Re: Dovecot 2.4.1 sieve

28 Sep 2025

      Sieve is not working. Before the upgrade to Debian 13 from Debian 12, sieve was working fine. Mail was being moved to different folders according to the rules. The rules have not changed, and have been revalidated subsequent to the move. Despite logging, there is no sign that sieve is ever running, although test mail messages qualify for being moved.
The output from doveconf -n is attached. The only mention of sieve in /var/log/mail.log is:
Sep 28 04:28:02 mx dovecot[1861243]: master: Dovecot v2.4.1-4 (7d8c0e5759) starting up for imap, lmtp, sieve, pop3 (core dumps disabled)
The only recent mention of sieve in any log (apart from dpkg) is:
mail.log:Sep 28 04:28:02 mx dovecot[1861243]: master: Dovecot v2.4.1-4 (7d8c0e5759) starting up for imap, lmtp, sieve, pop3 (core dumps disabled)
Older logs show testing actions, but no actual sieve operations.
managesieve is working.
On 28/09/2025 08:28, Aki Tuomi via dovecot wrote:
...
What exactly is not working? Can you attach doveconf -n output and, if
necessary, log entries?

Aki

  On 28/09/2025 10:09 EEST Martin Brampton via dovecot
  &lt;[1]dovecot@dovecot.org> wrote:

  Is there any answer to my problem with sieve not working with Dovecot
  2.4.1 from Debian 13?

  I have twice been told that it will work if my configuration includes:

  protocol lmtp { mail_plugins {
  sieve = yes }

  }}

  But that has always been present. There is one and only one entry for
  protocol lmtp.

  It still makes no sense to me that logs complain about a non-existent
  module - it is not referenced anywhere in the configuration.

  Is there any solution or must I downgrade to Dovecot 2.3 to have a
  properly working system?

  Best regards, Martin

  --

  Martin Brampton, Black Sheep Research
  [2]martin@black-sheep-research.com
  [3]https://black-sheep-research.com
  Tel: +44 1653 524272
  Mobile: +44 7771 787010
  Office: 4 York Road, Malton, North Yorkshire, YO17 6AX, UK.

    On Sunday, Sep 28, 2025 at 7:26 am, Aki Tuomi via dovecot
    &lt;[4]dovecot@dovecot.org (mailto:[5]dovecot@dovecot.org)> wrote:

      On 28/09/2025 04:36 EEST John via dovecot&lt;[6]dovecot@dovecot.org>
      wrote:

    >

      Debian dovecot 2.4.1 /etc/dovecot/conf.d/20-lmtp.conf has the lines
      "mail_plugin" and "sieve = yes" commented-out by default.

      dovecot.conf should have a line at the bottom "!include_try
      local.conf". Uncomment this line. Place the above lines in
      /etc/dovecot/local.conf.

      Always run doveconf for syntax correctness. Invalid syntax in
      dovecot.conf will log.

      FYI: Many dovecot sections and variables can be overridden by later
      occurrences, but some are not. I run dovecot on Debian. Debian
      dovecot.conf concatenates conf.d/* into one file. The "passwd pam" {
      ... } cannot be overridden.
      Always run doveconf to see how many passwd and userdb sections
      show-up.

      Pro-tip: Remove the include conf.d/* lines in dovecot.conf. and just
      manually concatenate the conf.d/* lines in dovecot.conf. Everything
      in one place and your configuration won't break when an upgrade
      occurs. Do you want to have many changes in multiple files under
      conf.d/*?

      I filed a security bug with dovecot 2.4.1. I have not heard back. I
      read that I am supposed to file this kind of bug with the Linux
      Distro, Debian. The bug is 2.4.1 will give the same uid/gid to any
      account after the first authentication. Everyone else gets the same
      uid/gid and all clients start downloading the folders/email of this
      first uid/gid.

      2.4.1 is not production ready.

      Stay with 2.3.+ until it is ready.

    Such bug has not been reported to us yet, but it sounds overly broad.
    Lets see if someone sends this to our way as well.

    Aki

    _______________________________________________
    dovecot mailing list -- [7]dovecot@dovecot.org
    To unsubscribe send an email to [8]dovecot-leave@dovecot.org

  Is there any answer to my problem with sieve not working with Dovecot
  2.4.1 from Debian 13?
  I have twice been told that it will work if my configuration includes:
  protocol lmtp {
  mail_plugins {

  sieve = yes
  }
  }}
  But that has always been present. There is one and only one entry for
  protocol lmtp.
  It still makes no sense to me that logs complain about a non-existent
  module - it is not referenced anywhere in the configuration.
  Is there any solution or must I downgrade to Dovecot 2.3 to have a
  properly working system?
  Best regards, Martin
  --
  Martin Brampton, Black Sheep Research
  [9]martin@black-sheep-research.com
  [10]https://black-sheep-research.com
  Tel: +44 1653 524272
  Mobile: +44 7771 787010
  Office: 4 York Road, Malton, North Yorkshire, YO17 6AX, UK.

  On Sunday, Sep 28, 2025 at 7:26 am, Aki Tuomi via dovecot
  &lt;[1][11]dovecot@dovecot.org> wrote:

  On 28/09/2025 04:36 EEST John via dovecot&lt;[12]dovecot@dovecot.org>
  wrote:

  Debian dovecot 2.4.1 /etc/dovecot/conf.d/20-lmtp.conf has the lines
  "mail_plugin" and "sieve = yes" commented-out by default.

  dovecot.conf should have a line at the bottom "!include_try
  local.conf". Uncomment this line. Place the above lines in
  /etc/dovecot/local.conf.

  Always run doveconf for syntax correctness. Invalid syntax in
  dovecot.conf will log.

  FYI: Many dovecot sections and variables can be overridden by later
  occurrences, but some are not. I run dovecot on Debian. Debian
  dovecot.conf concatenates conf.d/* into one file. The "passwd pam" {
  ... } cannot be overridden.
  Always run doveconf to see how many passwd and userdb sections
  show-up.

  Pro-tip: Remove the include conf.d/* lines in dovecot.conf. and just
  manually concatenate the conf.d/* lines in dovecot.conf. Everything in
  one place and your configuration won't break when an upgrade occurs.
  Do you want to have many changes in multiple files under conf.d/*?

  I filed a security bug with dovecot 2.4.1. I have not heard back. I
  read that I am supposed to file this kind of bug with the Linux
  Distro, Debian. The bug is 2.4.1 will give the same uid/gid to any
  account after the first authentication. Everyone else gets the same
  uid/gid and all clients start downloading the folders/email of this
  first uid/gid.

  2.4.1 is not production ready.

  Stay with 2.3.+ until it is ready.

  Such bug has not been reported to us yet, but it sounds overly broad.
  Lets see if someone sends this to our way as well.

  Aki

  _______________________________________________
  dovecot mailing list -- [13]dovecot@dovecot.org
  To unsubscribe send an email to [14]dovecot-leave@dovecot.org

  References

  Visible links
  1. mailto:[15]dovecot@dovecot.org
  _______________________________________________
  dovecot mailing list -- [16]dovecot@dovecot.org
  To unsubscribe send an email to [17]dovecot-leave@dovecot.org
References
Visible links
1.mailto:dovecot@dovecot.org
2.mailto:martin@black-sheep-research.com
3.https://black-sheep-research.com/
4.mailto:dovecot@dovecot.org
5.mailto:dovecot@dovecot.org
6.mailto:dovecot@dovecot.org
7.mailto:dovecot@dovecot.org
8.mailto:dovecot-leave@dovecot.org
9.mailto:martin@black-sheep-research.com
10.https://black-sheep-research.com/
11.mailto:dovecot@dovecot.org
12.mailto:dovecot@dovecot.org
13.mailto:dovecot@dovecot.org
14.mailto:dovecot-leave@dovecot.org
15.mailto:dovecot@dovecot.org
16.mailto:dovecot@dovecot.org
17.mailto:dovecot-leave@dovecot.org

dovecot mailing list --dovecot@dovecot.org
To unsubscribe send an email todovecot-leave@dovecot.org
-- Black Sheep Research icon
 MartinBrampton
Director
Black Sheep Research
Phone icon
+44 1653 524272 &lt;tel:+44 1653 524272> | +44 7771 787010 &lt;tel:+44 7771 787010>
Email icon
martin@black-sheep-research.com &lt;mailto:martin@black-sheep-research.com>
Website link icon
https://black-sheep-research.com &lt;https://black-sheep-research.com>
Address icon
4 York Road, Malton, YO17 6AX, UK
Sieve is not working. Before the upgrade to Debian 13 from Debian 12,
sieve was working fine. Mail was being moved to different folders
according to the rules. The rules have not changed, and have been
revalidated subsequent to the move. Despite logging, there is no sign that
sieve is ever running, although test mail messages qualify for being
moved.
The output from doveconf -n is attached. The only mention of sieve in
/var/log/mail.log is:
Sep 28 04:28:02 mx dovecot[1861243]: master: Dovecot v2.4.1-4 (7d8c0e5759)
starting up for imap, lmtp, sieve, pop3 (core dumps disabled)
The only recent mention of sieve in any log (apart from dpkg) is:
mail.log:Sep 28 04:28:02 mx dovecot[1861243]: master: Dovecot v2.4.1-4
(7d8c0e5759) starting up for imap, lmtp, sieve, pop3 (core dumps disabled)
Older logs show testing actions, but no actual sieve operations.
managesieve is working.
On 28/09/2025 08:28, Aki Tuomi via dovecot wrote:
What exactly is not working? Can you attach doveconf -n output and, if
necessary, log entries?

Aki

  On 28/09/2025 10:09 EEST Martin Brampton via dovecot
  [1]&lt;[1]dovecot@dovecot.org> wrote: