July 2025 - dovecot - dovecot.org

dovecot internal auth cache expires soon
by Burn Zero 21 Jul '25

21 Jul '25

Hi, I am new to dovecot and I am trying to prepare a POC environment. I have dovecot installed with postfix to perform SASL authentication. I'm using postgresql as auth backend which is working fine. But I am facing an issue with dovecot's internal auth cache. The internal auth cache just expires in 5 minutes. There is only one login (it's me testing) and there are no other logins. OS version: Almalinux 10 Postfix: postfix-3.8.5-8.el10.x86_64 system memory: 4 GB CPU: 2 auth_cache_size = 10M auth_cache_ttl = 1800secs auth_cache_negative_ttl = 300secs ( I have tried this setting to 0 but it does not change anything ) Here's the dovecot -n: # 2.3.21 (47349e2482): /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf # OS: Linux 6.12.0-55.9.1.el10_0.x86_64 x86_64 AlmaLinux release 10.0 (Purple Lion) # Hostname: localhostvm auth_cache_size = 10 M auth_cache_verify_password_with_worker = yes auth_debug = yes auth_mechanisms = plain login auth_verbose = yes login_log_format = %$: %s %f passdb { args = /etc/dovecot/conf.d/dovecot-sql.conf.ext driver = sql } protocols = service auth { unix_listener /var/spool/postfix/private/auth { group = postfix mode = 0666 user = postfix } } ssl = required ssl_cert = </etc/pki/dovecot/certs/dovecot.pem ssl_cipher_list = PROFILE=SYSTEM ssl_key = # hidden, use -P to show it userdb { driver = prefetch } Here's the cache hit log: Jul 14 11:53:35 localhostvm postfix/submission/smtpd[107852]: connect from remote-server Jul 14 11:53:36 localhostvm dovecot[107739]: auth: Debug: client in: AUTH#0112#011LOGIN#011service=smtp#011nologin#011lip=192.168.100.12#011rip=192.168.100.25 Jul 14 11:53:36 localhostvm dovecot[107739]: auth: Debug: client passdb out: CONT#0112#011VXNlcm5hbWU6 Jul 14 11:53:36 localhostvm dovecot[107739]: auth: Debug: client in: CONT<hidden> Jul 14 11:53:36 localhostvm dovecot[107739]: auth: Debug: client passdb out: CONT#0112#011UGFzc3dvcmQ6 Jul 14 11:53:36 localhostvm dovecot[107739]: auth: Debug: client in: CONT<hidden> Jul 14 11:53:36 localhostvm dovecot[107739]: auth: Debug: sql(user(a)tld,192.168.100.25): Performing passdb lookup Jul 14 11:53:36 localhostvm dovecot[107739]: auth: Debug: sql(user(a)tld,192.168.100.25): cache hit: <hidden>#011user=user@tld Jul 14 11:53:36 localhostvm dovecot[107739]: auth: Debug: sql(user(a)tld,192.168.100.25): cache: validating password on worker Jul 14 11:53:36 localhostvm dovecot[107739]: auth-worker(107886): Debug: Loading modules from directory: /usr/lib64/dovecot/auth Jul 14 11:53:36 localhostvm dovecot[107739]: auth-worker(107886): Debug: Module loaded: /usr/lib64/dovecot/auth/lib20_auth_var_expand_crypt.so Jul 14 11:53:36 localhostvm dovecot[107739]: auth-worker(107886): Debug: Module loaded: /usr/lib64/dovecot/auth/libdriver_pgsql.so Jul 14 11:53:36 localhostvm dovecot[107739]: auth-worker(107886): Debug: Module loaded: /usr/lib64/dovecot/auth/libdriver_sqlite.so Jul 14 11:53:36 localhostvm dovecot[107739]: auth-worker(107886): Debug: sqlpool(pgsql): Creating new connection Jul 14 11:53:36 localhostvm dovecot[107739]: auth-worker(107886): Debug: sqlpool(pgsql): Creating new connection Jul 14 11:53:36 localhostvm dovecot[107739]: auth-worker(107886): Debug: conn unix:auth-worker (pid=107856,uid=97): Server accepted connection (fd=15) Jul 14 11:53:36 localhostvm dovecot[107739]: auth-worker(107886): Debug: conn unix:auth-worker (pid=107856,uid=97): Sending version handshake Jul 14 11:53:36 localhostvm dovecot[107739]: auth-worker(107886): Debug: conn unix:auth-worker (pid=107856,uid=97): auth-worker<1>: Handling PASSW request Jul 14 11:53:36 localhostvm dovecot[107739]: auth-worker(107886): Debug: conn unix:auth-worker (pid=107856,uid=97): auth-worker<1>: Finished Jul 14 11:53:36 localhostvm dovecot[107739]: auth: Debug: sql(user(a)tld,192.168.100.25): Finished passdb lookup Jul 14 11:53:36 localhostvm dovecot[107739]: auth: Debug: auth(user(a)tld,192.168.100.25): Auth request finished Jul 14 11:53:36 localhostvm dovecot[107739]: auth: Debug: client passdb out: OK#0112#011user=user@tld Jul 14 11:53:37 localhostvm postfix/submission/smtpd[107852]: 81GFE2083CH9: client=remote-server[192.168.100.25], sasl_method=LOGIN, sasl_username=user@tld I am not sure what is causing the cache to disappear in 5 min although I have set it to 1800s. Thank you.

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GhettoForge is Moving
by Peter 20 Jul '25

20 Jul '25

For those of you who get dovecot from the GhettoForge repository please note that GhettoForge is moving to a new domain, GhettoForge.net. You will need to take some action in order to continue to receive dovecot updates from GhetttoForge. For further information please see: http://www.ghettoforge.net/index.php/Moving Peter

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Building failures with 2.4.0 and 2.4.1 on MacOS: var_expand_crypt
by rmfuhrer＠optonline.net 18 Jul '25

18 Jul '25

I'm trying to build dovecot, both at tags 2.4.0 and 2.4.1, both failing with the same undefined-symbols link error. I've pulled the source from GitHub onto an Apple M2 Ultra Mac Studio running Sonoma 14.6.1. FWIW, I'm picking up various dependencies as packages from Homebrew via the CFLAGS and LDFLAGS args below. The prep steps before "make": $ ./autogen.sh $ CFLAGS="-I/opt/homebrew/include" LDFLAGS="-L/opt/homebrew/lib" ./configure --prefix=/opt/homebrew --with-bzlib --with-ldap --with-mysql --with-pam --with-sqlite --without-icu $ PATH="/opt/homebrew/opt/bison/bin:$PATH" make ... N.B.: The PATH tweak is solely intended to pick up a usable version (3.8.2) of bison, since the Xcode-supplied binary is too old (v2.3), and doesn't recognize certain cmdline flags. Also, getting even this far with 2.4.0 requires the "touch build-aux/config.rpath" workaround, and the 2-line patch to src/lib-http/http-server.h suggested on this thread: https://dovecot.org/mailman3/archives/list/dovecot@dovecot.org/thread/MFHSI…. Anyway, here's an excerpt of the build stdout/stderr. $ PATH="/opt/homebrew/opt/bison/bin:$PATH" make ... CCLD var_expand_crypt.la Undefined symbols for architecture arm64: "_binary_to_hex_append", referenced from: _var_expand_encrypt in var-expand-crypt.o _var_expand_encrypt in var-expand-crypt.o "_buffer_append", referenced from: _var_expand_crypt_settings in var-expand-crypt.o _var_expand_crypt_settings in var-expand-crypt.o "_buffer_append_c", referenced from: _str_append_c in var-expand-crypt.o ... ld: symbol(s) not found for architecture arm64 clang: error: linker command failed with exit code 1 (use -v to see invocation) make[3]: *** [var_expand_crypt.la] Error 1 make[2]: *** [all-recursive] Error 1 make[1]: *** [all-recursive] Error 1 make: *** [all] Error 2 $ Hopefully this is enough info to go on, but LMK if not.

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Endless cycle of delete/expunge Outlook flagged messages.
by Mart Pirita 18 Jul '25

18 Jul '25

Hi, Suddenly I have a strange problem with the latest Outlook 365 (version 2506, build 16.0.1.18925.20076 64-bit) clients. When a user flags a message, they cannot remove the flag because Outlook gives an error message "The action cannot be performed because the message has been modified". One solution is to make the message unread and then remove the flag. However, since the moment a user flags a message for the first time, the maillog contains delete/expunge loop endlessly, for example: Jul 18 09:50:25 server dovecot: imap(user): delete: box=INBOX.Euro Brand, uid=2108, msgid=<GV1P195MB16414FAC3D4BAC6326F956048351A(a)GV1P195MB1641.EURP195.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM>, size=7597602, vsize=7698181, from="Masked User" <masked.user(a)somedomain.com>, subject=testing Jul 18 09:50:25 server dovecot: imap(user): expunge: box=INBOX.Euro Brand, uid=2108, msgid=<GV1P195MB16414FAC3D4BAC6326F956048351A(a)GV1P195MB1641.EURP195.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM>, size=7597602, vsize=7698181, from="Masked User" <masked.user(a)somedomain.com>, subject=testing Jul 18 09:50:27 server dovecot: imap(user): delete: box=INBOX.Euro Brand, uid=2109, msgid=<GV1P195MB16414FAC3D4BAC6326F956048351A(a)GV1P195MB1641.EURP195.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM>, size=7597628, vsize=7698214, from="Masked User" <masked.user(a)somedomain.com>, subject=testing Jul 18 09:50:27 server dovecot: imap(user): expunge: box=INBOX.Euro Brand, uid=2109, msgid=<GV1P195MB16414FAC3D4BAC6326F956048351A(a)GV1P195MB1641.EURP195.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM>, size=7597628, vsize=7698214, from="Masked User" <masked.user(a)somedomain.com>, subject=testing Jul 18 09:50:28 server dovecot: imap(user): delete: box=INBOX.Euro Brand, uid=2110, msgid=<GV1P195MB16414FAC3D4BAC6326F956048351A(a)GV1P195MB1641.EURP195.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM>, size=7597654, vsize=7698247, from="Masked User" <masked.user(a)somedomain.com>, subject=testing Jul 18 09:50:28 server dovecot: imap(user): expunge: box=INBOX.Euro Brand, uid=2110, msgid=<GV1P195MB16414FAC3D4BAC6326F956048351A(a)GV1P195MB1641.EURP195.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM>, size=7597654, vsize=7698247, from="Masked User" <masked.user(a)somedomain.com>, subject=testing ... So the message UID will change indefinitely forever. Is there any way to fix this with dovecot configuration? ### dovecot -n # 2.3.21.1 (d492236fa0): /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf auth_cache_size = 1 k auth_failure_delay = 1 mins auth_mechanisms = plain login base_dir = /var/run/dovecot/ default_client_limit = 2000 default_process_limit = 500 disable_plaintext_auth = no dsync_features = no-header-hashes import_environment = TZ CORE_OUTOFMEM CORE_ERROR TZ=:/etc/localtime MALLOC_MMAP_THRESHOLD_=131072 listen = * login_greeting = login_log_format_elements = %u %r %m %c %k mail_location = maildir:~/Maildir mail_log_prefix = "%s(%u): " mail_plugins = " mail_log notify" mail_sort_max_read_count = 100 mailbox_list_index_very_dirty_syncs = yes maildir_very_dirty_syncs = yes passdb { args = dovecot driver = pam } plugin { autocreate2 = Sent Items autosubscribe2 = Sent Items mail_log_events = delete undelete expunge copy mailbox_delete mailbox_rename mail_log_fields = uid box msgid size from subject vsize } protocols = imap service auth { unix_listener /var/spool/postfix/private/auth { group = postfix mode = 0666 user = postfix } } service imap-login { inet_listener imap { port = 0 } inet_listener imaps { port = 993 ssl = yes } process_min_avail = 1 } service imap { process_limit = 2048 vsz_limit = 1 G } ssl_ca = </etc/ssl/certs/mail.ca.crt ssl_cert = </etc/ssl/certs/mail.fullchain.cer ssl_cipher_list = kEECDH:+kEECDH+SHA:kEDH:+kEDH+SHA:+kEDH+CAMELLIA:kECDH:+kECDH+SHA:kRSA:+kRSA+SHA:+kRSA+CAMELLIA:!aNULL:!eNULL:!SSLv2:!RC4:!MD5:!DES:!EXP:!SEED:!IDEA:!3DES ssl_dh = # hidden, use -P to show it ssl_key = # hidden, use -P to show it ssl_min_protocol = TLSv1 ssl_prefer_server_ciphers = yes state_dir = /var/run/dovecot userdb { driver = passwd } protocol imap { imap_client_workarounds = tb-extra-mailbox-sep tb-lsub-flags delay-newmail imap_idle_notify_interval = 15 mins imap_logout_format = %{rip}, bytes=%i/%o, del=%{deleted} mail_max_userip_connections = 500 } -- Mart

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Message Duplication
by Doug Hardie 17 Jul '25

17 Jul '25

I have a persistent, but infrequent situation where a message from a mail list will appear in the list of messages twice. The IDs are identical between the copies. There is only one copy of the email in the mailbox. It appears that there are two entries in some index. Apple's mail gets confused by this. If I delete the first entry, the second remains but is tagged as found in mailbox NULL. It cannot easily be deleted. My first thought was that sieve was saving two copies. So I pulled a copy of the original email and ran sieve-test on it. It is only saved once to the proper mailbox. I have not been able to determine if the problem is in Dovecot or Apple's mail app. From what I see, it could be either. I would appreciate any ideas on how to diagnose this further. Thanks, -- Doug

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Unknown section name: sieve_script
by Odhiambo Washington 16 Jul '25

16 Jul '25

I have manually compiled and installed Dovecot from git on Ubuntu 24.04 server. I have then brought in a config from a running server - basically I copied the /etc/dovecot to this server and customized the params necessary. Now I am getting this error and I am not sure why: root@lists:/home/wash# doveconf -n # 0.0.0-35284+9240e3a438 (9240e3a438): /usr/local/etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /usr/local/etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf line 71: Unknown section name: sieve_script -- Best regards, Odhiambo WASHINGTON, Nairobi,KE +254 7 3200 0004/+254 7 2274 3223 In an Internet failure case, the #1 suspect is a constant: DNS. "Oh, the cruft.", egrep -v '^$|^.*#' ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :-) [How to ask smart questions: http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html] I have manually compiled and installed Dovecot from git on Ubuntu 24.04 server. I have then brought in a config from a running server - basically I copied the /etc/dovecot to this server and customized the params necessary. Now I am getting this error and I am not sure why: root@lists:/home/wash# doveconf -n # 0.0.0-35284+9240e3a438 (9240e3a438): /usr/local/etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /usr/local/etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf line 71: Unknown section name: sieve_script -- Best regards, Odhiambo WASHINGTON, Nairobi,KE +254 7 3200 0004/+254 7 2274 3223 In an Internet failure case, the #1 suspect is a constant: DNS. "Oh, the cruft.", egrep -v '^$|^.*#' -\_(Tu)_/- :-) [How to ask smart questions: [1]http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html] References Visible links 1. http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

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dovecot reload 2.4.1 => core dump
by Genes Lists 16 Jul '25

16 Jul '25

"systemctl reload docecot" crashed. systemctl start and restart work fine before and after the reload crash. Running on archlinux (using the arch dovecot 2.4.1 package). Probably about 15-20 connected clients at time of crash . Is this a known issue I wonder? thanks gene All I have at this point is systemd reported trace of the crash: Process 1381 (dovecot) of user 0 dumped core. Stack trace of thread 1381: #0 0x00007e78fad7ed1d n/a (libc.so.6 + 0x16ed1d) #1 0x00007e78fac758d8 n/a (libc.so.6 + 0x658d8) #2 0x00007e78fac99e2e n/a (libc.so.6 + 0x89e2e) #3 0x00007e78fac705d6 snprintf (libc.so.6 + 0x605d6) #4 0x00007e78fad271e1 n/a (libc.so.6 + 0x1171e1) #5 0x00007e78fad27943 __syslog_chk (libc.so.6 + 0x117943) #6 0x00007e78faf38ce5 n/a (libdovecot.so.0 + 0x138ce5) #7 0x00007e78faf36d4d n/a (libdovecot.so.0 + 0x136d4d) #8 0x00007e78faf3701e i_syslog_error_handler (libdovecot.so.0 + 0x13701e) #9 0x000058ca208bd7bf n/a (/usr/bin/dovecot + 0x87bf) #10 0x00007e78faf355e6 i_warning (libdovecot.so.0 + 0x1355e6) #11 0x000058ca208c79fa n/a (/usr/bin/dovecot + 0x129fa) #12 0x00007e78faf5b698 n/a (libdovecot.so.0 + 0x15b698) #13 0x00007e78faf536e4 io_loop_call_io (libdovecot.so.0 + 0x1536e4) #14 0x00007e78faf54c8b io_loop_handler_run_internal (libdovecot.so.0 + 0x154c8b) #15 0x00007e78faf54d47 io_loop_handler_run (libdovecot.so.0 + 0x154d47) #16 0x00007e78faf54f49 io_loop_run (libdovecot.so.0 + 0x154f49) #17 0x00007e78fae9fc00 master_service_run (libdovecot.so.0 + 0x9fc00) #18 0x000058ca208bd017 main (/usr/bin/dovecot + 0x8017) #19 0x00007e78fac376b5 n/a (libc.so.6 + 0x276b5) #20 0x00007e78fac37769 __libc_start_main (libc.so.6 + 0x27769) #21 0x000058ca208bd605 _start (/usr/bin/dovecot + 0x8605) ELF object binary architecture: AMD x86-64 -- Gene "systemctl reload docecot" crashed. systemctl start and restart work fine before and after the reload crash. Running on archlinux (using the arch dovecot 2.4.1 package). Probably about 15-20 connected clients at time of crash . Is this a known issue I wonder? thanks gene All I have at this point is systemd reported trace of the crash: Process 1381 (dovecot) of user 0 dumped core. Stack trace of thread 1381: #0 0x00007e78fad7ed1d n/a (libc.so.6 + 0x16ed1d) #1 0x00007e78fac758d8 n/a (libc.so.6 + 0x658d8) #2 0x00007e78fac99e2e n/a (libc.so.6 + 0x89e2e) #3 0x00007e78fac705d6 snprintf (libc.so.6 + 0x605d6) #4 0x00007e78fad271e1 n/a (libc.so.6 + 0x1171e1) #5 0x00007e78fad27943 __syslog_chk (libc.so.6 + 0x117943) #6 0x00007e78faf38ce5 n/a (libdovecot.so.0 + 0x138ce5) #7 0x00007e78faf36d4d n/a (libdovecot.so.0 + 0x136d4d) #8 0x00007e78faf3701e i_syslog_error_handler (libdovecot.so.0 + 0x13701e) #9 0x000058ca208bd7bf n/a (/usr/bin/dovecot + 0x87bf) #10 0x00007e78faf355e6 i_warning (libdovecot.so.0 + 0x1355e6) #11 0x000058ca208c79fa n/a (/usr/bin/dovecot + 0x129fa) #12 0x00007e78faf5b698 n/a (libdovecot.so.0 + 0x15b698) #13 0x00007e78faf536e4 io_loop_call_io (libdovecot.so.0 + 0x1536e4) #14 0x00007e78faf54c8b io_loop_handler_run_internal (libdovecot.so.0 + 0x154c8b) #15 0x00007e78faf54d47 io_loop_handler_run (libdovecot.so.0 + 0x154d47) #16 0x00007e78faf54f49 io_loop_run (libdovecot.so.0 + 0x154f49) #17 0x00007e78fae9fc00 master_service_run (libdovecot.so.0 + 0x9fc00) #18 0x000058ca208bd017 main (/usr/bin/dovecot + 0x8017) #19 0x00007e78fac376b5 n/a (libc.so.6 + 0x276b5) #20 0x00007e78fac37769 __libc_start_main (libc.so.6 + 0x27769) #21 0x000058ca208bd605 _start (/usr/bin/dovecot + 0x8605) ELF object binary architecture: AMD x86-64 -- Gene

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Any planned 2.4.2 release date
by Andreas Haerter 14 Jul '25

14 Jul '25

Hi, I am currently planning the migration from Dovecot 2.3 to 2.4 and was wondering if version 2.4.2 is just around the corner (and it therefore might make sense to wait a few more days). Is there any planned schedule or does it still make sense to migrate to 2.4.1 within the next ~14 days? -- Regards, Andreas Haerter foundata GmbH Steinhäuserstr. 20 76135 Karlsruhe Sitz der Gesellschaft: Karlsruhe Registergericht: Amtsgericht Mannheim, HRB 714807 Geschäftsführung: Andreas Haerter USt-IdNr.: DE284122682

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Access to deleted emails
by Kamil Jońca 13 Jul '25

13 Jul '25

Some time ago I mistakenly delete a lot of emails (mdbox storage) I was able to recover them with command like: --8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8--- doveadm import mdbox_deleted:~/Mail/0 "" ALL --8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8--- But now, with I get: --8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8--- %doveadm import -u kjonca mdbox_deleted:~/Mail/0 "" ALL doveadm(kjonca): Fatal: Import namespace initialization failed: mdbox_deleted: mdbox: mailbox_root_directory_name must not be empty --8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8--- How can I restore mails? KJ -- http://wolnelektury.pl/wesprzyj/teraz/ Hartley's First Law: You can lead a horse to water, but if you can get him to float on his back, you've got something.

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Better 2.4.x docs?
by Steve Litt 13 Jul '25

13 Jul '25

Are you planning to improve your Dovecot 2.4.x documentation? The current 2.4.x documentation has: * Non-obvious links between 2.4.x and 2.3.x * Some 2.3.x specific grammar * Almost no examples * 2.4.x material is scattered across many pages * Contains a few inaccuracies * Contains some contradictions 2.4.x is such a huge change that it should have its own, standalone documentation tree exclusively for 2.4.x. This tree should have a different color scheme than your other docs so people know at a glance exactly what they're looking at. You could have a page devoted to often used dovecot.conf content, with numerous examples, documented as if there had never been an earlier version. You could have a page devoted to conversion of 2.3.x dovecot.conf to 2.4.x, once again, with numerous examples. Another page with more exotic dovecot.conf content, with numerous examples. Another page discussing the 2.3.x features that don't appear in 2.4.x, what capabilities that takes away, and how best to cobble together those capabilities for those who don't want Dovecot Professional. Another page for brand new capabilities of 2.4.x. Thanks, SteveT Steve Litt http://444domains.com

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