[Dovecot] Monitoring Recomendations

[Dehnert James Sr]

On Jun 29, 2007, at 2:00 AM, Robert Schetterer wrote:

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> Dehnert James Sr schrieb:
>> I have a client that I have installed Dovecot 1.0.1 for is having  
>> some
>> performance issues.  Especially when using IMAP from various Outlook
>> clients.  I have TLS installed and all the IMAP connections are  
>> secured.
>>
>> I'm wondering is anyone has any recommendations for monitoring  
>> dovecot
>> performance.  I'd like to try and nail down where the real  
>> performance
>> issues are.  I suspect outlook, but I want to eliminate Dovecot as  
>> the
>> cause of any problems, or, if I have a problem with Dovecot, I  
>> want to
>> identify any issues I can and fix them.
>>
>>
>>
>> Thanks,
>>     Zeke
>>
>> -- 
>> James "Zeke" Dehnert
>> mailto:jdehnert at norcalnetworks.com
>> Phone: +1 707.546.6620 x602 Fax: +1 707.324.8043
>> "Life is racing, everything else is just waiting"
>>
> Hi,
> outlook isnt outlook , first clear what versions they use each
> version of outlook is different ( including their service pack  
> levels )
> so i.e. outlook 2007 makes imap stuff very different to the versions
> before, after all outlook wasnt a very good imap client since ever.
> Be sure that you have recommanded Outlook entries in dovecot.conf  
> ( see
> wiki )

The client has basically every combination of Outlook and Outlook  
Express imaginable.

> and if you need help you should show your dovecot.conf here.

Dovecot.conf

protocols= imap imaps pop3 pop3s
protocol imap {
      listen = 127.0.0.1
      ssl_listen = *
}
protocol pop3 {
      listen = 127.0.0.1
      ssl_listen = *
}
disable_plaintext_auth = yes
log_path = /var/log/dovecot/dovecot.log
info_log_path = /var/log/dovecot/dovecot.log
log_timestamp = "%b %d %H:%M:%S "
ssl_disable = no
ssl_cert_file = /etc/postfix/certs/mail_public_cert.pem
ssl_key_file = /etc/postfix/certs/mail_private_key.pem
ssl_ca_file = /etc/postfix/certs/cacert.pem
ssl_cipher_list = ALL:!LOW
verbose_ssl = no
login_greeting = Dovecot ready.
mail_location = maildir:/var/spool/mail/%u/
mail_debug = no
lock_method = fcntl
verbose_proctitle = yes
first_valid_uid = 500
mbox_read_locks = fcntl
protocol imap {
   imap_client_workarounds = outlook-idle delay-newmail
}
protocol pop3 {
   pop3_uidl_format = %08Xu%08Xv
   pop3_client_workarounds = outlook-no-nuls
}
protocol lda {
   postmaster_address = postmaster at client.com
}
auth_verbose = no
auth_debug = no
auth_debug_passwords = no
auth default {
   mechanisms = plain login
   passdb pam {
   }
   userdb passwd {
   }
   user = root
   socket listen {
     client {
       path = /var/spool/postfix/private/auth
       mode = 0660
       user = postfix
       group = postfix
     }
   }
}

> and describe what perfomance stuff you mean, have you tested it by  
> your
> own ( dont trust users ! )?

The performance issues are a) slow response on the lan, and b)  
unusable low response from remote users.  This is always with IMAP,  
of we switch the users to POP3 things are acceptably fast.  With POP3  
things are just plain snappy performance wise.  With IMAP there are  
noticeable waits for messages to appear.  The field users are of  
particular concern.  They can see message headers, but they never get  
the message bodies downloaded.  I have checked their configurations,  
and with the same systems connected locally that can get to all of  
their mail.  I realize there are a number of factors that could  
affect a remote user that are out of my control, but I can connect  
remotely with my Mac (mail.app) and the performance seems fine to me.

> For a first look you should have a i.e dovecot.log etc to see failures

I have been prowling the logs for weeks, there are no errors that I  
can correlate to IMAP performance (no errors at all really, just the  
standard connect-disconnect messages), which is why I'm looking for  
recommendations for performance monitoring.  I have ratcheted up the  
debugging on the log files, but all I see is more info on normal  
behavior.

I believe that Dovecot is running just fine, but I need some metrics  
to prove that to the users.

> I think i remember reading problems with outlook 2007 and tls, but  
> i can
> remember exactly
>
> I have no reports from users having problems with outlook and dovecot
> 1.0.1 at my systems ( but i dont think i have much of them, so i cant
> say that problems are are unthinkable *g )  )
>
> - --
> Mit freundlichen Gruessen
> Best Regards
>
> Robert Schetterer
>
> https://www.schetterer.org
> Germany
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Thanks,
     Zeke

--
James "Zeke" Dehnert
mailto:jdehnert at norcalnetworks.com
Phone: +1 707.546.6620 x602 Fax: +1 707.324.8043
"Life is racing, everything else is just waiting"