[Dovecot] Server power loss and "Dovecot is already running with PID xxx"

[Pekka Savola]

Hi,

I'm running Dovecot 1.0.7 (with various patches) on CentOS 5.2.

The server has suffered a couple of power loss events.  Dovecot is run 
as a standalone server.

The problem is that dovecot refuses to start up at boot because the 
PID file from before the power loss is left behind. The message is as 
follows:

$ /sbin/service dovecot start
Starting Dovecot Imap: Error: Dovecot is already running with PID 10825
(read from /var/run/dovecot/master.pid)
Fatal: Invalid configuration in /etc/dovecot.conf
                                                            [FAILED]
(Note: there is nothing wrong in the configuration file so the error 
message is somewhat misleading.)

I looked at the release notes of 1.0.xx releases and they didn't 
mention this.

Is this already a known problem?
Should the start-up logic be made more robust (e.g. check whether a 
process corresponding to the PID actually exists)?

-- 
Pekka Savola                 "You each name yourselves king, yet the
Netcore Oy                    kingdom bleeds."
Systems. Networks. Security. -- George R.R. Martin: A Clash of Kings