Getting Started
In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to install Mailchain onto your machine. Then we’ll setup the application to send, then receive messages.
Installing Mailchain is easy: First, you install the application onto your local machine. Then you’ll add a private key to send and receive messages. Then, you can then navigate to the web interface https://inbox.mailchain.xyz and start working.
We’ll walk you through this process step by step...
To install Mailchain for the first time, run the following command to download and install the application on your local machine.
curl -sL https://run.mailchain.xyz/install.sh | sh
To choose where to store the application, you can install mailchain manually.
Download the application directly via the Mailchain releases page. We recommend you save it in your home directory: ~/.mailchain/bin
Next, add mailchain to your environmental variable path with:
export PATH=$PATH:$HOME/.mailchain/bin
Note: if you changed the location of the mailchain executable, you should update the path as appropriate:
export PATH=$PATH:$HOME/{mailchain_executable_location}
Verify the application is installed and running correctly with: mailchain version. For example:`
$ mailchain versionVersion: v0.0.11
Next, if the application is working as expected, you’ll want to add the path to ~/.profile, .zshrc, or ~/.bash_profile, depending on which shell you use.
To determine the shell you use, run echo $SHELL. For example, if using zsh, as shown below:
$ echo $SHELL
Shell output | Command to export the path to the shell profile |
/bin/zsh |
|
/bin/bash |
|
/bin/ksh |
|
You are now ready to initialize the application.
When using Mailchain for the first time you need to initialize the application by running:
mailchain init
This configures Mailchain with the default settings. If you wish to view those settings you can view the .mailchain.yaml file in the ~/.mailchain directory.
You can change configuration settings to use your own storage or blockchain endpoints.
Running mailchain init again will give you the option to remove the current file and start over.
To send and receive messages with Mailchain you will need to add an account. To do this you will need your private key.
mailchain account add --chain=ethereum --private-key=[PRIVATE-KEY-VALUE]
--chainis the chain which the key is added to. Currently supported[ethereum].--private-keythe private key value which should be added. The public key and account will be calculated.--passphraseis can be optionally supplied in the command line or at the prompt when the application starts.
Mailchain stores your private key in an encrypted format, a passphrase is required.
Enter a non-guessable passphrase, and again to confirm it. You must remember your password to decrypt the key later to send or receive messages.
You should never expose your private keys to an entity you don't trust.
Mailchain stores your private key locally, in an encrypted format. Your private keys are never sent anywhere. They are only used to decrypt messages data, and sign transactions.
After you have added the account, you are ready to start the application and serve the api.
To start the application, run:
mailchain serve
When prompted enter the same passphrase as when you added the account.
You are now ready to start sending and receiving mails. Navigate to https://inbox.mailchain.xyz to see your mailbox. The Mailchain web interface has all the functionality needed to send and receive messages. It's easy and fun to use.
