I just did a Tumbleweed upgrade. then I had to fix dovecot. No warning that dovecot was going to break what so ever. Below is all the things I had to fix. And then I could not read my email in Thunderbird because you changed:
mail_location = mbox:~/mail:INBOX=/var/spool/mail/%u to mail_driver = mbox mail_path = ~/mail mail_inbox_path = /var/spool/mail/%{user}
and the "%u" to "%{user}" was the showstopper.
What a crock of BS! I spent 3 hours determining the problem and then fixing dovecot because you decided to make major changes for no good reason. It worked just fine the way it was. You could have automated the changes by providing a utility that would make the changes the first time it started up after the upgrade.
I had to try to start dovecot and when it failed to start look in the log and see the error and fix it. Over and over and over and over and over and over and over and...
Like I said what a bunch of BS! Yes this is a rant. And maybe openSuSE's is too blame also.
Jan 24 03:33:35 server dovecot[2223449]: doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf line 25: The first setting must be dovecot_config_version Jan 24 03:36:45 server dovecot[4626]: doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf line 25: The first setting must be dovecot_config_version Jan 24 03:46:10 server dovecot[21464]: doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf line 2: Invalid dovecot_config_version: Currently supported versions are: 2.4.0 2.4.1 2.4.2 Jan 24 03:48:45 server dovecot[22135]: doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf line 92: dict { } is missing section name Jan 24 03:51:47 server dovecot[28824]: doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/conf.d/auth-system.conf.ext line 10: passdb { } is missing section name Jan 24 03:53:22 server dovecot[29258]: doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/conf.d/auth-system.conf.ext line 10: passdb { } is missing section name Jan 24 03:55:26 server dovecot[29906]: doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/conf.d/auth-system.conf.ext line 49: userdb { } is missing section name Jan 24 03:56:57 server dovecot[30179]: doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/conf.d/10-director.conf line 40: inet_listener { } is missing section name Jan 24 03:58:37 server dovecot[30652]: doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/conf.d/10-logging.conf line 64: Unknown section name: plugin Jan 24 04:01:32 server dovecot[37805]: doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/conf.d/10-mail.conf line 31: mail_location: Unknown setting: mail_location Jan 24 04:05:30 server dovecot[38898]: doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/conf.d/10-mail.conf line 32: mail_location: Unknown setting: mail_location Jan 24 04:06:35 server dovecot[39158]: doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/conf.d/10-ssl.conf line 23: ssl_cert: Unknown setting: ssl_cert Jan 24 04:09:07 server dovecot[39707]: doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/conf.d/10-ssl.conf line 25: ssl_server_cert_file: open(/etc/dovecot/conf.d/-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE----- Jan 24 04:09:07 server dovecot[39707]: doveconf: Fatal: -----END CERTIFICATE----- Jan 24 04:09:07 server dovecot[39707]: doveconf: Fatal: ) failed: File name too long Jan 24 04:14:52 server dovecot[47156]: doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/conf.d/10-ssl.conf line 27: ssl_server_cert_file: open(/etc/dovecot/conf.d/-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE----- Jan 24 04:14:52 server dovecot[47156]: doveconf: Fatal: -----END CERTIFICATE----- Jan 24 04:14:52 server dovecot[47156]: doveconf: Fatal: ) failed: File name too long Jan 24 04:17:35 server dovecot[54187]: doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/conf.d/10-ssl.conf line 72: ssl_dh: Unknown setting: ssl_dh Jan 24 04:19:04 server dovecot[54532]: doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/conf.d/10-ssl.conf line 93: ssl_prefer_server_ciphers: Unknown setting: ssl_prefer_server_ciphers Jan 24 04:21:07 server dovecot[60961]: doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/conf.d/90-acl.conf line 11: Unknown section name: plugin Jan 24 04:22:40 server dovecot[61409]: doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/conf.d/90-acl.conf line 17: Unknown section name: plugin Jan 24 04:23:35 server dovecot[61624]: doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/conf.d/90-plugin.conf line 9: Unknown section name: plugin Jan 24 04:24:40 server dovecot[61932]: doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/conf.d/90-quota.conf line 17: Unknown section name: plugin Jan 24 04:25:38 server dovecot[62301]: doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/conf.d/90-quota.conf line 41: Unknown section name: plugin Jan 24 04:26:12 server dovecot[62335]: doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/conf.d/90-quota.conf line 69: Unknown section name: plugin Jan 24 04:26:42 server dovecot[62550]: doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/conf.d/90-quota.conf line 78: Unknown section name: plugin Jan 24 04:27:05 server dovecot[62582]: doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/conf.d/90-sieve-extprograms.conf line 9: Unknown section name: plugin Jan 24 04:28:11 server dovecot[62819]: doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/conf.d/90-sieve.conf line 24: Unknown section name: plugin Jan 24 04:29:02 server dovecot[63099]: doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/conf.d/90-sieve.conf line 39: sieve: Unknown setting: sieve Jan 24 04:36:01 server dovecot[71295]: doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/conf.d/90-sieve.conf line 39: sieve: Unknown setting: sieve Jan 24 04:39:04 server dovecot[72067]: doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/conf.d/90-sieve.conf line 40: sieve: Unknown setting: sieve (sieve_script_sieve or sieve_script_personal_sieve not found either.) Jan 24 04:47:39 server dovecot[86665]: doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf: ssl_options: unknown flag: 'no_compression' Jan 24 04:50:51 server dovecot[93375]: doveconf: Fatal: dovecot_storage_version setting must be set Jan 24 05:01:51 server dovecot[105836]: doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/conf.d/10-mail.conf line 31: mail_location: Unknown setting: mail_location
Jan 24 05:06:18 cjbnew dovecot: imap(bob)<107288><SOtYQyBJTOXAqBTz>: Error: Mailbox INBOX: open(/var/spool/mail/%u) failed: Permission denied (euid=500(bob) egid=100(users) missing +w perm: /var/spool/mail, dir owned by 0:0 mode=0755) Jan 24 05:06:18 cjbnew dovecot: imap(bob)<107288><SOtYQyBJTOXAqBTz>: Error: Mailbox INBOX: Failed to autocreate mailbox: open(/var/spool/mail/%u) failed: Permission denied (euid=500(bob) egid=100(users) missing +w perm: /var/spool/mail, dir owned by 0:0 mode=0755) Jan 24 05:06:18 cjbnew dovecot: imap(bob)<107289><9+pYQyBJTeXAqBTz>: Error: Mailbox INBOX: open(/var/spool/mail/%u) failed: Permission denied (euid=500(bob) egid=100(users) missing +w perm: /var/spool/mail, dir owned by 0:0 mode=0755) Jan 24 05:06:18 cjbnew dovecot: imap(bob)<10Jan 24 05:06:18 cjbnew dovecot: imap(bob)<107288><SOtYQyBJTOXAqBTz>: Error: Mailbox INBOX: open(/var/spool/mail/%u) failed: Permission denied (euid=500(bob) egid=100(users) missing +w perm: /var/spool/mail, dir owned by 0:0 mode=0755) Jan 24 05:06:18 cjbnew dovecot: imap(bob)<107288><SOtYQyBJTOXAqBTz>: Error: Mailbox INBOX: Failed to autocreate mailbox: open(/var/spool/mail/%u) failed: Permission denied (euid=500(bob) egid=100(users) missing +w perm: /var/spool/mail, dir owned by 0:0 mode=0755) Jan 24 05:06:18 cjbnew dovecot: imap(bob)<107289><9+pYQyBJTeXAqBTz>: Error: Mailbox INBOX: open(/var/spool/mail/%u) failed: Permission denied (euid=500(bob) egid=100(users) missing +w perm: /var/spool/mail, dir owned by 0:0 mode=0755) Jan 24 05:06:18 cjbnew dovecot: imap(bob)<107289><9+pYQyBJTeXAqBTz>: Error: Mailbox INBOX: Failed to autocreate mailbox: open(/var/spool/mail/%u) failed: Permission denied (euid=500(bob) egid=100(users) missing +w perm: /var/spool/mail, dir owned by 0:0 mode=07557289><9+pYQyBJTeXAqBTz>: Error: Mailbox INBOX: Failed to autocreate mailbox: open(/var/spool/mail/%u) failed: Permission denied (euid=500(bob) egid=100(users) missing +w perm: /var/spool/mail, dir owned by 0:0 mode=0755)
Jan 24 05:08:38 cjbnew dovecot: imap(bob)<107806><1/QbSyBJUOXAqBTz>: Error: Mailbox INBOX: open(/var/spool/mail/%u) failed: Permission denied (euid=500(bob) egid=100(users) missing +w perm: /var/spool/mail, dir owned by 0:0 mode=0755) Jan 24 05:08:38 cjbnew dovecot: imap(bob)<107806><1/QbSyBJUOXAqBTz>: Error: Mailbox INBOX: Failed to autocreate mailbox: open(/var/spool/mail/%u) failed: Permission denied (euid=500(bob) egid=100(users) missing +w perm: /var/spool/mail, dir owned by 0:0 mode=0755) Jan 24 05:11:10 cjbnew dovecot: imap(bob)<107806><1/QbSyBJUOXAqBTz>: Error: Mailbox INBOX: open(/var/spool/mail/%u) failed: Permission denied (euid=500(bob) egid=100(users) missing +w perm: /var/spool/mail, dir owned by 0:0 mode=0755) Jan 24 05:11:10 cjbnew dovecot: imap(bob)<107806><1/QbSyBJUOXAqBTz>: Error: Mailbox INBOX: Failed to autocreate mailbox: open(/var/spool/mail/%u) failed: Permission denied (euid=500(bob) egid=100(users) missing +w perm: /var/spool/mail, dir owned by 0:0 mode=0755) Jan 24 05:15:09 cjbnew dovecot: imap(bob)<107806><1/QbSyBJUOXAqBTz>: Error: Mailbox INBOX: open(/var/spool/mail/%u) failed: Permission denied (euid=500(bob) egid=100(users) missing +w perm: /var/spool/mail, dir owned by 0:473 mode=0755) Jan 24 05:15:09 cjbnew dovecot: imap(bob)<107806><1/QbSyBJUOXAqBTz>: Error: Mailbox INBOX: Failed to autocreate mailbox: open(/var/spool/mail/%u) failed: Permission denied (euid=500(bob) egid=100(users) missing +w perm: /var/spool/mail, dir owned by 0:473 mode=0755) Jan 24 05:18:35 cjbnew dovecot: imap(bob)<107806><1/QbSyBJUOXAqBTz>: Error: Mailbox INBOX: open(/var/spool/mail/%u) failed: Permission denied (euid=500(bob) egid=100(users) missing +w perm: /var/spool/mail, we're not in group 473(mail), dir owned by 0:473 mode=0775) Jan 24 05:18:35 cjbnew dovecot: imap(bob)<107806><1/QbSyBJUOXAqBTz>: Error: Mailbox INBOX: Failed to autocreate mailbox: open(/var/spool/mail/%u) failed: Permission denied (euid=500(bob) egid=100(users) missing +w perm: /var/spool/mail, we're not in group 473(mail), dir owned by 0:473 mode=0775)
Jan 24 05:19:09 cjbnew dovecot: imap(bob)<122933></apLcSBJaKrAqBTq>: Disconnected: Connection closed (SELECT finished 0.138 secs ago) in=102 out=787 deleted=0 expunged=0 trashed=0 hdr_count=0 hdr_bytes=0 body_count=0 body_bytes=0 Jan 24 05:19:58 cjbnew dovecot: imap(bob)<107806><1/QbSyBJUOXAqBTz>: Error: Mailbox INBOX: open(/var/spool/mail/%u) failed: Permission denied (euid=500(bob) egid=100(users) missing +w perm: /var/spool/mail, we're not in group 473(mail), dir owned by 0:473 mode=0775) Jan 24 05:19:58 cjbnew dovecot: imap(bob)<107806><1/QbSyBJUOXAqBTz>: Error: Mailbox INBOX: Failed to autocreate mailbox: open(/var/spool/mail/%u) failed: Permission denied (euid=500(bob) egid=100(users) missing +w perm: /var/spool/mail, we're not in group 473(mail), dir owned by 0:473 mode=0775) Jan 24 05:20:20 cjbnew dovecot: imap(bob)<107806><1/QbSyBJUOXAqBTz>: Error: Mailbox INBOX: open(/var/spool/mail/%u) failed: Permission denied (euid=500(bob) egid=100(users) missing +w perm: /var/spool/mail, we're not in group 473(mail), dir owned by 0:473 mode=0775) Jan 24 05:20:20 cjbnew dovecot: imap(bob)<107806><1/QbSyBJUOXAqBTz>: Error: Mailbox INBOX: Failed to autocreate mailbox: open(/var/spool/mail/%u) failed: Permission denied (euid=500(bob) egid=100(users) missing +w perm: /var/spool/mail, we're not in group 473(mail), dir owned by 0:473 mode=0775) Jan 24 05:21:17 cjbnew dovecot: imap(bob)<107806><1/QbSyBJUOXAqBTz>: Error: Mailbox INBOX: open(/var/spool/mail/%u) failed: Permission denied (euid=500(bob) egid=100(users) missing +w perm: /var/spool/mail, we're not in group 473(mail), dir owned by 0:473 mode=0775) Jan 24 05:21:17 cjbnew dovecot: imap(bob)<107806><1/QbSyBJUOXAqBTz>: Error: Mailbox INBOX: Failed to autocreate mailbox: open(/var/spool/mail/%u) failed: Permission denied (euid=500(bob) egid=100(users) missing +w perm: /var/spool/mail, we're not in group 473(mail), dir owned by 0:473 mode=0775)
On Sat, Jan 24, 2026 at 4:11 PM Curtis J Blank via dovecot < dovecot@dovecot.org> wrote:
I just did a Tumbleweed upgrade. then I had to fix dovecot. No warning that dovecot was going to break what so ever. Below is all the things I had to fix. And then I could not read my email in Thunderbird because you changed:
mail_location = mbox:~/mail:INBOX=/var/spool/mail/%u to mail_driver = mbox mail_path = ~/mail mail_inbox_path = /var/spool/mail/%{user}
and the "%u" to "%{user}" was the showstopper.
What a crock of BS! I spent 3 hours determining the problem and then fixing dovecot because you decided to make major changes for no good reason. It worked just fine the way it was. You could have automated the changes by providing a utility that would make the changes the first time it started up after the upgrade.
All this ranting while you did not read the release announcement? Oh Lord of Mercy :-)
-- Best regards, Odhiambo WASHINGTON, Nairobi,KE +254 7 3200 0004/+254 7 2274 3223 In an Internet failure case, the #1 suspect is a constant: DNS. "Oh, the cruft.", egrep -v '^$|^.*#' ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :-) [How to ask smart questions: http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html]
On Sat, Jan 24, 2026 at 4:11PM Curtis J Blank via dovecot <[1]dovecot@dovecot.org> wrote:
I just did a Tumbleweed upgrade. then I had to fix dovecot. No warning
that dovecot was going to break what so ever. Below is all the things I
had to fix. And then I could not read my email in Thunderbird because
you changed:
mail_location = mbox:~/mail:INBOX=/var/spool/mail/%u
to
mail_driver = mbox
mail_path = ~/mail
mail_inbox_path = /var/spool/mail/%{user}
and the "%u" to "%{user}" was the showstopper.
What a crock of BS! I spent 3 hours determining the problem and then
fixing dovecot because you decided to make major changes for no good
reason. It worked just fine the way it was. You could have automated the
changes by providing a utility that would make the changes the first
time it started up after the upgrade.All this ranting while you did not read the release announcement? Oh Lord of Mercy :-)
Best regards, Odhiambo WASHINGTON, Nairobi,KE +254 7 3200 0004/+254 7 2274 3223 In an Internet failure case, the #1 suspect is a constant: DNS. "Oh, the cruft.", egrep -v '^$|^.*#' -\_(Tu)_/- :-) [How to ask smart questions: [2]http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html]
References
Visible links
- mailto:dovecot@dovecot.org
- http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
Yes there is a release note, and yes it includes extreme changes.
I have yet to update Debian due to this. I did install in a test site and spent the better part of a day getting it to work, hopefully.
In fairness Dovecot is free. They don't owe me anything. If opensource software is going to treat its users like this. I guess that could generate sales.
I am considering other options, before I upgrade to Debian 13 or maybe something altogether different.
--john
On 1/24/26 9:48 AM, Washington Odhiambo via dovecot wrote:
On Sat, Jan 24, 2026 at 4:11PM Curtis J Blank via dovecot <[1]dovecot@dovecot.org> wrote: I just did a Tumbleweed upgrade. then I had to fix dovecot. No warning that dovecot was going to break what so ever. Below is all the things I had to fix. And then I could not read my email in Thunderbird because you changed: mail_location = mbox:~/mail:INBOX=/var/spool/mail/%u to mail_driver = mbox mail_path = ~/mail mail_inbox_path = /var/spool/mail/%{user} and the "%u" to "%{user}" was the showstopper. What a crock of BS! I spent 3 hours determining the problem and then fixing dovecot because you decided to make major changes for no good reason. It worked just fine the way it was. You could have automated the changes by providing a utility that would make the changes the first time it started up after the upgrade. All this ranting while you did not read the release announcement? Oh Lord of Mercy :-) -- Best regards, Odhiambo WASHINGTON, Nairobi,KE +254 7 3200 0004/+254 7 2274 3223 In an Internet failure case, the #1 suspect is a constant: DNS. "Oh, the cruft.", egrep -v '^$|^.*#' -\_(Tu)_/- :-) [How to ask smart questions: [2]http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html]References
Visible links 1. mailto:dovecot@dovecot.org 2. http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
dovecot mailing list -- dovecot@dovecot.org To unsubscribe send an email to dovecot-leave@dovecot.org
On Sat, Jan 24, 2026 at 10:26:30AM -0500, John Hill via dovecot wrote:
I have yet to update Debian due to this. I did install in a test site and spent the better part of a day getting it to work, hopefully.
For Debian, I'd recommend reading chapter 5.1.18 of our finde release notes for trixie. I have updated my mail server to trixie a few weeks ago and found the information the dovecot project gave about how to convert very helpful and understandeable. It took me about two hours to figure out the changes, but my IMAP system also only has a handful of users. For everything of production value I'd strongly recommend to practise this upgrade with an offline clone to minimize downtime.
You cannot blame a software project for moving forward. If you want to see how software looks after keeping backwards compatibility for two decades, take a look at a random Windows system.
The dovecot 2.3 to 2.4 upgrade surely is not painless and definetely causes manual work and testing efforts that I'd rather not have had done, but I also experienced more painful transitions in the past.
That being said, I found the thread starting message disrespectful and unfriendly and would rather not read something like that again on the support mailing list of a free and open source software project.
Greetings Marc
--
Marc Haber | "I don't trust Computers. They | Mailadresse im Header Leimen, Germany | lose things." Winona Ryder | Fon: *49 6224 1600402 Nordisch by Nature | How to make an American Quilt | Fax: *49 6224 1600421
If you use system accounts, the migration is so easy.
-- Best regards, Odhiambo WASHINGTON, Nairobi,KE +254 7 3200 0004/+254 7 2274 3223 In an Internet failure case, the #1 suspect is a constant: DNS. "Oh, the cruft.", egrep -v '^$|^.*#' ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :-) [How to ask smart questions: http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html]
On Sat, Jan 24, 2026, 18:27 John Hill via dovecot <dovecot@dovecot.org> wrote:
Yes there is a release note, and yes it includes extreme changes.
I have yet to update Debian due to this. I did install in a test site and spent the better part of a day getting it to work, hopefully.
In fairness Dovecot is free. They don't owe me anything. If opensource software is going to treat its users like this. I guess that could generate sales.
I am considering other options, before I upgrade to Debian 13 or maybe something altogether different.
--john
On 1/24/26 9:48 AM, Washington Odhiambo via dovecot wrote:
On Sat, Jan 24, 2026 at 4:11PM Curtis J Blank via dovecot <[1]dovecot@dovecot.org> wrote: I just did a Tumbleweed upgrade. then I had to fix dovecot. Nowarning
that dovecot was going to break what so ever. Below is all thethings I
had to fix. And then I could not read my email in Thunderbirdbecause
you changed: mail_location = mbox:~/mail:INBOX=/var/spool/mail/%u to mail_driver = mbox mail_path = ~/mail mail_inbox_path = /var/spool/mail/%{user} and the "%u" to "%{user}" was the showstopper. What a crock of BS! I spent 3 hours determining the problem andthen
fixing dovecot because you decided to make major changes for nogood
reason. It worked just fine the way it was. You could haveautomated the
changes by providing a utility that would make the changes thefirst
time it started up after the upgrade. All this ranting while you did not read the release announcement? Oh Lord of Mercy :-) -- Best regards, Odhiambo WASHINGTON, Nairobi,KE +254 7 3200 0004/+254 7 2274 3223 In an Internet failure case, the #1 suspect is a constant: DNS. "Oh, the cruft.", egrep -v '^$|^.*#' -\_(Tu)_/- :-) [How to ask smart questions: [2]http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html]References
Visible links 1. mailto:dovecot@dovecot.org 2. http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
dovecot mailing list -- dovecot@dovecot.org To unsubscribe send an email to dovecot-leave@dovecot.org
dovecot mailing list -- dovecot@dovecot.org To unsubscribe send an email to dovecot-leave@dovecot.org
If you use system accounts, the migration is so easy.
Best regards, Odhiambo WASHINGTON, Nairobi,KE +254 7 3200 0004/+254 7 2274 3223 In an Internet failure case, the #1 suspect is a constant: DNS. "Oh, the cruft.", egrep -v '^$|^.*#' -\_(Tu)_/- :-) [How to ask smart questions: [1]http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html] On Sat, Jan 24, 2026, 18:27 John Hill via dovecot <[2]dovecot@dovecot.org> wrote:
Yes there is a release note, and yes it includes extreme changes.
I have yet to update Debian due to this. I did install in a test site
and spent the better part of a day getting it to work, hopefully.
In fairness Dovecot is free. They don't owe me anything. If opensource
software is going to treat its users like this. I guess that could
generate sales.
I am considering other options, before I upgrade to Debian 13 or maybe
something altogether different.
--john
On 1/24/26 9:48 AM, Washington Odhiambo via dovecot wrote:
> On Sat, Jan 24, 2026 at 4:11PM Curtis J Blank via dovecot
> <[1][3]dovecot@dovecot.org> wrote:
>
> I just did a Tumbleweed upgrade. then I had to fix dovecot. No
warning
> that dovecot was going to break what so ever. Below is all the
things I
> had to fix. And then I could not read my email in Thunderbird
because
> you changed:
>
> mail_location = mbox:~/mail:INBOX=/var/spool/mail/%u
> to
> mail_driver = mbox
> mail_path = ~/mail
> mail_inbox_path = /var/spool/mail/%{user}
>
> and the "%u" to "%{user}" was the showstopper.
>
> What a crock of BS! I spent 3 hours determining the problem and
then
> fixing dovecot because you decided to make major changes for no
good
> reason. It worked just fine the way it was. You could have
automated the
> changes by providing a utility that would make the changes the
first
> time it started up after the upgrade.
>
> All this ranting while you did not read the release announcement?
> Oh Lord of Mercy :-)
> --
> Best regards,
> Odhiambo WASHINGTON,
> Nairobi,KE
> +254 7 3200 0004/+254 7 2274 3223
> In an Internet failure case, the #1 suspect is a constant: DNS.
> "Oh, the cruft.", egrep -v '^$|^.*#' -\_(Tu)_/- :-)
> [How to ask smart
> questions:
[2][4]http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html]
>
> References
>
> Visible links
> 1. mailto:[5]dovecot@dovecot.org
> 2. [6]http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> dovecot mailing list -- [7]dovecot@dovecot.org
> To unsubscribe send an email to [8]dovecot-leave@dovecot.org
_______________________________________________
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To unsubscribe send an email to [10]dovecot-leave@dovecot.orgReferences
Visible links
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- mailto:dovecot@dovecot.org
- mailto:dovecot@dovecot.org
- http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
- mailto:dovecot@dovecot.org
- http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
- mailto:dovecot@dovecot.org
- mailto:dovecot-leave@dovecot.org
- mailto:dovecot@dovecot.org
- mailto:dovecot-leave@dovecot.org
If you mean local users. Mine are all virtual. I think when I'm up to it, I have working configs on my test site, I'll upgrade it.
Dovecot s a VERY good product. --john
On 1/24/26 4:24 PM, Washington Odhiambo wrote:
If you use system accounts, the migration is so easy.
-- Best regards, Odhiambo WASHINGTON, Nairobi,KE +254 7 3200 0004/+254 7 2274 3223 In an Internet failure case, the #1 suspect is a constant: DNS. "Oh, the cruft.", egrep -v '^$|^.*#' ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :-) [How to ask smart questions: http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart- questions.html <http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html>]
On Sat, Jan 24, 2026, 18:27 John Hill via dovecot <dovecot@dovecot.org <mailto:dovecot@dovecot.org>> wrote:
Yes there is a release note, and yes it includes extreme changes. I have yet to update Debian due to this. I did install in a test site and spent the better part of a day getting it to work, hopefully. In fairness Dovecot is free. They don't owe me anything. If opensource software is going to treat its users like this. I guess that could generate sales. I am considering other options, before I upgrade to Debian 13 or maybe something altogether different. --john On 1/24/26 9:48 AM, Washington Odhiambo via dovecot wrote: > On Sat, Jan 24, 2026 at 4:11PM Curtis J Blank via dovecot > <[1]dovecot@dovecot.org <mailto:dovecot@dovecot.org>> wrote: > > I just did a Tumbleweed upgrade. then I had to fix dovecot. No warning > that dovecot was going to break what so ever. Below is all the things I > had to fix. And then I could not read my email in Thunderbird because > you changed: > > mail_location = mbox:~/mail:INBOX=/var/spool/mail/%u > to > mail_driver = mbox > mail_path = ~/mail > mail_inbox_path = /var/spool/mail/%{user} > > and the "%u" to "%{user}" was the showstopper. > > What a crock of BS! I spent 3 hours determining the problem and then > fixing dovecot because you decided to make major changes for no good > reason. It worked just fine the way it was. You could have automated the > changes by providing a utility that would make the changes the first > time it started up after the upgrade. > > All this ranting while you did not read the release announcement? > Oh Lord of Mercy :-) > -- > Best regards, > Odhiambo WASHINGTON, > Nairobi,KE > +254 7 3200 0004/+254 7 2274 3223 > In an Internet failure case, the #1 suspect is a constant: DNS. > "Oh, the cruft.", egrep -v '^$|^.*#' -\_(Tu)_/- :-) > [How to ask smart > questions: [2]http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart- questions.html <http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html>] > > References > > Visible links > 1. mailto:dovecot@dovecot.org <mailto:dovecot@dovecot.org> > 2. http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html <http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html> > > > _______________________________________________ > dovecot mailing list -- dovecot@dovecot.org <mailto:dovecot@dovecot.org> > To unsubscribe send an email to dovecot-leave@dovecot.org <mailto:dovecot-leave@dovecot.org> _______________________________________________ dovecot mailing list -- dovecot@dovecot.org <mailto:dovecot@dovecot.org> To unsubscribe send an email to dovecot-leave@dovecot.org <mailto:dovecot-leave@dovecot.org>
- Curtis J Blank via dovecot:
I just did a Tumbleweed upgrade. then I had to fix dovecot. [... whining deleted ...]
If you choose to rely on a prepackaged Dovecot provided by openSUSE, which describe Tumbleweed as a "leading-edge" (their words, i.e. rolling) distribution, you need to discuss your problems with updating said package with the openSUSE people.
If you additionally choose to upgrade your production mail service without previously going through a suitable testing environment, that's entirely your personal fault, and no amount of whining will change that.
-Ralph
On 24/01/2026 14:10, Curtis J Blank via dovecot wrote:
I just did a Tumbleweed upgrade. then I had to fix dovecot. No warning that dovecot was going to break what so ever. Below is all the things I had to fix. And then I could not read my email in Thunderbird because you changed:
mail_location = mbox:~/mail:INBOX=/var/spool/mail/%u to mail_driver = mbox mail_path = ~/mail mail_inbox_path = /var/spool/mail/%{user}
and the "%u" to "%{user}" was the showstopper.
What a crock of BS! I spent 3 hours determining the problem and then fixing dovecot because you decided to make major changes for no good reason. It worked just fine the way it was. You could have automated the changes by providing a utility that would make the changes the first time it started up after the upgrade.
Hi Curtis
I understand the unexpected difficulty that you had to go through when you found the new version of Dovecot upgraded in your distro upgrade. But it has to be said that the 2.4 version has been a long time coming and is now at 2.4.2 and you can say many things, but the incompatible changes have been well known and publicized for a very long time now, I think probably years rather than months. If you're using Dovecot it would be best to keep an eye on announcements. Even if you hadn't noticed it, this didn't just come out of the blue.
I personally am still running the previous version on Fedora 42 and since the upgrade to 43 includes the new 2.4 I have made my own 2.3 rpms for Fedora 43 so that I can keep running it and then do the config conversion calmly and in a test environment before doing it for real, while still getting the new version of the distro. That strategy itself is not without risk though.
I can't blame distro packagers either. Some people are going to want the newest version, some people are going to be reticent about breaking their configurations and about the stabilization of the new version. You can't reallly please everyone.
The need for a configuration upgrade utility was probably clear to most people, but if it hasn't been done I think it is partly due to the difficultly of that task. it would have to cover many configuration parameters, not just the ones that you had to change in your case. Also some incompatible changes are not managed just through configuration. Depending on what features you currently use there could be some decisions to be taken too. I started to do some config migrations already on the previous installation for some of those features that were being deprecated in the new version just to hopefully smooth the final migration.
My guess is that so far no one has thought that it would be quicker to write a configuration utility than actually do the changes relevant to their own configuration. But that is the beauty of open source software. If you see a gap for something and you have the skills you can contribute something back and improve things for other people.
John
On 24/01/2026 14:10, Curtis J Blank wrote:
I just did a Tumbleweed upgrade. then I had to fix dovecot. No warning that dovecot was going to break what so ever.
Well, that tells us that you've been reading neither this mailinglist (which pointed out non-backwards-compatibility as the "upstream" 2.4 was announced in the first place) nor release notes like the ones for Fedora 43
https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/fedora/latest/release-notes/sysadmin/#d...
which brought the 2.3-to-2.4 switch to those of my systems that *have* switched so far - note that that was a *major* version upgrade, no less.
Of course, Tumbleweed states that it doesn't even *have* clear versioning, much less any update steps being flagged as "major" or "risky" ones
https://en.opensuse.org/SDB:Upgrade_Tumbleweed
to serve as a warning sign for you ...
Kind regards,
Jochen Bern Systemingenieur Binect GmbH
participants (7)
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Curtis J Blank
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Jochen Bern
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John Fawcett
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John Hill
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Marc Haber
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Ralph Seichter
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Washington Odhiambo