- dovecot - dovecot.org

[Dovecot] Apple Mail and too many open files?
by Alan Schmitt 31 May '06

31 May '06

Hello, For two days in a row, I've noticed that my dovecot server (hosted on a PowerMac running OS X) has stopped working, with a bunch of error messages in /var/log/mail.log like: May 24 07:31:10 top dovecot: pipe() failed: Too many open files To solve this, I have to kill -9 dovecot and the (many) imap processes running. The only client accessing the server is a machine running Apple Mail. I tried to increase the limit in the number of files (I did a "launchctl limit maxfiles 1024 unlimited", but the problem still happened. Is this a known problem? Should I allow still more files? Thanks, Alan -- Alan Schmitt <http://alan.petitepomme.net/> The hacker: someone who figured things out and made something cool happen. .O. ..O OOO

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[Dovecot] problems with Debian Sarge
by Andrea Riela 31 May '06

31 May '06

Hi folks, I've updated my dovecot 0.99.14 with the last package (0.99.14-1sarge0), but it doesn't work. I've found that problem: http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.linux.debian.devel.bugs.general/80872 then I've removed that, and reinstalled first package (from /var/cache/apt/archives), and NOW it doesnt' work too :( When I start the daemon, I see in my logs: dovecot: May 31 12:40:28 Info: Dovecot starting up dovecot-auth: May 31 12:40:29 Fatal: Unknown userdb type 'vpopmail' dovecot: May 31 12:40:29 Error: Auth process died too early - shutting down dovecot: May 31 12:40:29 Error: child 15798 (auth) returned error 89 imap-login: May 31 12:40:29 Fatal: fd_send(-1) failed: No such file or directory imap-login: May 31 12:40:29 Fatal: fd_send(-1) failed: No such file or directory I don't understand. Any advice will be appreciated Best Regards Andrea my dovecot.conf is like that: ## Dovecot 1.0 configuration file <...> # Protocols we want to be serving: # imap imaps pop3 pop3s protocols = imaps <...> # IP or host address where to listen in for SSL connections. Defaults # to above non-SSL equilevants if not specified. imaps_listen = 192.168.17.10:993 #pop3s_listen = # Disable SSL/TLS support. ssl_disable = no # PEM encoded X.509 SSL/TLS certificate and private key. They're opened before # dropping root privileges, so keep the key file unreadable by anyone but # root. #ssl_cert_file = /etc/ssl/certs/dovecot.pem #ssl_key_file = /etc/ssl/private/dovecot.pem ssl_cert_file = /var/qmail/control/servercert.pem ssl_key_file = /var/qmail/control/servercert.pem <...> # Use this logfile instead of syslog(). /dev/stderr can be used if you want to # use stderr for logging (ONLY /dev/stderr - otherwise it is closed). log_path = /var/log/dovecot.log # For informational messages, use this logfile instead of the default info_log_path = /var/log/dovecot.log <...> ## ## IMAP login process ## login = imap # Executable location. #login_executable = /usr/lib/dovecot/imap-login # User to use for the login process. Create a completely new user for this, # and don't use it anywhere else. The user must also belong to a group where # only it has access, it's used to control access for authentication process. # Note that this user is NOT used to access mails. # http://wiki.dovecot.org/UserIds login_user = dovecot <...> ## ## Mail processes ## # Maximum number of running mail processes. When this limit is reached, # new users aren't allowed to log in. #max_mail_processes = 1024 # Show more verbose process titles (in ps). Currently shows user name and # IP address. Useful for seeing who are actually using the IMAP processes # (eg. shared mailboxes or if same uid is used for multiple accounts). verbose_proctitle = no # Show protocol level SSL errors. #verbose_ssl = no # Valid UID range for users, defaults to 500 and above. This is mostly # to make sure that users can't log in as daemons or other system users. # Note that denying root logins is hardcoded to dovecot binary and can't # be done even if first_valid_uid is set to 0. first_valid_uid = 89 last_valid_uid = 89 # Valid GID range for users, defaults to non-root/wheel. Users having # non-valid GID as primary group ID aren't allowed to log in. If user # belongs to supplementary groups with non-valid GIDs, those groups are # not set. first_valid_gid = 0 #last_valid_gid = 0 <...> # Default MAIL environment to use when it's not set. By leaving this empty # dovecot tries to do some automatic detection as described in # /usr/share/doc/dovecot-common/mail-storages.txt. There's a few special # variables you can use: # # %u - username # %n - user part in user@domain, same as %u if there's no domain # %d - domain part in user@domain, empty if user there's no domain # %h - home directory # # You can also limit a width of string by giving the number of max. characters # after the '%' character. For example %1u gives the first character of # username. Some examples: # # default_mail_env = maildir:/var/mail/%1u/%u/Maildir # default_mail_env = mbox:~/mail/:INBOX=/var/mail/%u # default_mail_env = mbox:/var/mail/%d/%n/:INDEX=/var/indexes/%d/%n # default_mail_env = maildir:~/Maildir <...> # Workarounds for various client bugs: # oe6-fetch-no-newmail: # Never send EXISTS/RECENT when replying to FETCH command. Outlook Express # seems to think they are FETCH replies and gives user "Message no longer # in server" error. Note that OE6 still breaks even with this workaround # if synchronization is set to "Headers Only". # outlook-idle: # Outlook and Outlook Express never abort IDLE command, so if no mail # arrives in half a hour, Dovecot closes the connection. This is still # fine, except Outlook doesn't connect back so you don't see if new mail # arrives. # outlook-pop3-no-nuls: # Outlook and Outlook Express hang if mails contain NUL characters. # This setting replaces them with 0x80 character. client_workarounds = oe6-fetch-no-newmail outlook-idle outlook-pop3-no-nuls <...> # Copy mail to another folders using hard links. This is much faster than # actually copying the file. This is problematic only if something modifies # the mail in one folder but doesn't want it modified in the others. I don't # know any MUA which would modify mail files directly. IMAP protocol also # requires that the mails don't change, so it would be problematic in any case. # If you care about performance, enable it. maildir_copy_with_hardlinks = yes <...> ## ## Authentication processes ## # An Authentication process is a child process used by Dovecot that # handles the authentication steps. The steps cover an authentication # mechanism (auth_mechanisms, how the client authenticates in the IMAP or # POP3 protocol), which password database should be queried (auth_passdb), # and which user database should be queried (auth_userdb, to obtain # UID, GID, and location of the user's mailbox/home directory). # # You can have multiple processes, though a typical configuration will # have only one. Each time "auth = xx" is seen, a new process # definition is started. The point of multiple processes is to be able # to set stricter permissions. (See auth_user below.) # # Just remember that only one Authentication process is asked for the # password, so you can't have different passwords accessible through # different process definitions (unless they have different # auth_mechanisms, and you're ok with having different password for # each mechanisms). # Authentication process name. auth = default # Specifies how the client authenticates in the IMAP protocol. # Space separated list of permitted authentication mechanisms: # anonymous plain digest-md5 cram-md5 # # anonymous - No authentication required. # plain - The password is sent as plain text. All IMAP/POP3 clients # support this, and the password can be encrypted by Dovecot to match # any of the encryption schemes used in password databases. # digest-md5 and cram-md5 - both encrypt the password so it is more # secure in transit, but are not well supported by clients, and # require that the password database use a matching encryption # scheme (or be in plaintext). # # See auth.txt for more details. # # If you are using SSL there is less benefit to digest-md5 and # cram-md5 as the communication is already encrypted. auth_mechanisms = plain # Space separated list of realms for SASL authentication mechanisms that need # them. You can leave it empty if you don't want to support multiple realms. # Many clients simply use the first one listed here, so keep the default realm # first. #auth_realms = # Default realm/domain to use if none was specified. This is used for both # SASL realms and appending @domain to username in plaintext logins. #auth_default_realm = # User database specifies where mails are located and what user/group IDs # own them. For single-UID configuration use "static". # http://wiki.dovecot.org/Authentication # http://wiki.dovecot.org/VirtualUsers # passwd: /etc/passwd or similiar, using getpwnam() # passwd-file <path>: passwd-like file with specified location # static uid=<uid> gid=<gid> home=<dir template>: static settings # vpopmail: vpopmail library # ldap <config path>: LDAP, see /etc/dovecot/dovecot-ldap.conf # mysql <config path>: a MySQL database, see /etc/dovecot/dovecot-mysql.conf # pgsql <config path>: a PostgreSQL database, see # /etc/dovecot/dovecot-pgsql.conf auth_userdb = vpopmail # Password database specifies only the passwords for users. # http://wiki.dovecot.org/Authentication # passwd: /etc/passwd or similiar, using getpwnam() # shadow: /etc/shadow or similiar, using getspnam() # pam [<service> | *]: PAM authentication # passwd-file <path>: passwd-like file with specified location # vpopmail: vpopmail authentication # ldap <config path>: LDAP, see /etc/dovecot/dovecot-ldap.conf # mysql <config path>: a MySQL database, see /etc/dovecot/dovecot-mysql.conf # pgsql <config path>: a PostgreSQL database, see # /etc/dovecot/dovecot-pgsql.conf auth_passdb = vpopmail #auth_executable = /usr/lib/dovecot/dovecot-auth # Set max. process size in megabytes. #auth_process_size = 256 # User to use for the process. This user needs access to only user and # password databases, nothing else. Only shadow and pam authentication # requires roots, so use something else if possible. Note that passwd # authentication with BSDs internally accesses shadow files, which also # requires roots. Note that this user is NOT used to access mails. # That user is specified by auth_userdb above. auth_user = root <...>

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[Dovecot] about init.d script
by Andrea Riela 31 May '06

31 May '06

Hi folks, someone using Debian? I need the init script, if you please :) Thanks for your support Regards Andrea

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[Dovecot] How to move a Maildir directory to a new server?
by Darrin Smart 31 May '06

31 May '06

Hi All, I'd like to ask about the best practice for moving a user's Maildir from one host to another. I moved a few user's home directories, and therefore their ~/Maildir folders. They have complained that since the move, they don't see all the messages in their INBOX for a while, but eventually they all appear again. They are using Thunderbird. I tried deleting the index files but it didn't help. Can anyone give advice? I have a soft link pointing from the old home directory to the new one, and both paths were on NFS. I can't see how dovecot could give different results, could it be related to message UID numbers? I did notice that when I moved my own home directory, Mail.app re-downloaded every mail when I opened each folder. Thunderbird doesn't seem to do this, perhaps its related. Thanks. Darrin

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[Dovecot] public folders aren't public
by Mark Nienberg 30 May '06

30 May '06

I'm testing dovecot as a replacement for an aging UW-IMAP server. I have the basic IMAP setup working but I'm stuck on public folders (which my users are addicted to). I set up public folders generally a described in the wiki. The problem is that when a user creates a new public folder, the folder is owned by the user with permissions drwx------ which prevents other users from viewing the contents. Here is part of dovecot.conf: namespace public { separator = / prefix = Public/ location = maildir:/home/public/Maildir } and here is the Maildir directory [root@tesla Maildir]# ls -la total 70k drwxrwxrwx 7 dovecot Everyone 4.1k May 12 14:33 ./ drwxrwxrwx 3 root root 4.1k May 12 13:43 ../ drwxrwS--- 2 dovecot Everyone 4.1k May 12 13:48 cur/ drwx------ 5 david Everyone 4.1k May 12 14:33 .davi/ -rw-rw-r-- 1 dovecot Everyone 0 May 12 13:46 dovecot-shared drwxrwS--- 2 dovecot Everyone 4.1k May 12 13:48 new/ -rw------- 1 mark Everyone 6 May 12 14:07 subscriptions drwxrwS--- 2 dovecot Everyone 4.1k May 12 13:48 tmp/ drwx------ 5 mark Everyone 4.1k May 12 14:30 .tryit/ The directories .davi/ and .tryit/ were created by users david and mark respectively. These are real system users. They are both members of the Everyone group. Any suggestions appreciated. Thanks, Mark

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[Dovecot] IMAP server <defunct> (beta 7)
by Graham Briggs 30 May '06

30 May '06

Hi, We've been using a 0.99 version of Dovecot for nearly a year without problems, but due to a server death I had to reinstall with the same configuration as before, but more recent versions of the software, on different hardware. This time though, every few days IMAP login and access fails, and the output of ps ax shows entries such as [imap-login] <defunct> and [imap] <defunct>, with the lovely brain-eating Zombie status. There is nothing in the log file that suggests an issue. We're using dovecot with authentication/etc being done against a Postgresql database. I searched online for a solution, but the nearest problem said it was a problem with PAM, which we are not using with Dovecot. We're using Maildir as the message storage format. Does anyone have any suggestions as to why this might be occurring? If it will help to see the dovecot configuration files then I can provide them. The platform is Debian 64-bit running on a dual-core Opteron system. Yes, it isn't Debian-stable! Graham

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[Dovecot] Maildirquota
by Rodolfo Gonzalez Gonzalez 30 May '06

30 May '06

Hi, I'd like to use dovecot+postfix (with Maildir) for several virtual email servers, but one requirement is quota support. I'm aware about the lack of maildirquota support in dovecot, and I found a patch in the "unofficial patches" section which is said to provide maildirquota support to dovecot. How stable is this patch?, is it usable with dovecot 1.0b2?. And, is there any plan to support maildirquota natively in the near future?, I'd like to replace courier-imap in my setup. Thanks. Rodolfo.

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[Dovecot] separate pop and imap server keys?
by Noah 30 May '06

30 May '06

Hi there, is there any way to get the imap and pop client to use separate keys? My Thunderbird client complains when I am popping from popss.domain.com that the certificate is owned by imapss.domain.com Any clues here? Cheers, Noah

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[Dovecot] Problems with subfolders in Thunderbird
by Ian Thurlbeck 30 May '06

30 May '06

Dear All Server: dovecot-1.0.beta8 (compiled from source) centos 4.3 Client: thunderbird 1.0.8 on Fedora Core 4 on port 993 Using maildir Normally (with the current UW-IMAP) I can create a folder which may contain only messages or only folders. If I create a folder which will contain only folders, it is listed in thunderbird in light-grey italics. Subsequently I can create message folders within this folder. When doing the same thing using dovecot as the server, the same options are available, but any attempt to create a folder containing only folders is silently ignored and nothing happens (nothing is created anywhere on the server filesystem). Is this a known problem ? I do not want to use the setting which allows you to create folders which may contain both messages and folders. Thanks Ian -- Ian Thurlbeck http://www.stams.strath.ac.uk/ Statistics and Modelling Science, University of Strathclyde Livingstone Tower, 26 Richmond Street, Glasgow, UK, G1 1XH Tel: +44 (0)141 548 3667 Fax: +44 (0)141 552 2079

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[Dovecot] Hint for Fatal: sigaction(SIGRTMIN) failed: Invalid argument
by Breno Jacinto Duarte da Costa 30 May '06

30 May '06

Hello, Search google I've found a thread ("errors in logfile") discussing a similar problem to mine. It`s something related to the #define IOLOOP_NOTIFY_DNOTIFY in config.h, but disbling it resulted in errors in compilation. I'm really running out of answers for this one... if anyone could give a hint, it'd be of great help. cheers -- .''`. -- Breno Jacinto : :´` : -- breno /at/ freeunix dot com dot br : ' ' : -- 88AE 3F43 7110 57F6 A206 `. `'` -- D116 02CA 02F4 803D 4294 `-- -- Debian GNU/Linux - The Universal OS

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