- dovecot - dovecot.org

Issues with 2.4.1 & remote postgresql server
by Terry Braun 14 Mar '26

14 Mar '26

Hello, I'm stumped with using a remote postgresql database for authentication. I went through the process once, failed, debugged, failed again. I could successfully use psql to access the remote database from my host machine, so I do not believe the remote access is an issue. I implemented an instance using sqlite3 database and it worked just fine. ``` from auth-sql.conf.ext ``` sql_driver = pgsql pgsql 72.44.55.66 { parameters { sslmode = require user = user password = 123 dbname = db } } I'm using lmtp over sockets to deliver mail to dovecot, in order to isolate any interaction issues. With a postgresql db I get "Mailbox isn't a valid mbox file", but with changes only to auth-sql.conf.ext it fails. I can run the queries from psql and they work. I'm pretty much out of ideas of things to try. - I could not find anything to validate the syntax of the psql data. All the examples had "psql localhots {" - Because of the above, I am wondering if there may be an issue in the postgres driver somehow? - I did look at the documentation for https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/libpq-connect.html#LIBPQ-PARAMKEYWO… but I'm unsure what is needed. Thanks for any ideas, help, hints. If someone has an example that works with 2.4.1-4 (7d8c0e5759) on debian 13 that would be great Terry

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How to declare port 143
by Steve Litt 10 Mar '26

10 Mar '26

Hi all, I have Dovecot 2.4.2 working (plain text only) on my Qemu virtual machine, with Claws-Mail able to work with all its files. However, I want to declare the Dovecot server as running on Port 143, and when I do, I dovecot -F throws the error message shown later in this message. If I comment out the explicit port declaration, it works fine, and I want to know why. To the best of my knowledge, my declaration of port 143 exactly matches your 2.4.2 documentation: The following is my attempt to tell Dovecot to serve *explicitly* at port 143: =============================================== # My Dovecot server will operate on Localhost listen = 127.0.0.1 service imap { inet_listener imap-login { port = 143 } # inet_listener imaps { # port = 993 # ssl = yes # } } =============================================== The following is the result: =============================================== [root@dovecotvoid ~]# dovecot -F doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf: duplicate listener: 143:127.0.0.1 [root@dovecotvoid ~]# =============================================== If I comment out the port = 143, it works. Why is it griping about a duplicate listener? At the bottom of this email is the entire dovecot.conf and the result of dovecot -n, and there are no sub-configuration files in conf.d : =============================================== # Start new configs with the latest Dovecot version numbers here: dovecot_config_version = 2.4.2 # Must be current version dovecot_storage_version = 2.4.2 # Must be current version or earlier # 2.3 is minimum # I only want imap protocols { imap = yes lmtp = no pop3 = no } # My Dovecot server will operate on Localhost listen = 127.0.0.1 service imap { inet_listener imap-login { port = 143 } # inet_listener imaps { # port = 993 # ssl = yes # } } # mail_home is only for virtual users # A virtual user is a user with no system account # I have no virtual users, so I've commented out mail_home. #mail_home = /srv/mail/%{user} # mail_driver is the storage format mail_driver = maildir # mail_path is location of top of storage data # WARNING: For troubleshooting be prepared to switch # to literal location of ~ mail_path = ~/mail/Maildir # In my case # mail_home is the home directory of the user identified as ~ # WARNING: system users have no ~ without it. mail_home = /home/slitt # You need a log you can locate # There might not be a log_path=/var/log/dovecot.log #mail_uid = slitt #mail_gid = slitt mail_uid = vmail mail_gid = vmail # By default first_valid_uid is 500. #If your vmail user's UID is smaller, # you need to modify this: #first_valid_uid = uid-number-of-vmail-user namespace inbox { inbox = yes separator = / } # Authenticate as system users: passdb pam { driver = pam #driver = passwd } userdb passwd { driver = passwd } #ssl_server_cert_file = /etc/dovecot/ssl-cert.pem #ssl_server_key_file = /etc/dovecot/ssl-key.pem =============================================== The following is the output of dovecot -n: =============================================== # 2.4.2 (0962ed2104): /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf # OS: Linux 6.12.71_1 x86_64 # Hostname: dovecotvoid dovecot_config_version = 2.4.2 dovecot_storage_version = 2.4.2 listen = 127.0.0.1 log_path = /var/log/dovecot.log mail_driver = maildir mail_gid = vmail mail_home = /home/slitt mail_path = ~/mail/Maildir mail_uid = vmail protocols { imap = yes lmtp = no pop3 = no } service imap { inet_listener imap-login { port = 143 } } namespace inbox { inbox = yes separator = / } passdb pam { driver = pam } userdb passwd { driver = passwd } ===============================================

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Republish of 2.4.2
by Aki Tuomi 10 Mar '26

10 Mar '26

Hi all! We have republished 2.4.2 packages to fix some packaging issues with Pigeonhole. Please note that for now dovecot-sieve and dovecot-managesieved will get installed together due to dependency issues. Kind regards, Aki Tuomi

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solr-config-9.xml Fails to Load with Solr 9.10.1
by Steven Smith 10 Mar '26

10 Mar '26

I’m trying to use the latest dovecot solr module solr-config-9.xml at with Solr 9.10.1: https://github.com/dovecot/core/blob/956fd0f9a101673be72a7df7d643dd20cf4c40… This dovecot module has been updated to work with version 9.8 and removes the deprecated <lib> directives. However, I observe that it does not load under solr 9.10.1 with the Java exception below. Does anyone have any pointers on how to modify this module for the latest solr versions? var/solr/logs/solr-8983-console.log: > 2026-03-10 01:34:45.983 INFO (main) [] o.a.s.c.CorePropertiesLocator Found 1 core definitions underneath /opt/local/var/solr > 2026-03-10 01:34:45.984 INFO (main) [] o.a.s.c.CorePropertiesLocator Cores are: [dovecot] > 2026-03-10 01:34:46.012 INFO (coreLoadExecutor-13-thread-1) [ x:dovecot] o.a.s.c.SolrConfig Using Lucene MatchVersion: 9.8.0 > 2026-03-10 01:34:46.045 INFO (coreLoadExecutor-13-thread-1) [ x:dovecot] o.a.s.s.ManagedIndexSchemaFactory The schema is configured as managed, but managed schema resource managed-schema.xml not found - loading non-managed schema schema.xml instead > 2026-03-10 01:34:46.064 INFO (coreLoadExecutor-13-thread-1) [ x:dovecot] o.a.s.s.IndexSchema Schema name=dovecot > 2026-03-10 01:34:46.100 ERROR (coreLoadExecutor-13-thread-1) [ x:dovecot] o.a.s.c.CoreContainer SolrCore failed to load on startup =>org.apache.solr.common.SolrException: Unable to create core [dovecot] > at org.apache.solr.core.CoreContainer.createFromDescriptor(CoreContainer.java:1803) I'm trying to use the latest dovecot solr module solr-config-9.xml at with Solr 9.10.1: [1]https://github.com/dovecot/core/blob/956fd0f9a101673be72a7df7d643dd20cf4c… This dovecot module has been updated to work with version 9.8 and removes the deprecated <lib> directives. However, I observe that it does not load under solr 9.10.1 with the Java exception below. Does anyone have any pointers on how to modify this module for the latest solr versions? var/solr/logs/solr-8983-console.log: 2026-03-10 01:34:45.983 INFO (main) [] o.a.s.c.CorePropertiesLocator Found 1 core definitions underneath /opt/local/var/solr 2026-03-10 01:34:45.984 INFO (main) [] o.a.s.c.CorePropertiesLocator Cores are: [dovecot] 2026-03-10 01:34:46.012 INFO (coreLoadExecutor-13-thread-1) [ x:dovecot] o.a.s.c.SolrConfig Using Lucene MatchVersion: 9.8.0 2026-03-10 01:34:46.045 INFO (coreLoadExecutor-13-thread-1) [ x:dovecot] o.a.s.s.ManagedIndexSchemaFactory The schema is configured as managed, but managed schema resource managed-schema.xml not found - loading non-managed schema schema.xml instead 2026-03-10 01:34:46.064 INFO (coreLoadExecutor-13-thread-1) [ x:dovecot] o.a.s.s.IndexSchema Schema name=dovecot 2026-03-10 01:34:46.100 ERROR (coreLoadExecutor-13-thread-1) [ x:dovecot] o.a.s.c.CoreContainer SolrCore failed to load on startup =>org.apache.solr.common.SolrException: Unable to create core [dovecot] at org.apache.solr.core.CoreContainer.createFromDescriptor(CoreContainer.java:1803) References Visible links 1. https://github.com/dovecot/core/blob/956fd0f9a101673be72a7df7d643dd20cf4c40…

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Preventing Plain Auth
by Steve Litt 10 Mar '26

10 Mar '26

Hi all, https://doc.dovecot.org/2.4.2/core/summaries/settings.html , the auth_allow_cleartext section, says "If no, disables the LOGIN command and all other cleartext authentication unless SSL/TLS is used (LOGINDISABLED capability) or the connection is secured (see ssl). See SSL configuration for more detailed explanation of how this setting interacts with the ssl setting. This setting replaces the disable_plaintext_auth setting." I put auth_allow_cleartext = no in my 2.4.2 dovecot.conf, but my Claws-Mail client can still access it, even though there are no key files. I tried putting this setting in several different places: Didn't prevent plain access. I tried switching from 127.0.0.1 to 10.0.2.15, same problem. The following is the output of my dovecot -n command: ========================================= # 2.4.2 (0962ed2104): /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf # OS: Linux 6.12.74_1 x86_64 # Hostname: dovecotvoid dovecot_config_version = 2.4.2 dovecot_storage_version = 2.4.2 listen = 10.0.2.15 log_path = /var/log/dovecot.log mail_driver = maildir mail_gid = vmail mail_home = /home/slitt mail_path = ~/mail/Maildir mail_uid = vmail protocols { imap = yes lmtp = no pop3 = no } service imap { inet_listener imap-login { auth_allow_cleartext = no } } namespace inbox { inbox = yes separator = / } passdb pam { driver = pam } userdb passwd { driver = passwd } ========================================= How do I disable plain text authentication? Thanks, SteveT Steve Litt http://444domains.com

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[BUG?] Dovecot 2.4.2 from Dovecot repo (RHEL 9) does not implement Sieve (properly/fully)
by Patrick S 09 Mar '26

09 Mar '26

Hi all Below is report of what I suspect is a bug arising in Dovecot 2.4.x regarding Sieve functionality after Pigeonhole functionality was folded into Dovecot/Dovecot-sieve. ISSUE: ====== I am building a new mail server on Rocky Linux 9.7 with Postfix 3.10 and Dovecot 2.4.2. The base installation & setup of Dovecot was OK with core functionality (Postfix interoperability and mail into virtual mail domain mailboxes no problem). Once I had the base setup done I started with Sieve functionality: 1) Incoming mail marked as SPAM by Rspamd auto moved into /Junk 2) Mail manually moved in/out of /Junk handed to Rspamd for training as SPAM/HAM This consistantly failed - the first issue I found was Dovecot failing to restart and `dovecot -n` reporting fatal errors related to sieve — section not found etc. etc. From my reading previously I knew I needed to install `dovecot-sieve` and it was installed before I started working on Sieve functionality. I also saw `dovecot-pigeonhole` but I seemed to read that (version >= 2.4) the functionality for that had been included in `dovecot-sieve` **and** there was no Pigeonhole included in the Dovecot 2.4.2 repo — also if I tried to install it I got errors of course because of the version mismatch, and it was not in the dovecot-2.4-latest repo. ``` # dnf info dovecot-pigeonhole Last metadata expiration check: 1:21:15 ago on Fri 06 Mar 2026 08:05:08. Available Packages Name : dovecot-pigeonhole Epoch : 1 Version : 2.3.16 Release : 15.el9 Architecture : x86_64 Size : 371 k Source : dovecot-2.3.16-15.el9.src.rpm Repository : appstream Summary : Sieve and managesieve plug-in for dovecot URL : https://www.dovecot.org/ License : MIT and LGPLv2 Description : This package provides sieve and managesieve plug-in for dovecot LDA. ``` I also saw `dovecot-managesieved` but as I was **not** going to implement a client sieve functionality I did not install that. Anyway I could not even get to first base with Sieve, Dovecot simply did not know about it. I went on IRC and chatted with Aki Tuomi who confirmed that "yeah, looks like there is some packaging mistake." because the directory `/usr/lib64/dovecot/settings` was empty. As a workaround he suggested "you need to install dovecot-managesieved as workaround". I did that and as a result the following files appeared: ``` -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 15560 Jan 8 12:13 libmanagesieve_login_settings.so -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 15840 Jan 8 12:13 libmanagesieve_settings.so -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 19656 Jan 8 12:13 libpigeonhole_settings.so ``` The `dovecot -n` errors went away, it recognised the sieve directives, and I continued with the Sieve setup. All — `dovecot.conf`, sieve files source and compiled — installed OK. But the sieve functionality simply refused to work. I got advice and we found the following which essentially points to sieve (even with `dovecot-managesieved` installed) not working. After installing everything — dovecot.conf, sieve files (compiled successfully) and a pipe to a shell script to call `rspamc` nothing seemed to happen. * `journalctl -f -u dovecot | grep -E "sieve|pipe"` -> nothing showed * `rspamc stat` -> 'Messages scanned' & 'Messages learned' no increase When we checked we found the following: 1) `lib90_sieve_settings.so` (which should be in `/etc/lib64/dovecot/settings`) is missing from the system. `find / -name "lib90_sieve_settings.so"` -> not found I believe the file is critical for the running of (Dovecot using) Sieve? 2) The Dovecot build options missing any sieve functionality: ``` #dovecot --build-options Build options: ioloop=epoll notify=inotify openssl io_block_size=8192 SQL driver plugins: mysql postgresql sqlite Passdb: ldap pam passwd passwd-file sql Userdb: ldap(plugin) passwd prefetch passwd-file sql ``` I believe (I was told) that minus the above (even though `dovecot-managesieved` was installed as well as `dovecot-sieve`) Sieve simply will not function. Is this a bug/packaging error? Regards Patrick ENVIRONMENT: ============ Software -------- * Rocky Linux 9.7 (RHEL) * Postfix 3.10 Built from source * Postscreen running in Postfix * Dovecot 2.4 installed from Dovecot repo * Valkey 9.0.3 (Redis replacement) * Rspamd 3.14.3 Setup ----- * Rspamd <-> Valkey communicate via Unix socket * Postfix & Dovecot <-> Rspamd via inet port/milter: smtpd_milters = inet:localhost:11332 non_smtpd_milters = inet:localhost:11332 * 'First line defence' = DNSBL via postscreen * Rspamd SPF checking, DKIM signing and DMARC configured All of the above installed, working and tested. DOVECOT PACKAGES INSTALLED: =========================== ``` Name : dovecot Version : 2.4.2 Architecture : x86_64 Source : dovecot-2.4.2-2.src.rpm From repo : dovecot-2.4-latest Name : dovecot-sieve Version : 2.4.2 Architecture : x86_64 Source : dovecot-sieve-2.4.2-2.src.rpm From repo : dovecot-2.4-latest Name : dovecot-managesieved (see note about this in the email) Version : 2.4.2 Architecture : x86_64 Source : dovecot-sieve-2.4.2-2.src.rpm From repo : dovecot-2.4-latest Name : dovecot-submissiond Version : 2.4.2 Architecture : x86_64 Source : dovecot-2.4.2-2.src.rpm From repo : dovecot-2.4-latest Name : dovecot-imapd Version : 2.4.2 Architecture : x86_64 Source : dovecot-2.4.2-2.src.rpm From repo : dovecot-2.4-latest Name : dovecot-lmtpd Version : 2.4.2 Architecture : x86_64 Source : dovecot-2.4.2-2.src.rpm From repo : dovecot-2.4-latest Name : dovecot-lua Version : 2.4.2 Architecture : x86_64 Source : dovecot-2.4.2-2.src.rpm From repo : dovecot-2.4-latest ``` OUTPUT OF `dovecot -n`: ======================= ``` # dovecot -n # 2.4.2-2 (0962ed2104): /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf # Pigeonhole version 2.4.2-2 (767418c3) # OS: Linux 5.14.0-611.34.1.el9_7.x86_64 x86_64 Rocky Linux release 9.7 (Blue Onyx) # Hostname: srv01.example.com dovecot_config_version = 2.4.2 auth_default_domain = example.com auth_mechanisms = plain auth_username_format = %{user | lower } dovecot_storage_version = 2.4.2 mail_access_groups = vmail mail_control_path = ~/control mail_driver = maildir mail_gid = 5000 mail_home = /var/vmail/%{user | domain }/%{user | username } mail_index_path = ~/indexes mail_path = %{home}/Maildir mail_privileged_group = vmail mail_uid = 5000 mailbox_list_utf8 = yes protocols = imap lmtp sieve_global_extensions { vnd.dovecot.pipe = yes } sieve_pipe_bin_dir = /etc/dovecot/sieve/bin sieve_plugins { sieve_imapsieve = yes sieve_extprograms = yes } sieve_trace_dir = /var/log/dovecot/sieve-trace sieve_trace_level = actions ssl = required syslog_facility = local5 protocol lmtp { mail_plugins { sieve = yes } } ssl_server { cert_file = /etc/ssl/server/server_example_com.crt key_file = /etc/ssl/server/server_example_com.key } passdb passwd-file { auth_username_format = %{user | username} default_password_scheme = SHA512-CRYPT passwd_file_path = /etc/dovecot/passwd } userdb passwd-file { auth_username_format = %{user | username} passwd_file_path = /etc/dovecot/passwd fields { gid:default = 5000 uid:default = 5000 } } service lmtp { unix_listener /var/spool/postfix/private/dovecot-lmtp { group = postfix mode = 0600 user = postfix } } service auth { unix_listener /var/spool/postfix/private/auth { group = postfix mode = 0660 user = postfix } } service imap-login { inet_listener imap { port = 0 } inet_listener imaps { port = 993 ssl = yes } } service auth-worker { user = $SET:default_internal_user } service anvil { unix_listener anvil { group = $SET:default_internal_group mode = 0660 } } service doveadm { unix_listener doveadm-server { mode = 0600 user = $SET:default_internal_user } } sieve_script rspamd_to_junk { driver = file path = /etc/dovecot/sieve/rspamd-to-junk.sieve type = before } namespace inbox { mail_plugins { imap_sieve = yes } inbox = yes mailbox Junk { auto = create autoexpunge = 90d special_use = "\\Junk" sieve_script report-spam { cause = copy path = /etc/dovecot/sieve/report-spam.sieve type = before } } imapsieve_from Junk { sieve_script report-ham { cause = copy path = /etc/dovecot/sieve/report-ham.sieve type = before } } mailbox Drafts { auto = subscribe special_use = "\\Drafts" } mailbox Sent { auto = subscribe special_use = "\\Sent" } mailbox Trash { auto = subscribe special_use = "\\Trash" } } ```

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Curve25519/Ed25519 ?
by Steve Litt 09 Mar '26

09 Mar '26

On my new Dovecot 2.4.2 IMAP server, which when completed will be accessible only via SSL, I plan to use Curve25519/Ed25519 self-signed-cert/private-key. Is there any reason this would be a mistake? Thanks, SteveT Steve Litt http://444domains.com

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Dovecot 2.4 doveadm_worker_count corrupts tab-formatted output
by Philip Iezzi 08 Mar '26

08 Mar '26

Hi there On a Dovecot 2.4.2 (Debian Bookworm) server with over 1300 users, I am using the following config to retrieve quota usage information with doveadm: --------------------------------------- quota "User quota" { } mail_plugins = quota acl mail_log notify userdb sql { iterate_query = SELECT username AS user, CONCAT(quota, 'M') AS quota_storage_size FROM mailaccounts WHERE active = 1 query = \ SELECT '/var/vmail/%{user | domain}/%{user | username}' AS home, 'vmail' AS uid, 'vmail' AS gid, CONCAT(quota, 'M') AS quota_storage_size \ FROM mailaccounts \ WHERE username = '%{user}' AND (active = 1 OR transport_suspended = 0) } --------------------------------------- Initially, I had to run `doveadm quota recalc -A` to recalc quotas and populate the `count` quota driver which is enabled by default for "User quota". But still, it took roughly 20ms per single user or 15-20s for all users: $ time doveadm -f tab quota get -u demo(a)example.com real 0m0.020s $ time doveadm -f tab quota get -A real 0m16.800s Now, to greatly speed this up, I have introduced parallel processing: doveadm_worker_count = 4 Like this, `doveadm -f tab quota get -A` runs approx 10x faster, done in 1.5 - 2.5s But there is one major drawback which I assume to be a bug: # sane output without `doveadm_worker_count = 4` => always 6 fields demo(a)example.com User quota STORAGE 29 204800 0 demo(a)example.com User quota MESSAGE 1 - 0 # broken output with `doveadm_worker_count = 4` => sometimes 7 fields demo(a)example.com User quota STORAGE 29 2048 00 0 demo(a)example.com User quota MESSAGE 1 - 0 Somehow, the tab formatter does not play nicely together with parallel processing. On some output, the value gets split apart by an extra tab, e.g. '2024<TAB>00' in above example. Can you explain this corrupted data? Some kind of "output interleaving" seems to happen when running parallel workers. If I switch to json output (`doveadm -f json quota get -A`), this does not seem to happen and I always get valid JSON output, even with `doveadm_worker_count = 4`. Cheers, Philip

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Getting quota limits from DB
by Alberto 04 Mar '26

04 Mar '26

Hi group: I have a Docker Dovecot 2.4.2 installation with MySQL user management, with this record: SELECT * FROM users; +---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | username | domain | password | home | uid | gid | active | quota | quotamsgs | crampassword +---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | alberto | bersol.info | {MD5-CRYPT}$1$Jm... | /var/mail/alberto | 1000 | 1000 | Y | 3221225472 | 149999 | {CRAM-MD5}fd246... | +---------------------------------------------------------------------------- But I have a problem with user quota definitions... If I run "doveadm" command, I get the user quota occupation, I have "quota_clone" plugin working, but I don't get user quota limit, I don't know why: ----- # docker exec -it midovecot doveadm quota get -A Username Quota name Type Value Limit % alberto(a)bersol.info User quota STORAGE 1925805 3145728 61 alberto(a)bersol.info User quota MESSAGE 37608 100000 37 ----- That limit isn't the correct limit set in DB, but the one is put in the config, and it must to be override in my userdb:Extra Fields. ----- # # docker exec -it midovecot doveadm config # 2.4.2 (0962ed2104): /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf ... userdb sql { iterate_query = SELECT CONCAT(username,'@',domain) AS user FROM users query = SELECT home,CONCAT(username,'@',domain) AS username,crampassword AS password,uid AS userdb_uid,gid AS userdb_gid,CONCAT(quota,'B') AS userdb_quota_storage_size,concat('*:messages=',quotamsgs) AS userdb_quota_storage_size FROM users WHERE username = '%{ user | username | lower }' AND domain = '%{ user | domain | lower }' } ... quota_storage_size = 3G quota_message_count = 100000 ... ----- Do you have any idea of the problem? Best Regards, Alberto

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Dovecot marking outgonig emails as unread
by stef204 03 Mar '26

03 Mar '26

Starting a few days ago, I have one email account where ALL outgoing emails are automatically marked as UNREAD. The message is sent, then copied to the "Sent" folder, and has status "unread". Then, a couple of minutes later, something happens where this message gets marked as UNREAD, without ANY interaction of client side. This occurs not matter the email client used, I have tried it with multiple email clients, both local and via web interface, the behavior does not change. This is via Dovevot on Cpanel. if I look at the [1]changelog, it is difficult to identify which changes could have triggered this as there seem to be changes impacting Dovecot almost with every update. I do not control the server myself, this is on a shared hosting plan; tech support has been willing to troubleshoot but is unable to locate the problem. This problem does NOT occur on other email accounts on the same domain, so it looks to me like some corruption or problem syncing flags perhaps? I am at a loss at the moment to fix this behavior. Any suggestions or ideas welcome. Thanks. References Visible links 1. https://docs.cpanel.net/changelogs/132-change-log/

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