- dovecot - dovecot.org

Slow inbox
by Rupert Gallagher 26 Sep '25

26 Sep '25

Hello, I note the following problem. If the inbox holds many subfolders with mail, thunderbird spends a lot of time on startup. To mitigate the problem, I asked users to keep the inbox clear of subfolders. However, a user keeps ignoring the local policy while also lamenting the mail is slow. Please write instructions to enforce this local policy in dovecot, so that when users try to create an inbox subfolder, dovecot refuses the action. Thank you

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Dovecot and iOS 26 Mail.app
by Florian Effenberger 25 Sep '25

25 Sep '25

Hello, with the release of iOS 26, I had a look again at the infamous issue regarding Apple‘s Mail.app with Dovecot, when folder content does not reliably sync or mail content is not fully loaded. Some made a workaround by disabling pipelining (I didn‘t), and some pointed out Stalwart implemented some changes to work around the issue. A year ago, this was also prominently featured at Heise at least. I am not sure this is still a recent issue, but I wanted to share my findings. I have two different mail accounts on two different servers which have also different configurations. At least with iOS 26 I discovered that once the secondary mail account is added, both accounts suffer from the same problem again. The mere fact that I have two accounts is not the issue, because the secondary account also doesn’t work when the primary is disabled, but the other way round things have been working fine for at least a few days now. I assume that hiccups on one account affect both somehow. I did not yet get to compare the system configuration as to why the secondary account has hiccups, but maybe it helps those who debug the issue to reproduce it. Florian

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Permissions Issues with shared Mailboxes, Unix Permissions and ACL
by fc26wuqa＠studserv.uni-leipzig.de 24 Sep '25

24 Sep '25

Hi, I use pam_ldap.so to use LDAP to authenticate my users. I don't use virtual accounts, but every account is a unix account. I use a post login script to export the `ACL_GROUPS` variable to hold all unix groups the user belongs to. Each group corresponds to a shared mailbox, where UNIX group permission handle which user gets access to the mailbox. Recently I added acl files to the shared mailboxes that look like: `group=some_group kxeilprwts` The Permissions of the user Mailboxes are generally 0700 and 0770 for shared mailboxes. The namespace of the shared Mailboxes looks something like: `type=shared, prefix=Shared/%%u/ location= maildir:/somewhere/'%%d/%%n/Maildir:INDEX=/srv/mails/%d/%n/Maildir/shared/%%u` Everything works fine, except my log gets flooded with messages saying: `open(/path/to/shared/mailbox) failed: Permission denied` and `opendir(/path/to/shared) failed: Permission denied, missing +x perm, we're not in group`. The user should also not be in the group. This is also reproducible when I do `doveadm mailbox list -u some_unix_user`, where dovecot tries to list all of the mailboxes, even though the user does not have permissions to do so. Referenced here: https://doc.dovecot.org/main/core/config/shared_mailboxes.html it says "Dovecot assumes that it can access the other users' mailboxes". So should I just ignore the messages/write a syslog filter for them? How can I prevent dovecot from checking every shared mailbox, even though they don't have access to it?

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lib-sieve segfaults
by Alexander Gerasiov 23 Sep '25

23 Sep '25

Hi there, Just found wrong error handling (null pointer dereference) in lib-sieve How to reproduce: Enable global storage and try to check (via manage sieve api) require ["include"]; include :global "non exist script"; Here is a fix: https://github.com/dovecot/pigeonhole/pull/17 -- Best regards, Alexander Gerasiov Contacts: e-mail: a(a)gerasiov.net WWW: https://gerasiov.net TG/Skype: gerasiov PGP fingerprint: 04B5 9D90 DF7C C2AB CD49 BAEA CA87 E9E8 2AAC 33F1

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2.3 to 2.4 unusual config
by Laura Steynes 22 Sep '25

22 Sep '25

We have two main mail server system, our broadband users on one, and, our hosting clients on another, because of the large number of customers on both, we use the following formats, I am looking at adding one dovecot 2.4 front end to the farm to see how it will perform, but with a such a complete rewrite requiring variable entry like we are all C programmers who understand code, which we are not and do not, I'm having headaches getting my head around how to convert these to this new weird format Broadband Users: jcitizen(a)example.net = /vmail/example.net/j/c/i/jcitizen mail_location = maildir:/vmail/%Ld/%1Ln/%1.1Ln/%2.1Ln/%Ln/Maildir Hosting Clients: jcitizen(a)example.net = /vmail/e/x/a/example.net/jcitizen mail_location = maildir:/vmail/%1Ld/%1.1Ld/%2.1Ld/%Ld/%Ln/Maildir Any help appreciated, we have no intentions of moving from 2.3.x in any foreseeable future, but if the time comes we must, we want to be able to have a plan to enact. -Loz We have two main mail server system, our broadband users on one, and, our hosting clients on another, because of the large number of customers on both, we use the following formats, I am looking at adding one dovecot 2.4 front end to the farm to see how it will perform, but with a such a complete rewrite requiring variable entry like we are all C programmers who understand code, which we are not and do not, I'm having headaches getting my head around how to convert these to this new weird format Broadband Users: [1]jcitizen(a)example.net = /vmail/[2]example.net/j/c/i/jcitizen mail_location = maildir:/vmail/%Ld/%1Ln/%1.1Ln/%2.1Ln/%Ln/Maildir Hosting Clients: [3]jcitizen(a)example.net = /vmail/e/x/a/[4]example.net/jcitizen mail_location = maildir:/vmail/%1Ld/%1.1Ld/%2.1Ld/%Ld/%Ln/Maildir Any help appreciated, we have no intentions of moving from 2.3.x in any foreseeable future, but if the time comes we must, we want to be able to have a plan to enact. -Loz References Visible links 1. mailto:jcitizen@example.net 2. http://example.net/j/c/i/jcitizen 3. mailto:jcitizen@example.net 4. http://example.net/jcitizen

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variable expansion allowed in 'listen' config not working
by publists＠emailgroups.net 20 Sep '25

20 Sep '25

Hi, In a new dovecot 2.4 config I'm setting up a inet_listener for a service. I want to use an env var in `listen` expansion, like service imap-login { inet_listener imaps { listen = %{env:LAN_IPv4}, 127.0.0.1 } } This https://doc.dovecot.org/2.4.1/core/settings/variables.html says "You can use special variables in several places: All settings, except of type String without variables." Reading https://doc.dovecot.org/2.4.1/core/summaries/settings.html#listen `listen` directive allows listen Default *, :: Value IP addresses Unlike, for example deliver_log_format Default msgid=%{msgid}: %{message} Value String without variables which would be disallowed for "String without variables" I CAN use env vars across almost all of my config. But launch systemctl start dovecot fails with dovecot[17358]: Fatal: service(imap-login) Can't resolve address %{env:LAN_IPv4}: Name or service not known OTOH replacing - listen = %{env:LAN_IPv4}, 127.0.0.1 + listen = 10.1.1.1, 127.0.0.1 solves the launch issue. Like I said it works in other stanzas. Am I configuring this right for `listen`? Thanks, Dave

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dovecot and oauth2 on fedora42
by Alex 20 Sep '25

20 Sep '25

Hi, I have a fedora42 system with dovecot-2.3.21 and trying to configure oauth2 support for a client application called acymailing as part of joomla. I'm trying to follow the instructions here, but I don't understand why I would need to involve google as the provider. How do I create my own provider? I don't want to authenticate against google, but against my own user database inside of joomla. I can create a local user, if that makes it possible, but not sure how to create the local provider it seems to require. https://doc.dovecot.org/2.3/configuration_manual/authentication/oauth2/ Thanks, Alex Hi, I have a fedora42 system with dovecot-2.3.21 and trying to configure oauth2 support for a client application called acymailing as part of joomla. I'm trying to follow the instructions here, but I don't understand why I would need to involve google as the provider. How do I create my own provider? I don't want to authenticate against google, but against my own user database inside of joomla. I can create a local user, if that makes it possible, but not sure how to create the local provider it seems to require. [1]https://doc.dovecot.org/2.3/configuration_manual/authentication/oauth2/ Thanks, Alex References Visible links 1. https://doc.dovecot.org/2.3/configuration_manual/authentication/oauth2/

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library error
by Mihai Badici 20 Sep '25

20 Sep '25

I try to configure a public folder with acl on debian trixie . 2.4.1-4 (7d8c0e5759): /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf # Pigeonhole version 2.4.1-4 (0a86619f) # OS: Linux 6.12.41+deb13-amd64 x86_64 Debian 13.1 If I don't enable imap_acl there are no acl's which seems legit. After enabling imap_acl ( mail_plugins = acl quota imap_acl) I can set acl's but I have this error: Fatal: Couldn't load required plugin /usr/lib/dovecot/modules/lib02_imap_acl_plugin.so: dlopen() failed: /usr/lib/dovecot/modules/lib02_imap_acl_plugin.so: undefined symbol: imap_list_return_flag_unregister I'm not sure if this can be a packaging error with the wrong version as it looks, a missing library or a bug... or maybe a missing parameter? If i run ldd on this .so there is no library missing: ldd /usr/lib/dovecot/modules/lib02_imap_acl_plugin.so linux-vdso.so.1 (0x00007fcfbfab3000) lib01_acl_plugin.so => /usr/lib/dovecot/modules/lib01_acl_plugin.so (0x00007fcfbfa8a000) libc.so.6 => /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6 (0x00007fcfbf88b000) /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x00007fcfbfab5000) Thanks, Mihai Bădici I try to configure a public folder with acl on debian trixie . 2.4.1-4 (7d8c0e5759): /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf # Pigeonhole version 2.4.1-4 (0a86619f) # OS: Linux 6.12.41+deb13-amd64 x86_64 Debian 13.1 If I don't enable imap_acl there are no acl's which seems legit. After enabling imap_acl ( mail_plugins = acl quota imap_acl) I can set acl's but I have this error: Fatal: Couldn't load required plugin /usr/lib/dovecot/modules/lib02_imap_acl_plugin.so: dlopen() failed: /usr/lib/dovecot/modules/lib02_imap_acl_plugin.so: undefined symbol: imap_list_return_flag_unregister I'm not sure if this can be a packaging error with the wrong version as it looks, a missing library or a bug... or maybe a missing parameter? If i run ldd on this .so there is no library missing: ldd /usr/lib/dovecot/modules/lib02_imap_acl_plugin.so linux-vdso.so.1 (0x00007fcfbfab3000) lib01_acl_plugin.so => /usr/lib/dovecot/modules/lib01_acl_plugin.so (0x00007fcfbfa8a000) libc.so.6 => /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6 (0x00007fcfbf88b000) /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x00007fcfbfab5000) Thanks, Mihai Badici

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Re: [Dovecot] output of doveconf in conflict with order of settings in conf.d/*-*.conf files
by Marcos José Texeira 19 Sep '25

19 Sep '25

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Mail not getting deleted physically
by Support Team 19 Sep '25

19 Sep '25

I am clearing the mail using roundcube and also deleting mail from trash and thus permenently deleting the mail. The mail quota changes. But mail is still present in INBOX.EXPUNGED.Trash and also with refcount 1. The physical disk usage remains the same and purge not deleting the mail physically, prob due to refcount. 1. Initial stage. 2 mails in inbox and around 14MB of usage. --- doveadm -f table quota get -u u.demo1(a)mydomain.net Quota name Type Value Limit % mdbox quota STORAGE 14017 512000 2 mdbox quota MESSAGE 2 10000 0 doveadm -f table mailbox status -u u.demo1(a)mydomain.net all INBOX mailbox messages recent uidnext uidvalidity unseen highestmodseq vsize guid firstsaved INBOX 2 0 3 1758288242 0 5 14352516 c61ef0307259cd684d18000079f6831d 1758288243 doveadm -f table mailbox status -u u.demo1(a)mydomain.net all INBOX.* mailbox messages recent uidnext uidvalidity unseen highestmodseq vsize guid firstsaved INBOX.Drafts 0 0 1 1758288245 0 1 0 c91ef0307259cd684d18000079f6831d never INBOX.Spam 0 0 1 1758288244 0 1 0 c81ef0307259cd684d18000079f6831d never INBOX.Trash 0 0 1 1758288243 0 1 0 c71ef0307259cd684d18000079f6831d never doveadm -f table mailbox status -u u.demo1(a)mydomain.net all INBOX.*.* mailbox messages recent uidnext uidvalidity unseen highestmodseq vsize guid firstsaved doveadm -f table fetch -u u.demo1(a)mydomain.net "mailbox refcount user" mailbox INBOX all mailbox refcount user INBOX 1 u.demo1(a)mydomain.net INBOX 1 u.demo1(a)mydomain.net doveadm -f table fetch -u u.demo1(a)mydomain.net "mailbox refcount user" mailbox INBOX.* all mailbox refcount user doveadm -f table fetch -u u.demo1(a)mydomain.net "mailbox refcount user" mailbox INBOX.*.* all mailbox refcount user --- 2. Deleted mail from Inbox and also from Trash. Mail quota got reduced. But mail exist in INBOX.EXPUNGED.Trash with refcount 1 and using disk storage. --- doveadm -f table quota get -u u.demo1(a)mydomain.net Quota name Type Value Limit % mdbox quota STORAGE 0 512000 0 mdbox quota MESSAGE 0 10000 0 doveadm -f table mailbox status -u u.demo1(a)mydomain.net all INBOX mailbox messages recent uidnext uidvalidity unseen highestmodseq vsize guid firstsaved INBOX 0 0 3 1758288242 0 7 0 c61ef0307259cd684d18000079f6831d never doveadm -f table mailbox status -u u.demo1(a)mydomain.net all INBOX.* mailbox messages recent uidnext uidvalidity unseen highestmodseq vsize guid firstsaved INBOX.Drafts 0 0 1 1758288245 0 1 0 c91ef0307259cd684d18000079f6831d never INBOX.Spam 0 0 1 1758288244 0 1 0 c81ef0307259cd684d18000079f6831d never INBOX.Trash 0 0 3 1758288243 0 7 0 c71ef0307259cd684d18000079f6831d never doveadm -f table mailbox status -u u.demo1(a)mydomain.net all INBOX.*.* mailbox messages recent uidnext uidvalidity unseen highestmodseq vsize guid firstsaved INBOX.EXPUNGED.Trash 2 2 3 1758288246 0 3 14352516 c80d5b1f075ecd68eb4c000079f6831d 1758289415 doveadm -f table fetch -u u.demo1(a)mydomain.net "mailbox refcount user" mailbox INBOX all mailbox refcount user doveadm -f table fetch -u u.demo1(a)mydomain.net "mailbox refcount user" mailbox INBOX.* all mailbox refcount user doveadm -f table fetch -u u.demo1(a)mydomain.net "mailbox refcount user" mailbox INBOX.*.* all mailbox refcount user INBOX.EXPUNGED.Trash 1 u.demo1(a)mydomain.net INBOX.EXPUNGED.Trash 1 u.demo1(a)mydomain.net --- The following options are checked in roundcube. Maintenance Clear Trash on logout Compact Inbox on logout Is there anything missing in roundcube settings? Why refcount still shows as 1? I am clearing the mail using roundcube and also deleting mail from trash and thus permenently deleting the mail. The mail quota changes. But mail is still present in INBOX.EXPUNGED.Trash and also with refcount 1. The physical disk usage remains the same and purge not deleting the mail physically, prob due to refcount. 1. Initial stage. 2 mails in inbox and around 14MB of usage. --- doveadm -f table quota get -u [1]u.demo1(a)mydomain.net Quota name Type Value Limit % mdbox quota STORAGE 14017 512000 2 mdbox quota MESSAGE 2 10000 0 doveadm -f table mailbox status -u [2]u.demo1(a)mydomain.net all INBOX mailbox messages recent uidnext uidvalidity unseen highestmodseq vsize guid firstsaved INBOX 2 0 3 1758288242 0 5 14352516 c61ef0307259cd684d18000079f6831d 1758288243 doveadm -f table mailbox status -u [3]u.demo1(a)mydomain.net all INBOX.* mailbox messages recent uidnext uidvalidity unseen highestmodseq vsize guid firstsaved INBOX.Drafts 0 0 1 1758288245 0 1 0 c91ef0307259cd684d18000079f6831d never INBOX.Spam 0 0 1 1758288244 0 1 0 c81ef0307259cd684d18000079f6831d never INBOX.Trash 0 0 1 1758288243 0 1 0 c71ef0307259cd684d18000079f6831d never doveadm -f table mailbox status -u [4]u.demo1(a)mydomain.net all INBOX.*.* mailbox messages recent uidnext uidvalidity unseen highestmodseq vsize guid firstsaved doveadm -f table fetch -u [5]u.demo1(a)mydomain.net "mailbox refcount user" mailbox INBOX all mailbox refcount user INBOX 1 [6]u.demo1(a)mydomain.net INBOX 1 [7]u.demo1(a)mydomain.net doveadm -f table fetch -u [8]u.demo1(a)mydomain.net "mailbox refcount user" mailbox INBOX.* all mailbox refcount user doveadm -f table fetch -u [9]u.demo1(a)mydomain.net "mailbox refcount user" mailbox INBOX.*.* all mailbox refcount user --- 2. Deleted mail from Inbox and also from Trash. Mail quota got reduced. But mail exist in INBOX.EXPUNGED.Trash with refcount 1 and using disk storage. --- doveadm -f table quota get -u [10]u.demo1(a)mydomain.net Quota name Type Value Limit % mdbox quota STORAGE 0 512000 0 mdbox quota MESSAGE 0 10000 0 doveadm -f table mailbox status -u [11]u.demo1(a)mydomain.net all INBOX mailbox messages recent uidnext uidvalidity unseen highestmodseq vsize guid firstsaved INBOX 0 0 3 1758288242 0 7 0 c61ef0307259cd684d18000079f6831d never doveadm -f table mailbox status -u [12]u.demo1(a)mydomain.net all INBOX.* mailbox messages recent uidnext uidvalidity unseen highestmodseq vsize guid firstsaved INBOX.Drafts 0 0 1 1758288245 0 1 0 c91ef0307259cd684d18000079f6831d never INBOX.Spam 0 0 1 1758288244 0 1 0 c81ef0307259cd684d18000079f6831d never INBOX.Trash 0 0 3 1758288243 0 7 0 c71ef0307259cd684d18000079f6831d never doveadm -f table mailbox status -u [13]u.demo1(a)mydomain.net all INBOX.*.* mailbox messages recent uidnext uidvalidity unseen highestmodseq vsize guid firstsaved INBOX.EXPUNGED.Trash 2 2 3 1758288246 0 3 14352516 c80d5b1f075ecd68eb4c000079f6831d 1758289415 doveadm -f table fetch -u [14]u.demo1(a)mydomain.net "mailbox refcount user" mailbox INBOX all mailbox refcount user doveadm -f table fetch -u [15]u.demo1(a)mydomain.net "mailbox refcount user" mailbox INBOX.* all mailbox refcount user doveadm -f table fetch -u [16]u.demo1(a)mydomain.net "mailbox refcount user" mailbox INBOX.*.* all mailbox refcount user INBOX.EXPUNGED.Trash 1 [17]u.demo1(a)mydomain.net INBOX.EXPUNGED.Trash 1 [18]u.demo1(a)mydomain.net --- The following options are checked in roundcube. Maintenance Clear Trash on logout Compact Inbox on logout Is there anything missing in roundcube settings? Why refcount still shows as 1? References Visible links 1. mailto:u.demo1@mydomain.net 2. mailto:u.demo1@mydomain.net 3. mailto:u.demo1@mydomain.net 4. mailto:u.demo1@mydomain.net 5. mailto:u.demo1@mydomain.net 6. mailto:u.demo1@mydomain.net 7. mailto:u.demo1@mydomain.net 8. mailto:u.demo1@mydomain.net 9. mailto:u.demo1@mydomain.net 10. mailto:u.demo1@mydomain.net 11. mailto:u.demo1@mydomain.net 12. mailto:u.demo1@mydomain.net 13. mailto:u.demo1@mydomain.net 14. mailto:u.demo1@mydomain.net 15. mailto:u.demo1@mydomain.net 16. mailto:u.demo1@mydomain.net 17. mailto:u.demo1@mydomain.net 18. mailto:u.demo1@mydomain.net

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