[Dovecot] Getting back into Dovecot 2.2.5
Hi there,
I'm prompted to get into running my own mail server again with Gmail going bad.
However I found /usr/share/doc/dovecot/example-config/conf.d/ a little scary, since I like to have my configs as minimalistic as possible, e.g. http://dabase.com/blog/Minimal_squid3_proxy_configuration/
So far I have: https://github.com/Webconverger/sg.webconverger.com/blob/master/dovecot/dove...
I was kinda hoping for a Maildir, but this doesn't work: mail_location = maildir:~/Maildir:LAYOUT=fs:INBOX=/var/mail/%u
I do realise /var/mail/%u is a mbox, but I was wondering if there could be some clever conversion.
I was surprised something like INBOX=/var/mail/%u wasn't the default
btw. Also surprised dovecot seems to choke on single line syntax like
passdb { driver = pam } :-)
Next thing I'm confused about is the namespace inbox { stuff. Is it
really needed? I was expecting Dovecot to create the folders once I
defined them, but mutt couldn't see them until I created them myself.
The mail server is just for myself and a few colleagues. We will probably use mutt as our MUA and Apple Mail on IOS when we are out & about. I next plan to integrate dspam, and work out how to sort mails into folders like I previously effectively had with Gmail's labels.
I was confused to which mechanism I should be using to sort mail into folders with rules. Sieve? Back to Procmail? Pigeonhole? I'm looking to avoid complexity here.
On the topic of search, can I get away with not running a Solr server? Since I shudder at the thought of running Tomcat. http://wiki2.dovecot.org/Plugins/FTS
Kiitos paljon for any pointers!
On 31-08-2013 13:07, Kai Hendry wrote:
However I found /usr/share/doc/dovecot/example-config/conf.d/ a little scary, since I like to have my configs as minimalistic as possible, e.g.
I suggest you forget all the options and concentrate on the ones you intend to use. Dovecot has defaults for most options that make sense.
I was kinda hoping for a Maildir, but this doesn't work: mail_location = maildir:~/Maildir:LAYOUT=fs:INBOX=/var/mail/%u
I have mail_location =maildir:/Mail/%d/%n:INDEX=/Mail/dovecot/indexes/%d/%n:CONTROL=/Mail/dovecot/control/%d/%n
and it works nicely. So why don't you try mail_location=maildir:/var/spool/mail/%u first and see how it works before moving the INBOX separately from other boxes
I do realise /var/mail/%u is a mbox, but I was wondering if there could be some clever conversion.
/var/mail/%u is a directory. It only becomes an mbox if you say so in Dovecot.
I was surprised something like INBOX=/var/mail/%u wasn't the default btw. Also surprised dovecot seems to choke on single line syntax like
passdb { driver = pam }:-)
Actually Dovecot will even auto-discover your mail in /var/mail/<username> among other locations (~Maildir, /var/mail/username, ~/mail, ~/Mail) if you leave mail_location empty.
Verified for passdb { driver = pam }. But this works: userdb { driver = sql; args = /usr/local/etc/dovecot/dovecot-sql.conf.ext }
This does not: userdb { driver = sql; args = /usr/local/etc/dovecot/dovecot-sql.conf.ext }
Not sure of the exact syntax though.
Next thing I'm confused about is the
namespace inbox {stuff. Is it really needed? I was expecting Dovecot to create the folders once I defined them, but mutt couldn't see them until I created them myself.
Never touched namespace myself, did not have to. The default works nicely. Sorry never used mutt before.
The mail server is just for myself and a few colleagues. We will probably use mutt as our MUA and Apple Mail on IOS when we are out & about. I next plan to integrate dspam, and work out how to sort mails into folders like I previously effectively had with Gmail's labels.
I was confused to which mechanism I should be using to sort mail into folders with rules. Sieve? Back to Procmail? Pigeonhole? I'm looking to avoid complexity here.
Sieve. Which is actually a two part thing: 1) the sieve filter language which you can enable on the dovecot server and manually edit each folder OR 2) the Sieve server which enables you to edit the filters from the clients (with the right plug-in/extension on the client.
On the topic of search, can I get away with not running a Solr server? Since I shudder at the thought of running Tomcat. http://wiki2.dovecot.org/Plugins/FTS
Solr is not the only option. The way I understand this is that this will heavily depend on your client, if it will make use of the Dovecot indexing, thefore speeding up operations. I use Thunderbird most of the time and I have no indexing on Dovecot. Searching is quite good.
Hope this helps. Andreas
On Mon, Sep 02, 2013 at 02:37:04AM +0300, Andreas Kasenides wrote:
mail_location=maildir:/var/spool/mail/%u first and see how it works before moving the INBOX separately from other boxes
That won't work:
imap(hendry): Error: stat(/var/spool/mail/hendry/tmp) failed: Not a directory/var/mail/%u is a directory. It only becomes an mbox if you say so in Dovecot.
IIUC Postfix places by default mail in /var/mail/%u as an mbox.
sg:/etc/postfix$ sudo postconf | grep mail_spool mail_spool_directory = /var/mail
I think the solution from looking around is to use dovecot as an lda. http://wiki2.dovecot.org/LDA/Postfix
I guess that will solve my mbox to maildir problem. :-)
Actually Dovecot will even auto-discover your mail in /var/mail/<username> among other locations (~Maildir, /var/mail/username, ~/mail, ~/Mail) if you leave mail_location empty.
I take that back. Dovecot without mail_location= seems to discover /var/mail/$username.
Solr is not the only option. The way I understand this is that this will heavily depend on your client, if it will make use of the Dovecot indexing, thefore speeding up operations. I use Thunderbird most of the time and I have no indexing on Dovecot. Searching is quite good.
I use mutt & Apple Mail IOS. http://www.flickr.com/photos/hendry/9652360692/
Thanks for replying! I will update https://github.com/webconverger/sg.webconverger.com with my setup in future.
On 02-09-2013 07:04, Kai Hendry wrote:
On Mon, Sep 02, 2013 at 02:37:04AM +0300, Andreas Kasenides wrote:
IIUC Postfix places by default mail in /var/mail/%u as an mbox.
sg:/etc/postfix$ sudo postconf | grep mail_spool mail_spool_directory = /var/mail
I think the solution from looking around is to use dovecot as an lda. http://wiki2.dovecot.org/LDA/Postfix
Yes! Sorry for not saying that. While the Dovecot LDA is preferred (it will also do on-line indexing), it is not the only option. Postfix will also deliver into a maildir (both the local and virtual delivery agents) if you just add a "/" at the end of the delivery directory!
I prefer the Dovecot LDA of course with necessary Postfix configs for it.
By the way I consider mbox format to be a relic of the mail systems. But it may be what you are looking for a really small setup to get away from Gmail. Straight forward and simple.
Andreas
Solr is not the only option. The way I understand this is that this will heavily depend on your client, if it will make use of the Dovecot indexing, thefore speeding up operations. I use Thunderbird most of the time and I have no indexing on Dovecot. Searching is quite good.
I use mutt & Apple Mail IOS. http://www.flickr.com/photos/hendry/9652360692/
Thanks for replying! I will update https://github.com/webconverger/sg.webconverger.com with my setup in future.
On 2013-09-01 7:37 PM, Andreas Kasenides <andreas@cymail.eu> wrote:
On 31-08-2013 13:07, Kai Hendry wrote:
However I found /usr/share/doc/dovecot/example-config/conf.d/ a little scary, since I like to have my configs as minimalistic as possible, e.g.
I suggest you forget all the options and concentrate on the ones you intend to use. Dovecot has defaults for most options that make sense.
Precisely. *Never* change a default (goes for any/all software) unless you know exactly why you are doing so.
One technique you can use is to create your own config file in conf.d/ for your modifications, name it something like 99-myConfig.conf (as long as config files in conf.f/ are included which they are by default) which causes it to be loaded last, and add your changes there. This way, it doesn't matter what is in any of the other config files, any changes you make will override them, and if you don't override something, you know you'll be using the default.
This makes keeping up with your mods during upgrades much easier too.
--
Best regards,
*/Charles/*
participants (3)
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Andreas Kasenides
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Charles Marcus
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Kai Hendry