[Dovecot] convert plugin problem from UW-IMAP

[Andrew Z]

Though there are conversion scripts, I'd like to give the convert
plugin a chance.  I have Dovecot 1.0.1 on Trustix Secure Linux 2.2
(Linux 2.4.27), and we had UW IMAP 2002e.   Dovecot seems to work OK
(e.g. I can add copy messages to it), but things break when I activate
the convert plugin.

The Wiki suggests
  convert_mail = mbox:~/:INBOX=/var/mail/%u  # <--- locally changed to
/var/spool/mail/%u
  convert_skip_broken_mailboxes=yes

However, when I start Dovecot, then I get:
  Starting Dovecot Imap: ILoading modules from directory: /usr/lib/dovecot/imap
  IModule loaded: /usr/lib/dovecot/imap/lib20_convert_plugin.so
  IEffective uid=65534, gid=65534, home=
  Imbox: data=~/:INBOX=/var/spool/mail/dump-capability
  Imbox: root=, index=, inbox=/var/spool/mail/dump-capability
  Eopen(/.temp.localhost.localdomain.7834.96dd6ef6b7dfc402) failed:
Permission denied
  Error: imap dump-capability process returned 89
  Fatal: Invalid configuration in /etc/dovecot.conf

So based on a tip on the mailing list, I try
  convert_mail = mbox:/home/users/%u:INBOX=/var/spool/mail/%u

But the session fails, and Thunderbird can't connect properly.

/var/log/dovecot.log
 Jun 26 11:39:25 Info: IMAP(andrewz): Module loaded:
/usr/lib/dovecot/imap/lib20_convert_plugin.so
 Jun 26 11:39:25 Info: IMAP(andrewz): Effective uid=501, gid=501,
home=/home/users/andrewz
 Jun 26 11:39:25 Info: IMAP(andrewz): mbox:
data=/home/users/andrewz:INBOX=/var/spool/mail/andrewz
 Jun 26 11:39:25 Info: IMAP(andrewz): mbox: root=/home/users/andrewz,
index=/home/users/andrewz, inbox=/var/spool/mail/andrewz
 Jun 26 11:39:25 Info: IMAP(andrewz): mbox:
data=/home/users/andrewz:INBOX=/var/spool/mail/andrewz
 Jun 26 11:39:25 Info: IMAP(andrewz): mbox: root=/home/users/andrewz,
index=/home/users/andrewz, inbox=/var/spool/mail/andrewz
 Jun 26 11:39:25 Info: IMAP(andrewz): maildir: data=/home/users/andrewz/Maildir
 Jun 26 11:39:25 Info: IMAP(andrewz): maildir:
root=/home/users/andrewz/Maildir, index=/home/users/andrewz/Maildir,
control=, inbox=
 Jun 26 11:39:25 Info: imap-login: Login: user=<andrewz>,
method=PLAIN, rip=192.168.0.230, lip=192.168.0.60

/var/log/mail/errors
 Jun 26 11:39:25 localhost dovecot: IMAP(andrewz): Mailbox conversion:
Couldn't copy mailbox
Maildir/cur/1182879232.P7263Q0M965055.localhost.localdomain:2,Sa: BUG:
Unknown internal error
 Jun 26 11:39:25 localhost dovecot: IMAP(andrewz): Mailbox conversion:
Couldn't create mailbox directory Maildir..Trash
 Jun 26 11:39:25 localhost dovecot: IMAP(andrewz): Sending log
messages too fast, throttling..
 Jun 26 11:39:25 localhost dovecot: child 7888 (imap) returned error 89

I also tried convert_mail = mbox:%h:INBOX=/var/spool/mail/%u , but
that acts like mbox:/home/users/%u.

Then, I tried removing ~/Maildir .  That doesn't help.

When I connect via telnet, I get "1 OK Logged in.", and the remote
host closes the connection.

Also, I am not clear how Dovecot knows when to stop.  With mbox in
~/mail, then dovecot can rename it, but we have mbox in ~/ which of
course cannot be renamed.  (I suggest moving mboxes to a new
subdirectory.)

I rebuild Dovecot based from a modified Fedora RPM .spec.  My configuration is:
# 1.0.1: /etc/dovecot.conf
info_log_path: /var/log/dovecot.log
protocols: imap
ssl_disable: yes
disable_plaintext_auth: no
login_dir: /var/run/dovecot/login
login_executable: /usr/libexec/dovecot/imap-login
mail_location: maildir:~/Maildir
mail_debug: yes
mail_plugins: convert
auth default:
  passdb:
    driver: pam
  userdb:
    driver: passwd
plugin:
  convert_mail: mbox:/home/users/%u:INBOX=/var/spool/mail/%u
  convert_skip_broken_mailboxes: yes


Andrew