- dovecot - dovecot.org

one-off doveadm commands broken in 2.4.1 when using docker
by jlh 28 Jul '25

28 Jul '25

Hi all In 2.3, I could use doveadm from the docker image as a standalone tool, but this no longer works in 2.4: $ docker run --rm -ti dovecot/dovecot:2.3-latest doveadm usage: doveadm [-Dv] [-f <formatter>] <command> [<args>] altmove [-u <user>|-A] [-S <socket_path>] [-r] <search query> [...snip...] $ docker run --rm -ti dovecot/dovecot:latest-2.4 doveadm doveconf: Fatal: Cannot expand variable %{env:USER_PASSWORD This was useful for hashing passwords with "doveadm pw". I assume this wasn't an intentional change in how doveadm works. For now I'll just use the old image when hashing passwords. Thank you! Jean-Luc

2 1

siebe settings in 2.4.0
by Helmut K. C. Tessarek 23 Jul '25

23 Jul '25

I've been reading the docs and the migration docs for hours, but the sieve config is a mess. In 2.3.x I am using: plugin { sieve = ~/.sieve sieve_dir = ~/.sieve_storage } and this is how it looks in my home dir: $ ls -la .sie* lrwxrwxrwx 32 a b c d .sieve -> .sieve_storage/MailFilters.sieve .rw------- 0 a b c d .sieve.log .rw------- 17,414 a b c d 2025-07-08 03:00 .sieve.svbin So How do I do the same in 2.4.x? I've come so far as: sieve_script personal { driver = file } But then there are path, bin_path, active_path, name, and a bunch of other settings. Sorry to be a little bit frustrated, but my old settings are not out of the ordinary (2 freaking parameters), but there is no documentation on how to migrate these 2 very simple settings to the new format. The upgrade docs explain the new var expansion and a matrix with old and new parameters. But this info is completely missing for sieve. The doc only points to "script storage". Really? You couldn't have added these 2 parameters to the old-new matrix? I am not asking you to do this for every single sieve parameter, but at least for the 2 or 3 most used ones. Sorry for my rant, but I had to get it out there to not go insane. Cheers, K. C. -- regards Helmut K. C. Tessarek KeyID 0x172380A011EF4944 Key fingerprint = 8A55 70C1 BD85 D34E ADBC 386C 1723 80A0 11EF 4944 /* Thou shalt not follow the NULL pointer for chaos and madness await thee at its end. */

4 6

discarded vacation reply to own address <xxxx> (as specified using :addresses argument)
by Marc 23 Jul '25

23 Jul '25

Did I configure this? Or is this default behaviour of dovecot? How can I turn this off if this is a standard config?

2 1

Re: Strange mailq errors
by Xavier Humbert 23 Jul '25

23 Jul '25

Le 22/07/2025 16:28, Odhiambo Washington a écrit : > > > On Tue, Jul 22, 2025 at 4:42 PM Xavier Humbert via dovecot > <dovecot(a)dovecot.org> wrote: > > Hi, > > I recently experienced strange errors in mailq : > > [root@numenor ~]# mailq > -Queue ID- --Size-- ----Arrival Time---- -Sender/Recipient------- > 56BF31C9391 2320 Fri Jul 18 03:42:33 info(a)quora.com > (temporary failure. Command output: lda(postfix): Error: > net_connect_unix(/var/run/dovecot/stats-writer) failed: Permission > denied) > postfix(a)groumpf.org > > All other messages are getting in without error. > Furthermore these are probably spam which shouldn't get in, since > postfix@ is not in the authorized recipients > > When it happens, it is always spam for postfix@ > > Any idea ? > > > Check your dovecot config for the permissions: Postfix user needs > access to /var/run/dovecot/stats-writer > > V2.4: > service stats { > unix_listener stats-writer { > mode = 0660 > user = ?? > } > } > > v2.3 > unix_listener stats-writer { > user = ?? > group = ?? > mode = 0660 > } > } > > > -- > 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] Here is the relevant part of dovecot config : service stats { unix_listener stats-reader { user = $default_internal_user group = $default_internal_user mode = 0660 } unix_listener stats-writer { user = $default_internal_user group = $default_internal_user mode = 0660 } } All other mails get in without problem. I suspect it gets in, then confuses the mail system because of proxy:unix:passwd.byname in postfix config local_recipient_maps I don't need this btw. Xavier -- Xavier HUMBERT - Unix/Win/MacOSX Sysadmin/Network Engineer https://www.amdh.fr Le 22/07/2025 16:28, Odhiambo Washington a ecrit : On Tue, Jul 22, 2025 at 4:42PM Xavier Humbert via dovecot <[1]dovecot(a)dovecot.org> wrote: Hi, I recently experienced strange errors in mailq : [root@numenor ~]# mailq -Queue ID- --Size-- ----Arrival Time---- -Sender/Recipient------- 56BF31C9391 2320 Fri Jul 18 03:42:33 [2]info(a)quora.com (temporary failure. Command output: lda(postfix): Error: net_connect_unix(/var/run/dovecot/stats-writer) failed: Permission denied) [3]postfix(a)groumpf.org All other messages are getting in without error. Furthermore these are probably spam which shouldn't get in, since postfix@ is not in the authorized recipients When it happens, it is always spam for postfix@ Any idea ? Check your dovecot config for the permissions: Postfix user needs access to /var/run/dovecot/stats-writer V2.4: service stats { unix_listener stats-writer { mode = 0660 user = ?? } } v2.3 unix_listener stats-writer { user = ?? group = ?? mode = 0660 } } -- Best regards, Odhiambo WASHINGTON, Nairobi,KE +254 7 3200 0004/+254 7 2274 3223 In an Internet failure case, the #1 suspect is a constant: DNS. "Oh, the cruft.", egrep -v '^$|^.*#' -\_(Tu)_/- :-) [How to ask smart questions: [4]http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html] Here is the relevant part of dovecot config : service stats { unix_listener stats-reader { user = $default_internal_user group = $default_internal_user mode = 0660 } unix_listener stats-writer { user = $default_internal_user group = $default_internal_user mode = 0660 } } All other mails get in without problem. I suspect it gets in, then confuses the mail system because of proxy:unix:passwd.byname in postfix config local_recipient_maps I don't need this btw. Xavier -- Xavier HUMBERT - Unix/Win/MacOSX Sysadmin/Network Engineer [5]https://www.amdh.fr References Visible links 1. mailto:dovecot@dovecot.org 2. mailto:info@quora.com 3. mailto:postfix@groumpf.org 4. http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html 5. https://www.amdh.fr/

2 1

Anyone have working examples of how one might go about *debugging* a userdb/passdb LUA script for authentication?
by Andy Baugh 22 Jul '25

22 Jul '25

Howdy, I've been working on upgrading the version cPanel ships to Dovecot 2.4. It appears that the "dict" driver for passdb/authdb has been removed per your documentation, with a recommendation to use a lua script instead. As such I've followed the online documentation to do so and wound up with a userdb/passdb section that looks like so: passdb cpauthd { driver = lua lua_file = /usr/local/cpanel/etc/dovecot/cpauthd.lua lua_settings { socket = /usr/local/cpanel/var/cpdoveauthd.sock } result_internalfail = continue result_failure = return-fail } userdb cpauthd { driver = lua lua_file = /usr/local/cpanel/etc/dovecot/cpauthd.lua } My prospective lua script only takes from the socket arg passed in and reads from the socket, delivering back the same kind of answer we would have previously got from the auth dict driver (converting password_key/user_key to auth_passdb/userdb_get_cache_key in script as appears to be suggested). Unfortunately, I'm thinking that this entire setup is being ignored, as when I do: doveadm -D -o auth_debug=yes auth lookup for a user I know to be valid on the system with the previous 2.3 setup, I don't even see any indication that the lua authentication database is even consulted. Jul 18 12:32:30 Debug: auth-master: passdb lookup(zippy(a)cptest.local): Started passdb lookup Jul 18 12:32:30 Debug: auth-master: conn unix:/var/run/dovecot/auth-userdb: Connecting Jul 18 12:32:30 Debug: auth-master: conn unix:/var/run/dovecot/auth-userdb (pid=800187,uid=0): Client connected (fd=9) Jul 18 12:32:30 Debug: auth-master: conn unix:/var/run/dovecot/auth-userdb (pid=800187,uid=0): auth input: Jul 18 12:32:30 Error: auth-master: passdb lookup(zippy(a)cptest.local): Auth PASS lookup failed Jul 18 12:32:30 Debug: auth-master: passdb lookup(zippy(a)cptest.local): auth PASS input: Jul 18 12:32:30 Debug: auth-master: passdb lookup(zippy(a)cptest.local): Passdb lookup failed Jul 18 12:32:30 Error: cmd auth lookup: passdb lookup failed for zippy(a)cptest.local Jul 18 12:32:30 Debug: auth-master: conn unix:/var/run/dovecot/auth-userdb (pid=800187,uid=0): Disconnected: Connection closed (fd=9) Similarly, in my lua script, I try to use the "dovecot.auth.log_debug/log_info" etc. functions in documentation within the scope of auth_passdb_lookup or auth_userdb_lookup, yet I never see any debug prints even if I add a debug line to the start of the function to indicate entry. What I would like to know is whether there is some debug flag I'm missing to see the routing from config -> lua script. Does this actually exist? I didn't see anything enlightening in the man pages or online documentation. Hopefully I'm just missing something simple. Cheers, -- Thomas "Andy" Baugh | Software Development Engineer IV andy.baugh(a)webpros.com www.webpros.com

1 1

Strange mailq errors
by Xavier Humbert 22 Jul '25

22 Jul '25

Hi, I recently experienced strange errors in mailq : [root@numenor ~]# mailq -Queue ID- --Size-- ----Arrival Time---- -Sender/Recipient------- 56BF31C9391 2320 Fri Jul 18 03:42:33 info(a)quora.com (temporary failure. Command output: lda(postfix): Error: net_connect_unix(/var/run/dovecot/stats-writer) failed: Permission denied) postfix(a)groumpf.org All other messages are getting in without error. Furthermore these are probably spam which shouldn't get in, since postfix@ is not in the authorized recipients When it happens, it is always spam for postfix@ Any idea ? Regards, Xavier -- Xavier HUMBERT - Unix/Win/MacOSX Sysadmin/Network Engineer https://www.amdh.fr

1 0

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.

3 2

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

1 0

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.

3 6

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

1 0