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Integrate with mailcow

Support level: Community

What is mailcow?​

mailcow is a Dockerized, open-source groupware and email suite based on Docker. It relies on many well-known and long-used components, which, when combined, result in a comprehensive email server solution.

-- https://mailcow.email/

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In order to use authentik in mailcow, at least version 2025-03 of mailcow is required.

Preparation​

The following placeholders are used in this guide:

  • mailcow.company is the FQDN of the mailcow installation.
  • authentik.company is the FQDN of the authentik installation.
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This documentation lists only the settings that you need to change from their default values. Be aware that any changes other than those explicitly mentioned in this guide could cause issues accessing your application.

authentik configuration​

To support the integration of mailcow with authentik, you need to create a property mapping, set the email_verified attribute on required users, and create an application/provider pair in authentik.

Create a property mapping​

Mailcow requires that users have a verified email address. The required attribute can be returned via a scope mapping in combination with user attributes.

  1. Log in to authentik as an administrator and open the authentik Admin interface.
  2. Navigate to Customization > Property Mappings and click New Property Mapping.
  3. Select Scope Mapping as the property mapping type. Use email as the scope name, and copy the user attribute expression from Email scope verification.
  4. Click Create.

Set email_verified user attribute​

  1. Log in to authentik as an administrator and open the authentik Admin interface.
  2. Navigate to Directory > Users and select a user that will use the Mailcow integration.
  3. Click Edit User.
  4. Add email_verified: true to the Attributes field.
  5. Click Save Changes.

Repeat these steps for all users that need to use the Mailcow integration.

Create an application and provider​

  1. Log in to authentik as an administrator and open the authentik Admin interface.

  2. Navigate to Applications > Applications and click New Application to open the application wizard.

    • Application: provide a descriptive name, an optional group for the type of application, the policy engine mode, and optional UI settings.
    • Choose a Provider type: select OAuth2/OpenID Connect as the provider type.
    • Configure the Provider: provide a name (or accept the auto-provided name), the authorization flow to use for this provider, and the following required configurations.
      • Note the Client ID and Client Secret values because they will be required later.
      • Set a Strict redirect URI to https://mailcow.company.
      • Select any available signing key.
      • Under Advanced protocol settings:
        • Remove the authentik default OAuth Mapping: OpenID 'email' scope from Selected Scopes.
        • Add the scope mapping that you previously created to Selected Scopes.
    • Configure Bindings (optional): you can create a binding (policy, group, or user) to manage the listing and access to applications on a user's Application Dashboard page.

  3. Click Submit to save the new application and provider.

mailcow configuration​

To configure mailcow with authentik, log in as an administrator and navigate to System > Configuration. Then, go to Access > Identity Provider and enter the following information in the form:

  • Identity Provider: Generic-OIDC
  • Authorization endpoint: https://authentik.company/application/o/authorize/
  • Token endpoint: https://authentik.company/application/o/token/
  • User info endpoint: https://authentik.company/application/o/userinfo/
  • Client ID: The Client ID from the authentik provider
  • Client Secret: The Client secret from the authentik provider
  • Redirect Url: https://mailcow.company
  • Client Scopes: openid profile email

Configuration verification​

To confirm that authentik is properly configured with mailcow, log out and log back in via authentik.