Edgar, thank you for your help:
i also noticed your certificate chain is broken.
http://wiki2.dovecot.org/testinstallation
i have worked through this link, thank you
changing permissions for /var/mail/* to
root:mail > > > > > > ($UID:$GID = 1000:12)
and then changing /etc/dovecot/users correspondingly to
user@privustech.com:{plain}actualpassword:1000:12::/var/ma il/vhosts/privustech/user
now allows a normal login. and we can create a new folder (e.g., work) and delete it.
If we set permissions to
vmail:vmail> > > > 100:5000
and update /etc/dovecot/users correspondingly it fails.
Regardless, despite following FindMailLocation neither we nor the system can find the mailbox:
b select inbox
- 0 EXISTS
- 0 RECENT
and postfix fails with 2016-07-23T21:22:37.312039-04:00 lavarre postfix/error[17088]: A8DA2C1BB2: to=andy@privustech.com, orig_to=, relay =none, delay=278572, delays=278271/300/0/0.04, dsn=4.4.2, status=deferred (delivery temporarily suspended: conversation with mail.privustech.com[private/lmtp] timed out while receiving the initial server greeting)
lmtp may be the culprit...