Re: Dovecot 2.3 to 2.4 invalid Maildir settings

29 Sep 2025 · *in the scope of a namespace*

      Hi!
Actually those settings are valid outside namespace too. Not sure why you think they should be inside namespace?
Aki
...
On 29/09/2025 17:52 EEST Andy Baugh via dovecot <dovecot@dovecot.org> wrote:
So, this message is pointing to the problem, it's just not obvious on first glance as to why. mail_driver is only a valid configuration parameter *in the scope of a namespace*. Both the error messages and docs do hint towards this, but it takes a bit of dedication to figure out.
In this case it means you need those params within your "namespace inbox" config scope/block instead of in the global configuration. EX.
namespace inbox {
mail_driver = maildir
mail_path = %{home}/Maildir
...
}
This is a bit frustrating, as it does represent a bit of behavior change; on 2.3, "defaults" could effectively be set for all namespaces you setup due to being able to set them in the global scope. On 2.4, this is no longer the case for many parameters, though there are exceptions to this, which is part of why it is frustrating to deal with.
Cheers,
Thomas "Andy" Baugh | Software Development Engineer IV
andy.baugh@webpros.com
http://www.webpros.com/

From: User via dovecot <dovecot@dovecot.org>
Sent: Saturday, September 27, 2025 4:42 PM
To: dovecot@dovecot.org <dovecot@dovecot.org>
Subject: Dovecot 2.3 to 2.4 invalid Maildir settings
Greetings,
I am unable to completely migrate my Dovecot 2.3 config to 2.4.1 as I'm
unable to get past the following error:
Error: Namespace inbox: maildir: maildir settings: Failed to parse
configuration: Failed to override configuration from userdb: Invalid
maildir=${domain}/${user}/: Setting is a named filter, use 'maildir {'
I found a similar encounter at
https://www.mail-archive.com/dovecot@dovecot.org/msg90843.html that
points to
https://doc.dovecot.org/2.4.0/core/config/mailbox/mail_location.html#per-use...
yet I still can't get my config to work. I've attached my doveconf at
the end, including the ported 2.3 settings that used to work for me
(commented out).
I would appreciate any advise.
/etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf
dovecot_config_version = 2.4.1
dovecot_storage_version = 2.4.1
sql_driver = mysql
mysql /run/mysqld/mysqld.sock {
user = mail
password = mail
dbname = mail
}
passdb sql {
query = SELECT username AS user, 

password FROM mailbox WHERE username = '%{user}' AND active='1'
default_password_scheme = ARGON2I
}
userdb sql {
query = SELECT maildir, 

600 AS uid, 

600 AS gid 

FROM mailbox WHERE username = '%{user}' AND active='1'
iterate_query = SELECT username AS user FROM mailbox
}
previously:
passdb {
driver = sql
args = /etc/dovecot/dovecot-sql.conf.ext
}
userdb {
driver = sql
args = /etc/dovecot/dovecot-sql.conf.ext
}
disable_plaintext_auth = yes
auth_username_format = %{user | lower} # previously:
"auth_username_format = %Lu"
auth_mechanisms = plain login
auth_default_domain = mail.com # previously: "auth_default_realm =
mail.com"
auth_debug = yes
auth_debug_passwords = yes
mail_privileged_group = mail
previously: "mail_location = maildir:~/Maildir"
mail_driver = maildir
mail_path = %{home}/Maildir
mail_home = /var/vmail/%{user | domain}/%{user | username} # previously:
"mail_home = /var/vmail/%d/%n/"
service lmtp {
unix_listener /var/spool/postfix/private/dovecot-lmtp {
mode = 0600
user = postfix
group = postfix
}
}
service auth {
unix_listener /var/spool/postfix/private/auth {
mode = 0660
user = postfix
group = postfix
}
}
service stats {
unix_listener stats-reader {
user = nginx
group = nginx
mode = 0660
}
unix_listener stats-writer {
user = nginx
group = nginx
mode = 0660
}
}
ssl = required
ssl_min_protocol = TLSv1.2
ssl_server_prefer_ciphers = server # previously:
"ssl_prefer_server_ciphers = yes"
ssl_server {
dh_file   = /etc/ssl/dovecot/dh.pem
cert_file = /etc/ssl/dovecot/tls.pem
key_file  = /etc/ssl/dovecot/tls.key
}
previously:
ssl_dh   = </etc/ssl/dovecot/dh.pem
ssl_cert = </etc/ssl/dovecot/tls.pem
ssl_key  = </etc/ssl/dovecot/tls.key
namespace inbox {
inbox = yes
mailbox Archive {
auto = subscribe
special_use = \Archive
}
mailbox Drafts {
auto = subscribe
special_use = \Drafts
}
mailbox Junk {
auto = subscribe
special_use = \Junk
}
mailbox Trash {
auto = subscribe
special_use = \Trash
}
mailbox Sent {
auto = subscribe
special_use = \Sent
}
mailbox "Sent Messages" {
special_use = \Sent
}
}
protocols = imap lmtp
previously: /etc/dovecot/dovecot-sql.conf.ext
driver = mysql
connect = host=localhost dbname=mail user=mail password=mail
default_pass_scheme = ARGON2I
password_query = SELECT username AS user,password FROM mailbox WHERE
username = '%u' AND active='1'
user_query = SELECT maildir, 600 AS uid, 600 AS gid FROM mailbox WHERE
username = '%u' AND active='1'
iterate_query = SELECT username AS user FROM mailbox

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Re: Dovecot 2.3 to 2.4 invalid Maildir settings

Aki Tuomi

Cheers,

/etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf

previously:

passdb {

driver = sql

args = /etc/dovecot/dovecot-sql.conf.ext

}

userdb {

driver = sql

args = /etc/dovecot/dovecot-sql.conf.ext

}

disable_plaintext_auth = yes

previously: "mail_location = maildir:~/Maildir"

previously:

ssl_dh = </etc/ssl/dovecot/dh.pem

ssl_cert = </etc/ssl/dovecot/tls.pem

ssl_key = </etc/ssl/dovecot/tls.key

previously: /etc/dovecot/dovecot-sql.conf.ext