[Dovecot] dovecot: lda(root): Fatal: Invalid user settings. Refer to server log for more information.

[/dev/rob0]

On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 12:47:52PM -0800, Thufir wrote:
> I ran dovecot -a and the blizzard of data seemed ok to my limited
> knowledge.  Is there another log I should look into to trace this
> error down?

It's actually a Postfix problem. Postfix is invoking your Dovecot LDA 
with wrong permissions.

> Dovecot and system info:
> 
> thufir at dur:~$
> thufir at dur:~$ dovecot --version
> 2.0.19
> thufir at dur:~$
> thufir at dur:~$ cat /etc/lsb-release
> DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
> DISTRIB_RELEASE=12.04
> DISTRIB_CODENAME=precise
> DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS"
> thufir at dur:~$
> 
> testing postfix & dovecot
> (http://packages.ubuntu.com/precise/dovecot-postfix):
> 
> root at dur:/etc/postfix#
> root at dur:/etc/postfix# telnet localhost 25
> Trying 127.0.0.1...
> Connected to localhost.
> Escape character is '^]'.
> 220 dur.bounceme.net ESMTP Postfix (Ubuntu)
> helo me
> 250 dur.bounceme.net
> mail from:foo at bar.com

Angle brackets are required on envelope addresses (and I bet you 
don't own bar.com):

MAIL FROM:<foo at example.com>

> 250 2.1.0 Ok
> rcpt to:root at dur.bounceme.net

RCPT TO:<root at dur.bounceme.net>

> 250 2.1.5 Ok
> data
> 354 End data with <CR><LF>.<CR><LF>
> subject:ping 3
> blah blah
> .

A header must have a space after the colon. Header and body are 
separated by a blank line. See RFC 5322.

> 250 2.0.0 Ok: queued as 35EC92A0D72
> quit
> 221 2.0.0 Bye
> Connection closed by foreign host.
> root at dur:/etc/postfix#
> root at dur:/etc/postfix# tail /var/log/mail.log
> Nov 16 12:30:07 dur postfix/smtpd[4113]: connect from localhost[127.0.0.1]
> Nov 16 12:30:40 dur postfix/smtpd[4113]: 35EC92A0D72:
> client=localhost[127.0.0.1]
> Nov 16 12:30:52 dur postfix/cleanup[4133]: 35EC92A0D72:
> message-id=<20121116203040.35EC92A0D72 at dur.bounceme.net>
> Nov 16 12:30:52 dur postfix/qmgr[1681]: 35EC92A0D72:
> from=<foo at bar.com>, size=321, nrcpt=1 (queue active)
> Nov 16 12:30:52 dur dovecot: lda(root): Error: chdir(/root/) failed:
> Permission denied (euid=65534(nobody) egid=65534(nogroup) missing +x
> perm: /root, dir owned by 0:0 mode=0700)

The fix to this is simply not to deliver mail to root. You should 
have aliased root to a mortal user. Postfix will not invoke a 
mailbox_command as root.

In broader terms, you should only use root for actual system 
administration, and not for user tasks such as reading and sending 
mail.

See and edit /etc/aliases, then run "newaliases". Example:

root:	thufir

http://www.postfix.org/postconf.5.html#default_privs
http://www.postfix.org/postconf.5.html#mailbox_command
http://www.postfix.org/local.8.html
http://www.postfix.org/aliases.5.html

After you have done this, requeue the message:

# postsuper -r 35EC92A0D72

(or just delete it, s/-r/-d/, and try another test.)

http://www.postfix.org/postsuper.1.html

> Nov 16 12:30:52 dur dovecot: lda(root): Error: chdir(/root) failed:
> Permission denied
> Nov 16 12:30:52 dur dovecot: lda(root): Error: user root:
> Initialization failed: Initializing mail storage from mail_location
> setting failed: stat(/root/Maildir) failed: Permission denied
> (euid=65534(nobody) egid=65534(nogroup) missing +x perm: /root, dir
> owned by 0:0 mode=0700)
> Nov 16 12:30:52 dur dovecot: lda(root): Fatal: Invalid user settings.
> Refer to server log for more information.
> Nov 16 12:30:52 dur postfix/local[4134]: 35EC92A0D72:
> to=<root at dur.bounceme.net>, relay=local, delay=25,
> delays=25/0.02/0/0.12, dsn=4.3.0, status=deferred (temporary failure)
> Nov 16 12:30:56 dur postfix/smtpd[4113]: disconnect from
> localhost[127.0.0.1]
> root at dur:/etc/postfix#
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