I use doveconf to check if my config is valid:

root@unix:/etc/dovecot# doveconf <My config as stdout, as expected> root@unix:/etc/dovecot# echo $? 0

doveconf doesn't report any errors, as my config is syntactically valid.

However, due to a non-syntax error, Dovecot doesn't start:

root@unix:/etc/dovecot# ls /usr/local/snicerts/thisdoesntexist.key ls: cannot access '/usr/local/snicerts/thisdoesntexist.key': No such file or directory root@unix:/etc/dovecot# dovecot -F doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf line 4: ssl_key: Can't open file /usr/local/snicerts/thisdoesntexist.key: No such file or directory root@unix:/etc/dovecot# echo $? 89

Does Dovecot provide a config checker that checks more than just the syntax, but also issues like the one above? If not, maybe it's useful to add a 'quiet' option (i.e. no stdout) to doveconf.

-- With kind regards,

William Edwards