- dovecot - dovecot.org

[Dovecot] Sieve puts incoming message into inbox on any problem with submission_host
by Christian Rohmann 12 Nov '12

12 Nov '12

Hello dovecot-users, I have a question/suggestion regarding the submission_host feature of the lda (either via dovecot-lda binary or lmtp) in combination with sieve. When trying to deliver message to a mailbox and this message has a sieve redirect action applied to it, dovecot is using the configured smtp server to forward the message just fine. Unfortunately, if the server configured for submission is unavailable, returns an error or cannot be found via DNS, sieve will simply put the message into the inbox and be done with it: --- dovecot.log --- dovecot: lda(user1): Error: lmtp client: DNS lookup of idonotexist.example.com failed: Name or service not known dovecot: lda(user1): Error: sieve: msgid=unspecified: failed to redirect message to <user2> (refer to server log for more information) dovecot: lda(user1): sieve: msgid=unspecified: stored mail into mailbox 'INBOX' dovecot: lda(user1): Error: sieve: execution of script /mailboxes/user1/.dovecot.sieve failed, but implicit keep was successful (user logfile /mailboxes/user1/.dovecot.sieve.log may reveal additional details) --- /dovecot.log --- The same applies to vacation messages being sent out. Especially with an (unconditional) redirect action, users don't expect to find messages in their inbox. Also problems with the submission_host could very much be temporary and a little delay in delivering a message is better then putting it somewhere the user doesn't expect a message to be. Is there any way to change the behavior of dovecot or the sieve plugin to tempfail in case a message cannot be sent out? I know that with multiple sieve actions it gets more complicated as there could be corner cases were the first message can be sent via the submission server and another message produced by the same sieve script cannot. I'd love sieve to behave like this: a) if submission host is unreachable (hostname wrong, timeout, ...) -> tempfail b) if submission host returns 4xx error -> tempfail c) if submission host returns 5xx error -> fail(-save) and just drop the message into inbox or even have an option to reject the message completely in this case. In case of a tempfail response, the mta simply queues the message and tries again later. In case of a permanent fail the mta will create a bounce message to in form the sender. Regards and have a great weekend, Christian

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Re: [Dovecot] LDA without lookup as non-root?
by E.B. 11 Nov '12

11 Nov '12

Timo, Sorry I didn't see your response until now >> 3) The interesting part -- I am invoking LDA from Maildrop. See: >> http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.mail.imap.dovecot/65473 > So >> when invoked, Maildrop has already dropped to the destination UID/GID >> and the needed paths are available in the environment. However, using >> as many permutations of calling LDA as I can think of (based on >> http://wiki2.dovecot.org/LDA ), I always get this: >> >> (command line usage error. Command output: lda: Fatal: Couldn't lookup >> our username (uid=2500) ) > > Set USER environment. Sorry, would you mind being more specific? If you see my follow-up posts on this thread, I found a source file with this error message in it (link below) and reading that code, there is no way to avoid this error for non-system users (uid's) if you don't use -d. (looking at the "destination" variable) http://hg.dovecot.org/dovecot-sieve-1.1/raw-rev/7d85833eff96

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[Dovecot] doveadm quota get -A via doveadm-proxy director with LDAP
by Ramon Frontera 10 Nov '12

10 Nov '12

Hi, We are running Dovecot 2.1.10 I want configure dovecot to do execute doveadm commands on the proxy server. We have 1 proxy with director and 2 mail servers. we use LDAP when I try to do doveadm quota get -u user it works fine. The problem is when I try to do doveadm quota get -A ON PROXY I have this result: doveadm(first_user): Error: Proxy is missing destination host doveadm: Error: Failed to iterate through some users Username Quota name Type Value Limit % in 10-auth.conf I have "!include auth-ldap.conf.ext" in auth-ldap.conf.ext I hve: passdb { driver = ldap args = /etc/dovecot/dovecot-ldap.conf.ext } userdb { driver = ldap args = /etc/dovecot/dovecot-ldap.conf.ext } and In dovecot-ldap.conf.ext I have: uris = ldap://ldap:port dn = xxxxx dnpass = yyyyy auth_bind = no ldap_version = 3 base =base scope = subtree user_attrs = attributes user_filter = (mail=%u) pass_attrs = userPassword=password,uid=user=%L$,cn=proxy,=starttls=any-cert pass_filter = (mail=%u) iterate_attrs = uid=user iterate_filter = (uid=*) I don't know where is my error!!! Thanks in advance -- ------------------------------------------ Ramon Frontera Gallardo Universitat de les Illes Balears

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[Dovecot] quota recalc does not work
by Adrian Stoica 09 Nov '12

09 Nov '12

Hi I upgraded dovecot from 2.0 to 2.1 , and now i face the quota recalc problem. All settings are keep in mysql Before , after a change in mailbox.quota field, i run doveadm quota recalc and all was ok , but now that command doesn't do anything. After i change a quota for a user , i have to restart dovecot to get the new quota , or do a "doveadm reload" instead of recalc. And the doveadm quota recalc -A" give me back a lot of "doveadm(username): Info: User no longer exists, skipping" Any thoughts ? # 2.1.10: /usr/dovecot21/etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf # OS: Linux 2.6.35.4 i686 auth_cache_negative_ttl = 1 secs auth_cache_size = 2 M auth_failure_delay = 4 secs auth_mechanisms = plain login digest-md5 cram-md5 auth_worker_max_count = 100 base_dir = /var/run/dovecot/ default_client_limit = 4096 default_internal_user = vmail default_login_user = nobody default_process_limit = 256 deliver_log_format = mail delivery from=%f subject=%s msgid=%m: %$ dict { acl = mysql:/usr/dovecot21/etc/dovecot/dovecot-dict-sql.conf.ext } disable_plaintext_auth = no first_valid_uid = 1 lda_mailbox_autocreate = yes lda_mailbox_autosubscribe = yes listen = * mail_location = maildir:~/Maildir mail_plugins = " quota acl trash notify mail_log" 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 ihave namespace { hidden = no list = children location = maildir:%%h/Maildir:INDEX=~/Maildir/shared/%%u prefix = shared/%%u/ separator = / subscriptions = no type = shared } namespace inbox { inbox = yes list = 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 = / subscriptions = yes type = private } passdb { args = /usr/dovecot21/etc/dovecot/dovecot-sql.conf.ext driver = sql } plugin { acl = vfile acl_shared_dict = proxy::acl autocreate = Trash autocreate2 = Drafts autocreate3 = Sent autosubscribe = Trash autosubscribe2 = Drafts autosubscribe3 = INBOX autosubscribe4 = Sent mail_log_events = delete mailbox_delete mailbox_rename mail_log_fields = box subject from msgid size quota = maildir:User quota quota_warning = storage=95%% quota-warning 95 %u quota_warning2 = storage=95%% quota-warning 90 %u quota_warning3 = storage=85%% quota-warning 85 %u sieve = ~/.dovecot.sieve sieve_dir = ~/sieve trash = /usr/dovecot21/etc/dovecot/dovecot-trash.conf.ext } postmaster_address = postmaster(a)dacris.net protocols = imap quota_full_tempfail = yes rejection_subject = Rejected: %s: %r service auth { unix_listener auth-client { mode = 0666 user = vmail } unix_listener auth-userdb { mode = 0666 user = vmail } } service dict { unix_listener dict { user = vmail } } service imap-login { process_min_avail = 4 } service imap-postlogin { executable = script-login /bin/imap.sh unix_listener imap-postlogin { mode = 01232 } } service imap { executable = imap imap-postlogin process_limit = 1024 vsz_limit = 1 G } service quota-warning { executable = script /bin/quota_warning.sh unix_listener quota-warning { user = vmail } user = vmail } ssl_cert = </etc/ssl/certs/dovecot.pem ssl_key = </etc/ssl/private/dovecot.pem userdb { args = /usr/dovecot21/etc/dovecot/dovecot-sql.conf.ext driver = sql } protocol lda { mail_plugins = " quota acl trash notify mail_log sieve autocreate" } protocol imap { imap_client_workarounds = delay-newmail mail_max_userip_connections = 20 mail_plugins = " quota acl trash notify mail_log imap_quota imap_acl" } dovecot-sql.conf.ext: password_query = SELECT password FROM mailbox WHERE \ username = '%Ln' AND domain = '%Ld' AND \ active = '1' user_query = SELECT CONCAT('/srv/vmail/',mailbox.domain,'/%Ln') AS 'home' ,'98' AS 'uid', '98' AS 'gid' , \ CONCAT('*:storage=', mailbox.quota,'M') AS quota_rule ,"Trash:storage=+50M" AS quota_rule2 FROM mailbox WHERE \ mailbox.username = '%Ln' AND mailbox.domain = '%Ld' AND \ mailbox.active = '1' iterate_query = SELECT username AS user , domain FROM mailbox WHERE active = '1'

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[Dovecot] Mails don't get deleted after POP3
by cullinan＠rocketmail.com 09 Nov '12

09 Nov '12

Hi, there! Well, I am new to dovecot, so please be patient with me: I have a virtual server and want to setup simple mail delivery. postfix, saslauthd and dovecot basically work fine. The only open issue is, that (I guess) dovecot doesn't remove the mail when it's retrieved via pop3 from the server. It keeps sending me the same emails again and again. (The mail client (Thunderbird) is configured to remove the messages from the server - it was working already.) I guess that dovecot cannot write to some files / has problems with write permissions. But it doesn't tell me anything... Can you tell me, what configuration might be wrong or how can I enable more debugging to see what dovecot is doing after the mails got sent out via pop3? Here is the configuration: # dovecot -n # 1.2.15: /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf # OS: Linux 2.6.38-8-server x86_64 Ubuntu 11.04 log_timestamp: %Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S protocols: pop3 pop3s login_dir: /var/run/dovecot/login login_executable: /usr/lib/dovecot/pop3-login mail_privileged_group: mail mbox_write_locks: fcntl dotlock mail_executable: /usr/lib/dovecot/pop3 mail_plugin_dir: /usr/lib/dovecot/modules/pop3 auth default: passdb: driver: pam userdb: driver: passwd -----8<----- # dovecot -a # 1.2.15: /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf # OS: Linux 2.6.38-8-server x86_64 Ubuntu 11.04 base_dir: /var/run/dovecot log_path: info_log_path: log_timestamp: %Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S syslog_facility: mail protocols: pop3 pop3s listen: * ssl_listen: ssl: yes ssl_ca_file: ssl_cert_file: /etc/ssl/certs/dovecot.pem ssl_key_file: /etc/ssl/private/dovecot.pem ssl_key_password: ssl_parameters_regenerate: 168 ssl_cipher_list: ssl_cert_username_field: commonName ssl_verify_client_cert: no disable_plaintext_auth: yes verbose_ssl: no shutdown_clients: yes nfs_check: yes version_ignore: no login_dir: /var/run/dovecot/login login_executable: /usr/lib/dovecot/pop3-login login_user: dovecot login_greeting: Dovecot ready. login_log_format_elements: user=<%u> method=%m rip=%r lip=%l %c login_log_format: %$: %s login_process_per_connection: yes login_chroot: yes login_trusted_networks: login_process_size: 64 login_processes_count: 3 login_max_processes_count: 128 login_max_connections: 256 valid_chroot_dirs: mail_chroot: max_mail_processes: 512 mail_max_userip_connections: 10 verbose_proctitle: no first_valid_uid: 500 last_valid_uid: 0 first_valid_gid: 1 last_valid_gid: 0 mail_access_groups: mail_privileged_group: mail mail_uid: mail_gid: mail_location: mail_cache_fields: mail_never_cache_fields: imap.envelope mail_cache_min_mail_count: 0 mailbox_idle_check_interval: 30 mail_debug: no mail_full_filesystem_access: no mail_max_keyword_length: 50 mail_save_crlf: no mmap_disable: no dotlock_use_excl: yes fsync_disable: no mail_nfs_storage: no mail_nfs_index: no mailbox_list_index_disable: yes lock_method: fcntl maildir_stat_dirs: no maildir_copy_with_hardlinks: yes maildir_copy_preserve_filename: no maildir_very_dirty_syncs: no mbox_read_locks: fcntl mbox_write_locks: fcntl dotlock mbox_lock_timeout: 300 mbox_dotlock_change_timeout: 120 mbox_min_index_size: 0 mbox_dirty_syncs: yes mbox_very_dirty_syncs: no mbox_lazy_writes: yes dbox_rotate_size: 2048 dbox_rotate_min_size: 16 dbox_rotate_days: 1 mail_drop_priv_before_exec: no mail_executable: /usr/lib/dovecot/pop3 mail_process_size: 256 mail_plugins: mail_plugin_dir: /usr/lib/dovecot/modules/pop3 mail_log_prefix: %Us(%u): mail_log_max_lines_per_sec: 10 imap_max_line_length: 65536 imap_capability: imap_client_workarounds: imap_logout_format: bytes=%i/%o imap_id_send: imap_id_log: imap_idle_notify_interval: 120 pop3_no_flag_updates: no pop3_enable_last: no pop3_reuse_xuidl: no pop3_save_uidl: no pop3_lock_session: no pop3_uidl_format: %08Xu%08Xv pop3_client_workarounds: pop3_logout_format: top=%t/%p, retr=%r/%b, del=%d/%m, size=%s dict_db_config: dict_process_count: 1 managesieve_max_line_length: 65536 managesieve_logout_format: bytes=%i/%o managesieve_implementation_string: dovecot auth default: mechanisms: plain realms: default_realm: cache_size: 0 cache_ttl: 3600 cache_negative_ttl: 3600 executable: /usr/lib/dovecot/dovecot-auth user: root chroot: username_chars: abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ01234567890.-_@ username_translation: username_format: master_user_separator: anonymous_username: anonymous krb5_keytab: gssapi_hostname: winbind_helper_path: /usr/bin/ntlm_auth failure_delay: 2 verbose: no debug: no debug_passwords: no ssl_require_client_cert: no ssl_username_from_cert: no use_winbind: no count: 1 worker_max_count: 30 process_size: 256 passdb: driver: pam args: deny: no pass: no master: no userdb: driver: passwd args: -----8<----- Please let me know if you need more. Thank you in advance! Regards, Rob

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[Dovecot] Dovecot ok for port 110, but not for SSL (beginner asking)
by ycc_Swe 09 Nov '12

09 Nov '12

Hello, I just installed Dovecot. It works for plaintext autorization, port 110. It has connected with Telnet, Thunderbird and an on-line pop3 client. Telnet: +OK Dovecot ready. user nnnnn -ERR Unknown command. user nnnnn +OK pass xxxxxxxxxx +OK Logged in. stat +OK 1 1553 retr 1 +OK 1553 octets Return-path: <sssssss(a)hotmail.com> Envelope-to: nnnnnn(a)mydomain.com Delivery-date: Tue, 06 Nov 2012 12:02:28 +0100 Received: from bay0-xcvxcv-xvxcv.bay333.hotmail.com ([123.123.123.123]) by deb7.pc with esmtp (Exim 4.80) But when I try ssl (port 995) with an on-line pop3 client, it will not work: /var/log/mail.log Nov 7 02:46:55 deb7 dovecot: pop3-login: Disconnected (no auth attempts in 0 secs): user=<>, rip=12.12.12.7, lip=123.123.123.123, TLS: Disconnected, session=<Iza75N3NlABBNykH> Nov 7 02:46:56 deb7 dovecot: pop3-login: Disconnected (no auth attempts in 1 secs): user=<>, rip=12.12.12.7, lip=123.123.123.123, TLS: Disconnected, session=<nWTF5N3NlQBBNykH> root@deb7:~# doveconf -n # 2.1.7: /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf # OS: Linux 3.2.0-3-686-pae i686 disable_plaintext_auth = no mail_gid = mail mail_location = mbox:~/mail:INBOX=/var/mail/%u namespace inbox { inbox = yes location = prefix = } passdb { args = username_format=%u /etc/dovecot/users driver = passwd-file } plugin { sieve = ~/.dovecot.sieve sieve_dir = ~/sieve } protocols = " imap pop3" ssl_cert = </etc/ssl/certs/dovecot.pem ssl_key = </etc/ssl/private/dovecot.pem userdb { args = username_format=%u /etc/dovecot/users driver = passwd-file } I know very little about mail and ssl. I have assumed that ssl will be set up "automatically" when Dovecot is installed. But maybe I have missed something here. Please give me pointers. The following two files contain ssl keys: ssl_cert = </etc/ssl/certs/dovecot.pem ssl_key = </etc/ssl/private/dovecot.pem I have tried changing the ssl parameter ("yes", "required") in 10-ssl.conf but with no change except that port 110 login becomes disabled. As you can see I am a beginner with Dovecot, I hope it is still OK to ask on this mailing list. Thanks. -- View this message in context: http://dovecot.2317879.n4.nabble.com/Dovecot-ok-for-port-110-but-not-for-SS… Sent from the Dovecot mailing list archive at Nabble.com.

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Re: [Dovecot] cannot update mailbox - unable to lock for exclusive access
by Stan Hoeppner 08 Nov '12

08 Nov '12

Please always reply to the list, not individuals. On 11/8/2012 4:17 AM, 1st WebDesigns wrote: > On 08/11/2012 09:23, Stan Hoeppner wrote: >> On 11/8/2012 2:29 AM, 1st WebDesigns wrote: >>> Hi there, >>> >>> We're using Dovecot version 1.0.7 and Postfix, and since upgrading our >>> Linux box we're getting this in the maillog: >> >> 1.0.7 is absolutely ancient and no longer officially supported. You >> need 1.2.x minimum, 2.x.x even better. And you say you just recently >> upgraded your Linux distro? What planet do you live on son? You're a >> few light years behind current stable software. >> >>> Nov 8 07:49:11 server1 postfix/local[27901]: 04B8E7081DA: >>> to=<xyz(a)xyz.com>, orig_to=<abc(a)abc.com>, relay=local, delay=19, >>> delays=0.07/0/0/19, dsn=4.2.0, status=deferred (cannot update mailbox >>> /var/spool/mail/abc for user abc. unable to lock for exclusive access: >>> Resource temporarily unavailable) >> >> The simple permanent fix to Postfix/Dovecot mbox locking issues is >> switching from Postfix LOCAL to Dovecot LDA for mailbox delivery. 1.0.7 >> is before my time. I do not know if LDA was available then. Upgrade >> and you'll have it, and you'll also fix other problems you're not even >> aware of yet. >> >>> Postfix is currently set to: >>> mailbox_delivery_lock = fcntl, dotlock >>> >>> Dovecot has this: >>> mbox_read_locks = fcntl >>> mbox_write_locks = fcntl dotlock >> >> LDA completely eliminates lock contention. >> >> http://wiki.dovecot.org/LDA/Postfix >> http://wiki2.dovecot.org/LDA/Postfix >> > > Thanks for your reply. We have upgraded from RHEL4 to RHEL5, so 1.0.7 > is the "stable" version that they provide RHEL 5 is also ancient, released in March 2007, over 5 years ago. The current stable release is RHEL 6.3, released in June 2012. What is the valid reason preventing you from upgrading to the 6.x distribution? The packages in general in 6.x are 5 years newer than 5.x. And given the fact that RHEL runs miles behind the bleeding edge, you're way behind the curve even with a recent RHEL distribution. You can probably find a much newer version of Dovecot in an RPM somewhere, and Postfix for that matter. But it would be better for you if you simply upgraded to RHEL 6.3. -- Stan

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[Dovecot] IP/SSL configuration
by James Devine 08 Nov '12

08 Nov '12

Is there a way I can have something like the following setup: 192.168.0.2 port 110/143, with no starttls/ssl 192.168.0.3 port 110,995/143,993 with starttls/ssl 192.168.0.4 port 110,995/143,993 with starttls/ssl I am looking to setup dovecot so that some IPs will run without any notion of SSL whereas other IPs will run with with ssl/starttls available, each with its own certs

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[Dovecot] pop3 exim4 dovecot
by Patrick Shirkey 08 Nov '12

08 Nov '12

Hi, I have an exim4 and dovecot system. The system has multiple accounts. Exim4 is receiving emails in the /var/mail/user files and dovecot is configured to use /home/user/mail (mbox) folder. I have one account that dovecot is not processing replies/bounces/etc... The data is being written in the /var/mail/user file by exim4 but as far as dovecot is aware there is nothing in the pop3 inbox. Can anyone suggest how I can enable dovecot to know that the data is in the /var/mail/user file and deliver it to the pop3 inbox for this account? -- Patrick Shirkey Boost Hardware Ltd

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Re: [Dovecot] pop3 exim4 dovecot
by Patrick Shirkey 08 Nov '12

08 Nov '12

On Fri, November 9, 2012 1:10 am, Odhiambo Washington wrote: > On Thu, Nov 8, 2012 at 5:03 PM, Patrick Shirkey > <pshirkey(a)boosthardware.com>wrote: > >> >> On Fri, November 9, 2012 12:13 am, Odhiambo Washington wrote: >> > On Thu, Nov 8, 2012 at 11:36 AM, Patrick Shirkey >> > <pshirkey(a)boosthardware.com >> >> wrote: >> > >> >> >> >> On Thu, November 8, 2012 7:21 pm, Robert Schetterer wrote: >> >> > Am 08.11.2012 08:48, schrieb Patrick Shirkey: >> >> >> Hi, >> >> >> >> >> >> I have an exim4 and dovecot system. The system has multiple >> accounts. >> >> >> Exim4 is receiving emails in the /var/mail/user files and dovecot >> is >> >> >> configured to use /home/user/mail (mbox) folder. >> >> >> >> >> >> I have one account that dovecot is not processing >> >> replies/bounces/etc... >> >> >> The data is being written in the /var/mail/user file by exim4 but >> as >> >> far >> >> >> as dovecot is aware there is nothing in the pop3 inbox. >> >> >> >> >> >> Can anyone suggest how I can enable dovecot to know that the data >> is >> >> in >> >> >> the /var/mail/user file and deliver it to the pop3 inbox for this >> >> >> account? >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> -- >> >> >> Patrick Shirkey >> >> >> Boost Hardware Ltd >> >> >> >> >> > >> >> > show logs >> >> > and config like doveconf -n >> >> > >> >> > >> >> >> >> There is nothing in the dovecot logs afaict >> >> >> >> echo "my test" | mail -s "test message" test@xxx >> >> >> >> 2012-11-08 08:34:38 1TWNZO-0000TG-8s <= root@xxx U=root P=local S=398 >> >> 2012-11-08 08:34:38 1TWNZO-0000TG-8s => xxx <test@xxx> R=local_user >> >> T=mail_spool >> >> 2012-11-08 08:34:38 1TWNZO-0000TG-8s Completed >> >> >> >> >> >> exim -bt test@xxx >> >> R: system_aliases for xxx@localhost >> >> R: userforward for xxx@localhost >> >> R: procmail for xxx@localhost >> >> R: maildrop for xxx@localhost >> >> R: lowuid_aliases for xxx@localhost (UID 1238) >> >> R: local_user for xxx@localhost >> >> xxx@localhost >> >> <-- test@xxx >> >> router = local_user, transport = mail_spool >> >> >> >> >> >> - Here's the dovecot config: >> >> >> >> # dovecot -n >> >> # 1.2.15: /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf >> >> # OS: Linux 2.6.32-5-amd64 x86_64 Debian 6.0.6 >> >> log_timestamp: %Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S >> >> protocols: pop3 pop3s >> >> listen: 127.0.0.1 >> >> login_dir: /var/run/dovecot/login >> >> login_executable: /usr/lib/dovecot/pop3-login >> >> mail_privileged_group: mail >> >> mail_location: mbox:~/mail >> >> mail_debug: yes >> >> mbox_write_locks: fcntl dotlock >> >> mail_executable: /usr/lib/dovecot/pop3 >> >> mail_plugin_dir: /usr/lib/dovecot/modules/pop3 >> >> auth default: >> >> debug: yes >> >> passdb: >> >> driver: pam >> >> userdb: >> >> driver: passwd >> >> >> >> >> >> >> > You are telling dovecot that mails are in mbox format (why you even >> use >> > mbox instead of Maildir++ beats me, but that's not what you asked for >> help >> > with) and are stored in /home/$user/mbox so go ahead at also tell Exim >> to >> > deliver to the same location! >> > If you want Exim to deliver to /var/mail/$user then change your >> > mail_location in dovecot.conf to point to this too. >> > >> > >> >> >> Thanks for your advice. I inherited this system and it is a live B2B >> system so I am trying not to break it as well as to keep it running :-) >> >> I have seen some unusual behaviour now. >> >> 1: According to my script to process the inbox for each account the pop3 >> account was empty. The code was previously working for many months. I >> thought it might be related to the missing mail_location directive >> because >> the home/xxx/mail folder was missing for the specific account that was >> having a problem so I added it as above but it didn't appear to fix the >> problem. >> > > You DO NOT need to add it manually. All you have to do is to send a test > mail to the user and the mbox will be created with the correct > permissions. > > >> >> 2: I modified it as suggested : mail_location = INBOX=/var/mail/%u >> >> That gave me an error >> >> Nov 8 13:47:03 mail dovecot: POP3(xxx): mail_location: Ambiguous mail >> location setting, don't know what to do with it: INBOX=/var/mail/xxx >> (try >> prefixing it with mbox: or maildir:) >> Nov 8 13:47:03 mail dovecot: POP3(xxx): Fatal: Namespace initialization >> failed >> > > > You must RTFM. The examples are in conf.d/10-mail.conf and they have the > following text: > > <quote> > ## Mailbox locations and namespaces > ## > > # Location for users' mailboxes. The default is empty, which means that > Dovecot > # tries to find the mailboxes automatically. This won't work if the user > # doesn't yet have any mail, so you should explicitly tell Dovecot the > full > # location. > # > # If you're using mbox, giving a path to the INBOX file (eg. /var/mail/%u) > # isn't enough. You'll also need to tell Dovecot where the other mailboxes > are > # kept. This is called the "root mail directory", and it must be the first > # path given in the mail_location setting. > # > # There are a few special variables you can use, eg.: > # > # %u - username > # %n - user part in user@domain, same as %u if there's no domain > # %d - domain part in user@domain, empty if there's no domain > # %h - home directory > # > # See doc/wiki/Variables.txt for full list. Some examples: > # > # mail_location = maildir:~/Maildir > # mail_location = mbox:~/mail:INBOX=/var/mail/%u > # mail_location = mbox:/var/mail/%d/%1n/%n:INDEX=/var/indexes/%d/%1n/%n > # > # <doc/wiki/MailLocation.txt> > </quote> > > ... make sense? > Starting to now. My first attempt to *not* break the existing system was to try with the following: mail_location = mbox:~/mail But that didn't work so I asked here and according to your first email it seemed this config was necessary: mail_location = INBOX=/var/mail/%u But after re reading the docs it appears that *both* locations are required: mail_location = mbox:~/mail:INBOX=/var/mail/%u -- Patrick Shirkey Boost Hardware Ltd

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