March 2019 - dovecot - dovecot.org

[Dovecot] batch convert mbox to maildir
by Netlink Tech 18 May '26

18 May '26

Hello, I have used mb2md for an individual user like this: su ~username cd ~ ./mb2md -m This converted /var/spool/mail/username mbox to /home/users/username/Maildir just as I expected. To convert 100s of users the same way would be a chore (su as each user for permissions, etc.). Is there a way to batch process all /var/spool/mail/$USER to /home/users/$USER/Maildir with the correct permissions/file owners for each user?

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doveadm batch crash
by Jonathan Casiot 13 Apr '26

13 Apr '26

Hi I'm having an issue with doveadm batch - the following command always crashes: doveadm batch : mailbox status all inbox Whereas the following work as expected: doveadm mailbox status all inbox doveadm batch : mailbox list Any assistance gratefully received. Debug output from the crash: Debug: Loading modules from directory: /usr/lib64/dovecot Debug: Module loaded: /usr/lib64/dovecot/lib01_acl_plugin.so Debug: Module loaded: /usr/lib64/dovecot/lib10_mail_crypt_plugin.so Debug: Module loaded: /usr/lib64/dovecot/lib90_stats_plugin.so Debug: Loading modules from directory: /usr/lib64/dovecot/doveadm Debug: Module loaded: /usr/lib64/dovecot/doveadm/lib10_doveadm_acl_plugin.so Debug: Skipping module doveadm_expire_plugin, because dlopen() failed: /usr/lib64/dovecot/doveadm/lib10_doveadm_expire_plugin.so: undefined symbol: expire_set_deinit (this is usually intentional, so just ignore this message) Debug: Skipping module doveadm_quota_plugin, because dlopen() failed: /usr/lib64/dovecot/doveadm/lib10_doveadm_quota_plugin.so: undefined symbol: quota_user_module (this is usually intentional, so just ignore this message) Debug: Skipping module doveadm_fts_lucene_plugin, because dlopen() failed: /usr/lib64/dovecot/doveadm/lib20_doveadm_fts_lucene_plugin.so: undefined symbol: lucene_index_iter_deinit (this is usually intentional, so just ignore this message) Debug: Skipping module doveadm_fts_plugin, because dlopen() failed: /usr/lib64/dovecot/doveadm/lib20_doveadm_fts_plugin.so: undefined symbol: fts_user_get_language_list (this is usually intentional, so just ignore this message) Debug: Module loaded: /usr/lib64/dovecot/doveadm/libdoveadm_mail_crypt_plugin.so doveadm(jc): Debug: Effective uid=1001, gid=100, home=/home/jc doveadm(jc): Debug: acl: No acl_shared_dict setting - shared mailbox listing is disabled doveadm(jc): Debug: mail_crypt_plugin: mail_crypt_curve setting missing - generating EC keys disabled doveadm(jc): Debug: Namespace inbox: type=private, prefix=, sep=., inbox=yes, hidden=no, list=yes, subscriptions=yes location=mdbox:~/mdbox:ALT=~/Archive/tape/mdbox doveadm(jc): Debug: fs: root=/home/jc/mdbox, index=, indexpvt=, control=, inbox=, alt=/home/jc/Archive/tape/mdbox doveadm(jc): Debug: acl: initializing backend with data: vfile doveadm(jc): Debug: acl: acl username = jc doveadm(jc): Debug: acl: owner = 1 doveadm(jc): Debug: acl vfile: Global ACLs disabled doveadm(jc): Panic: file mail-storage.c: line 875 (mailbox_set_reason): assertion failed: (reason != NULL) doveadm(jc): Error: Raw backtrace: /usr/lib64/dovecot/libdovecot.so.0(+0xa0e9e) [0x7fc993023e9e] -> /usr/lib64/dovecot/libdovecot.so.0(default_fatal_handler+0x2a) [0x7fc993023f0a] -> /usr/lib64/dovecot/libdovecot.so.0(i_fatal+0) [0x7fc992fb3c97] -> /usr/lib64/dovecot/libdovecot-storage.so.0(+0x49856) [0x7fc993301856] -> /usr/bin/doveadm(+0x348e2) [0x5631dbb5f8e2] -> /usr/bin/doveadm(+0x2e1ad) [0x5631dbb591ad] -> /usr/bin/doveadm(+0x2bd2c) [0x5631dbb56d2c] -> /usr/bin/doveadm(+0x2c92a) [0x5631dbb5792a] -> /usr/bin/doveadm(doveadm_mail_try_run+0x215) [0x5631dbb58285] -> /usr/bin/doveadm(main+0x46a) [0x5631dbb473fa] -> /lib64/libc.so.6(__libc_start_main+0xf5) [0x7fc992bd83d5] -> /usr/bin/doveadm(+0x1c565) [0x5631dbb47565] Aborted (core dumped) And doveconf -n output: # 2.2.36 (1f10bfa63): /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf # OS: Linux 3.10.0-957.1.3.el7.x86_64 x86_64 CentOS Linux release 7.6.1810 (Core) # Hostname: ### redacted ### first_valid_gid = 100 first_valid_uid = 1000 last_valid_gid = 100 last_valid_uid = 1999 listen = * login_greeting = IMAP ready login_log_format_elements = user=<%u> method=%m rip=%r lip=%l mpid=%e session=<%{session}> %k mail_attribute_dict = file:%h/mdbox/dovecot-attributes mail_location = mdbox:~/mdbox:ALT=~/Archive/tape/mdbox mail_plugins = acl stats mail_crypt mailbox_list_index = yes mdbox_rotate_size = 16 M namespace inbox { inbox = yes location = mailbox Drafts { special_use = \Drafts } mailbox Junk { special_use = \Junk } mailbox Sent { special_use = \Sent } mailbox "Sent Messages" { special_use = \Sent } mailbox Trash { special_use = \Trash } prefix = separator = . } passdb { driver = pam } plugin { acl = vfile mail_crypt_global_private_key = <### redacted ### mail_crypt_global_public_key = <### redacted ### mail_crypt_save_version = 2 stats_memory_limit = 16 M stats_refresh = 30 secs stats_track_cmds = yes } postmaster_address = ### redacted ### protocols = imap service auth { unix_listener /var/spool/postfix/private/auth { group = postfix mode = 0660 user = postfix } } service imap-login { process_limit = 200 process_min_avail = 4 service_count = 1 } service stats { fifo_listener stats-mail { group = users mode = 01224 } } ssl = required ssl_cert = <### redacted ### ssl_key = # hidden, use -P to show it ssl_prefer_server_ciphers = yes ssl_protocols = !SSLv2 !SSLv3 !TLSv1 userdb { driver = passwd } verbose_proctitle = yes protocol imap { imap_idle_notify_interval = 10 mins imap_metadata = yes mail_max_userip_connections = 20 mail_plugins = acl stats mail_crypt imap_acl imap_stats } Regards, -- Jonathan

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[Dovecot] migration from IMAP/POP3 courier server to a remote dovecot server
by nik600 06 Apr '26

06 Apr '26

Dear all i'm planning a transparent migration from a courier server that provides both IMAP and POP3 access to users to a remote dovecot server with both IMAP and POP3 access. I have to migrate about 2500 users for 250 GB of space. I'm using dovecot 2.2.5.4 on debian6 squeeze. To make a transparent migration i have to maintain old IMAP UIDs and POP3 UIDs, so i've read http://wiki2.dovecot.org/Migration and http://wiki2.dovecot.org/Migration/Courier and http://wiki2.dovecot.org/Migration/Dsync And decided that probably the best tool to use is Dsync, as the courier-dovecot-migrate.pl<http://www.dovecot.org/tools/courier-dovecot-migrate.pl> script works only locally. I've tested the dsync following instructions reported above but after the migration of one test-account the client re-download messages. If i want to keep both IMAP UIDs and POP3 UIDs i have to sync both imapc and pop3c with two commands? doveadm -o imapc_user=foo -o pop3c_user=foo -o imapc_password=bar -o pop3c_password=bar backup -R -u user@domain imapc: doveadm -o imapc_user=foo -o pop3c_user=foo -o imapc_password=bar -o pop3c_password=bar backup -R -u user@domain pop3c: Or imapc is enough? Do you have any suggestion? Thanks -- /*************/ nik600 http://www.kumbe.it

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[Dovecot] auth: Error: net_connect_unix(anvil-auth-penalty) failed: Permission denied
by mailing＠securitylabs.it 01 Oct '25

01 Oct '25

Hello, just upgraded one of my testing machine from dovecot 1.2.15 to 2.0.7. After some trouble with permissions now all seems working, but when I stop dovecot I have these errors in log: Nov 9 17:08:07 in dovecot: master: Warning: Killed with signal 15 (by pid=20362 uid=0 code=kill) Nov 9 17:08:07 in dovecot: pop3-login: Error: read(anvil) failed: EOF Nov 9 17:08:07 in dovecot: imap-login: Error: read(anvil) failed: EOF Nov 9 17:08:07 in dovecot: imap(mailing(a)securitylabs.it): Server shutting down. bytes=410/59361 Nov 9 17:08:07 in dovecot: imap(mailing(a)securitylabs.it): Server shutting down. bytes=79/26605 Nov 9 17:08:07 in dovecot: imap(mailing(a)securitylabs.it): Server shutting down. bytes=802/55708 Nov 9 17:08:07 in dovecot: imap(mailing(a)securitylabs.it): Server shutting down. bytes=258/1242 Nov 9 17:08:07 in dovecot: auth: Error: read(anvil-auth-penalty) failed: EOF Nov 9 17:08:07 in dovecot: auth: Error: net_connect_unix(anvil-auth-penalty) failed: Permission denied dovecot -n: # 2.0.7: /usr/local/etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf # OS: Linux 2.6.32-5-xen-686 i686 Debian squeeze/sid auth_cache_negative_ttl = 2 mins auth_cache_size = 1000 M auth_cache_ttl = 2 mins auth_master_user_separator = * auth_username_chars = abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ01234567890.-_@& disable_plaintext_auth = no dotlock_use_excl = yes first_valid_uid = 100 last_valid_uid = 105 lock_method = dotlock log_timestamp = "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S " login_greeting = Server ready. mail_fsync = never mail_gid = Debian-exim mail_location = maildir:~/Maildir:INDEX=/var/indexes/%d/%n mail_privileged_group = Debian-exim mail_uid = Debian-exim managesieve_notify_capability = mailto managesieve_sieve_capability = fileinto reject envelope encoded-character vacation subaddress comparator-i;ascii-numeric relational regex imap4flags copy include variables body enotify environment mailbox date namespace { inbox = yes location = prefix = separator = / type = private } namespace { location = maildir:~/Maildir/expunged prefix = EXPUNGED/ separator = / type = private } namespace { location = maildir:~/Maildir/deleted prefix = DELETED/ separator = / type = private } namespace { location = maildir:~/Maildir/deleted/expunged prefix = DELETED/EXPUNGED/ separator = / type = private } passdb { args = /usr/local/etc/dovecot-sql.conf driver = sql } passdb { args = /usr/local/etc/passwd.masterusers driver = passwd-file master = yes pass = yes } plugin { lazy_expunge = EXPUNGED/ DELETED/ DELETED/EXPUNGED/ mail_log_events = delete expunge mail_log_group_events = quota = maildir quota_warning = storage=80%% /usr/local/bin/dovecot-quota-warning.sh 80 quota_warning2 = storage=90%% /usr/local/bin/dovecot-quota-warning.sh 90 sieve = ~/.dovecot.sieve } pop3_no_flag_updates = yes protocols = imap pop3 service auth { unix_listener auth-userdb { group = Debian-exim mode = 0600 user = Debian-exim } } service imap-login { client_limit = 256 process_limit = 128 process_min_avail = 3 service_count = 1 } service imap { drop_priv_before_exec = yes process_limit = 256 vsz_limit = 256 B } service pop3-login { client_limit = 256 process_limit = 128 process_min_avail = 3 service_count = 1 } service pop3 { drop_priv_before_exec = yes process_limit = 256 vsz_limit = 256 B } ssl_cert = </usr/local/etc/dovecot.crt ssl_key = </usr/local/etc/dovecot.key userdb { args = /usr/local/etc/dovecot-sql.conf driver = sql } protocol imap { mail_max_userip_connections = 10 mail_plugins = " notify quota imap_quota mail_log lazy_expunge" } protocol pop3 { mail_max_userip_connections = 3 mail_plugins = " notify quota mail_log" pop3_uidl_format = %08Xu%08Xv } protocol lda { mail_plugins = quota sieve postmaster_address = postmaster(a)securitylabs.it } My /usr/local/var/run/dovecot directory: 4 drwxr-sr-x 4 root staff 4096 Nov 9 17:08 . 4 drwxrwsrwx 3 root staff 4096 Nov 9 17:05 .. 0 srw------- 1 root staff 0 Nov 9 17:05 anvil 0 srw------- 1 root staff 0 Nov 9 17:05 anvil-auth-penalty 0 srw------- 1 root staff 0 Nov 9 17:05 auth-client 0 srw------- 1 dovecot staff 0 Nov 9 17:05 auth-login 0 srw------- 1 root staff 0 Nov 9 17:05 auth-master 0 srw------- 1 Debian-exim Debian-exim 0 Nov 9 17:05 auth-userdb 0 srw------- 1 dovecot staff 0 Nov 9 17:05 auth-worker 0 srw------- 1 root staff 0 Nov 9 17:05 config 0 srw------- 1 root staff 0 Nov 9 17:05 dict 0 srw------- 1 root staff 0 Nov 9 17:05 director-admin 0 srw-rw-rw- 1 root staff 0 Nov 9 17:05 dns-client 0 srw------- 1 root staff 0 Nov 9 17:05 doveadm-server 0 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root staff 35 Nov 9 17:05 dovecot.conf -> /usr/local/etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf 4 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Nov 9 17:05 empty 4 drwxr-x--- 2 root dovenull 4096 Nov 9 17:05 login My emails are delivered as user Debian-exim and users are virtual in a MySQL DB. This system is behind a proxy (so the master user)

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postfix alias and dovecot quota
by Alexandre Ellert 28 Sep '25

28 Sep '25

Hello, Can someone tell me if it’s possible to configure dovecot to answer quota information about real mailbox when I query a postfix alias mailbox (this information is actually in a mysql database) ? Example : doveadm quota get - u alias(a)domain.com doveadm(alias(a)domain.com): Fatal: User doesn't exist doveadm quota get - u realmailbox(a)domain.com Quota name Type Value Limit % user STORAGE 2048853 2048000 100 user MESSAGE 6783 - 0 I’d like to have this result : doveadm quota get - u alias(a)domain.com Quota name Type Value Limit % user STORAGE 2048853 2048000 100 user MESSAGE 6783 - 0 doveadm quota get - u realmailbox(a)domain.com Quota name Type Value Limit % user STORAGE 2048853 2048000 100 user MESSAGE 6783 - 0 Thanks for your help. Alexandre.

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dovecot-2.3.2.1 and dovecot-pigeonhole-0.5.2 bug?
by Jan Nowak 16 Aug '24

16 Aug '24

Hello, we have a problem after updating the software with the operation of sieve scripts sending a copy of the e-mails, e-mails are not transferred. Configuration: dovecot-2.3.2.1 + dovecot-pigeonhole-0.5.2 + FreeBSD 11.2 log: Sep 06 13:28:17 lda(XXX@XXX)<38615><XXX+XXX>: Info: sieve: msgid=<XXX-XXX-XXX-7788-XXX@XXXXnet>: stored mail into mailbox 'INBOX' Sep 06 13:28:17 lda(XXX@XXX)<38615><XXX+XXX>: Info: sieve: Execution of script /usr/home/XXX/mail/XXX(a)XXX/.dovecot.sieve failed, but implicit keep was successful (user logfile /usr/home/XXX/mail/XXX(a)XXX/.dovecot.sieve.log may reveal additional details) .dovecot.sieve.log: error: msgid=<XXX-XXX-XXX-7788-XXX@XXXXnet>: failed to redirect message to <XXXXX(a)XXXXXX.com>: smtp(127.0.0.1:25): DATA failed: 552 Message header not CRLF terminated (permanent failure). On old configuration: dovecot 2.2 + dovecot-pigeonhole- 0.4 + FreeBSD 11.2 we don't have problem. Has anyone had a similar problem, knows the solution?

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[Dovecot] doveadm delete folders ?
by Robert Schetterer 19 Feb '24

19 Feb '24

Hi , is there a feature like doveadm expunge savedbefore ... for imap folder delete ? -- Best Regards MfG Robert Schetterer Germany/Munich/Bavaria

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Mailbox problem on centos O/S after some "fiddling"
by John Richards 28 May '21

28 May '21

Good day from Somerset, England Version 2.2.10 Problem after a huge centos update Data:- Server has 8 mailboxes under /var/mail/"user name" history:- After update, mail to ONE user was going into mqueue as undeliverable Had to delete and recreate the user. somewhere along the line (ME!) /var/mail/;imap var/mail/new were deleted After new user and reboot server no one could access mailboxes with password error except ONE user randomly....This created the /var/mail/.mbox folder and sub folders but with the owner as the user name. Then any mail for other users was put in the /var/new folder and just sat there. only the "owner" of this folder could get mail, everyone else was prohibited with password error. chown the folder (owner:group) to root did nothing BUT When .mbox was give PUBLIC execute permissions (771) suddenly everything works fine! I do not understand why dovecot creates this folder as we ONLY ever use pop3 (currently with plain text auth but going to secure when this sorted) for mail and also why when it writes the blank folder it "owns" it with the user accessing it (also the /var/mail/new folder takes the same owner) I have trolled everywhere and spent a whole day on this so any clues would be very gratefully accepted as do not like to leave this folder as 771 (note the folder INBOX within it is only 770 and the log file in that is 660) Is this INBOX needed at all for pop3 ? rgds John Richards UK ================= dovecot -n # 2.2.10: /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf # OS: Linux 3.10.0-514.2.2.el7.x86_64 x86_64 CentOS Linux release 7.3.1611 (Core ) ext4 auth_mechanisms = plain login disable_plaintext_auth = no mail_location = mbox:/var/mail/:INBOX=/var/mail/%u mbox_write_locks = fcntl namespace inbox { inbox = yes location = mailbox Drafts { special_use = \Drafts } mailbox Junk { special_use = \Junk } mailbox Sent { special_use = \Sent } mailbox "Sent Messages" { special_use = \Sent } mailbox Trash { special_use = \Trash } prefix = } passdb { driver = shadow } protocols = pop3 service imap-login { inet_listener imap { port = 143 } inet_listener imaps { port = 993 ssl = yes } } ssl_cert = </etc/pki/tls/certs/watchetwebdesign.co.uk.crt ssl_key = </etc/pki/tls/private/watchetwebdesign.co.uk.key userdb { driver = passwd }

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[Dovecot] Doveadm sometimes failed "to iterate through some users" after upgrade to 2.2
by Alessio Cecchi 04 May '21

04 May '21

Hi, I'm running every week in cron "doveadm expunge -A mailbox Spam before 30d" and monthly "doveadm quota recalc -A". After the upgrade to dovecot 2.2.12 (from 2.1.17), "doveadm -A" sometimes exit with this error: doveadm(user(a)domain.com): Error: User listing returned failure doveadm: Error: Failed to iterate through some users # echo $? 75 If I re-run the same command the user where doveadm stops changeing (always in alphabetical order): info@ mario@ pippo@ zazza@ and finally, after 3 or 4 run, ends with success. I have enable debug (via doveadm -D and auth/mail debub in 10-logging.con) but there are no errors or difference in the log when doveadm exit with the error (error code is 75). If I run # doveadm expunge -A mailbox Spam savedbefore 30d doveadm works fine Can somebody help me? Here is my configuration: # dovecot -n # 2.2.12: /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf # OS: Linux 2.6.32-5-amd64 x86_64 Debian 6.0.9 auth_debug = yes auth_master_user_separator = * auth_verbose = yes deliver_log_format = msgid=%m, from=%f, subject="%s": %$ dict { expire = mysql:/etc/dovecot/dovecot-dict-sql.conf.ext sqlquota = mysql:/etc/dovecot/dovecot-dict-sql.conf.ext } disable_plaintext_auth = no dotlock_use_excl = no first_valid_gid = 89 first_valid_uid = 89 imap_client_workarounds = delay-newmail tb-extra-mailbox-sep tb-lsub-flags imap_idle_notify_interval = 29 mins imap_logout_format = in=%i out=%o session=<%{session}> last_valid_gid = 89 last_valid_uid = 89 lda_mailbox_autocreate = yes lda_mailbox_autosubscribe = yes listen = * mail_debug = yes mail_fsync = always mail_location = maildir:~/Maildir mail_nfs_index = yes mail_nfs_storage = yes mail_plugins = quota expire maildir_very_dirty_syncs = yes managesieve_notify_capability = mailto managesieve_sieve_capability = fileinto reject envelope encoded-character subaddress comparator-i;ascii-numeric relational regex imap4flags copy include variables body enotify environment mailbox date ihave vnd.dovecot.duplicate mmap_disable = yes namespace { list = children location = maildir:%%h/Maildir:INDEX=~/Maildir/shared/%%u prefix = shared/%%n/ separator = / subscriptions = no type = shared } namespace inbox { inbox = yes location = mailbox Drafts { auto = subscribe special_use = \Drafts } mailbox Sent { auto = subscribe special_use = \Sent } mailbox "Sent Messages" { special_use = \Sent } mailbox Spam { auto = subscribe special_use = \Junk } mailbox Trash { auto = subscribe special_use = \Trash } prefix = separator = / } passdb { args = username_format=%Ld /etc/dovecot/extra/alias-domains-denylogin.txt deny = yes driver = passwd-file } passdb { args = /etc/dovecot/extra/master-users driver = passwd-file master = yes pass = yes } passdb { args = /etc/dovecot/dovecot-sql.conf.ext driver = sql } plugin { expire = Trash expire2 = Spam expire_dict = proxy::expire quota = maildir:UserQuota quota2 = dict:Quota Usage::noenforcing:proxy::sqlquota quota_grace = 10M quota_rule2 = Trash:storage=+100M quota_warning = storage=95%% quota-warning 95 %u quota_warning2 = storage=80%% quota-warning 80 %u sieve = ~/.dovecot.sieve sieve_before = /etc/dovecot/sieve/before.sieve sieve_dir = ~/sieve sieve_extensions = +vnd.dovecot.duplicate -vacation } pop3_client_workarounds = outlook-no-nuls oe-ns-eoh pop3_logout_format = top=%t/%p, retr=%r/%b, del=%d/%m, size=%s, bytes=%i/%o, session=<%{session}> protocols = imap pop3 sieve service auth-worker { process_limit = 1000 } service auth { client_limit = 5500 unix_listener auth-userdb { group = vchkpw mode = 0660 user = vpopmail } } service dict { process_limit = 300 unix_listener dict { group = vchkpw mode = 0660 user = vpopmail } } service imap-login { process_min_avail = 4 service_count = 0 } service imap { process_limit = 4000 service_count = 100 } service managesieve-login { inet_listener sieve { port = 4190 } } service pop3-login { service_count = 0 } service pop3 { process_limit = 1023 service_count = 100 } service quota-warning { executable = script /etc/dovecot/scripts/quota-warning.sh unix_listener quota-warning { user = vpopmail } user = vpopmail } ssl_cert = </etc/dovecot/ssl/wildcard-myemail.net.pem ssl_key = </etc/dovecot/ssl/wildcard-myemail.net.key submission_host = localhost userdb { args = /etc/dovecot/dovecot-sql.conf.ext driver = sql } protocol lda { mail_location = maildir:~/Maildir:INDEX=MEMORY mail_plugins = quota expire sieve } protocol imap { mail_max_userip_connections = 15 mail_plugins = quota expire imap_quota } protocol sieve { mail_max_userip_connections = 2 } protocol pop3 { mail_max_userip_connections = 5 } -- Alessio Cecchi is: @ ILS -> http://www.linux.it/~alessice/ on LinkedIn -> http://www.linkedin.com/in/alessice Assistenza Sistemi GNU/Linux -> http://www.cecchi.biz Cloud Email Hosting -> http://www.qboxmail.com @ PLUG -> ex-Presidente, adesso senatore a vita, http://www.prato.linux.it

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How to backup maildir
by Robert Moskowitz 04 Sep '20

04 Sep '20

I have been thinking, and reading, on how to back up my mailserver. I have not found any approach that seems ready to use. I have run years without any backup, but would really like to have something in place. I figure I can attach a USB drive and backup to that, then from there rsync to something elsewhere. Further if that USB drive is a full mailserver image, I actually have a 'hot backup' where I only have to put the backup drive into a system and boot up at the last backup. But this means properly copying all of /home/vmail and probably /home/sieve plus the /var/lib/mysql Are there good tools that nicely does this? Or do I choose a time late at night (only I am sometimes in non-US timezones) to shut down all services and just use rsync? And stopping services itself is thought provoking. What if Dovecot, amavis, mysql, or whatelse is in the middle of writing out a mail file what happens to that file and restart. Just scary stuff and, in part, why I have never tackled this in the past. thanks for all feedback

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