dovecot

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October 2025

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51 discussions

Public namespace - configuration help (new to Dovecot) - version 2.3.x
by daniel.botting＠codethink.co.uk 01 Oct '25

01 Oct '25

Hi all, I'm configuring a public namespace for an existing Dovecot install, I have the public namespace configured and working in a basic manner (it can be subscribed to in an MUA and mail can be moved into it for a specified user named in the dovecot-acl file). I've followed the official docs: - https://doc.dovecot.org/2.3/configuration_manual/shared_mailboxes/public_sh… When I configure the MUA (Thunderbird) I can see the public namespace and a subfolder that I've manually created underneath (with new/cur/tmp folders, parent public folders also has a new tmp cur directories, mail cannot be moved into public top level folder), but it is displayed as below when subscribed to: public^subfolder I've resolved this by changing the separator to a / , however as per my doveconf -n below I then received a separator conflict, which I resolved by changing the separator for the default namespace to also be a / . As the default namespace is already using period ( . ) on the production servers, I'd like to continue using this separator and not / separator. The existing install of a couple of hundred mailboxes and I'm concerned I'll break the mailboxes /any existing sieve filters. I would like the public folder to display with an empty prefix as below, but I understand you cannot have two 'prefix =' (empty prefixes) : subfolder doveconf -n output below: # 2.3.21.1 (d492236fa0): /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf # Pigeonhole version 0.5.21.1 (49005e73) # OS: Linux 5.10.0-35-cloud-amd64 x86_64 Debian 11.11 # Hostname: imap-server.hostname.co.uk auth_verbose = yes default_vsz_limit = 0 doveadm_password = # hidden, use -P to show it first_valid_gid = 8 first_valid_uid = 8 last_valid_gid = 8 last_valid_uid = 8 lda_mailbox_autocreate = yes lda_mailbox_autosubscribe = yes mail_gid = 8 mail_location = maildir:~/Maildir mail_plugins = " notify replication acl" mail_uid = 8 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 index ihave duplicate mime foreverypart extracttext editheader imapflags namespace { list = no location = maildir:/srv/vmail/public:INDEXPVT=~/Maildir/public prefix = Public/ separator = / subscriptions = no type = public } 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 = / <--- I'd like this to be a . instead } namespace subscriptions { hidden = yes list = no location = prefix = subscriptions/ <--- had to put something here because inbox namespace was empty subscriptions = yes } passdb { args = /etc/dovecot/dovecot-ldap.conf.ext driver = ldap } plugin { acl = vfile mail_replica = tcps:other-replica.domain.co.uk:port number sieve = ~/.dovecot.sieve sieve_before = /etc/dovecot/common.sieve sieve_dir = ~/sieve sieve_extensions = +editheader +imapflags } postmaster_address = postmaster(a)domain.co.uk protocols = " imap sieve pop3" replication_dsync_parameters = -d -N -l 15 -U -T 10 replication_max_conns = 24 service aggregator { fifo_listener replication-notify-fifo { user = mail } unix_listener replication-notify { user = mail } } service auth { unix_listener /var/run/dovecot-exim-bridge { mode = 0660 user = Debian-exim } } service doveadm { inet_listener { port = <replica port number> ssl = yes } } service imap-login { inet_listener imap { port = 143 } inet_listener imaps { port = 993 ssl = yes } process_limit = 512 process_min_avail = 4 service_count = 1 } service imap { process_limit = 1024 } service managesieve-login { inet_listener sieve { port = <port number> } process_min_avail = 1 service_count = 8 vsz_limit = 256 M } service managesieve { process_limit = 1024 } service replicator { process_min_avail = 1 unix_listener replicator-doveadm { mode = 0666 } } ssl = required ssl_cert = <path/to/fullchain.pem ssl_cipher_list = ALL:!LOW:!SSLv2:!EXP:!aNULL ssl_client_ca_dir = /etc/ssl/certs ssl_key = # hidden, use -P to show it userdb { args = /etc/dovecot/dovecot-ldap.conf.ext driver = ldap override_fields = home=/var/mail/%u uid=mail gid=mail } protocol lda { mail_plugins = " notify replication acl sieve" } protocol imap { mail_max_userip_connections = 32 mail_plugins = " notify replication acl acl" } protocol sieve { mail_max_userip_connections = 10 managesieve_logout_format = bytes=%i/%o managesieve_max_line_length = 64 k } Also the public folder is not displayed in Roundcube webmail in folder sections to be subscribed to. doveadm mailbox list -u <username> I appreciate that replication does not work with public mailboxes, I'll have to look at that further. Many thanks Dan

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