachyon-data/');

Afterwards, rename the file _include.php to include.php.

[isabell@moondust ~]$ cd /var/www/virtual/$USER/html/
[isabell@moondust html]$ mv _include.php include.php

Accessing the Admin Panel¶

Open the admin panel, which can now be found here:

https://isabell.uber.space/?admin

When you access this page for the first time, the ~/tachyon-data/_data_/_default_/admin_password.txt file is created with the initial password for the user admin. Use this to log in, then change your password under "Security". The file with the password will now be deleted automatically.

Configure Your Domains¶

You may now want to configure your own domains for email access. You can do this in the admin panel under "Domains".

Be aware that an entry for moondust.uberspace.de has already been created there automatically. However, this one is incorrect so you should delete it. You can find the correct settings for IMAP and SMTP here: Accessing your mail

Tuning¶

You can protect your admin account from unauthorized access by using two-factor authentication in addition to a strong password. You can activate this in the admin panel by clicking the "Generate" button under "Security". Please note that you must also enter your current password in order to be able to save it. Now scan the QR code with an app for two-factor authentication. If you don't have one yet, take a look at 2FAS or Ente Auth.

Accessing Your Email¶

You can now check your email at https://isabell.uber.space/.

Updates¶

Note

Check the update feed regularly.

To update the installation, download the new version and overwrite the existing files with those from the new version's archive. Any additional reconfiguration will be done by Tachyon during the next run. Old versions in /var/www/virtual/isabell/html/tachyon/v/ can be deleted after a successful update.