DirectAdmin Email Setup – Creating and Managing Accounts

DirectAdmin’s email management lives under the E-Mail Manager section. Functionally similar to cPanel — create mailboxes, set quotas, configure forwarders — but the UI is laid out differently and some terminology differs. This guide walks through the common email tasks in DirectAdmin: creating accounts, setting up forwarders and autoresponders, and configuring mail clients to use them.

Navigating to email in DirectAdmin

Log into DirectAdmin at yourdomain.com:2222 with your DA credentials.

Main email section: E-Mail Manager in the User Level menu. Key tools inside:

• E-Mail Accounts — create and manage mailboxes.
• Forwarders — route mail addressed to one address to another.
• Autoresponders — automatic replies (vacation messages etc.).
• Vacation Messages — alternate autoresponder interface.
• Catch-All Email — handle mail to nonexistent addresses.
• E-Mail Filters — server-side rule-based mail handling.
• Webmail — link to web-based email access.
• SpamAssassin Setup — spam filter configuration.

Creating an email account

1. E-Mail Manager → E-Mail Accounts.
2. Click Create Account.
3. Username: the part before @ (e.g. contact for contact@yourdomain.com).
4. Password: set a strong password, or click Random to generate one.
5. Email Quota: set in MB. Leave at default (usually 1024 MB) or higher if needed. Set to “Unlimited” by entering 0 or “unlimited” depending on DA version.
6. Send Limit: max emails per day this account can send (anti-abuse). Leave default.
7. Create.

Account is immediately usable. Settings for connecting any mail client are accessible via the “i” info icon next to the account.

Mail client connection settings

Settings are similar across DA installations:

Connection details specific to your account are also displayed in the DA email account info page.

Forwarders — route mail to other addresses

1. E-Mail Manager → Forwarders.
2. Click Create Forwarder.
3. Name: local part of the source address (e.g. info).
4. Destination: where to forward to (e.g. you@gmail.com). Comma-separate for multiple destinations.
5. Create.

Now mail to info@yourdomain.com goes to your Gmail. No mailbox required at info@yourdomain.com — forwarder alone is sufficient.

Forwarders work alongside mailboxes — if info@yourdomain.com exists as a mailbox AND has a forwarder, mail is delivered to BOTH the local mailbox AND forwarded.

Catch-all email

Handle mail addressed to any nonexistent address at your domain:

1. E-Mail Manager → Catch-All Email.
2. Options:
   • Delete — discard mail to nonexistent addresses (recommended for most users).
   • Ignore — same effect; receiver gets no bounce.
   • Address — forward to a specific local address.
   • Forward to External Address — forward to an outside address.
3. Set choice → Save.

Recommendation: Delete. Catch-all is a magnet for spam (dictionary attacks targeting random local parts). Use specific addresses and forwarders for the addresses you actually want. Catch-all strategy guide.

Autoresponders / Vacation messages

Automatic reply to incoming mail:

1. E-Mail Manager → Autoresponders (or Vacation Messages).
2. Create Autoresponder.
3. Local Address: the mailbox to attach autoresponder to.
4. Reply From: the address autoresponse appears to come from.
5. Subject: reply subject line.
6. Reply Encoding: UTF-8 default.
7. Text: the autoresponse body.
8. CC: optionally copy autoresponses to another address.
9. Schedule: start and end dates (so the autoresponder only fires during specified period).
10. Create.

Best practice: enable a one-week buffer on each side of actual absence. Disable promptly on return — old autoresponders are embarrassing.

Email filters (server-side rules)

Filter mail before it reaches your inbox:

1. E-Mail Manager → E-Mail Filters.
2. Create Filter.
3. Match against: field to test (From, To, Subject, Body, Header).
4. Type: contains, equals, starts with, etc.
5. Pattern: what to match.
6. Action: what to do — block, deliver to specific mailbox, forward, etc.
7. Create.

Example uses:

• Subject contains “[NEWSLETTER]” → deliver to “Newsletters” folder.
• From contains “no-reply” → delete.
• From specific persistent spammer → block.

Webmail access

Access mail from any browser without configuring a client:

• Visit yourdomain.com:2096 or webmail.yourdomain.com.
• Or from DA: E-Mail Manager → Webmail link.
• Login with full email address as username.

Most DirectAdmin installations offer Roundcube and/or SquirrelMail. Pick whichever you prefer (Roundcube is more modern). Roundcube guide — same Roundcube, applies to DirectAdmin too.

SpamAssassin configuration

1. E-Mail Manager → SpamAssassin Setup.
2. Enable per-domain or per-account.
3. Set spam threshold (default 5.0 — see SpamAssassin guide).
4. Configure whitelist / blacklist as needed.
5. Save.

Operates same as cPanel’s SpamAssassin — different UI, same underlying engine and scoring.

Changing mailbox passwords

1. E-Mail Manager → E-Mail Accounts.
2. Click the account.
3. Set new password → Save.

After change, all mail clients using the old password will fail to connect — update them with new credentials. Password manager guide.

Deleting mailboxes

1. E-Mail Manager → E-Mail Accounts.
2. Tick the account checkbox(es).
3. Delete.

Mailbox content is removed permanently. If forwarders existed pointing to the deleted address, they keep working but mail goes nowhere (no destination). Clean up unused forwarders too.

MX records and email routing

For mail to actually arrive, your domain’s MX records must point to your DirectAdmin server. If you’re using DA’s DNS, this is automatic. If using external DNS:

• MX record: yourdomain.com → mail.yourdomain.com (priority 10).
• A record: mail.yourdomain.com → your server IP.

Verify via MXToolbox — search your domain, MX Lookup tab.

Common DirectAdmin email issues

“Can’t create email account — error about disk quota.” Your account’s total storage is full. Free up space or upgrade plan.

“Email account created but mail doesn’t arrive.” MX records may not be set correctly. Check via MXToolbox. If MX points elsewhere (Google Workspace etc.), local accounts won’t receive mail.

“Webmail link doesn’t work.” Different DA installations use different webmail URLs. Try yourdomain.com/webmail, yourdomain.com:2095, yourdomain.com:2096, or webmail.yourdomain.com.

“Send Limit exceeded.” Account hit its daily send limit. Raise in account settings if legitimate, or investigate possible compromise. Compromise response.

“SpamAssassin marks everything as spam.” Threshold too low. Raise from 5.0 to 6.0 or 7.0. SpamAssassin tuning.

What’s next

• Connecting clients in detail: Email client setup.
• Authentication setup: SPF/DKIM/DMARC.
• DA file permissions if having access issues: DA File Manager guide.

DirectAdmin’s email tools cover the same ground as cPanel’s, just with a different layout. Once you’ve created an account, set up a forwarder, and configured a mail client once, the rest of the email features become intuitive — same patterns repeat with small variations.