Andreas Haerter via dovecot said on Sat, 12 Jul 2025 15:08:53 +0200
Hi,
I am currently planning the migration from Dovecot 2.3 to 2.4 and was wondering if version 2.4.2 is just around the corner (and it therefore might make sense to wait a few more days).
Is there any planned schedule or does it still make sense to migrate to 2.4.1 within the next ~14 days?
Hi Andreas,
My advice would be to hold off on the 2.3.x to 2.4.x upgrade for the forseeable future. This upgrade involves a great many changes to dovecot.conf and the files in conf.d: The very grammar of these files. I didn't find the current state of Dovecot documentation on 2.4.x dovecot.conf helpful. Sooner or later good documentation will appear, on Dovecot's website or somewhere else. Once you have a solid path forward, that's the time to upgrade.
After fighting with 2.4.1 for a couple days, I downgraded back to 2.3.21 and held it there to prevent upgrade. When I get the time, I'll create a virtual machine guest on which to put 2.4.1 working on a very small and simple Maildir, in order to learn the ins and outs of the new dovecot.conf via reverse engineering, trial and error, and collecting info from many sources. Only after I understand it will I once again upgrade my main machine to 2.4.1.
When it comes to this upgrade, only the most Dovecot knowledgeable should be early adopters. The rest of us should wait and follow the path they forge.
So to answer your question, my advice is not to upgrade in the next 14 days, or even the next month or two, regardless of any 2.4.2 progress.
SteveT
Steve Litt