November 2007 - dovecot

[Dovecot] Users w/o acl access appear to be subscribed to public folders (1.1b8)
by Adam McDougall 05 May '08

05 May '08

I noticed this today, I had a user outside of our department test out dovecot. They were using squirrelmail and I noticed that dovecot thinks this user is subscribed to ALL public folders even though a dovecot ACL prevents all access. I'm pretty sure access is still denied. I was able to reproduce this with a guest account I added: l lsub "" "#shared/decs/%" * LSUB (\Noselect) "/" "#shared/decs/linuxadmin" * LSUB (\Noselect) "/" "#shared/decs/jbossadmin" * LSUB () "/" "#shared/decs/support" * LSUB () "/" "#shared/decs/receipts" * LSUB (\Noselect) "/" "#shared/decs/pcadmin" * LSUB () "/" "#shared/decs/network" * LSUB (\Noselect) "/" "#shared/decs/printmaster" * LSUB () "/" "#shared/decs/postmaster" * LSUB (\Noselect) "/" "#shared/decs/unixadmin" * LSUB () "/" "#shared/decs/security" * LSUB (\Noselect) "/" "#shared/decs/webmaster" l OK Lsub completed. This only seems to happen when the acl plugin is enabled. Without the acl plugin, these are not listed as subscriptions. After deleting /egr/mail/shared/decs/dovecot-acl-list and re-enabling the acl plugin, I get this: l lsub "" "#shared/decs/%" * LSUB () "/" "#shared/decs/unixadmin" * LSUB () "/" "#shared/decs/support" * LSUB () "/" "#shared/decs/security" * LSUB () "/" "#shared/decs/printmaster" * LSUB () "/" "#shared/decs/postmaster" * LSUB () "/" "#shared/decs/pcadmin" * LSUB () "/" "#shared/decs/network" * LSUB () "/" "#shared/decs/linuxadmin" * LSUB () "/" "#shared/decs/webmaster" * LSUB () "/" "#shared/decs/jbossadmin" l OK Lsub completed. Is it related, or is it different just because a new dovecot-acl-list got created by another user already (but is mode 700?)

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[Dovecot] Segfault when opening a public folder, dovecot 1.1 beta4
by Adam McDougall 04 May '08

04 May '08

I was trying to debug this with gdb, but I'm not sure how to make env MAIL=maildir:~/Maildir MAIL_PLUGINS=acl ACL=vfile gdb /tmp/imap understand the #shared/decs namespace from below so I can SELECT it. I have a number of maildirs under #ahared/decs, I tried opening at least 2 of them but dovecot gives sig 11 without a direct error about the problem. I don't think this was exactly the same problem in 1.1b3, but unfortunately I deleted all the patches I was testing with so it would be a pain to test the same situation with 1.1b3 again (although if needed, I can). If dovecot-shared exists in the folder I try to open, dovecot says: Oct 27 12:57:38 gribble dovecot: IMAP(mcdouga9): fchown() failed with file /home/mcdouga9/Maildir/dovecot11testing/public/indexes/decs/.unixadmin/dovecot.index.log: Operation not permitted Oct 27 12:57:38 gribble dovecot: child 55470 (imap) killed with signal 11 I am used to getting the first message because dovecot tries to apply perms from dovecot-shared to the index files which are elsewhere. If I open a public folder without dovecot-shared, I see no contents but it does not sig11. I am NOT using the acl plugin right now, it didn't seem to make a difference if it was loaded. When I left off with the dovecot 1.1b3 + 8 patches, I believe I was getting an assertion. Please let me know if I goofed up something, I have a strange feeling about that here, or if you need more info. I'd like to go ahead and get a gdb trace. # 1.1.beta4: /usr/local/etc/dovecot.conf ssl_cert_file: /usr/local/etc/apache2/ssl/cert.pem ssl_key_file: /usr/local/etc/apache2/ssl/cert.pem disable_plaintext_auth: no login_dir: /var/run/dovecot/login login_executable: /usr/local/libexec/dovecot/imap-login verbose_proctitle: yes first_valid_uid: 1000 first_valid_gid: 0 mail_location: maildir:%h/Maildir:CONTROL=%h/Maildir/dovecot11testing/private/control:INDEX=%h/Maildir/dovecot11testing/private/indexes mail_debug: yes mmap_disable: yes mail_nfs_storage: yes mail_nfs_index: yes mail_log_max_lines_per_sec: 0 imap_client_workarounds: delay-newmail netscape-eoh tb-extra-mailbox-sep namespace: type: public separator: / prefix: #shared/decs/ location: maildir:/egr/mail/shared/decs:CONTROL=%h/Maildir/dovecot11testing/public/control/decs:INDEX=%h/Maildir/dovecot11testing/public/indexes/decs list: yes subscriptions: yes namespace: type: private separator: / prefix: mail/ location: maildir:%h/Maildir:CONTROL=%h/Maildir/dovecot11testing/private/control:INDEX=%h/Maildir/dovecot11testing/private/indexes hidden: yes subscriptions: yes namespace: type: private separator: / inbox: yes list: yes subscriptions: yes auth default: mechanisms: plain login passdb: driver: pam userdb: driver: passwd socket: type: listen client: path: /var/spool/postfix/private/auth mode: 384 user: postfix group: postfix plugin: acl: vfile:/usr/local/etc/dovecot-acls

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[Dovecot] Sieve 1.1.2 -> special chars
by mikkel＠euro123.dk 04 May '08

04 May '08

I'm unable to use local chars in vacation/auto replies with sieve. .dovecot.sieve.err gives the same error as when there's a parse error. Example of error: line 25: string 'æ ø å ö ä ü é á. ': My dovecot is v. 1.1b5 and sieve is v. 1.1.2. This issue was also present with dovecot 1.0.x Is there a way around this? - Mikkel

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[Dovecot] 1.0.5: many pop3-login processes?
by Alan Ferrency 25 Apr '08

25 Apr '08

Hello, We are running dovecot 1.0.5 on a test server, with FreeBSD 6.2 (though I have noticed the same problem since dovecot versions in the 0.99 range). We don't have very many simultaneous pop/imap users, but we have a proliferation of pop3-login processes. Currently we have 128 such processes. We have 11 imap-login processes, but only a few actual imap processes running. Is this normal? Can we stop it? Is anyone else successfully running dovecot on FreeBSD 6.2? Thanks for your help. Alan Ferrency pair Networks, Inc. alan(a)pair.com

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[Dovecot] alert function, V2
by Stewart Dean 25 Apr '08

25 Apr '08

I guess the alert function is not part of the spec, because it appears to be unimplemented in Dovecot, even though most clients implement it. Timo, I would hope this would be easy to implement, and it's functionality that will be valuable to every installation. Here's why. America recently had the tragedy of a shooting rampage on a large university campus (yes, America should do something about the violence and free access to guns in our culture/society). What was worse was that, due to the lack of an emergency notification process, some 20+ people died needlessly. Now all college and university administration are scrambling to set up emergency notification processes. Our first take on this is a massive all-hands mailing list, but a) best case, it would take 15 minutes (and as much as an hour) to get to everybody's mailbox. b) users would have to read through their mail and stumble on the message What's needed is an "in-your-face" unavoidable alert, and the UWIMAP alert functionality provides this. As I recall, you touch just about anything in your IMAP client and there's a popup message in the middle of the client IMAP window...and it happens repeatedly. We tried it back 3-4 years ago and found it too annoying to use. For this purpose, it's perfect. The wy UWIMAP did it, the presence of the file /etc/imapd.alert triggers it, and the text in that file is transmitted to the client. The message has to be short, a one-liner for a small popup window, but this could be a pointer to a shared system message folder. Of course, DC could sense the activation of the alert in some other fashion that the presence of a file. Ideally, whatever activates the alert function should be able to be turned on remotely; I had in mind to do it using a mail aliases that is a pipe to a executable... What say you? -- ==== Stewart Dean, Unix System Admin, Henderson Computer Resources Center of Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York 12504 sdean(a)bard.edu voice: 845-758-7475, fax: 845-758-7035

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[Dovecot] Allowing tilde at start of mailbox names
by pod 11 Mar '08

11 Mar '08

In lib-storage/index/maildir/maildir-storage.c maildir_is_valid_create_name() and maildir_is_valid_existing_name() the following sequence of tests appear but I don't really understand why if ((storage->flags & MAIL_STORAGE_FLAG_FULL_FS_ACCESS) != 0) return TRUE; if (*name == '~' || strchr(name, '/') != NULL) return FALSE; If MAIL_STORAGE_FLAG_FULL_FS_ACCESS is set then the validator funcs return TRUE immediately and code elsewhere will do appropriate home_exapand for mailbox names. However if MAIL_STORAGE_FLAG_FULL_FS_ACCESS is not set the (*name == '~') test prevents mailbox names that begin with '~'. Why is it not possible to have mailbox names that begin with '~' but without '~' carrying any special meaning? I have been working on a patch (appended but incomplete; the option only works against maildir atm) that adds a new option mail_allow_tilde and my admittedly limited testing seems to indicate that it does the right thing but maybe I am barking up the wrong tree. Am I missing something here? ---------------------------------------- # HG changeset patch # User <pod(a)sysdev.oucs.ox.ac.uk> # Date 1185368923 -3600 # Node ID ab9cf3790ea9b5486afa6498f60c6bf6fb2e5f1e # Parent a23be695672737967a10613d7dca2a6f53b5d96d create new option mail_allow_tilde diff -r a23be6956727 -r ab9cf3790ea9 src/lib-storage/index/maildir/maildir-storage.c --- a/src/lib-storage/index/maildir/maildir-storage.c Tue Jul 24 05:48:03 2007 +0300 +++ b/src/lib-storage/index/maildir/maildir-storage.c Wed Jul 25 14:08:43 2007 +0100 @@ -240,7 +240,9 @@ static bool maildir_is_valid_create_name if ((storage->flags & MAIL_STORAGE_FLAG_FULL_FS_ACCESS) != 0) return TRUE; - if (*name == '~' || strchr(name, '/') != NULL) + if ((*name == '~' && + (storage->flags & MAIL_STORAGE_FLAG_ALLOW_TILDE) == 0) || + strchr(name, '/') != NULL) return FALSE; if (name[0] == '.' && (name[1] == '\0' || @@ -264,7 +266,9 @@ static bool maildir_is_valid_existing_na if ((storage->flags & MAIL_STORAGE_FLAG_FULL_FS_ACCESS) != 0) return TRUE; - if (*name == '~' || strchr(name, '/') != NULL) + if ((*name == '~' && + (storage->flags & MAIL_STORAGE_FLAG_ALLOW_TILDE) == 0) || + strchr(name, '/') != NULL) return FALSE; if (name[0] == '.' && (name[1] == '\0' || diff -r a23be6956727 -r ab9cf3790ea9 src/lib-storage/mail-storage.c --- a/src/lib-storage/mail-storage.c Tue Jul 24 05:48:03 2007 +0300 +++ b/src/lib-storage/mail-storage.c Wed Jul 25 14:08:43 2007 +0100 @@ -66,6 +66,8 @@ void mail_storage_parse_env(enum mail_st *flags_r = 0; if (getenv("FULL_FILESYSTEM_ACCESS") != NULL) *flags_r |= MAIL_STORAGE_FLAG_FULL_FS_ACCESS; + if (getenv("ALLOW_TILDE") != NULL) + *flags_r |= MAIL_STORAGE_FLAG_ALLOW_TILDE; if (getenv("DEBUG") != NULL) *flags_r |= MAIL_STORAGE_FLAG_DEBUG; if (getenv("MMAP_DISABLE") != NULL) diff -r a23be6956727 -r ab9cf3790ea9 src/lib-storage/mail-storage.h --- a/src/lib-storage/mail-storage.h Tue Jul 24 05:48:03 2007 +0300 +++ b/src/lib-storage/mail-storage.h Wed Jul 25 14:08:43 2007 +0100 @@ -34,7 +34,9 @@ enum mail_storage_flags { fail to create the storage. */ MAIL_STORAGE_FLAG_NO_AUTOCREATE = 0x200, /* Rely on O_EXCL when creating dotlocks */ - MAIL_STORAGE_FLAG_DOTLOCK_USE_EXCL = 0x400 + MAIL_STORAGE_FLAG_DOTLOCK_USE_EXCL = 0x400, + /* Allow folder names to begin with '~' TILDE */ + MAIL_STORAGE_FLAG_ALLOW_TILDE = 0x800 }; enum mail_storage_lock_method { diff -r a23be6956727 -r ab9cf3790ea9 src/master/mail-process.c --- a/src/master/mail-process.c Tue Jul 24 05:48:03 2007 +0300 +++ b/src/master/mail-process.c Wed Jul 25 14:08:43 2007 +0100 @@ -254,6 +254,8 @@ mail_process_set_environment(struct sett env_put("DEBUG=1"); if (set->mail_full_filesystem_access) env_put("FULL_FILESYSTEM_ACCESS=1"); + if (set->mail_allow_tilde) + env_put("ALLOW_TILDE=1"); if (set->pop3_no_flag_updates) env_put("POP3_NO_FLAG_UPDATES=1"); if (set->pop3_reuse_xuidl) diff -r a23be6956727 -r ab9cf3790ea9 src/master/master-settings-defs.c --- a/src/master/master-settings-defs.c Tue Jul 24 05:48:03 2007 +0300 +++ b/src/master/master-settings-defs.c Wed Jul 25 14:08:43 2007 +0100 @@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ static struct setting_def setting_defs[] DEF(SET_INT, mailbox_idle_check_interval), DEF(SET_BOOL, mail_debug), DEF(SET_BOOL, mail_full_filesystem_access), + DEF(SET_BOOL, mail_allow_tilde), DEF(SET_INT, mail_max_keyword_length), DEF(SET_BOOL, mail_save_crlf), DEF(SET_BOOL, mail_read_mmaped), diff -r a23be6956727 -r ab9cf3790ea9 src/master/master-settings.c --- a/src/master/master-settings.c Tue Jul 24 05:48:03 2007 +0300 +++ b/src/master/master-settings.c Wed Jul 25 14:08:43 2007 +0100 @@ -216,6 +216,7 @@ struct settings default_settings = { MEMBER(mailbox_idle_check_interval) 30, MEMBER(mail_debug) FALSE, MEMBER(mail_full_filesystem_access) FALSE, + MEMBER(mail_allow_tilde) FALSE, MEMBER(mail_max_keyword_length) 50, MEMBER(mail_save_crlf) FALSE, MEMBER(mail_read_mmaped) FALSE, diff -r a23be6956727 -r ab9cf3790ea9 src/master/master-settings.h --- a/src/master/master-settings.h Tue Jul 24 05:48:03 2007 +0300 +++ b/src/master/master-settings.h Wed Jul 25 14:08:43 2007 +0100 @@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ struct settings { unsigned int mailbox_idle_check_interval; bool mail_debug; bool mail_full_filesystem_access; + bool mail_allow_tilde; unsigned int mail_max_keyword_length; bool mail_save_crlf; bool mail_read_mmaped;

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[Dovecot] Dovecot, LDAP and something akin to Postfix' "table search order" from virtual deliver.
by Pawel Sawicki 01 Feb '08

01 Feb '08

Hi. /* The short version. */ Is there a way to mimic Postfix' "table search order" in Dovecot's LDAP configuration of pass_filter/user_filter? /* Here goes the detailed description :) */ Just to quote the http://www.postfix.org/virtual.8.html: --- TABLE SEARCH ORDER (...) The search order is as follows. The search stops upon the first successful lookup. (...) o The user(a)domain.tld address, without address exten- sion, is looked up next. o Finally, the recipient @domain is looked up. --- Basicaly this allows to have separate users assigned addresses like j.doe(a)example.com (first account), j.smith(a)example.com (second account) and at the same time to have a "catch all" anything(a)example.com mailbox (for the administrator e.g.). What do I need it for? To have dovecot-lda working. Why? I want Sieve :) The test data may look as follows: account #1: + mail: j.doe(a)example.com + mailAlternateAddress: j.c.doe(a)example.com account #2: + mail: j.smith(a)example.com + mailAlternateAddress: j.t.smith(a)example.com account #3 (administrator): + mail: bofh(a)example.com + mailAlternateAddress: @example.com (means - anything possible) The filter I used is (more or less - for both pass_filter and user_filter): (|(mail=%u)(mailAlternateAddress=%u)(mailAlternateAddress=@%d)) Just for testing purposes I've stripped off some irrelevant data (like checking if the account is active), since that made the filter about 140 characters long ;) The trouble is when there're both a "catch all" and a true account that are linked to different accounts. As an example, if I try to send mail to "j.doe(a)example.com" I receive: dovecot: auth(default): ldap(j.doe(a)example.com): Multiple replies found for user Which is of course true, since the filter returns "account #2" and "account #3". What I'd like to get? I'd like to set the filter to: (|(mail=%u)(mailAlternateAddress=%u)) Where "%u" is expanded to "j.doe(a)example.com" during the first run Then, if dovecot can't find any user that would match this literaly it should retry the search operation, but now with "@example.com" as the "%u". I've tried to fiddle with the filter itself, but I see any reasonable way of doing it. I don't even know if it is possible at all. Could anyone give me a hint? Or maybe it's already on someone's whish list? Some final info. * I've followed the examples on dovecot.org website: http://wiki.dovecot.org/LDA#head-dacb9b9a1f19c3ea86bb6f8caa3d64e3ddad9ef8 * Here's the dovecot's master.conf entry: dovecot unix - n n - - pipe flags=DRhu user=mail:mail argv=/usr/libexec/dovecot/deliver -d ${recipient} Best regards! Pawel Sawicki

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[Dovecot] Too many open files
by Andrew Hutchings 10 Jan '08

10 Jan '08

Hi Guys, Just got this on one of my test72 dovecot servers: - Jun 10 12:40:28 svr21 dovecot: auth(default): net_connect_unix(/var/run/dovecot/auth-worker.18818) failed: Too many open files Jun 10 12:40:28 svr21 dovecot: pop3-login: Disconnected: method=PLAIN, rip=xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx, lip=xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx Jun 10 12:40:28 svr21 dovecot: pop3-login: Disconnected: method=PLAIN, rip=xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx, lip=xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx Jun 10 12:40:28 svr21 dovecot: child 18818 (auth) returned error 89 Jun 10 12:40:29 svr21 dovecot: Auth process died too early - shutting down Jun 10 12:40:29 svr21 dovecot: auth(default): mysql: Connected to localhost (maildb) Jun 10 12:40:29 svr21 dovecot: auth(default): net_connect_unix(/var/run/dovecot/auth-worker.13784) failed: No such file or directory Jun 10 12:40:29 svr21 dovecot: child 13784 (auth) returned error 89 - Is dovecot leaving files open? Or is it a large mailbox? Regards Andrew -- Andrew Hutchings (A-Wing) Linux Guru - Netserve Consultants Ltd. - http://www.domaincity.co.uk/ Admin - North Wales Linux User Group - http://www.nwlug.org.uk/ BOFH excuse 122: because Bill Gates is a Jehovah's witness and so nothing can work on St. Swithin's day.

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[Dovecot] What would you tell the CIO in an "ABCs of Email" overview?
by Esther Schindler 07 Jan '08

07 Jan '08

One of the key points that came up when I researched and wrote the "Five Things CIOs Should Know about Fighting Spam" article (http:// www.cio.com/article/28830) was that they should know the basics of how email works. Otherwise, said plenty of techies, the CIO won't have the first idea of what the email admin is complaining about. So I'm going to do my part. I'm going to write an "ABCs of Email" article (to accompany the many other ABCs articles we have on CIO.com, at http://www.cio.com/article/40242 ). I'd like your input on the topics that should be included, keeping in mind the fact that the target reader is a CIO, IT manager, or someone who wants to understand the basics, *not* actively get involved in email management. You don't need to write an essay for me or inundate me with links (though hey, if you want to make my life easier I shall not complain). What I'm looking for, primarily, are the categories of information that I should cover. In other words, if your CIO had an email ephiphany and asked you to give a half-hour presentation, what would you include? This won't be an "Expert says..." article nor will it be "Geek on the street says...." I intend to compile and research the "least you need to know" for the not-necessarily-techie bosses out there. And hopefully the end result will be that you have one less dumb question to deal with in your life. So: any suggestions? (You can reply privately if you prefer.) Esther Schindler senior online editor, CIO.com her blog: http://advice.cio.com/taxonomy/term/34

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[Dovecot] backup dovecot
by Nikolay Shopik 04 Jan '08

04 Jan '08

What is correct way to backup dovecot store? Is am I right what is just enough to copy all maildir and my configuration. So in case failure I can just prepare new machine copy config, maildirs and I'm good to go with this.

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