kamran arshad wrote:
/var/log/maillog:May 8 09:33:13 lhr dovecot: auth-worker(default): mysql: Connected to 127.0.0.1 (exim)
This looks a little strange - why would there be an (exim) in parens, are you running dovecot as your exim userid?
Regardless, my first guess is that your MySQL instance has not finished starting and is not accepting connections before Dovecot is initiated, so the auth worker has no socket to connect to; what's the timing and order of your /etc/rc* tree look like?
If you have the services starting in parallel, then you might have to move Dovecot further down the startup tree, or add a little shell voodoo to check for the MySQL socket before starting it...
-te
-- Troy Engel | Systems Engineer Fluid, Inc | http://www.fluid.com