Hi Aki,
(This message might not make it to the list; I have to switch back to the other dovecot to be able to send from that address)

Oops; I did not think carefully enough about your instructions. Here is the output from

$ dovecot -n -c /home/meuser/dotfiles/auto-stanford-dovecot.conf

# 2.3.2.1 (0719df592): /home/meuser/dotfiles/auto-stanford-dovecot.conf
# Pigeonhole version 0.5.2 ()
# OS: Linux 4.18.0-13-generic x86_64 Ubuntu 18.10 ext4
# Hostname: cpbl-t450s
doveconf: Warning: please set ssl_dh=</etc/dovecot/dh.pem
doveconf: Warning: You can generate it with: dd if=/var/lib/dovecot/ssl-parameters.dat bs=1 skip=88 | openssl dhparam -inform der > /etc/dovecot/dh.pem
mail_location = maildir:/home/meuser/imap/gmailStanford:LAYOUT=fs:INBOX=/home/meuser/imap/gmailStanford/INBOX
service stats {
  unix_listener stats-writer {
    mode = 0666
  }
}
ssl_dh =  # hidden, use -P to show it
verbose_proctitle = yes


I then followed the instructions in the Warning lines above and now I get:

 dovecot -n -c /home/meuser/dotfiles/auto-stanford-dovecot.conf
# 2.3.2.1 (0719df592): /home/meuser/dotfiles/auto-stanford-dovecot.conf
# Pigeonhole version 0.5.2 ()
# OS: Linux 4.18.0-13-generic x86_64 Ubuntu 18.10 ext4
# Hostname: cpbl-t450s
mail_location = maildir:/home/meuser/imap/gmailStanford:LAYOUT=fs:INBOX=/home/meuser/imap/gmailStanford/INBOX
service stats {
  unix_listener stats-writer {
    mode = 0666
  }
}
ssl_dh =  # hidden, use -P to show it
verbose_proctitle = yes


However, this does not help my primary symptom:


$ /usr/lib/dovecot/imap -c /home/meuser/dotfiles/auto-stanford-dovecot.conf
imap(meuser,)Error: net_connect_unix(/var/run/dovecot/stats-writer) failed: Permission denied
* PREAUTH [CAPABILITY IMAP4rev1 SASL-IR LOGIN-REFERRALS ID ENABLE IDLE SORT SORT=DISPLAY THREAD=REFERENCES THREAD=REFS THREAD=ORDEREDSUBJECT MULTIAPPEND URL-PARTIAL CATENATE UNSELECT CHILDREN NAMESPACE UIDPLUS LIST-EXTENDED I18NLEVEL=1 CONDSTORE QRESYNC ESEARCH ESORT SEARCHRES WITHIN CONTEXT=SEARCH LIST-STATUS BINARY MOVE SNIPPET=FUZZY LITERAL+ NOTIFY] Logged in as meuser


Thanks!
Chris



On Mon, Dec 31, 2018 at 10:27 AM Aki Tuomi <aki.tuomi@open-xchange.com> wrote:
Did you remove the service section before taking doveconf -n? 'cos I can't see it here..

Also, did you restart dovecot after config change?

Aki

> On 31 December 2018 at 16:54 Chris BL <cpblpublic+dovecot@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> Hi Aki,
>
> Yes, the same connect error: imap(meuser,)Error: net_connect_unix(/var/run/dovecot/stats-writer) failed: Permission denied
>
> The mail location in "doveconf -n" (belo) does not reflect my preferences.
>
> In Alpine, if I acknowledge the error I get, which tells me to add
> novalidate-cert in my pinerc file, it prompts me for my POSIX username and
> password.  After that, I get my /var/spool/mail inbox, which is not what I
> want.
>
>
> doveconf -n
> # 2.3.2.1 (0719df592): /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf
> # Pigeonhole version 0.5.2 ()
> # OS: Linux 4.18.0-13-generic x86_64 Ubuntu 18.10
> # Hostname: myhost-t450s
> mail_location = mbox:~/mail:INBOX=/var/mail/%u
> mail_privileged_group = mail
> namespace inbox {
>   inbox = yes
>   location =
>   mailbox Drafts {
>     special_use = \Drafts
>   }
>   mailbox Junk {
>     special_use = \Junk
>   }
>   mailbox Sent {
>     special_use = \Sent
>   }
>   mailbox "Sent Messages" {
>     special_use = \Sent
>   }
>   mailbox Trash {
>     special_use = \Trash
>   }
>   prefix =
> }
> passdb {
>   driver = pam
> }
> protocols = " imap"
> ssl_cert = </etc/dovecot/private/dovecot.pem
> ssl_client_ca_dir = /etc/ssl/certs
> ssl_dh =  # hidden, use -P to show it
> ssl_key =  # hidden, use -P to show it
> userdb {
>   driver = passwd
> }
>
>
>
> On Mon, 31 Dec 2018, Aki Tuomi wrote:
>
> > You are still getting the connect error?
> >
> > Can you share your doveconf -n?
> >
> > Aki
> >
> > > On 31 December 2018 at 16:42 cpblpublic+dovecot@gmail.com wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > > Hi Aki,
> > >
> > > Thanks. I put that in the .conf file I mentioned, and it made no
> > > difference.
> > >
> > > Chris
> > >
> > > > Hi!
> > > >
> > > > In your case it's probably easiest to change
> > > >
> > > > service stats {
> > > >   unix_listener stats-writer {
> > > >      mode = 0666
> > > >   }
> > > > }
> > > >
> > > > Aki
> > > >
> > > > > On 31 December 2018 at 16:05 cpblpublic+dovecot@gmail.com wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > I use a localhost dovecot imap server in order to access maildir folders from Alpine (see 2009 instructions for my set up here
> > > > > https://cpbl.wordpress.com/2009/11/07/alpine-offlineimap-and-gmail-under-ubuntu/ )
> > > > >
> > > > > My configuration has worked nicely since 2009, but failed after a recent upgrade of dovecot (during basic upgrade from Ubuntu 18.04 to 18.10).
> > > > >
> > > > > The version of Alpine did not change. Uninstalling dovecot-core and dovecot-imapd, and reinstalling the older versions, fully fixes the problem.
> > > > >
> > > > > I would like to know how to get my configuration working with the new version of dovecot.
> > > > >
> > > > > Here's what the problem looks like:
> > > > >
> > > > > I have a file auto-dovecot.conf with only the following two lines.
> > > > >
> > > > > verbose_proctitle = yes
> > > > > mail_location = maildir:/home/meuser/imap/gmailStanford:LAYOUT=fs:INBOX=/home/meuser/imap/gmailStanford/INBOX
> > > > >
> > > > > Other /etc/ files are unchanged from installation defaults.
> > > > >
> > > > > Alpine calls imapd when it starts, with the following command:
> > > > >
> > > > > /usr/lib/dovecot/imap -c /home/meuser/dotfiles/auto-dovecot.conf
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > When I run that command, I get:
> > > > >
> > > > > imap(meuser,)Error: net_connect_unix(/var/run/dovecot/stats-writer) failed: Permission denied
> > > > > * PREAUTH [CAPABILITY IMAP4rev1 SASL-IR LOGIN-REFERRALS ID ENABLE IDLE
> > > > > SORT SORT=DISPLAY THREAD=REFERENCES THREAD=REFS THREAD=ORDEREDSUBJECT
> > > > > MULTIAPPEND URL-PARTIAL CATENATE UNSELECT CHILDREN NAMESPACE UIDPLUS
> > > > > LIST-EXTENDED I18NLEVEL=1 CONDSTORE QRESYNC ESEARCH ESORT SEARCHRES WITHIN
> > > > > CONTEXT=SEARCH LIST-STATUS BINARY MOVE SNIPPET=FUZZY LITERAL+ NOTIFY]
> > > > > Logged in as meuser
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > so I am guessing that the first line is the issue, since when the older version I get instead:
> > > > >
> > > > > * PREAUTH [CAPABILITY IMAP4rev1 LITERAL+ SASL-IR LOGIN-REFERRALS ID ENABLE
> > > > > IDLE SORT SORT=DISPLAY THREAD=REFERENCES THREAD=REFS THREAD=ORDEREDSUBJECT
> > > > > MULTIAPPEND URL-PARTIAL CATENATE UNSELECT CHILDREN NAMESPACE UIDPLUS
> > > > > LIST-EXTENDED I18NLEVEL=1 CONDSTORE QRESYNC ESEARCH ESORT SEARCHRES WITHIN
> > > > > CONTEXT=SEARCH LIST-STATUS BINARY MOVE] Logged in as meuser
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > Can anyone help me? I cannot find documentation for using a localhost server for Alpine, except my own from 2009.
> > > > >
> > > > > Many thanks!
> > > > >
> > > > > Chris
> > > >
> >