- dovecot - dovecot.org

Error with sieve - affects all attempts to download mail
by Doug Hardie 24 Oct '26

24 Oct '26

I have my test server working properly. I copied the new configuration over to the production mail server and anytime someone tries to connect to dovecot I get the following error logged: Oct 24 09:59:17 mail dovecot[96435]: imap-login: Logged in: user=<doug>, method=PLAIN, rip=10.0.1.250, lip=10.0.1.230, mpid=96557, TLS, TLSv1.3 with cipher TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 (256/256 bits), session=<dkrGA5le5jUKAAH6>, port=143 Oct 24 09:59:17 mail dovecot[96435]: imap(doug): Error: Couldn't load required plugin /usr/local/lib/dovecot/lib20_mail_log_plugin.so: Plugin notify must be loaded also (you must set: mail_plugins=$mail_plugins notify) (trying to load modules: sieve mail_log) I have not been able to find anything different between the two systems. The test system just works, the production does not. mail# doveconf # 2.4.5 (0cbb641e3e): /usr/local/etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf # Pigeonhole version 2.4.5 (742bb892) # OS: FreeBSD 15.1-RELEASE-p2 arm64 ufs # Hostname: mail # 27 default setting changes since version 2.4.2 dovecot_config_version = 2.4.2 auth_mechanisms = plain cram-md5 base_dir = /var/run/home_mail/ dovecot_storage_version = 2.4.0 first_valid_gid = 0 imap_capability = SASL-IR LOGIN-REFERRALS ID ENABLE LITERAL+ STARTTLS LOGINDISABLED "AUTH=CRAM-MD5" lda_mailbox_autocreate = yes log_debug = category=mail login_log_format_elements = user=<%{user}> method=%{mechanism} rip=%{remote_ip} lip=%{local_ip} mpid=%{mail_pid} %{secured} %{ssl_security} session=<%{session}> port=%{local_port} mail_driver = maildir mail_gid = 2222 mail_home = /var/mail/home_mail/%{user | username} mail_log_events = delete undelete expunge copy mailbox_delete mailbox_rename mail_log_fields = uid box msgid size from mail_log_prefix = %{protocol}(%{user})[%{remote_ip}]<%{session}>: mail_path = /var/mail/home_mail/%{user | username}/Maildir mail_temp_scan_interval = 0 mail_uid = 2222 postmaster_address = doug(a)sermon-archive.info protocols = imap syslog_facility = local1 verbose_proctitle = yes namespace inbox { inbox = yes mailbox Drafts { autoexpunge = 5 days special_use = "\\Drafts" } mailbox Junk { autoexpunge = 5 days special_use = "\\Junk" } mailbox Trash { autoexpunge = 50 days special_use = "\\Trash" } mailbox Sent { autoexpunge = 30 days special_use = "\\Sent" } mailbox "Sent Messages" { autoexpunge = 30 days special_use = "\\Sent" } } passdb passwd-file { auth_username_format = %{user | username} default_password_scheme = CRYPT driver = passwd-file passwd_file_path = /usr/local/etc/dovecot/users } userdb static { driver = static fields { allow_all_users = yes home = /var/mail/home_mail/{user|domain}/{user|username} } } service imap-login { inet_listener imap { port = 143 } inet_listener imaps { port = 993 ssl = yes } inet_listener imaps2 { port = 998 ssl = yes } } service auth { unix_listener auth-userdb { group = vmail mode = 0666 user = vmail } unix_listener /var/spool/postfix/private/auth { group = postfix mode = 0660 user = postfix } } service stats { unix_listener stats-reader { group = vmail mode = 0660 user = vmail } unix_listener stats-writer { group = vmail mode = 0660 user = vmail } } ssl_server { cert_file = /www/certs/mail.pem dh_file = /usr/local/etc/dovecot/dh.pem key_file = # hidden, use -P to show it } protocol lda { mail_plugins { sieve = yes } } protocol imap { imap_metadata = yes mail_plugins { sieve = yes mail_log = yes } } protocol pop3 { mail_plugins { mail_log = yes notify = yes } } sieve_script personal { active_path = /var/mail/home_mail/%{user | username}/.dovecot.sieve driver = file path = /var/mail/home_mail/%{user | username}/sieve } mail_attribute { dict file { path = %{home}/Maildir/dovecot-attributes } } -- Doug

2 2

Bug report URL on website is broken
by H.-Dirk Schmitt 22 Oct '26

22 Oct '26

Hello! on the website https://doc.dovecot.org/main/troubleshooting/debug.html the link https://dovecot.org/bugreport-mail is leading to 404 page not found. Best Regards, H.-Dirk Schmitt Hello! on the website [1]https://doc.dovecot.org/main/troubleshooting/debug.html the link [2]https://dovecot.org/bugreport-mail is leading to 404 page not found. Best Regards, H.-Dirk Schmitt References Visible links 1. https://doc.dovecot.org/main/troubleshooting/debug.html 2. https://dovecot.org/bugreport-mail

2 1

Chaning from ldap pam to pam authentication
by fc26wuqa＠studserv.uni-leipzig.de 22 Oct '26

22 Oct '26

Hello, so far I used pam_ldap.so for authentication. nsss then imports all ldap users. My Ldap Server went down today, so I want to migrate to a system that uses users in /etc/passwd. I created a user something.something and I can log in with pam. But when I try to login via dovecot I get the error message: pam: unknown user. I think its probably because its trying to authenticate something@something@example.com which does not exist. How do i fix that? Thank you. Best, Lucienne

3 4

deliver fails because of a permission issue with SSL private key file
by Markus Schönhaber 22 Oct '26

22 Oct '26

Hi, I'm trying to make Postfix hand incoming mail to Dovecot by using Dovecot's deliver. But this fails with a permission error: > Feb 17 15:50:12 debian13-cont postfix/pipe[13133]: 171C17206: to=<recipient(a)dest.examle.org>, relay=dovecot, delay=0.17, delays=0.1/0/0/0.07, dsn=5.3.0, status=bounced (Command died with status 89: "/usr/lib/dovecot/deliver". Command output: doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/certs.conf line 3: key_file: open(/etc/ssl/private/ssl-cert-snakeoil.key) failed: Permission denied ) How can I solve this (short of making the private key file world readable, of course)? Regards mks I have this in Postfix' master.cf: > dovecot unix - n n - - pipe > flags=DROhu user=vmail:vmail argv=/usr/lib/dovecot/deliver -e -f ${sender} -a ${recipient} -d ${user}@${domain} # LANG=C id vmail uid=501(vmail) gid=501(vmail) groups=501(vmail),104(ssl-cert) # LANG=C ls -l /etc/ssl/private/ total 4 -rw-r----- 1 root ssl-cert 1704 Feb 4 17:15 ssl-cert-snakeoil.key # doveconf -n # 2.4.2-2+debian13 (0962ed2104): /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf # Pigeonhole version 2.4.2-2+debian13 (767418c3) # OS: Linux 6.19.0-2-MANJARO x86_64 Debian 13.3 btrfs # Hostname: debian13-cont dovecot_config_version = 2.4.2 dovecot_storage_version = 2.4.2 log_debug = category=sql mail_driver = sdbox mail_gid = vmail mail_home = /var/spool/vmail/home/%{user | domain}/%{user | username} mail_path = /var/spool/vmail/mail/%{user | domain}/%{user | username} mail_plugins { quota = yes } mail_uid = vmail protocols = imap lmtp sieve sql_driver = mysql mysql localhost { dbname = postfixadmin password = # hidden, use -P to show it user = postfixadmin } passdb sql { query = SELECT 'vmail' AS userdb_uid, 'vmail' AS userdb_gid, CONCAT('/var/spool/vmail/home/', maildir) AS userdb_home, CONCAT(quota, 'B') AS userdb_quota_storage_size, username AS user, password FROM mailbox WHERE username = '%{user}' AND active = '1'; } userdb prefetch { } userdb sql { iterate_query = SELECT username AS user FROM mailbox WHERE active = '1'; query = SELECT 'vmail' AS uid, 'vmail' AS gid, CONCAT('/var/spool/vmail/home/', maildir) AS home, CONCAT(quota, 'B') AS quota_storage_size, username AS user, password FROM mailbox WHERE username = '%{user}' AND active = '1'; } namespace inbox { inbox = yes separator = / mailbox Drafts { special_use = "\\Drafts" } mailbox Entwürfe { special_use = "\\Drafts" } mailbox Junk { special_use = "\\Junk" } mailbox Trash { special_use = "\\Trash" } mailbox "Gelöschte Objekte" { special_use = "\\Trash" } mailbox Sent { special_use = "\\Sent" } mailbox "Gesendete Objekte" { special_use = "\\Sent" } } service auth { inet_listener tcp_auth { port = 12345 } unix_listener /var/spool/postfix/private/auth { group = postfix mode = 0666 user = postfix } } service auth-worker { } ssl_server { cert_file = /etc/ssl/certs/ssl-cert-snakeoil.pem key_file = /etc/ssl/private/ssl-cert-snakeoil.key } protocol imap { mail_plugins { imap_quota = yes } } quota "User quota" { } dict_server { dict mysql { driver = sql sql_driver = mysql dict_map priv/quota/messages { sql_table = quota username_field = username dict_map_value_field messages { } } dict_map priv/quota/storage { sql_table = quota username_field = username dict_map_value_field bytes { } } } } quota_clone { dict proxy { name = mysql } }

7 15

Sievec is randomly (but often) failing in dovecot 2.4.5
by H.-Dirk Schmitt 22 Oct '26

22 Oct '26

``` Hello! I recently upgrade from dovecot 2.3 → 2.4 (2.4.5). Over 10 year I have a script running synchronising sieve scripts from a subversion backend to the dovecot installation. If I run the script in terminal it works. But as cron job (every hour) it is now complaining about a **sievec** error. ## error message ### sievec: Panic: file hash.c: line 256 (hash_table_insert_node): assertion failed: (opcode == HASH_TABLE_OP_UPDATE) sievec: Error: Raw backtrace: #1 [unw_get_proc_name() failed: -10] -> #2 default_fatal_handler[0x7fae27d50e70] -> #3 i_panic[0x7fae27c6e860] -> #4 [unw_get_proc_name() failed: -10] -> #5 ext_include_binary_script_include[0x7fae283acfa0] -> #6 ext_include_generate_include[0x7fae283ad0a0] -> #7 [unw_get_proc_name() failed: -10] -> #8 sieve_generate_block[0x7fae2837f7d0] -> #9 sieve_generator_run[0x7fae28381150] -> #10 sieve_compile_script[0x7fae2839e730] -> #11 sieve_compile[0x7fae2839e900] -> #12 sieve_tool_script_compile[0x55e263c89b60] -> #13 main[0x55e263c886c0] -> #14 [unw_get_proc_name() failed: -10] -> #15 __libc_start_main[0x7fae27a35ce0] -> #16 _start[0x55e263c889e0] 🛈 The full error message is at the end. ## context ### The error occurs in the following bash code: ``` bash # Compile the sieve files. for sieveFile in "${mailHome}"/sieve/*.sieve do if [[ -e ${sieveFile} ]] then if /usr/bin/sievec -D "${sieveFile}" &>"${catchOut}" then […] fi fi done ``` ## Observations ## 1. The error is not stable. The script run every hour but the errors are only ~2/3 of the runs. 2. The problem occurres only for one user with his personal `Default.sieve` file. (Bad luck that is myself.) 3. It can be reproduced locally. The following snippet is failing after 1…9 rounds – mostly 1 or 2 rounds. `ctr=1 ; while sievec -D Default.sieve ; do c42_sepLine "$((++ctr)) " ; done; echo ${ctr}?` 4. It doesn't seem to be related to any of the included files. I commented them out one for one. 5. If **only 1 include** is left the error is vanished. It doesn't depend on the include. ## Default.sieve ## ``` sieve require ["include"]; include :personal "_TrollReject"; include :personal "_alert"; include :personal "_tasks"; include :global "spam"; include :global "jobState"; include :global "ReceiptMessages"; include :personal "_c42-list"; include :personal "_mailinglist"; include :personal "_newsletter"; include :personal "_statusmail"; include :personal "_bugtracking"; include :personal "_werbung"; include :personal "_auction"; ``` 🛈 _… are personal, other are global scripts. ## Full output ## sievec: Debug: sieve: Pigeonhole version 2.4.5 (742bb892) initializing sievec: Debug: sieve: storage _file: file: Using Sieve script path: /srv/mail-c42/dirk/sieve/Default.sieve sievec: Debug: sieve: storage _file: file: script 'Default': Opened from '_file' sievec: Debug: sieve: storage _file: file: script 'Default': Opened script for reading sievec: Debug: sieve: storage personal: file: Storage path '/c42home/dirk/sieve' not found sievec: Debug: sieve: storage: file: Performing auto-detection sievec: Debug: sieve: storage: file: Use home (/c42home/dirk) sievec: Debug: sieve: storage: file: Checking storage path /c42home/dirk/sieve sievec: Debug: sieve: storage: file: Storage path '/c42home/dirk/sieve' not found sievec: Debug: sieve: storage: file: Checking storage path ~/.dovecot.sieve sievec: Debug: sieve: storage: file: Storage path '/c42home/dirk/.dovecot.sieve' not found sievec: Debug: sieve: storage: Autodetection failed sievec: Debug: sieve: storage: No matching Sieve storage configured (type=personal and cause=any) sievec: Debug: sieve: storage default: file: Using Sieve script path: /etc/c42CfgRepos/roles/mail_schiller/data/dovecot/default.sieve sievec: Debug: sieve: storage default (default): file: script '_TrollReject': Opened from 'default' sievec: Debug: sieve: storage default (default): file: script '_alert': Opened from 'default' sievec: Debug: sieve: storage default (default): file: script '_tasks': Opened from 'default' sievec: Debug: sieve: storage global: file: Using script storage path: /etc/c42CfgRepos/roles/mail_schiller/data/dovecot/sieve_global_dir sievec: Debug: sieve: storage global: file: script 'spam': Opened from 'global' sievec: Debug: sieve: storage global: file: Using script storage path: /etc/c42CfgRepos/roles/mail_schiller/data/dovecot/sieve_global_dir sievec: Debug: sieve: storage global: file: script 'jobState': Opened from 'global' sievec: Debug: sieve: storage global: file: Using script storage path: /etc/c42CfgRepos/roles/mail_schiller/data/dovecot/sieve_global_dir sievec: Debug: sieve: storage global: file: script 'ReceiptMessages': Opened from 'global' sievec: Debug: sieve: storage default (default): file: script '_c42-list': Opened from 'default' sievec: Debug: sieve: storage default (default): file: script '_mailinglist': Opened from 'default' sievec: Debug: sieve: storage default (default): file: script '_newsletter': Opened from 'default' sievec: Debug: sieve: storage default (default): file: script '_statusmail': Opened from 'default' sievec: Debug: sieve: storage default (default): file: script '_bugtracking': Opened from 'default' sievec: Debug: sieve: storage default (default): file: script '_werbung': Opened from 'default' sievec: Debug: sieve: storage default (default): file: script '_auction': Opened from 'default' sievec: Debug: sieve: storage default (default): file: script '_TrollReject': Opened script for reading sievec: Debug: sieve: storage global: file: Using script storage path: /etc/c42CfgRepos/roles/mail_schiller/data/dovecot/sieve_global_dir sievec: Debug: sieve: storage global: file: script 'spam': Opened from 'global' sievec: Debug: sieve: storage global: file: Using script storage path: /etc/c42CfgRepos/roles/mail_schiller/data/dovecot/sieve_global_dir sievec: Debug: sieve: storage global: file: script 'jobState': Opened from 'global' sievec: Debug: sieve: storage global: file: script 'spam': Opened script for reading sievec: Debug: sieve: storage global: file: script 'jobState': Opened script for reading sievec: Panic: file hash.c: line 256 (hash_table_insert_node): assertion failed: (opcode == HASH_TABLE_OP_UPDATE) sievec: Error: Raw backtrace: #1 [unw_get_proc_name() failed: -10] -> #2 default_fatal_handler[0x7f248d750e70] -> #3 i_panic[0x7f248d66e860] -> #4 [unw_get_proc_name() failed: -10] -> #5 ext_include_binary_script_include[0x7f248dc80fa0] -> #6 ext_include_generate_include[0x7f248dc810a0] -> #7 [unw_get_proc_name() failed: -10] -> #8 sieve_generate_block[0x7f248dc537d0] -> #9 sieve_generator_run[0x7f248dc55150] -> #10 sieve_compile_script[0x7f248dc72730] -> #11 sieve_compile[0x7f248dc72900] -> #12 sieve_tool_script_compile[0x55800baecb60] -> #13 main[0x55800baeb6c0] -> #14 [unw_get_proc_name() failed: -10] -> #15 __libc_start_main[0x7f248d435ce0] -> #16 _start[0x55800baeb9e0] ## ps ## Luckily dovecot is processing the compiled files, but the repeating error messages are annoying and the update of sieve files is not guaranteed. Best Regards, H.-Dirk Schmitt ``` Hello! I recently upgrade from dovecot 2.3 -> 2.4 (2.4.5). Over 10 year I have a script running synchronising sieve scripts from a subversion backend to the dovecot installation. If I run the script in terminal it works. But as cron job (every hour) it is now complaining about a **sievec** error. ## error message ### sievec: Panic: file hash.c: line 256 (hash_table_insert_node): assertion failed: (opcode == HASH_TABLE_OP_UPDATE) sievec: Error: Raw backtrace: #1 [unw_get_proc_name() failed: -10] -> #2 default_fatal_handler[0x7fae27d50e70] -> #3 i_panic[0x7fae27c6e860] -> #4 [unw_get_proc_name() failed: -10] -> #5 ext_include_binary_script_include[0x7fae283acfa0] -> #6 ext_include_generate_include[0x7fae283ad0a0] -> #7 [unw_get_proc_name() failed: -10] -> #8 sieve_generate_block[0x7fae2837f7d0] -> #9 sieve_generator_run[0x7fae28381150] -> #10 sieve_compile_script[0x7fae2839e730] -> #11 sieve_compile[0x7fae2839e900] -> #12 sieve_tool_script_compile[0x55e263c89b60] -> #13 main[0x55e263c886c0] -> #14 [unw_get_proc_name() failed: -10] -> #15 __libc_start_main[0x7fae27a35ce0] -> #16 _start[0x55e263c889e0] **** The full error message is at the end. ## context ### The error occurs in the following bash code: ``` bash # Compile the sieve files. for sieveFile in "${mailHome}"/sieve/*.sieve do if [[ -e ${sieveFile} ]] then if /usr/bin/sievec -D "${sieveFile}" &>"${catchOut}" then [...] fi fi done Observations 1. The error is not stable. The script run every hour but the errors are only ~2/3 of the runs. 2. The problem occurres only for one user with his personal Default.sieve file. (Bad luck that is myself.) 3. It can be reproduced locally. The following snippet is failing after 1...9 rounds - mostly 1 or 2 rounds. ctr=1 ; while sievec -D Default.sieve ; do c42_sepLine "$((++ctr)) " ; done; echo ${ctr}? 4. It doesn't seem to be related to any of the included files. I commented them out one for one. 5. If only 1 include is left the error is vanished. It doesn't depend on the include. Default.sieve require ["include"]; include :personal "_TrollReject"; include :personal "_alert"; include :personal "_tasks"; include :global "spam"; include :global "jobState"; include :global "ReceiptMessages"; include :personal "_c42-list"; include :personal "_mailinglist"; include :personal "_newsletter"; include :personal "_statusmail"; include :personal "_bugtracking"; include :personal "_werbung"; include :personal "_auction"; **** _... are personal, other are global scripts. Full output sievec: Debug: sieve: Pigeonhole version 2.4.5 (742bb892) initializing sievec: Debug: sieve: storage _file: file: Using Sieve script path: /srv/mail-c42/dirk/sieve/Default.sieve sievec: Debug: sieve: storage _file: file: script 'Default': Opened from '_file' sievec: Debug: sieve: storage _file: file: script 'Default': Opened script for reading sievec: Debug: sieve: storage personal: file: Storage path '/c42home/dirk/sieve' not found sievec: Debug: sieve: storage: file: Performing auto-detection sievec: Debug: sieve: storage: file: Use home (/c42home/dirk) sievec: Debug: sieve: storage: file: Checking storage path /c42home/dirk/sieve sievec: Debug: sieve: storage: file: Storage path '/c42home/dirk/sieve' not found sievec: Debug: sieve: storage: file: Checking storage path ~/.dovecot.sieve sievec: Debug: sieve: storage: file: Storage path '/c42home/dirk/.dovecot.sieve' not found sievec: Debug: sieve: storage: Autodetection failed sievec: Debug: sieve: storage: No matching Sieve storage configured (type=personal and cause=any) sievec: Debug: sieve: storage default: file: Using Sieve script path: /etc/c42CfgRepos/roles/mail_schiller/data/dovecot/default.sieve sievec: Debug: sieve: storage default (default): file: script '_TrollReject': Opened from 'default' sievec: Debug: sieve: storage default (default): file: script '_alert': Opened from 'default' sievec: Debug: sieve: storage default (default): file: script '_tasks': Opened from 'default' sievec: Debug: sieve: storage global: file: Using script storage path: /etc/c42CfgRepos/roles/mail_schiller/data/dovecot/sieve_global_dir sievec: Debug: sieve: storage global: file: script 'spam': Opened from 'global' sievec: Debug: sieve: storage global: file: Using script storage path: /etc/c42CfgRepos/roles/mail_schiller/data/dovecot/sieve_global_dir sievec: Debug: sieve: storage global: file: script 'jobState': Opened from 'global' sievec: Debug: sieve: storage global: file: Using script storage path: /etc/c42CfgRepos/roles/mail_schiller/data/dovecot/sieve_global_dir sievec: Debug: sieve: storage global: file: script 'ReceiptMessages': Opened from 'global' sievec: Debug: sieve: storage default (default): file: script '_c42-list': Opened from 'default' sievec: Debug: sieve: storage default (default): file: script '_mailinglist': Opened from 'default' sievec: Debug: sieve: storage default (default): file: script '_newsletter': Opened from 'default' sievec: Debug: sieve: storage default (default): file: script '_statusmail': Opened from 'default' sievec: Debug: sieve: storage default (default): file: script '_bugtracking': Opened from 'default' sievec: Debug: sieve: storage default (default): file: script '_werbung': Opened from 'default' sievec: Debug: sieve: storage default (default): file: script '_auction': Opened from 'default' sievec: Debug: sieve: storage default (default): file: script '_TrollReject': Opened script for reading sievec: Debug: sieve: storage global: file: Using script storage path: /etc/c42CfgRepos/roles/mail_schiller/data/dovecot/sieve_global_dir sievec: Debug: sieve: storage global: file: script 'spam': Opened from 'global' sievec: Debug: sieve: storage global: file: Using script storage path: /etc/c42CfgRepos/roles/mail_schiller/data/dovecot/sieve_global_dir sievec: Debug: sieve: storage global: file: script 'jobState': Opened from 'global' sievec: Debug: sieve: storage global: file: script 'spam': Opened script for reading sievec: Debug: sieve: storage global: file: script 'jobState': Opened script for reading sievec: Panic: file hash.c: line 256 (hash_table_insert_node): assertion failed: (opcode == HASH_TABLE_OP_UPDATE) sievec: Error: Raw backtrace: #1 [unw_get_proc_name() failed: -10] -> #2 default_fatal_handler[0x7f248d750e70] -> #3 i_panic[0x7f248d66e860] -> #4 [unw_get_proc_name() failed: -10] -> #5 ext_include_binary_script_include[0x7f248dc80fa0] -> #6 ext_include_generate_include[0x7f248dc810a0] -> #7 [unw_get_proc_name() failed: -10] -> #8 sieve_generate_block[0x7f248dc537d0] -> #9 sieve_generator_run[0x7f248dc55150] -> #10 sieve_compile_script[0x7f248dc72730] -> #11 sieve_compile[0x7f248dc72900] -> #12 sieve_tool_script_compile[0x55800baecb60] -> #13 main[0x55800baeb6c0] -> #14 [unw_get_proc_name() failed: -10] -> #15 __libc_start_main[0x7f248d435ce0] -> #16 _start[0x55800baeb9e0] ps Luckily dovecot is processing the compiled files, but the repeating error messages are annoying and the update of sieve files is not guaranteed. Best Regards, H.-Dirk Schmitt

1 0

LMTP: advertise DSN so MTAs send ORCPT (it is already honoured)
by Dhaval Patel 21 Oct '26

21 Oct '26

Hello, When moving from dovecot-lda (deliver -a ${original_recipient}) to LMTP, the original envelope recipient is lost, even though Dovecot's LMTP already supports it. Setup - Dovecot 2.4.1-4 (Debian 13, 1:2.4.1+dfsg1-6+deb13u7), Pigeonhole sieve. - Postfix delivering with virtual_transport = lmtp:unix:private/dovecot-lmtp. - Aliases such as postmaster(a)example.com are expanded by Postfix to a real mailbox (user(a)example.com) before delivery. What happens 1. Dovecot's LHLO reply advertises 8BITMIME, CHUNKING, ENHANCEDSTATUSCODES, PIPELINING, STARTTLS, but not DSN. 2. Postfix only sends the ORCPT parameter (RFC 3461) to servers that advertise DSN, so it sends RCPT TO:<user(a)example.com> with no ORCPT. 3. Sieve's envelope "to" therefore sees only the final address. A rule that worked under dovecot-lda with -a stops matching: if envelope :localpart :is "to" "postmaster" { ... } But ORCPT is honoured when sent. Talking to the LMTP socket by hand: LHLO test MAIL FROM:<user(a)example.com> RCPT TO:<user(a)example.com> ORCPT=rfc822;postmaster(a)example.com DATA ... The message is accepted, and the sieve rule above matches, so the original recipient reaches sieve. The same message without ORCPT does not match. Request. Could LMTP advertise DSN in its LHLO reply, either always or behind a setting? Since ORCPT is already parsed and used, this looks like a small change, and MTAs would then pass the original recipient. That would make LMTP equivalent to deliver -a for sieve envelope tests, and presumably for lmtp_hdr_delivery_address = original. If there's an existing way to get this that I've missed, I'd be glad to hear it. Thanks, Dhaval Patel

3 4

Subfolders "trimmed" somehow
by Stefan G. Weichinger 21 Oct '26

21 Oct '26

At a customer we run dovecot-2.4.1 on Debian 13.7 There's a fat public folder for email archive, subscribed by all users. Via ACLs we only allow some admin users delete-rights there, at least that's how I understand: group @acl_ruleset acl_ruleset1 { acl user=intranet(a)my.tld { rights = lrwstipekxa } acl user=adm1(a)my.tld { rights = lrwstipekxa } acl user=adm2(a)my.tld { rights = lrwstipekxa } acl authenticated { rights = lrwstip } } group @acl_ruleset acl_default { acl group=people { rights = lri } acl anyone { rights = lrwstip } } namespace oeffentlich { mail_path = /home/vmail/oeffentlich mail_index_private_path = %{home}/.public mailbox Oeffentlich { @acl_ruleset = acl_ruleset1 } mailbox Oeffentlich/* { @acl_ruleset = acl_ruleset1 } @acl_ruleset = acl_ruleset1 } The ISSUE: they notice that in various subfolders there are mails deleted, as if folders were trimmed to "maximal 100 emails". And we don't know who or what does that. Without proper rights even clients like Thunderbird (which brings such a cleanup feature) couldn't do that. How could I monitor these deletions without too much logging overload? I look at https://doc.dovecot.org/main/core/plugins/mail_log.html Thanks for any pointers!

1 0

Dovecot 2.4 sieve
by Doug Hardie 20 Oct '26

20 Oct '26

I have dovecot 2.4 up and running and tried to add sieve. There were a lot of strange permission errors which I fixed. However all received mail is delivered to INBOX. I have a test message that should match line 12 of the sieve. if address :contains ["from","to","cc","bcc"] "skool.com" However, sieve-test show some unusual output. It does not give the values it is testing: 12: address test 12: starting ':contains' match with 'i;ascii-casemap' comparator: 12: extracting 'from' headers from message 12: extracting 'to' headers from message 12: extracting 'cc' headers from message 12: extracting 'bcc' headers from message 12: finishing match with result: not matched 12: jump if result is false 12: jumping to line 18 I seem to recall on 2.3 it provided both values for the test. I suspect something has changed in the formatting of the sieve file, but I have not been able to find anything on that. The sieve has been recompiled. I am also seeing many email delivered to my inbox with the contents: Date: Sun, 18 Oct 2026 22:00:00 -0700 (PDT) dsync(doug): Error: mkdir(/mailbkup/home_mail/doug/Maildir) failed: Permission denied (euid=2222(vmail) egid=2222(vmail) missing +w perm: /mailbkup/home_mail, dir owned by 0:0 mode=0755) dsync(doug): Error: mkdir(/mailbkup/home_mail/doug/Maildir) failed: Permission denied (euid=2222(vmail) egid=2222(vmail) missing +w perm: /mailbkup/home_mail, dir owned by 0:0 mode=0755) dsync(doug): Error: mkdir(/mailbkup/home_mail/doug/Maildir) failed: Permission denied (euid=2222(vmail) egid=2222(vmail) missing +w perm: /mailbkup/home_mail, dir owned by 0:0 mode=0755) dsync(doug): Error: brain S: Can't create mailbox Archive: Internal error occurred. Refer to server log for more information. [2026-10-18 22:00:00] dsync(jeanne): Error: mkdir(/mailbkup/home_mail/jeanne/Maildir) failed: Permission denied (euid=2222(vmail) egid=2222(vmail) missing +w perm: /mailbkup/home_mail, dir owned by 0:0 mode=0755) dsync(jeanne): Error: mkdir(/mailbkup/home_mail/jeanne/Maildir) failed: Permission denied (euid=2222(vmail) egid=2222(vmail) missing +w perm: /mailbkup/home_mail, dir owned by 0:0 mode=0755) dsync(jeanne): Error: mkdir(/mailbkup/home_mail/jeanne/Maildir) failed: Permission denied (euid=2222(vmail) egid=2222(vmail) missing +w perm: /mailbkup/home_mail, dir owned by 0:0 mode=0755) dsync(jeanne): Error: brain S: Can't create mailbox Bridge: Internal error occurred. Refer to server log for more information. [2026-10-18 22:00:00] dsync(beneke): Error: mkdir(/mailbkup/home_mail/beneke/Maildir) failed: Permission denied (euid=2222(vmail) egid=2222(vmail) missing +w perm: /mailbkup/home_mail, dir owned by 0:0 mode=0755) dsync(beneke): Error: mkdir(/mailbkup/home_mail/beneke/Maildir) failed: Permission denied (euid=2222(vmail) egid=2222(vmail) missing +w perm: /mailbkup/home_mail, dir owned by 0:0 mode=0755) dsync(beneke): Error: mkdir(/mailbkup/home_mail/beneke/Maildir) failed: Permission denied (euid=2222(vmail) egid=2222(vmail) missing +w perm: /mailbkup/home_mail, dir owned by 0:0 mode=0755) dsync(beneke): Error: brain S: Can't create mailbox Deleted Messages: Internal error occurred. Refer to server log for more information. [2026-10-18 22:00:01] I find that a bit confusing since mail is delivered successfully to my inbox. -- Doug

2 3

Mail on Mac in Sent Items foleder could be corrpted
by The Doctor 19 Oct '26

19 Oct '26

Anyone heard if this before? -- Member - Liberal International This is doctor(a)nk.ca Ici doctor(a)nk.ca Yahweh, King & country!Never Satan President Republic!Beware AntiChrist rising! Look at Psalms 14 and 53 on Atheism ; 31 years in the ISP business!

1 0

2.4 performance reduction on SORT
by Gioele Pannetto 19 Oct '26

19 Oct '26

Hi, I’m preparing the migration from an old Rocky 8 with Dovecot 2.3 to Rocky 9 with Dovecot 2.4.5. I’m using Apache Solr as the FTS driver for the messages and Maildir as storage. Everything works great on 2.3, but since I started experimenting on 2.4 I noticed a big performance reduction on FTS queries in IMAP, specifically on the virtual all mailbox. I’ve noticed that in Dovecot 2.4 the SORT command is taking 100x more than v2.3 to complete. Running the same command (SORT (REVERSE DATE) US-ASCII BODY "Hi") on a medium sized mailbox (about 8GB) on Dovecot 2.3 it completes in seconds and on Dovecot 2.4 it takes about 3-5 minutes. On both cases the query returns about 80k messages. To exclude Solr as a culprit, using a network sniff tool, I checked that when Dovecot queries Solr for the FTS, it responds within seconds (as the SEARCH command does) so most of the execution time is spent on actually sorting the messages. Is this a regression? Am I missing some cache optimization? For context, here is my Dovecot 2.3 config: # 2.3.21.1 (d492236fa0): /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf # Pigeonhole version 0.5.21.1 (49005e73) # OS: Linux 4.18.0-553.137.1.el8_10.x86_64 x86_64 Rocky Linux release 8.10 (Green Obsidian) mail_attribute_dict = file:%h/Maildir/dovecot-attributes mail_fsync = always mail_location = maildir:~/Maildir:VOLATILEDIR=/dev/shm/dovecot/%2.256Nu/%u mail_plugins = quota quota_clone acl zlib fts fts_solr virtual notify mail_log maildir_very_dirty_syncs = yes mmap_disable = yes namespace Virtual { hidden = yes list = no location = virtual:/etc/dovecot/virtual:INDEX=~/Maildir/virtual prefix = Virtual/ separator = / subscriptions = no } namespace inbox { inbox = yes location = mailbox Archive { auto = subscribe special_use = \Archive } mailbox Drafts { auto = subscribe special_use = \Drafts } mailbox Sent { auto = subscribe special_use = \Sent } mailbox "Sent Messages" { special_use = \Sent } mailbox Spam { auto = subscribe special_use = \Junk } mailbox Trash { auto = subscribe special_use = \Trash } mailbox virtual/All { comment = All my messages special_use = \All } prefix = separator = / } plugin { acl = vfile acl_shared_dict = proxy::acl fts = solr fts_autoindex = no fts_autoindex_exclude = Drafts fts_autoindex_exclude2 = Spam fts_autoindex_exclude3 = Trash fts_autoindex_exclude4 = Sent fts_autoindex_max_recent_msgs = 500 fts_decoder = decode2text fts_header_excludes = Received Authentication-Results DKIM-* ARC-* X-* Feedback-* List-* fts_header_includes = From To Cc Bcc Subject Message-ID X-Identifier fts_index_timeout = 8s fts_solr = url=.../solr/dovecot/ zlib_save = gz zlib_save_level = 6 } service decode2text { executable = script /usr/libexec/dovecot/decode2text.sh unix_listener decode2text { mode = 0666 } user = dovecot } service imap { executable = imap imap-postlogin process_limit = 8000 vsz_limit = 2 G } Dovecot 2.4 config: # 2.4.5-2 (0cbb641e3e): /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf # Pigeonhole version 2.4.5-2 (742bb892) # OS: Linux 5.14.0-687.36.1.el9_8.x86_64 x86_64 Rocky Linux release 9.8 (Blue Onyx) # 4 default setting changes since version 2.4.4 dovecot_config_version = 2.4.4 acl_dict_index = yes acl_driver = vfile dovecot_storage_version = 2.4.4 fts_header_excludes { Received = yes Authentication-Results = yes DKIM-* = yes ARC-* = yes X-* = yes Feedback-* = yes List-* = yes } fts_header_includes { From = yes To = yes Cc = yes Bcc = yes Subject = yes Message-ID = yes X-Identifier = yes } fts_search_timeout = 8s mail_compress_write_method = gz mail_driver = maildir mail_fsync = always mail_gid = 89 mail_path = ~/Maildir mail_plugins = acl mail_compress virtual fts fts_solr notify quota quota_clone mail_uid = 89 mail_volatile_path = /dev/shm/dovecot/%{user | md5 | substr(0, 8) % 256 | hex(2)}/%{user} mmap_disable = yes verbose_proctitle = yes mail_attribute { dict file { path = %{home}/Maildir/dovecot-attributes } } maildir { very_dirty_syncs = yes } namespace inbox { inbox = yes separator = / mailbox Drafts { auto = subscribe special_use = "\\Drafts" } mailbox Spam { auto = subscribe autoexpunge = 31 days special_use = "\\Junk" } mailbox Junk { auto = no } mailbox Trash { auto = subscribe autoexpunge = 31 days special_use = "\\Trash" quota_storage_extra = 100M } mailbox Sent { auto = subscribe special_use = "\\Sent" } mailbox Archive { auto = subscribe special_use = "\\Archive" } mailbox "Sent Messages" { special_use = "\\Sent" } } namespace Virtual { mail_cache_path = ~/Maildir/virtual mail_driver = virtual mail_index_path = ~/Maildir/virtual mail_path = /var/lib/dovecot/virtual hidden = yes list = no prefix = Virtual/ separator = / subscriptions = no mailbox All { comment = All my messages special_use = "\\All" } } protocol imap { mail_plugins { imap_acl = yes last_login = yes imap_quota = yes virtual = yes } } fts solr { soft_commit = yes } mailbox Drafts { fts_autoindex = no } mailbox Spam { fts_autoindex = no } mailbox Trash { fts_autoindex = no } mailbox Sent { fts_autoindex = no } language en { default = yes } language it { } Thanks -- Gioele Pannetto

1 0