June 2026 - dovecot - dovecot.org

New Backup Issue
by Doug Hardie 11 Jun '26

11 Jun '26

I have dovecot using maildir storage on the mail machine. I have an external drive directly connected to use a backup for the mailboxes. Doveadm backup works perfectly for this setup. I also have two external backup servers. Backup to those tends to fail with a variety of errors. I deleted the Maildir directory on the backup servers and created the original backups with doveadm backup. No issues were reported. However, the next backup generates errors: dsync-remote(jeanne)<HV6JE+i/KWo0NwAAq6l46g>: Warning: Deleting mailbox 'INBOX': UID=11166 GUID=1712570780.M604032P10319.mail,S=99689,W=101000 is missing locally dsync-remote(jeanne)<HV6JE+i/KWo0NwAAq6l46g>: Error: Couldn't delete mailbox INBOX: INBOX can't be deleted. dsync-local(jeanne)<HqU9Aei/KWoBMAAAZU03Dg>: Error: Remote command returned error 65: ssh sermons doveadm dsync-server -ujeanne -U dsync-remote(beneke)<eARRAem/KWpdNwAAq6l46g>: Warning: Deleting mailbox 'INBOX': UID=232 GUID=1641564460.M859673P8687.mail,S=5917,W=6035 is missing locally dsync-remote(beneke)<eARRAem/KWpdNwAAq6l46g>: Error: Couldn't delete mailbox INBOX: INBOX can't be deleted. dsync-local(beneke)<mw5bM+i/KWoJMAAAZU03Dg>: Error: Remote command returned error 65: ssh sermons doveadm dsync-server -ubeneke -U dsync-remote(doug)<6gmSJ+m/KWp7NwAAq6l46g>: Warning: Deleting mailbox 'INBOX': UID=92440 GUID=1465118975.V4eI7cfa32M232845.mail is missing locally dsync-remote(doug)<6gmSJ+m/KWp7NwAAq6l46g>: Error: Couldn't delete mailbox INBOX: INBOX can't be deleted. dsync-local(doug)<hwsCH+m/KWoNMAAAZU03Dg>: Error: Remote command returned error 65: ssh sermons doveadm dsync-server -udoug -U There is always one error per user, but they are different between the two backup machine. With the first error, I found the message 1712570780.M604032P10319.mail,S=99689,W=101000 in the mail server cur directory and deleted it. That messge did not exist in the backup server. I ran backup again and no issues. However, the next backup produced the following error: dsync-remote(jeanne)<dNWXGZbUKWoaOgAAq6l46g>: Warning: Deleting mailbox 'INBOX': UID=11167 GUID=1712574432.M425061P11306.mail,S=45149,W=45775 is missing locally dsync-remote(jeanne)<dNWXGZbUKWoaOgAAq6l46g>: Error: Couldn't delete mailbox INBOX: INBOX can't be deleted. dsync-local(jeanne)<Jg3tCZbUKWp5NQAAZU03Dg>: Error: Remote command returned error 65: ssh sermons doveadm dsync-server -ujeanne -U That message is in the cur directory on the mail server. It is not in the backup server. I don't understand the message that those files are missing locally (primary mail server I presume) when they are actually there and missing on the remote server. I don't know why they didn't get copied originally. The first email was recieved on Mon, 8 Apr 2024 so it can't be a timming issue. -- Doug

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Replication performance question and environment variables sanitization
by Jesus Cea 10 Jun '26

10 Jun '26

Hi, there. I am using dovecot 2.3.21.1. I am experimenting with replication, currently doing it manually, using this: doveadm -Dv sync -u jcea ssh email doveadm dsync-server -u prueba_backup; echo $? It works fine so far, but I have a few hundreds of mailboxes in my imap4 account and an "empty" (no changes) sync takes 30 seconds, since apparently it compare every mailbox (according to the debug info printed). I am using "mdbox" storage in both sides. I would expect an event replication, where time is proportional to the volume of changes, not to the total data volume or number of mailboxes. Am I doing anything wrong?. It would be faster to use "replicator" + "mail_replica". Can I improve this in some way? Replication must be both ways, because in one server new emails are arriving and in the other imapserver I am doing my mail work. I want new email appearing in my work imapserver (living my own laptop) and my email processing to be replicated back to the server for backup/disaster recovery (lost laptop, broken HD) and access from a different laptop, phone, etc. Thanks. PS: By default dovecot sanitizes the environment and doesn't allow "SSH_AUTH_SOCK" for ssh-agent. Why?. That is very inconvenient. I am using this environment variable to overcome that: DOVECOT_PRESERVE_ENVS="HOME USER SSH_AUTH_SOCK SSH_AGENT_PID LOG_STDERR_TIMESTAMP TZ CORE_OUTOFMEM CORE_ERROR" Is this the right way to do this? -- Jesús Cea Avión _/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ jcea(a)jcea.es - https://www.jcea.es/ _/_/ _/_/ _/_/ _/_/ _/_/ Twitter: @jcea _/_/ _/_/ _/_/_/_/_/ jabber / xmpp:jcea@jabber.org _/_/ _/_/ _/_/ _/_/ _/_/ "Things are not so easy" _/_/ _/_/ _/_/ _/_/ _/_/ _/_/ "My name is Dump, Core Dump" _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/ _/_/ "El amor es poner tu felicidad en la felicidad de otro" - Leibniz

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dovecot 2.4 and Outlook
by Jochen Bern 08 Jun '26

08 Jun '26

Since I don't remember seeing *this* mentioned here so far, but *do* remember people asking about Outlook-dovecot compatibility issues every now and then, here's a potential cause for seeing more of those in the immediate future: https://fedoramagazine.org/fedora-43-upgrade-revealed-20-years-old-outlook-… Kind regards, -- Jochen Bern Systemingenieur Binect GmbH

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Using 2 LDAP sources for passdb
by Tom 03 Jun '26

03 Jun '26

I can't seem to find documentation that shows how to set up 2 LDAP passdb blocks. I can get each of them working properly, but only the second of the two works at any given time. I can't figure out the syntax needed to get both to work, even though I've been all over the Dovecot 2.4x official documentation. The docs seem to suggest settings that the server rejects. Anyone have any experience doing this, or know the correct syntax? Thanks in advance! passdb ldap { # works when standalone; fails when combined with 2nd block below #passdb_name = ldap1 #driver = ldap ldap_version = 3 bind = yes bind_userdn = %{user|username} ldap_auth_dn = cn=dovecot,ou=apps,dc=example,dc=com ldap_auth_dn_password = D0vec0t ldap_base = ou=apps,dc=foscore,dc=com ldap_uris = ldapi://%2Frun%2Fldapi filter = (&(objectClass=applicationProcess)(cn=%{user})) passdb_ldap_bind = yes passdb_ldap_bind_userdn = cn=%{user},ou=apps,dc=example,dc=com result_success = return-ok } passdb ldap { #driver = ldap #name = ldap_users ldap_version = 3 bind = yes bind_userdn = %{user|username} ldap_auth_dn = cn=dovecot,ou=apps,dc=example,dc=com ldap_auth_dn_password = D0vec0t ldap_base = ou=people,dc=example,dc=com ldap_uris = ldapi://%2Frun%2Fldapi filter = (&(objectClass=posixAccount)(uid=%{user|username})(memberOf=cn=mail,ou=%{user|domain},ou=groups,dc=example,dc=com)) passdb_ldap_bind = yes passdb_ldap_bind_userdn = uid=%{user|username},ou=people,dc=example,dc=com result_success = return-ok }

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Building on FreeBSD 14.4
by Frank Volf 03 Jun '26

03 Jun '26

Hi, I'm trying to build dovecot-2.4.4 on FreeBSD 14.4 and I get a strange error message. What I did is download and extract dovecot-2.4.4.tar.gz and then run ./configure without any arguments. After typing make the build started without any problems until this point: .... Making all in auth CC test_auth_cache-auth-cache.o CC test_auth_cache-test-auth-cache.o CC auth-main.o CC auth-auth.o CC auth-auth-cache.o CC auth-auth-client-connection.o CC auth-auth-master-connection.o CC auth-auth-policy.o CC auth-auth-penalty.o CC auth-auth-request.o CC auth-auth-request-fields.o CC auth-auth-request-handler.o CC auth-auth-request-var-expand.o CC auth-auth-sasl-mech-apop.o CC auth-auth-sasl-mech-dovecot-token.o CC auth-auth-sasl-mech-oauth2.o CC auth-auth-sasl.o CC auth-auth-settings.o CC auth-auth-fields.o CC auth-auth-token.o CC auth-auth-worker-connection.o CC auth-auth-worker-server.o CC auth-db-oauth2.o CC auth-db-sql.o CC auth-db-passwd-file.o CC auth-passdb.o CC auth-passdb-blocking.o CC auth-passdb-bsdauth.o CC auth-passdb-cache.o CC auth-passdb-oauth2.o CC auth-passdb-passwd.o CC auth-passdb-passwd-file.o CC auth-passdb-pam.o CC auth-passdb-sql.o CC auth-passdb-static.o CC auth-userdb.o CC auth-userdb-blocking.o CC auth-userdb-passwd.o CC auth-userdb-passwd-file.o CC auth-userdb-prefetch.o CC auth-userdb-static.o CC auth-userdb-sql.o CC auth-db-ldap.o CC auth-db-ldap-sasl.o CC auth-db-ldap-settings.o CC auth-passdb-ldap.o CC auth-userdb-ldap.o CC auth-db-lua.o CC auth-passdb-lua.o CC auth-userdb-lua.o make[3]: don't know how to make -L/usr/local/lib. Stop make[3]: stopped making "all" in /home/volf/dovecot-2.4.4/src/auth *** Error code 1 So, apparently make is confused and thinks that the compiler/linker commandline option is an item to build. I'm at loss how to solve this. I would appreciate it, if somebody could give me a hint how to solve this. Kind regards, Frank Hi, I'm trying to build dovecot-2.4.4 on FreeBSD 14.4 and I get a strange error message. What I did is download and extract dovecot-2.4.4.tar.gz and then run ./configure without any arguments. After typing make the build started without any problems until this point: .... Making all in auth CC test_auth_cache-auth-cache.o CC test_auth_cache-test-auth-cache.o CC auth-main.o CC auth-auth.o CC auth-auth-cache.o CC auth-auth-client-connection.o CC auth-auth-master-connection.o CC auth-auth-policy.o CC auth-auth-penalty.o CC auth-auth-request.o CC auth-auth-request-fields.o CC auth-auth-request-handler.o CC auth-auth-request-var-expand.o CC auth-auth-sasl-mech-apop.o CC auth-auth-sasl-mech-dovecot-token.o CC auth-auth-sasl-mech-oauth2.o CC auth-auth-sasl.o CC auth-auth-settings.o CC auth-auth-fields.o CC auth-auth-token.o CC auth-auth-worker-connection.o CC auth-auth-worker-server.o CC auth-db-oauth2.o CC auth-db-sql.o CC auth-db-passwd-file.o CC auth-passdb.o CC auth-passdb-blocking.o CC auth-passdb-bsdauth.o CC auth-passdb-cache.o CC auth-passdb-oauth2.o CC auth-passdb-passwd.o CC auth-passdb-passwd-file.o CC auth-passdb-pam.o CC auth-passdb-sql.o CC auth-passdb-static.o CC auth-userdb.o CC auth-userdb-blocking.o CC auth-userdb-passwd.o CC auth-userdb-passwd-file.o CC auth-userdb-prefetch.o CC auth-userdb-static.o CC auth-userdb-sql.o CC auth-db-ldap.o CC auth-db-ldap-sasl.o CC auth-db-ldap-settings.o CC auth-passdb-ldap.o CC auth-userdb-ldap.o CC auth-db-lua.o CC auth-passdb-lua.o CC auth-userdb-lua.o make[3]: don't know how to make -L/usr/local/lib. Stop make[3]: stopped making "all" in /home/volf/dovecot-2.4.4/src/auth *** Error code 1 So, apparently make is confused and thinks that the compiler/linker commandline option is an item to build. I'm at loss how to solve this. I would appreciate it, if somebody could give me a hint how to solve this. Kind regards, Frank

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