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[BUG?] Dovecot 2.4.2 from Dovecot repo (RHEL 9) does not implement Sieve (properly/fully)
by Patrick S 09 Mar '26

09 Mar '26

Hi all Below is report of what I suspect is a bug arising in Dovecot 2.4.x regarding Sieve functionality after Pigeonhole functionality was folded into Dovecot/Dovecot-sieve. ISSUE: ====== I am building a new mail server on Rocky Linux 9.7 with Postfix 3.10 and Dovecot 2.4.2. The base installation & setup of Dovecot was OK with core functionality (Postfix interoperability and mail into virtual mail domain mailboxes no problem). Once I had the base setup done I started with Sieve functionality: 1) Incoming mail marked as SPAM by Rspamd auto moved into /Junk 2) Mail manually moved in/out of /Junk handed to Rspamd for training as SPAM/HAM This consistantly failed - the first issue I found was Dovecot failing to restart and `dovecot -n` reporting fatal errors related to sieve — section not found etc. etc. From my reading previously I knew I needed to install `dovecot-sieve` and it was installed before I started working on Sieve functionality. I also saw `dovecot-pigeonhole` but I seemed to read that (version >= 2.4) the functionality for that had been included in `dovecot-sieve` **and** there was no Pigeonhole included in the Dovecot 2.4.2 repo — also if I tried to install it I got errors of course because of the version mismatch, and it was not in the dovecot-2.4-latest repo. ``` # dnf info dovecot-pigeonhole Last metadata expiration check: 1:21:15 ago on Fri 06 Mar 2026 08:05:08. Available Packages Name : dovecot-pigeonhole Epoch : 1 Version : 2.3.16 Release : 15.el9 Architecture : x86_64 Size : 371 k Source : dovecot-2.3.16-15.el9.src.rpm Repository : appstream Summary : Sieve and managesieve plug-in for dovecot URL : https://www.dovecot.org/ License : MIT and LGPLv2 Description : This package provides sieve and managesieve plug-in for dovecot LDA. ``` I also saw `dovecot-managesieved` but as I was **not** going to implement a client sieve functionality I did not install that. Anyway I could not even get to first base with Sieve, Dovecot simply did not know about it. I went on IRC and chatted with Aki Tuomi who confirmed that "yeah, looks like there is some packaging mistake." because the directory `/usr/lib64/dovecot/settings` was empty. As a workaround he suggested "you need to install dovecot-managesieved as workaround". I did that and as a result the following files appeared: ``` -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 15560 Jan 8 12:13 libmanagesieve_login_settings.so -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 15840 Jan 8 12:13 libmanagesieve_settings.so -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 19656 Jan 8 12:13 libpigeonhole_settings.so ``` The `dovecot -n` errors went away, it recognised the sieve directives, and I continued with the Sieve setup. All — `dovecot.conf`, sieve files source and compiled — installed OK. But the sieve functionality simply refused to work. I got advice and we found the following which essentially points to sieve (even with `dovecot-managesieved` installed) not working. After installing everything — dovecot.conf, sieve files (compiled successfully) and a pipe to a shell script to call `rspamc` nothing seemed to happen. * `journalctl -f -u dovecot | grep -E "sieve|pipe"` -> nothing showed * `rspamc stat` -> 'Messages scanned' & 'Messages learned' no increase When we checked we found the following: 1) `lib90_sieve_settings.so` (which should be in `/etc/lib64/dovecot/settings`) is missing from the system. `find / -name "lib90_sieve_settings.so"` -> not found I believe the file is critical for the running of (Dovecot using) Sieve? 2) The Dovecot build options missing any sieve functionality: ``` #dovecot --build-options Build options: ioloop=epoll notify=inotify openssl io_block_size=8192 SQL driver plugins: mysql postgresql sqlite Passdb: ldap pam passwd passwd-file sql Userdb: ldap(plugin) passwd prefetch passwd-file sql ``` I believe (I was told) that minus the above (even though `dovecot-managesieved` was installed as well as `dovecot-sieve`) Sieve simply will not function. Is this a bug/packaging error? Regards Patrick ENVIRONMENT: ============ Software -------- * Rocky Linux 9.7 (RHEL) * Postfix 3.10 Built from source * Postscreen running in Postfix * Dovecot 2.4 installed from Dovecot repo * Valkey 9.0.3 (Redis replacement) * Rspamd 3.14.3 Setup ----- * Rspamd <-> Valkey communicate via Unix socket * Postfix & Dovecot <-> Rspamd via inet port/milter: smtpd_milters = inet:localhost:11332 non_smtpd_milters = inet:localhost:11332 * 'First line defence' = DNSBL via postscreen * Rspamd SPF checking, DKIM signing and DMARC configured All of the above installed, working and tested. DOVECOT PACKAGES INSTALLED: =========================== ``` Name : dovecot Version : 2.4.2 Architecture : x86_64 Source : dovecot-2.4.2-2.src.rpm From repo : dovecot-2.4-latest Name : dovecot-sieve Version : 2.4.2 Architecture : x86_64 Source : dovecot-sieve-2.4.2-2.src.rpm From repo : dovecot-2.4-latest Name : dovecot-managesieved (see note about this in the email) Version : 2.4.2 Architecture : x86_64 Source : dovecot-sieve-2.4.2-2.src.rpm From repo : dovecot-2.4-latest Name : dovecot-submissiond Version : 2.4.2 Architecture : x86_64 Source : dovecot-2.4.2-2.src.rpm From repo : dovecot-2.4-latest Name : dovecot-imapd Version : 2.4.2 Architecture : x86_64 Source : dovecot-2.4.2-2.src.rpm From repo : dovecot-2.4-latest Name : dovecot-lmtpd Version : 2.4.2 Architecture : x86_64 Source : dovecot-2.4.2-2.src.rpm From repo : dovecot-2.4-latest Name : dovecot-lua Version : 2.4.2 Architecture : x86_64 Source : dovecot-2.4.2-2.src.rpm From repo : dovecot-2.4-latest ``` OUTPUT OF `dovecot -n`: ======================= ``` # dovecot -n # 2.4.2-2 (0962ed2104): /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf # Pigeonhole version 2.4.2-2 (767418c3) # OS: Linux 5.14.0-611.34.1.el9_7.x86_64 x86_64 Rocky Linux release 9.7 (Blue Onyx) # Hostname: srv01.example.com dovecot_config_version = 2.4.2 auth_default_domain = example.com auth_mechanisms = plain auth_username_format = %{user | lower } dovecot_storage_version = 2.4.2 mail_access_groups = vmail mail_control_path = ~/control mail_driver = maildir mail_gid = 5000 mail_home = /var/vmail/%{user | domain }/%{user | username } mail_index_path = ~/indexes mail_path = %{home}/Maildir mail_privileged_group = vmail mail_uid = 5000 mailbox_list_utf8 = yes protocols = imap lmtp sieve_global_extensions { vnd.dovecot.pipe = yes } sieve_pipe_bin_dir = /etc/dovecot/sieve/bin sieve_plugins { sieve_imapsieve = yes sieve_extprograms = yes } sieve_trace_dir = /var/log/dovecot/sieve-trace sieve_trace_level = actions ssl = required syslog_facility = local5 protocol lmtp { mail_plugins { sieve = yes } } ssl_server { cert_file = /etc/ssl/server/server_example_com.crt key_file = /etc/ssl/server/server_example_com.key } passdb passwd-file { auth_username_format = %{user | username} default_password_scheme = SHA512-CRYPT passwd_file_path = /etc/dovecot/passwd } userdb passwd-file { auth_username_format = %{user | username} passwd_file_path = /etc/dovecot/passwd fields { gid:default = 5000 uid:default = 5000 } } service lmtp { unix_listener /var/spool/postfix/private/dovecot-lmtp { group = postfix mode = 0600 user = postfix } } service auth { unix_listener /var/spool/postfix/private/auth { group = postfix mode = 0660 user = postfix } } service imap-login { inet_listener imap { port = 0 } inet_listener imaps { port = 993 ssl = yes } } service auth-worker { user = $SET:default_internal_user } service anvil { unix_listener anvil { group = $SET:default_internal_group mode = 0660 } } service doveadm { unix_listener doveadm-server { mode = 0600 user = $SET:default_internal_user } } sieve_script rspamd_to_junk { driver = file path = /etc/dovecot/sieve/rspamd-to-junk.sieve type = before } namespace inbox { mail_plugins { imap_sieve = yes } inbox = yes mailbox Junk { auto = create autoexpunge = 90d special_use = "\\Junk" sieve_script report-spam { cause = copy path = /etc/dovecot/sieve/report-spam.sieve type = before } } imapsieve_from Junk { sieve_script report-ham { cause = copy path = /etc/dovecot/sieve/report-ham.sieve type = before } } mailbox Drafts { auto = subscribe special_use = "\\Drafts" } mailbox Sent { auto = subscribe special_use = "\\Sent" } mailbox Trash { auto = subscribe special_use = "\\Trash" } } ```

4 7

Curve25519/Ed25519 ?
by Steve Litt 09 Mar '26

09 Mar '26

On my new Dovecot 2.4.2 IMAP server, which when completed will be accessible only via SSL, I plan to use Curve25519/Ed25519 self-signed-cert/private-key. Is there any reason this would be a mistake? Thanks, SteveT Steve Litt http://444domains.com

2 2

Dovecot 2.4 doveadm_worker_count corrupts tab-formatted output
by Philip Iezzi 08 Mar '26

08 Mar '26

Hi there On a Dovecot 2.4.2 (Debian Bookworm) server with over 1300 users, I am using the following config to retrieve quota usage information with doveadm: --------------------------------------- quota "User quota" { } mail_plugins = quota acl mail_log notify userdb sql { iterate_query = SELECT username AS user, CONCAT(quota, 'M') AS quota_storage_size FROM mailaccounts WHERE active = 1 query = \ SELECT '/var/vmail/%{user | domain}/%{user | username}' AS home, 'vmail' AS uid, 'vmail' AS gid, CONCAT(quota, 'M') AS quota_storage_size \ FROM mailaccounts \ WHERE username = '%{user}' AND (active = 1 OR transport_suspended = 0) } --------------------------------------- Initially, I had to run `doveadm quota recalc -A` to recalc quotas and populate the `count` quota driver which is enabled by default for "User quota". But still, it took roughly 20ms per single user or 15-20s for all users: $ time doveadm -f tab quota get -u demo(a)example.com real 0m0.020s $ time doveadm -f tab quota get -A real 0m16.800s Now, to greatly speed this up, I have introduced parallel processing: doveadm_worker_count = 4 Like this, `doveadm -f tab quota get -A` runs approx 10x faster, done in 1.5 - 2.5s But there is one major drawback which I assume to be a bug: # sane output without `doveadm_worker_count = 4` => always 6 fields demo(a)example.com User quota STORAGE 29 204800 0 demo(a)example.com User quota MESSAGE 1 - 0 # broken output with `doveadm_worker_count = 4` => sometimes 7 fields demo(a)example.com User quota STORAGE 29 2048 00 0 demo(a)example.com User quota MESSAGE 1 - 0 Somehow, the tab formatter does not play nicely together with parallel processing. On some output, the value gets split apart by an extra tab, e.g. '2024<TAB>00' in above example. Can you explain this corrupted data? Some kind of "output interleaving" seems to happen when running parallel workers. If I switch to json output (`doveadm -f json quota get -A`), this does not seem to happen and I always get valid JSON output, even with `doveadm_worker_count = 4`. Cheers, Philip

2 8

Getting quota limits from DB
by Alberto 04 Mar '26

04 Mar '26

Hi group: I have a Docker Dovecot 2.4.2 installation with MySQL user management, with this record: SELECT * FROM users; +---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | username | domain | password | home | uid | gid | active | quota | quotamsgs | crampassword +---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | alberto | bersol.info | {MD5-CRYPT}$1$Jm... | /var/mail/alberto | 1000 | 1000 | Y | 3221225472 | 149999 | {CRAM-MD5}fd246... | +---------------------------------------------------------------------------- But I have a problem with user quota definitions... If I run "doveadm" command, I get the user quota occupation, I have "quota_clone" plugin working, but I don't get user quota limit, I don't know why: ----- # docker exec -it midovecot doveadm quota get -A Username Quota name Type Value Limit % alberto(a)bersol.info User quota STORAGE 1925805 3145728 61 alberto(a)bersol.info User quota MESSAGE 37608 100000 37 ----- That limit isn't the correct limit set in DB, but the one is put in the config, and it must to be override in my userdb:Extra Fields. ----- # # docker exec -it midovecot doveadm config # 2.4.2 (0962ed2104): /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf ... userdb sql { iterate_query = SELECT CONCAT(username,'@',domain) AS user FROM users query = SELECT home,CONCAT(username,'@',domain) AS username,crampassword AS password,uid AS userdb_uid,gid AS userdb_gid,CONCAT(quota,'B') AS userdb_quota_storage_size,concat('*:messages=',quotamsgs) AS userdb_quota_storage_size FROM users WHERE username = '%{ user | username | lower }' AND domain = '%{ user | domain | lower }' } ... quota_storage_size = 3G quota_message_count = 100000 ... ----- Do you have any idea of the problem? Best Regards, Alberto

2 3

Dovecot marking outgonig emails as unread
by stef204 03 Mar '26

03 Mar '26

Starting a few days ago, I have one email account where ALL outgoing emails are automatically marked as UNREAD. The message is sent, then copied to the "Sent" folder, and has status "unread". Then, a couple of minutes later, something happens where this message gets marked as UNREAD, without ANY interaction of client side. This occurs not matter the email client used, I have tried it with multiple email clients, both local and via web interface, the behavior does not change. This is via Dovevot on Cpanel. if I look at the [1]changelog, it is difficult to identify which changes could have triggered this as there seem to be changes impacting Dovecot almost with every update. I do not control the server myself, this is on a shared hosting plan; tech support has been willing to troubleshoot but is unable to locate the problem. This problem does NOT occur on other email accounts on the same domain, so it looks to me like some corruption or problem syncing flags perhaps? I am at a loss at the moment to fix this behavior. Any suggestions or ideas welcome. Thanks. References Visible links 1. https://docs.cpanel.net/changelogs/132-change-log/

3 5

[Pigeonhole] extracttext on "message/rfc822" attachment ignores included headers
by quentinduchemin＠tuta.io 03 Mar '26

03 Mar '26

Hi everyone! I'm not sure this is a design decision, a bug, something not implemented or malformed input on my side. My use case is the following: users that forward their mails outside the domain I manage have the option to report spam as attachment so the spam classifier can learn anyway. I prefer attachment over forward because MUAs have their own way to do it and it's difficult to reliably reconstruct some headers/email structure that can be important for the spam classifier. Each input message is processed through a Sieve extensions of RFC 5703 to extract the attachment. I ask user to produce a file with .eml extension through any export-like feature of their MUA. Below is an example EML file produced by Tuta (Thunderbird does a similar thing with a different encoding for the body). I'll use a bunch of = characters as a separator in the rest of this. =============================================== [...bunch of header...] X-MS-Exchange-CrossTenant-rms-persistedconsumerorg: 00000000-0000-0000-0000-0000000000 00 X-MS-Exchange-Transport-CrossTenantHeadersStamped: TYSPR04MB7035 Content-Type: multipart/related; boundary="------------79Bu5A16qPEYcVIZL@tutanota" --------------79Bu5A16qPEYcVIZL@tutanota Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 DQo8ZGl2IHN0eWxlPSJmb250LWZhbWlseTogQXB0b3MsIEFwdG9zX0VtYmVkZGVkRm9udCwgQXB0b3 NfTVNGb250U2VydmljZSwgQ2FsaWJyaSwgSGVsdmV0aWNhLCBzYW5zLXNlcmlmOyBmb250LXNpemU6 [...base64 encoding of the body...] =============================================== While attached and sent, the received messaged looks like this: =============================================== [...headers of the actual email...] X-Infomaniak-Routing: alpha This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --------------5jyKrhQ08xXUif7LHhgg648N Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit --------------5jyKrhQ08xXUif7LHhgg648N Content-Type: message/rfc822; name="a.eml" Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="a.eml" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit [...headers of the spam....] Subject: Re: //Re: AI + Ranking /// Thread-Topic: //Re: AI + Ranking /// [....] Content-Type: multipart/related; boundary="------------79Bu5A16qPEYcVIZL@tutanota" --------------79Bu5A16qPEYcVIZL@tutanota Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 DQo8ZGl2IHN0eWxlPSJmb250LWZhbWlseTogQXB0b3MsIEFwdG9zX0VtYmVkZGVkRm9udCwgQXB0b3 NfTVNGb250U2VydmljZSwgQ2FsaWJyaSwgSGVsdmV0aWNhLCBzYW5zLXNlcmlmOyBmb250LXNpemU6 [...base64 encoding of the spam....] --------------79Bu5A16qPEYcVIZL@tutanota-- --------------5jyKrhQ08xXUif7LHhgg648N-- =============================================== I face two issues: 1. Only the base64 decoded string can be retrived through foreverypart/extracttext; 2. It has a lot of newlines. - 2. is not a big deal. The original spam has a lot of HTML junk, and each line with HTML without an inner text node is stripped, but the newline is kept. I don't know if this is intended. - 1. is more of a big deal. To try to confirm that, I made an over-simplified version of the Sieve script (I skip configuration but plugins are loaded etc, please ask if useful). =============================================== [...require...] foreverypart { extracttext "eml"; debug_log "PART ============================== ${eml}"; } =============================================== mail_debug is activated. In the logs, I can read: =============================================== Info: sieve: DEBUG: PART ============================== Info: sieve: DEBUG: PART ============================== Info: sieve: DEBUG: PART ============================== Info: sieve: DEBUG: PART ============================== Info: sieve: DEBUG: PART ============================== Info: sieve: Info: sieve: Info: sieve: Info: sieve: Info: sieve: Info: sieve: Info: sieve: Hello, Info: sieve: Info: sieve: Hope you're doing well. Info: sieve: Info: sieve: Info: sieve: Info: sieve: Info: sieve: Would you like attract more traffic with our AEO + GEO + SEO services. AI-driven search is here—don’t miss out. =============================================== So multiple parts are analyzed but only the last gives something. The RFC says that "If the transfer encoding or character set is unrecognized by the implementation or recognized but invalid, an empty string will result.". But it's over my knowledge. I activated trace for Sieve with "matching" level, and the file looks like (this is another test but was the same result): =============================================== Sieve trace log for message delivery: Username: REDACTED Session ID: ozNMOEPNl2nlAAAAO14Lzw Sender: REDACTED Final recipient: REDACTED Default mailbox: INBOX ## Started executing script 'move-spam' 33: foreverypart loop begin 33: loop ends at line 36 35: extracttext command 36: assign 'eml' [0] = "" 36: debug_log "PART ============================== " 36: foreverypart loop end 36: switched to next message part 36: looping back to line 35 35: extracttext command 36: assign 'eml' [0] = "" 36: debug_log "PART ============================== " 36: foreverypart loop end 36: switched to next message part 36: looping back to line 35 35: extracttext command 36: assign 'eml' [0] = "" 36: debug_log "PART ============================== " 36: foreverypart loop end 36: switched to next message part 36: looping back to line 35 35: extracttext command 36: assign 'eml' [0] = "" 36: debug_log "PART ============================== " 36: foreverypart loop end 36: switched to next message part 36: looping back to line 35 35: extracttext command 36: assign 'eml' [0] = "Hi, Just checking in to see if you had a chance to review my earlier message. [...body spam....] 36: debug_log "PART ============================== ????????????Hi, ?? ??Just checking in t..." 36: foreverypart loop end 36: no more message parts 36: exiting loops at line 36 ## Finished executing script 'move-spam' =============================================== Hypothesis: A. Could it be because the mail headers are indistinguishable from the part headers? B. Or is it related to Pigeonhole not implementing yet the enclose extension, which do this the other way? I hope this message is not too hard to read with all the code/logs. Please tell me if there is a better way of doing it. And thanks in advance for any help, because I don't really know what to do and trying to take a (superficial) look at the Pigeonhole code didn't helped.

1 2

Panic: file imap-sieve-storage.c: line 216 (imap_sieve_add_mailbox_event): assertion failed: (ismt->src_box == NULL || ismt->src_box == src_box)
by Christian Kivalo 28 Feb '26

28 Feb '26

Reposting my reply from a few days ago to a thread with the same panic message. I found this in my logs when some mails that got deleted on the phone were still visible in roundcube. I currently have three users that trigger the panic. One user with an iPad accounts for nearly all of the panics. The problem shows when the account is accessed from android (thunderbird) or ipad. The same accounts show no problems when beeing used with roundcube or thunderbird on windows. I enabled core dumps on 2026-01-14 and have ~8500 core dumps of the imap binary until now. What causes this error and how can I fix it? In the logs all I see is the users login, then the panic. # doveconf -n # 2.4.2-2+debian13 (0962ed2104): /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf # Pigeonhole version 2.4.2-2+debian13 (767418c3) # OS: Linux 6.12.0-custom.kvm x86_64 Debian 13.3 ext4 2026-01-13T21:44:32.317609+01:00 uschi dovecot: imap-login: Logged in: user=<user(a)example.com>, method=PLAIN, rip=<IP1>, lip=<IP2>, mpid=4194077, TLS, session=<cpkID0tId7dUc9rl> 2026-01-13T21:44:38.455379+01:00 uschi dovecot: imap(user(a)example.com)<4194077><cpkID0tId7dUc9rl>: Panic: file imap-sieve-storage.c: line 216 (imap_sieve_add_mailbox_event): assertion failed: (ismt->src_box == NULL || ismt->src_box == src_box) 2026-01-13T21:44:38.458755+01:00 uschi dovecot: imap(user(a)example.com)<4194077><cpkID0tId7dUc9rl>: Error: Raw backtrace: #1 [unw_get_proc_name() failed: -10] -> #2 [unw_get_proc_name() failed: -10] -> #3 i_panic[0x7f6b6c46c2f6] -> #4 [unw_get_proc_name() failed: -10] -> #5 [unw_get_proc_name() failed: -10] -> #6 [unw_get_proc_name() failed: -10] -> #7 mailbox_save_alloc[0x7f6b6ca103c0] -> #8 [unw_get_proc_name() failed: -10] -> #9 command_exec[0x55654e677400] -> #10 [unw_get_proc_name() failed: -10] -> #11 [unw_get_proc_name() failed: -10] -> #12 [unw_get_proc_name() failed: -10] -> #13 client_handle_input[0x55654e67ddc0] -> #14 client_continue_pending_input[0x55654e67e0b0] -> #15 io_loop_call_io[0x7f6b6c565490] -> #16 io_loop_handler_run_internal[0x7f6b6c567230] -> #17 io_loop_handler_run[0x7f6b6c5673c0] -> #18 io_loop_run[0x7f6b6c5675a0] -> #19 master_service_run[0x7f6b6c4b27f0] -> #20 main[0x55654e6688a0] -> #21 [unw_get_proc_name() failed: -10] -> #22 __libc_start_main[0x7f6b6c234ce0] -> #23 _start[0x55654e668eb0] 2026-01-13T21:44:38.459536+01:00 uschi dovecot: imap(user(a)example.com)<4194077><cpkID0tId7dUc9rl>: Fatal: master: service(imap): child 4194077 killed with signal 6 (core dumps disabled - https://dovecot.org/bugreport.html#coredumps) # coredumpctl dump PID: 1071230 (imap) UID: 5000 (vmail) GID: 5000 (vmail) Signal: 6 (ABRT) Timestamp: Fri 2026-01-16 19:17:15 CET (2s ago) Command Line: $'dovecot/imap [user(a)example.com <IP redacted> UID MOVE]' Executable: /usr/lib/dovecot/imap Control Group: /system.slice/dovecot.service Unit: dovecot.service Slice: system.slice Boot ID: 3668d179bda340229a780d5d43e426c3 Machine ID: 05698baa30ae984c9bd014566e16da18 Hostname: uschi Storage: /var/lib/systemd/coredump/core.imap.5000.3668d179bda340229a780d5d43e426c3.1071230.1768587435000000.zst (present) Size on Disk: 1.1M Message: Process 1071230 (imap) of user 5000 dumped core. Module libgcc_s.so.1 from deb gcc-14-14.2.0-19.amd64 Module libstdc++.so.6 from deb gcc-14-14.2.0-19.amd64 Module libzstd.so.1 from deb libzstd-1.5.7+dfsg-1.amd64 Stack trace of thread 1071230: #0 0x00007fbd1ca9f95c n/a (libc.so.6 + 0x9495c) #1 0x00007fbd1ca4acc2 raise (libc.so.6 + 0x3fcc2) #2 0x00007fbd1ca334ac abort (libc.so.6 + 0x284ac) #3 0x00007fbd1cc6caa0 n/a (libdovecot.so.0 + 0x6caa0) #4 0x00007fbd1cd49e67 n/a (libdovecot.so.0 + 0x149e67) #5 0x00007fbd1cc6c3d0 i_panic (libdovecot.so.0 + 0x6c3d0) #6 0x00007fbd1c42f942 n/a (lib95_imap_sieve_plugin.so + 0x4942) #7 0x00007fbd1c431223 n/a (lib95_imap_sieve_plugin.so + 0x6223) #8 0x00007fbd1d258f10 n/a (libdovecot-storage.so.0 + 0x11bf10) #9 0x00007fbd1d1a843b mailbox_save_alloc (libdovecot-storage.so.0 + 0x6b43b) #10 0x00005590b7ed4a69 n/a (n/a + 0x0) ELF object binary architecture: AMD x86-64 -- Christian Kivalo

5 12

LDAP AD Quota override not working
by wt.forsaken＠gmail.com 26 Feb '26

26 Feb '26

Hi there, I'm testing the new version of Dovecot 2.4 in Debian 13 before upgrading to my customers and I'm having difficult on trying to override the user's quota. The LDAP base is from Samba4 AD and having been trying the following configuration: auth-ldap.conf.ext: ldap_uris = ldap://localhost ldap_auth_dn = cn=admin,dc=localdomain ldap_auth_dn_password = password ldap_base = ou=users, dc=localdomain passdb ldap { filter = (&(objectClass=person)(sAMAccountName=%{user})) bind = yes fields { userdb_quota_storage_size = %{ldap:telephoneNumber}B } } userdb prefetch { driver = prefetch } userdb ldap { fields { quota_storage_size = %{ldap:telephoneNumber}B } } 90-quota.conf mail_plugins { quota = yes } quota "User quota" { } quota_storage_size = 40M Since there is no quotaBytes in Samba AD, I'm testing to map the telephoneNumber parameters to override the quota, also I'm just testing a 40M to see how it works. Roundcube webmail can see the quota being overriden in its inferior bar, but when I send an email to the user which is above the quota, the journal log inform "failed to store into mailbox 'INBOX': Quota exceeded (mailbox for user is full)". I don't know how to override the quota, since in passdb section I used the "userdb_" prefix but it is not being passed to userdb when I input the "doveadm user ..." command. I don't know if I have been clear in my request, but I'd appreciate any help.

3 3

Dovecot 2.4 LMTP socket for Postfix / Dovecot base_dir not created upon restart
by Philip Iezzi 24 Feb '26

24 Feb '26

Hi there, After over a week of Dovecot 2.3 -> 2.4 upgrade testing in various mailserver clones, I am now ready for the big picture. Thanks Aki for the Config Upgrader https://dovecot.org/upgrader/ which helped a lot! Tomorrow, I am planning to upgrade a larger mailserver in these 3 steps: 1) Debian Bullseye / Dovecot 2.3.21 => 2.4.1 2) Debian Bullseye => Bookworm / Dovecot 2.4.1 => 2.4.2 3) Debian Bookworm => Trixie Postfix needs to talk to Dovecot over LMTP, using the following in main.cf: virtual_transport = lmtp:unix:/run/dovecot/lmtp Now, while testing this in a full server clone, I stepped over my planned LMTP server setup: =============================================== service lmtp { unix_listener /run/dovecot/lmtp { mode = 0666 user = postfix group = postfix } } protocols = imap pop3 sieve lmtp =============================================== The socket needs to be owned by postfix:postfix for some (security) reasons, otherwise Postfix complains. That's why I cannot go with the default, as documented here: https://doc.dovecot.org/2.4.2/core/config/delivery/lmtp.html#lmtp-server > The UNIX listener on $base_dir/lmtp is enabled by default when protocols setting contains lmtp. But, when using an absolute path on unix_listener, upgrade step 2) Bullseye=>Bookworm breaks with: Processing triggers for dovecot-core (2:2.4.2-2+debian12) ... Job for dovecot.service failed because the control process exited with error code. (...) dovecot[34446]: master: Error: service(lmtp): Socket already exists: /var/run/dovecot/lmtp dovecot[34446]: master: Fatal: Failed to start listeners I then moved to `unix_listener lmtp`: service lmtp { unix_listener lmtp { mode = 0666 user = postfix group = postfix } } Bookworm upgrade (restarted from scratch with a fresh server clone) went through fine. But even after several dovecot.service restarts, the socket ended up in /run/lmtp without creating the /run/dovecot directory, and after a full system reboot, it was suddenly back where I have expected it: /run/dovecot/lmtp I never changed base_dir, which defaults to /var/run/dovecot/ So, here's my question: Is that really the recommended setup (using `inet_listener lmtp` instead of an absolute path) and how can I trust Dovecot to always create the socket in $base_dir/lmtp as documented? Are you guys aware of this issue or was it just me, a temporary hiccup on my just upgraded server? I just found this in mail.log: dovecot: master: Error: bind(/var/run/dovecot/lmtp) failed: No such file or directory dovecot: master: Error: service(lmtp): net_listen_unix(/var/run/dovecot/lmtp) failed: No such file or directory dovecot: master: Fatal: Failed to start listeners Again, this problem seems to have occurred both with `unix_listener /run/dovecot/lmtp` and `unix_listener lmtp` and only resolved after a full system reboot. Thanks, Philip

2 2

Migrating a mailbox from v2.2 to v2.4, production server to pre-production server.
by Mike 23 Feb '26

23 Feb '26

I'm migrating a mailbox from dovecot v2.2 to v2.4. Not that it matters, I'm also changing from mbox to Maildir. As an initial test I used this command: sudo doveadm sync -1D -u theuser -m amailbox remote:theuser@destination.com I received this error: Error: doveadm: Unexpected or incomplete option: -U After changing the dsync_remote_cmd to: dsync_remote_cmd = ssh -l%{login} %{host} doveadm dsync-server -u%u I was able to transfer the mailbox without issue. Before changing it, the setting on the source server was: dsync_remote_cmd = ssh -l%{login} %{host} doveadm dsync-server -u%u -U I'm interested to discover what the -U was intended for since I couldn't find specific documentation to its use. I'll accept that it was a legacy thing and removing it won't cause any unintended consequences...but I do still have that curiosity about what it was for. Additionally, the subscription status doesn't seem to flow to the new server. When checking the source server with: doveconf -d | grep subscriptions doveconf -n | grep subscriptions No value is returned...So I'm wondering if I need to specifically set subscriptions = yes in the source server to make this happen properly. Maybe this is an artifact of using sync -1? Thanks for any insight you may provide. Mike

1 0

Localhost Dovecot server without ssl?
by Steve Litt 23 Feb '26

23 Feb '26

Hi all, I'd like your opinions to add to my own opinion. Bottom line question: If I trust everybody with physical access to my Daily Driver Desktop (DDD) computer, my Dovecot IMAP runs on my DDD, I access my Dovecot IMAP *exclusively* from my DDD, and I trust everybody with physical access to my DDD (that would be my wife), then if I serve out IMAP on localhost (127.0.0.1), am I being unduly risky using plain text auth (port 143)? Details: I use a Dovecot IMAP server, on my DDD, specifically to hold all my email messages. Therefore, I can use any IMAP aware email client, interchangeably, to view every email I've received since April 2001. People whose emails are held by their email clients are "locked in" to their email client unless they convert their email data. I can switch between Evolution and Claws-Mail, because one of the two is always doing something stupid. Bottom line: I use Dovecot IMAP exclusively to hold my emails and folders. Graphical description below: ISP ---> My --------> procmail --> Dovecot IMAP fetchmail Maildir | | V email <--- Dovecot client IMAP server For the time being, I don't need to access my Dovecot IMAP from any computer except my DDD, and therefore, I can serve Dovecot IMAP on 127.0.0.1. So here's my question. Assuming (and I know this is a big assumption) I'm not worried about somebody gaining physical possession of my DDD, is there any reason not to use plain text to access this server? Thanks, SteveT Steve Litt http://444domains.com

2 1

Copies/duplicates of Dovecot indices
by Joseph Tam 23 Feb '26

23 Feb '26

In my setup, I put mail indices outside the user's mailbox locations (user mailboxs are NFS, indices stored local attached storage). I notice that sometimes, there are 2 sets of indices representing the same mailbox: one at top level, one underneath .imap/. (They usually appear in the latter.) For example, if I have the configuration (Dovcot version 3.2.21) mail_location = mbox:~/mail:INBOX=/nfs/mail/%n:INDEX=/cache/%n I see for a particular user [1] drwx------ 5 user group 512 Feb 22 21:56 /cache/user/box [2] drwxr-xr-x 5 user group 512 Feb 22 21:46 /cache/user/.imap/box cooresponding to their mailbox in ~user/mail/box. Each of these have the dovecot.* index files. If I delete [1], it comes back. The timestamps are close to each other so both sets are being used, possibly by different clients. Another quirky discovery is 2 /.imap/ folders beneath each other e.g. /cache/user/.imap/folder1/folder2/.imap/box/dovecot.index What determines which index pathname gets created or used? Joseph Tam <jtam.home(a)gmail.com>

1 0

2.3 replication issue throwing errors
by Paul Kudla 22 Feb '26

22 Feb '26

shows same error on both servers Server 1 : # sync faye(a)scom.ca doveadm(faye(a)scom.ca)<90952><BJq9J2dHmGlIYwEA0dxyZQ>: Warning: Mailbox changes caused a desync. You may want to run dsync again: Remote lost mailbox GUID f982a82747469869ea0f0100cf58dcff (maybe it was just deleted?) Server 2: # sync faye(a)scom.ca doveadm(faye(a)scom.ca)<90952><BJq9J2dHmGlIYwEA0dxyZQ>: Warning: Mailbox changes caused a desync. You may want to run dsync again: Remote lost mailbox GUID f982a82747469869ea0f0100cf58dcff (maybe it was just deleted?) i am aware there is a mismatch on one of the servers but there does not seem to be a clear cut way to find the offending file to delete it or force a backwards sync ? How would i identify what GUID f982a82747469869ea0f0100cf58dcff means? same on both servers. doveadm force-resync -u faye(a)scom.ca '*' have tried reindex etc etc etc issue persists logs ?? mail18 02-20 06:45:24 {dovecot} [67632] (3014654310) doveadm(faye(a)scom.ca)<71073><hOl0ClRJmGmhFQEAz1jc/w>: Debug: open(/proc/self/stat) failed: No such file or directory mail18 02-20 06:45:24 {dovecot} [67632] (3014654311) doveadm(faye(a)scom.ca)<71073><hOl0ClRJmGmhFQEAz1jc/w>: Debug: open(/proc/self/io) failed: No such file or directory mail18 02-20 06:45:24 {dovecot} [67632] (3014654312) doveadm(faye(a)scom.ca)<71073><hOl0ClRJmGmhFQEAz1jc/w>: Debug: Namespace inbox: type=private, prefix=, sep=/, inbox=yes, hidden=no, list=yes, subscriptions=yes location=maildir:~/ any help would be appreciated -- Thanks - Paul Kudla (Manager SCOM.CA Internet Services Inc.) Have A Happy Friday AND Happy Sucessful 2026 ! Scom.ca Internet Services <http://www.scom.ca> 104-1009 Byron Street South Whitby, Ontario - Canada L1N 4S3 Toronto 416.642.7266 Main 1.866.411.7266 Fax 1.888.892.7266 Email paul(a)scom.ca

2 2

How do you use doveadm fetch -S
by Steve Litt 20 Feb '26

20 Feb '26

Hi all, I have a working plain text 127.0.0.1:143 Dovecot 2.4.2 on my Qemu VM guest. The following command displays the Receive date, From and Subject for every email in my golugTech mailbox, exactly like the docs say it should: =================================================== doveadm fetch -u slitt "date.received hdr.from hdr.subject" mailbox golugTech =================================================== But when I add the -S in order to specify the 127.0.0.1 listener at port 143, it throws the following error: =================================================== [slitt@mydesk ~]$ cat junk.jnk [root@dovecotvoid dovecot]# doveadm fetch -S 127.0.0.1:143 -u slitt "date.received hdr.from hdr.subject" mailbox golugTech doveadm(slitt): Error: conn 127.0.0.1:143 (127.0.0.1:143): doveadm server sent invalid handshake: * OK Waiting for authentication process to respond.. doveadm(slitt): Error: cmd fetch: 127.0.0.1:143: Command fetch failed for slitt: Connection closed [root@dovecotvoid dovecot]# [slitt@mydesk~]$ =================================================== The docs say -S is to specify the socket_path, and it should be expressed as hostname:port. For hostname, besides 127.0.0.1, I tried localhost and dovecotvoid, the latter of which should not work because dovecotvoid is not 127.0.0.1, it's 10.0.2.15. The docs say "This allows an administrator to execute doveadm(1) mail commands through the given socket." So I guess finding the server isn't the purpose of socket_path. My plain text 143 Dovecot 2.4.2 IMAP works just fine without the -S. Is there ever a case where doveadm fetch would need to know the specific address and port of the dovecot IMAP server, and if so, how would I specify it? Thanks, SteveT Steve Litt http://444domains.com

2 1

What replaced mail_home in 2.4.2?
by Steve Litt 20 Feb '26

20 Feb '26

Hi all, In my Dovecot 2.4.2 virtual machine guest I've used mail_home to indicate the value of ~ and presumably of ${home}. However, the only documentation I can find on mail_home is on https://doc.dovecot.org/main/core/summaries/settings.html#mail_home , which is NOT a 2.4.2 document. I find no reference to mail_home on any 2.4.2 documentation. Has something replace mail_home, and if so what's it called and can I put it outside of any {} blocks? Thanks, SteveT Steve Litt http://444domains.com

2 2

mail_utf8_extensions and IMAP Folder Naming
by max.wriedt＠rehost.eu 20 Feb '26

20 Feb '26

i just upgraded my 2.3 installation to 2.4. I like to be bleeding edge and i want to use SMTPUTF8. I came across problems with mailboxes that have german umlauts. when enabling "mail_utf8_extensions=yes" e.g. Microsoft Outlook gives me mUTF-7 encoded folder names. Also the folder names when list via openssl s_client are encoded in mUTF-7. Am i missing something or can i disable utf8 for IMAP (UTF8=ACCEPT) only, but keep for LMTP Transport/SMTPUTF8 from postfix to dovecot? I am using mdbox format as storage, if that matters. My namespace config (shortened): namespace inbox { inbox = yes type = private #mailbox_list_utf8 = yes # also tried this -> when folder didn't exist before it would create a new one with utf8, no matter mail_utf8_extensions is on or off mailbox Drafts { auto = no special_use = \Drafts } mailbox Entw&APw-rfe { special_use = \Drafts } mailbox Entw%26APw-rfe { special_use = \Drafts } mailbox Entw\&APw-rfe { special_use = \Drafts } mailbox Entwürfe { auto = create special_use = \Drafts } mailbox Trash { auto = no special_use = \Trash quota_storage_percentage = 110 } mailbox "Gel&APY-schte Elemente" { special_use = \Trash quota_storage_percentage = 110 } mailbox "Gelöschte Elemente" { auto = subscribe special_use = \Trash quota_storage_percentage = 110 } mailbox Sent { auto = no special_use = \Sent } mailbox Archiv { auto = subscribe special_use = \Archive } mailbox Spam { special_use = \Junk auto = no } }

3 4

2.4.2 breaks user iterations for LDAP
by cpfeiffer＠rev-crew.info 20 Feb '26

20 Feb '26

Hello everyone, Due to the fix for CVE-2025-30189, routines like userdb_ldap_preinit() call auth_cache_parse_key_and_fields() unconditionally, with the eventually called auth_cache_parse_key_exclude() erroring if a cache key could not be constructed. It’s also noteworthy that this call happens regardless of whether use_cache is set or not, and as of such failing to construct a cache key would cause an error even if use_cache = no was set for that database. This is however an issue for user iteration with LDAP, as documented here LDAP | Dovecot CE <https://doc.dovecot.org/2.4.2/core/config/auth/databases/ldap.html#user-ite…> . Such a userdb only has iterate_filter fields that would inherently not be containing any user variables. The call to auth_cache_parse_key_and_fields() uses a combination of ldap_base and userdb_ldap_filter anyway (so whatever is in iterate_filter isn’t considered), and for an iteration userdb as described in the documentation, the latter would be empty. Alas, I ended up getting the rather confusing error * auth: Fatal: auth-cache: dc=rev-crew,dc=info: Cache key must contain at least one variable With dc=rev-crew,dc=info being my ldap_base setting for the iteration userdb. I’m not critically dependent on the user iteration, so I’ve commented the userdb out for now, but this would need fixing. Regards, Christian Pfeiffer Hello everyone, Due to the fix for CVE-2025-30189, routines like userdb_ldap_preinit() call auth_cache_parse_key_and_fields() unconditionally, with the eventually called auth_cache_parse_key_exclude() erroring if a cache key could not be constructed. It's also noteworthy that this call happens regardless of whether use_cache is set or not, and as of such failing to construct a cache key would cause an error even if use_cache = no was set for that database. This is however an issue for user iteration with LDAP, as documented here [1]LDAP | Dovecot CE. Such a userdb only has iterate_filter fields that would inherently not be containing any user variables. The call to auth_cache_parse_key_and_fields() uses a combination of ldap_base and userdb_ldap_filter anyway (so whatever is in iterate_filter isn't considered), and for an iteration userdb as described in the documentation, the latter would be empty. Alas, I ended up getting the rather confusing error o auth: Fatal: auth-cache: dc=rev-crew,dc=info: Cache key must contain at least one variable With dc=rev-crew,dc=info being my ldap_base setting for the iteration userdb. I'm not critically dependent on the user iteration, so I've commented the userdb out for now, but this would need fixing. Regards, Christian Pfeiffer References Visible links 1. https://doc.dovecot.org/2.4.2/core/config/auth/databases/ldap.html#user-ite…

4 5

Search for missing To: header?
by Joseph Tam 20 Feb '26

20 Feb '26

Is there a proper way to torture doveadm search query to look for messages with a missing "To:" header? I played around with it and this seems to work: doveadm fetch -A text mailbox {box} NOT TO '' (Looking through a large spam corups: spam often exclude recipients in the headers as it gives the game away their personalized fraud was blasted to hundreds of addresses.) Joseph Tam <jtam.home(a)gmail.com>

1 0

More Dovecot 2.4 woes: LDAP cache bug and virtual autosubscribe
by sev monster 19 Feb '26

19 Feb '26

8 months ago I messaged this list communicating some of the issues I had with 2.4. Before I could even start testing 2.4 properly, 2 bugs had to be fixed—one that caused crashes on startup (https://gitlab.alpinelinux.org/alpine/aports/-/issues/17050) and one that caused passdb to use the same caching key for all connections and as such always have the same user log in. There was another bug, one that prevented me from using LDAP binds for passdb, but it had a workaround that mostly worked without side-eeffects. All of those have since been fixed, hurray! So in my infinite naïveté, I decided to give 2.4 another shake. And it, again, does not work. Surprise! I did manage to massage the configuration to allow me to at least run 2.4 without crashing and with users able to access (most of) their mailboxes, but there are still blockers to full functionality. I face the following issues: 1. Christian Pfeiffer back in November found a bug where auth caching with LDAP did not work, and due to how it's implemented, even turning caching off would still raise an error. I experienced the same issue for both userdb iteration and passdb bind logins. I had to comment out the userdb and use a static one instead (all my users, currently, use the same UID and easily composable path, so this wasn't a big deal) and start using a service account for LDAP binds. 2. Virtual mailbox autosubscribe does not work anymore. It throws an error about trying to create the virtual mailbox. This worked in 2.3. My virtual mailbox config: namespace virtual { type = private prefix = Search Folders. mail_driver = virtual mail_path = /etc/dovecot/virtual mail_index_path = ~/dovecot-virtual.cache mail_control_path = ~/dovecot-virtual.cache mail_volatile_path = ~/dovecot-virtual.cache hidden = yes list = children subscriptions = no mailbox All { auto = subscribe special_use = \All comment = All messages, excluding Junk and Trash } mailbox Unread { auto = subscribe special_use = \Important comment = All unread messages, excluding Junk and Trash } mailbox Flagged { auto = subscribe special_use = \Flagged comment = All flagged messages } } If there is something wrong with this config that might be responsible for my issue, please let me know. Otherwise, I believe this is a regression. I understand autosubscribe is documented to (and in other situations with non-virtual boxes) create mailboxes if missing, so if this is actually a fix to make the feature work as documented, we need a new option that allows for autosubscription without attempting to create the mailbox. Otherwise, my users will not know they even have these mailboxes—no one anymore knows or cares about mailbox (re: folder) subscription and won't know where to look to get them to show up in their client. With autosubscribe enabled, I can see the mailboxes in my mail client without explicitly subscribing, but attempting to open them will throw a server error. Removing the setting will make the mailbox disappear without going into settings and explicitly subscribing. Any ETA on the first bug being fixed, and any help with the second issue (bug or not) would be greatly appreciated. Best regards. P.S.: I wanted to spread this information that wasn't mentioned at all in the documentation. The shadow passdb was removed in the move to 2.4; why exactly is neither here nor there, though I will remark that I still don't know why it was done. I had believed at the time this necessitated enabling PAM for Dovecot, which it is not by default in my distro's package (Alpine), so if I wanted to continue allowing local users to log in, I would have to build Dovecot it myself and install PAM, neither of which I particularly wanted to do. I did play with passwd-file in the past, but there were issues with it that prevented me from using it—I don't remember what they were exactly, but I believe they have since been fixed, since in my testing now it does seem to work properly in the use-cases I tested. Anyway, while going over my config and getting ready to re-install PAM, I had a thought. /etc/shadow uses the same format for the first two fields as /etc/password, and Dovecot still (supposedly) allows for passwords to be used when reading /etc/password, so wouldn't it be possible to point the driver at the shadow file? Turns out, yes, it works! I am now able to authenticate local users from /etc/shadow again. Thanks to this, I no longer need to build with PAM support and don't need to install PAM on a PAM-less system. I hope this isn't considered a bug or something and support for this use-case is removed, because I really don't want to bother once again with adding PAM when I don't have to. :)

2 2

Fedora 43 and Dovecot version 2.4.2
by Bill Steinberg 19 Feb '26

19 Feb '26

Hello, I am running Fedora 43 on a server which is running a dovecot server, version 2.4.1-8. I am not running a cluster, there is only one dovecot server running on the Fedora 43 instance. Redhat has just updated the dovecot version on Fedora 43 to version 2.4.2-5. I would like to upgrade dovecot to version 2.4.2. I assume that the dovecot_config_version should be changed to 2.4.2. Should the dovecot_storage_version be changed to 2.4.2 as well? Are there any steps that should be taken to upgrade the dovecot storage to version 2.4.2? FYI the mail_driver on the dovecot server is mbox: mail_driver = mbox. Best regards, -Bill Hello, I am running Fedora 43 on a server which is running a dovecot server, version 2.4.1-8. I am not running a cluster, there is only one dovecot server running on the Fedora 43 instance. Redhat has just updated the dovecot version on Fedora 43 to version 2.4.2-5. I would like to upgrade dovecot to version 2.4.2. I assume that the dovecot_config_version should be changed to 2.4.2. Should the dovecot_storage_version be changed to 2.4.2 as well? Are there any steps that should be taken to upgrade the dovecot storage to version 2.4.2? FYI the mail_driver on the dovecot server is mbox: mail_driver = mbox. Best regards, -Bill

2 1

deliver fails because of a permission issue with SSL private key file
by Markus Schönhaber 19 Feb '26

19 Feb '26

Hi, I'm trying to make Postfix hand incoming mail to Dovecot by using Dovecot's deliver. But this fails with a permission error: > Feb 17 15:50:12 debian13-cont postfix/pipe[13133]: 171C17206: to=<recipient(a)dest.examle.org>, relay=dovecot, delay=0.17, delays=0.1/0/0/0.07, dsn=5.3.0, status=bounced (Command died with status 89: "/usr/lib/dovecot/deliver". Command output: doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/certs.conf line 3: key_file: open(/etc/ssl/private/ssl-cert-snakeoil.key) failed: Permission denied ) How can I solve this (short of making the private key file world readable, of course)? Regards mks I have this in Postfix' master.cf: > dovecot unix - n n - - pipe > flags=DROhu user=vmail:vmail argv=/usr/lib/dovecot/deliver -e -f ${sender} -a ${recipient} -d ${user}@${domain} # LANG=C id vmail uid=501(vmail) gid=501(vmail) groups=501(vmail),104(ssl-cert) # LANG=C ls -l /etc/ssl/private/ total 4 -rw-r----- 1 root ssl-cert 1704 Feb 4 17:15 ssl-cert-snakeoil.key # doveconf -n # 2.4.2-2+debian13 (0962ed2104): /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf # Pigeonhole version 2.4.2-2+debian13 (767418c3) # OS: Linux 6.19.0-2-MANJARO x86_64 Debian 13.3 btrfs # Hostname: debian13-cont dovecot_config_version = 2.4.2 dovecot_storage_version = 2.4.2 log_debug = category=sql mail_driver = sdbox mail_gid = vmail mail_home = /var/spool/vmail/home/%{user | domain}/%{user | username} mail_path = /var/spool/vmail/mail/%{user | domain}/%{user | username} mail_plugins { quota = yes } mail_uid = vmail protocols = imap lmtp sieve sql_driver = mysql mysql localhost { dbname = postfixadmin password = # hidden, use -P to show it user = postfixadmin } passdb sql { query = SELECT 'vmail' AS userdb_uid, 'vmail' AS userdb_gid, CONCAT('/var/spool/vmail/home/', maildir) AS userdb_home, CONCAT(quota, 'B') AS userdb_quota_storage_size, username AS user, password FROM mailbox WHERE username = '%{user}' AND active = '1'; } userdb prefetch { } userdb sql { iterate_query = SELECT username AS user FROM mailbox WHERE active = '1'; query = SELECT 'vmail' AS uid, 'vmail' AS gid, CONCAT('/var/spool/vmail/home/', maildir) AS home, CONCAT(quota, 'B') AS quota_storage_size, username AS user, password FROM mailbox WHERE username = '%{user}' AND active = '1'; } namespace inbox { inbox = yes separator = / mailbox Drafts { special_use = "\\Drafts" } mailbox Entwürfe { special_use = "\\Drafts" } mailbox Junk { special_use = "\\Junk" } mailbox Trash { special_use = "\\Trash" } mailbox "Gelöschte Objekte" { special_use = "\\Trash" } mailbox Sent { special_use = "\\Sent" } mailbox "Gesendete Objekte" { special_use = "\\Sent" } } service auth { inet_listener tcp_auth { port = 12345 } unix_listener /var/spool/postfix/private/auth { group = postfix mode = 0666 user = postfix } } service auth-worker { } ssl_server { cert_file = /etc/ssl/certs/ssl-cert-snakeoil.pem key_file = /etc/ssl/private/ssl-cert-snakeoil.key } protocol imap { mail_plugins { imap_quota = yes } } quota "User quota" { } dict_server { dict mysql { driver = sql sql_driver = mysql dict_map priv/quota/messages { sql_table = quota username_field = username dict_map_value_field messages { } } dict_map priv/quota/storage { sql_table = quota username_field = username dict_map_value_field bytes { } } } } quota_clone { dict proxy { name = mysql } }

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dovecot 2.4 changes
by Curtis J Blank 18 Feb '26

18 Feb '26

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)

12 19

"Synchronization corrupted index header" with mdbox: thousands of deleted e-mails reappeared in INBOX
by Ákos Szőts 17 Feb '26

17 Feb '26

Hi everyone, Suddenly, the following messages appeared in my Dovecot error log: master: Warning: Killed with signal 15 (by pid=0 uid=0 code=kill) Error: Mailbox Trash: Synchronization corrupted index header [...]/Trash/dbox-Mails/dovecot.index: uidvalidity=0, but next_uid=73 Warning: Mailbox Trash: fscking index file [...]/Trash/dbox-Mails/dovecot.index Warning: mdbox([...]/mail/storage): rebuilding indexes: Mailbox Trash index was fsck'd Warning: mdbox([...]/mail/storage): fscking index file [...]/index/inbox/storage/dovecot.map.index Error: Mailbox INBOX: [...]/INBOX/dbox-Mails/dovecot.index reset, view is now inconsistent The first message is because I restarted the container. Since then, Thunderbird shows thousands of previously deleted e-mails again in INBOX where all my messages are marked as unread. - Do you know what can cause it and how can I avoid to happen again? - Is the used mdbox storage engine that fragile? Is the fault tolerance of other engines better? I have a backup from some days ago. Is it possible to somehow revert back to it and sync the new e-mails on top of those? Version: 2.4.2. Thank you, Ákos

2 1

Most relevant documents for 2.4.x config file syntax
by Steve Litt 16 Feb '26

16 Feb '26

Hi all, Some time has gone by, so I'm hoping there's some good documentation for somebody needing syntax help on building a 2.4.x Dovecot. I've seen https://doc.dovecot.org/2.4.0/installation/upgrade/2.3-to-2.4.html , but it's not useful to me because I don't know *where* all those various pieces go. Which things go in what curly braces? It doesn't say. https://doc.dovecot.org/2.4.2/core/config/quick.html looks like an excellent starting place. Do you agree? What other *simple* documentation do you recommend? Because I am not and never was a Dovecot expert, I'll need something that does a considerable amount of teaching: A sort of Dovecot 4.2 For Dummies type thing. Thanks, SteveT Steve Litt http://444domains.com

3 4

Configuration upgrade tool
by Aki Tuomi 15 Feb '26

15 Feb '26

Hi! To make migrating from Dovecot 2.3 to 2.4 a bit easier, we are now providing a tool that helps upgrade your existing configuration. The tool allows you to upload either a full dovecot.conf or selected ancillary configuration files from a 2.3 setup, and will attempt to convert them accordingly. You can find the tool here: https://dovecot.org/upgrader/ We do not store any of the configurations processed by the tool, nor do we track who uses it. It's offered as-is, without any warranty or guarantee. If you run into any issues, unexpected results, or have feedback about the tool, please let us know — it’s very much appreciated. Please note that the tool can make mistakes, so we strongly recommend carefully reviewing and testing the output before using it in production. There are currently no plans to release this tool as open source. Regards, Aki Tuomi Open-Xchange oy

11 18

Sdbox/mdbox purge on Public folders
by luke+dovecot＠psy.io 15 Feb '26

15 Feb '26

Hi dovecot mailing list people, After having looked through the mailing list archives, tried various search engines & asked an LLM to hallucinate an answer all to no avail, I now pose the following question to you all: For a Dovecot 2.4 system that uses mail_driver = mdbox for regular mailboxes and also has a public namespace, how might I invoke the maintenance routine of `doveadm purge` against the m.1, m.2 ... m.N files under the mail_path location? Below is the snippet of what I have in the configuration files for the public namespace: namespace public { type = public separator = / prefix = Public/ mail_path = /var/spool/mail/Public mail_index_private_path = ~/public subscriptions = yes mailbox "communal" { auto = subscribe } } Since my dovecot instance is a self-hosted matter, I am in a position to move all mail data out of there, delete any left over storage files and change the mail_driver to Maildir, if that is the easiest way to manage the risk of dbox m file sprawl/growth. Best regards, Luke

2 1

Is there a lint utility for 2.4.x configuration?
by Steve Litt 14 Feb '26

14 Feb '26

Hi all, I use a local Dovecot IMAP server to store all my emails, which I access from either Claws-Mail or Evolution. On 7/7/2025 my email stopped working, a few hours of troubleshooting led to a Dovecot problem, a few more hours led to the 2.3 to 2.4 config file changes, and the next 3 days I went without email while trying to get a working 2.4. Finally I managed to downgrade back to 2.3.x and restore the config from backup, and didn't lose too many emails. I've waited 6 months for all the dust to settle, and now I'm going to try to make a test VM (Void Linux) with 2.4.x, using phony baloney data because I don't want to lose my email capabilities again. So my first question is this: Is there a lint utility for my configuration, so that I can cut down on experimenting with 50 different variables at once and reading conflicting documentation? Here's what I know so far about lint utilities: * I know doveconf -n and dovecot -n dump non-default settings, but I don't think they can detect syntax errors. * dovecot-sysreport doesn't seem to give me info about syntax errors. * None of the doveadm commands seem to check syntax. Thanks, SteveT Steve Litt http://444domains.com

2 3

My plan for a test Dovecot 2.4.2
by Steve Litt 14 Feb '26

14 Feb '26

Hi all, I need to thoroughly test Dovecot 2.4.2 on a Virtual Machine before upgrading my real machine. Please tell me whether you think this plan is good... I install Void Linux, my Daily Driver Distro, on a Qemu VM. I also install Dovecot and Claws-Mail. Then I copy part or all of my current (2.3.21.1 (d492236fa0)) maildir to the VM, and work until I can configure a Dovecot on the VM that serves IMAP only, SSL only (ssl = required on 2.3.x), such that Claws-Mail can read, search and delete messages on the VM just the same as on 2.3.21.1 on my daily driver. I'm using few or no Dovecot features other than using it as a Maildir driven IMAP server. Maildir is a must because I write to it from Procmail, and Procmail doesn't write every kind of mail storage. Does this sound like a good, safe way to test before upgrading? Thanks, SteveT Steve Litt http://444domains.com

1 0

Clean up of dovecot.index.pvt.log files
by Sad Clouds 14 Feb '26

14 Feb '26

Hello, I'm trying to understand how to clean up old dovecot.index.pvt.log files, which are used for per user private \Seen flags. Running "doveadm purge" does not seem to remove them. I have the following public namespace configured: namespace public { type = public separator = / prefix = Public/ inbox = no hidden = no mail_driver = mdbox mail_path = /data/mailstore/%{user|domain|lower}/mail_public/mdbox mail_index_private_path = ~/mdbox/Public.index.pvt # Enable user private \Seen flags list = yes subscriptions = no # Allow users in the 'admin' group to have complete control over the namespace acl group=admin { rights = lrwstipekxa } } The problem is - if the admin deletes a public folder, the old dovecot.index.pvt.log files forever remain in all of the users' home mailbox directories, like tombstones. I see two ways around it: 1. Attempt to store private index files in the original folder's mail path, so when the folder is deleted, all files underneath it are also deleted automatically: mail_path = %{mail_directory}/Public.index.pvt/%{user|domain|lower} However there appears to be no %{mail_directory} variable which would expand to mdbox/mailboxes/<folder_name>/dbox-Mails/ and even if there was one, with public folders, for every user subscribed to this folder, there would be a user-specific directory just for the private index file. This may not scale well with thousands of users. 2. Run a cron script to list all public folders and then compare ~/mdbox/Public.index.pvt directory of each user for stale private index files which refer to non-existent folders. This can probably be done efficiently with commands like find, awk and sed, but it feels a bit cumbersome and arcane. Can anyone suggest any other or better alternatives to solve this issue? Thanks.

1 0

shared mailbox on 2.3 - will I avoid concurrency (mailbox corruption) issues if both users are on the same server
by daniel.botting＠codethink.co.uk 13 Feb '26

13 Feb '26

Hi all, Currently we are running 2.3, with a plan to move to 2.4 later this year. Our current setup is two replicating servers, I have setup on my test servers a shared name space as this is a limited requirement at this time for an assistant to view their managers inbox. I had read here: https://doc.dovecot.org/2.3/configuration_manual/shared_mailboxes/cluster_s… For two or more servers Director is required because (taken from the docs): As mentioned in Director, you can’t have multiple servers accessing the same user at the same time or it will lead into trouble. This can become problematic with shared mailboxes, because two users who are sharing a folder may run in different servers. As this is a limited requirement at this time and we'll be migrating to 2.4 where Director has been removed (I read the Docs that there is an unsupported replacement) if I have both the manager and the assistant only accessing the managers inbox via the same server will I avoid concurrency issues (ie I presume mailbox corruption). Many thanks and have a nice weekend Daniel

1 1

Rebuilding missing index/paths
by Alain Perry 13 Feb '26

13 Feb '26

Hello, First of all, I'm sorry if this isn't the best place to ask for that kind of help, in which case I'd appreciate a pointer to any adequate asynchronous channel. ------------ Some context (skip to next horizontal line if you don't care): I'm happily self-hosting a few services at home. Some months ago I decided I needed to backup my emails to my NAS, in a way that would allow me to read or search them from a web browser as easily as I did with my "cloud" mailboxes. Since I didn't find a modern yet simple webmail that could directly read a Maildir storage, I finally bit the bullet and ran a dovecot container to copy my emails to (using imapsync). Since I opted for an IMAP server, I thought I didn't need to worry too much about the storage format and used the sdbox that (I believe) was the default. Backing up worked and searching worked and I was a happy person. I used my local webmail a couple of times to search for an old email, found it, thought this was a job well done that I wouldn't have to worry too much about anymore. Then, it stopped working. I honestly don't remember what I did around that time that might have broken things or caused a data loss, but IMAP clients couldn't access my emails anymore. Since I had other more urgent matters to address, I let that problem rot. Now that I have a bit more time, I decided to try again. ------------ My problem is that, while it is clear that some data is missing, I have no clue what that data is and how (if ?) I can rebuild it. The folder structure is there in /src/vmail/username/Mail/mailboxes. I do see index(.log) and dbox-Mails/u.* in the folders, so it does look like it conforms to the doc in this regard. However, the paths returned for the mailboxes by "doveadm mailbox path" all use guid's, and do not exist on the filesystem. I don't quite understand how it got to this point, nor what I should have lying around at those paths but I wonder if it is at all possible to rebuild them so I might regain access to my archives. Is there something I can do to recover my emails ? Thanks for reaching this point, and thank you for any help and/or pointers you might be able to provide. Regards,

2 2

History Assignment Writing Help – Expert Assistance
by Theo Wilson 13 Feb '26

13 Feb '26

Struggling with your history assignments? Our History Assignment Writing Help service offers expert guidance to help you craft well-researched, structured, and original assignments. Fill out this form to get personalized support from experienced writers and improve your grades with ease. https://www.newassignmenthelp.co.uk/history-assignment-help

1 0

fts-flatcurve change index location
by grabsoon＠gmail.com 12 Feb '26

12 Feb '26

hi is there any way to change location ONLY FOR flatcurve indexes all I want is to write fts-flatcurve directories outside ~/Maildir path I do not want to change location of: dovecot.list.index.log dovecot.mailbox.log dovecot-uidvalidity Only for flatcurve indexes. when i set mail_index_path = ~/Indexes all indexes are saved to this new location, not just flatcurve i'm afraid that changing mail_index_path value on production environment is very riski Thanks

2 1

Re: 2.4: fts flatcurve remove?
by Michael Slusarz 11 Feb '26

11 Feb '26

> On 02/10/2026 3:07 PM MST Bjoern Franke via dovecot <dovecot(a)dovecot.org> wrote: > > in the pre release docs > https://doc.dovecot.org/main/core/man/doveadm-fts.1.html#fts-flatcurve-remo… > > doveadm fts flatcurve remove > > was mentioned, but in https://doc.dovecot.org/2.4.2/ it's gone. ? https://doc.dovecot.org/2.4.2/core/man/doveadm-fts.1.html#fts-flatcurve-rem…

2 1

2.4: fts flatcurve remove?
by Bjoern Franke 11 Feb '26

11 Feb '26

Hi, in the pre release docs https://doc.dovecot.org/main/core/man/doveadm-fts.1.html#fts-flatcurve-remo… doveadm fts flatcurve remove was mentioned, but in https://doc.dovecot.org/2.4.2/ it's gone. So, how to remove the flatcurve data again? Simply a find ...--delete? Regards Bjoern

1 0

doveadm quota get issue in lcx container
by Kim Haverblad 09 Feb '26

09 Feb '26

Hi, I'm having some issues getting the quota plugin to work properly. Based on the error message, it looks like the plugin doesn't fully cooperate with Proxmox mount points for LXC containers. It appears to be referencing the secondary disk directly as /dev/nvme1n1p1, rather than the actual mount point inside the container. Here's the full error message: mlgate:/usr/lib/systemd/system# doveadm quota get -u [1]some(a)example.com doveadm([2]some(a)example.com): Error: Failed to get quota resource STORAGE: quota-fs: quotactl(Q_GETQUOTA, /dev/nvme1n1p1) failed: No such file or directory Are there any parameters that need to be adjusted to make this work, or is there an alternative plugin that would handle this setup better? //Kim

2 1

In an email client, tasks accumulate and are queued using the IMAP protocol
by Lafiel Elentari 08 Feb '26

08 Feb '26

Hello. By default, the email client uses 4 IMAP connections. However, tasks often hang, and changes to email statuses made via the web interface are not reflected in the client. I tried enabling imap-hibernate, which cleared the queue, but the issue with updating email statuses persisted. Is this a problem with the email client or the Dovecot server? -- Best regards, Lafiel Elentari mailto:lafiel@elven.pw

1 0

Configuring the Outbox folder in an email client
by Lafiel Elentari 08 Feb '26

08 Feb '26

Hello. The Bat! email client, when using the IMAP protocol, comes with three pre-defined folders: "Outbox," "Sent Mail," and "Trash." While setting up the "Sent Mail" and "Trash" folders is simple, configuring the "Outbox" folder may be less obvious. How should it be set up? Is it correct to designate the Drafts folder for this purpose? -- Best regards, Lafiel Elentari mailto:lafiel@elven.pw

1 0

doveadm sync panic
by Roberto Puzzanghera 07 Feb '26

07 Feb '26

I am experiencing a consistent panic while using doveadm sync on Dovecot v2.4.2. The panic occurs during a synchronization attempt between two servers. It appears that the sync panics when entering in a .Junk.Something folder. Any idea? I attach the log lines and my configuration Any help would be appreciated Roberto # doveadm -D sync -u postmaster@domain-tld tcp:10.0.0.24:12345 [...] Feb 06 22:39:46 doveadm(postmaster(a)domain.tld): Panic: file hash.c: line 252 (hash_table_insert_node): assertion failed: (opcode == HASH_TABLE_OP_UPDATE) Feb 06 22:39:46 doveadm(postmaster(a)domain.tld): Error: Raw backtrace: libdovecot.so.0(backtrace_append+0x40) [0x7f7bba941860] -> libdovecot.so.0(backtrace_get+0x22) [0x7f7bba9419b2] -> libdovecot.so.0(+0x14fc12) [0x7f7bba94fc12] -> libdovecot.so.0(+0x14fc41) [0x7f7bba94fc41] -> libdovecot.so.0(+0x72375) [0x7f7bba872375] -> libdovecot.so.0(+0x732c3) [0x7f7bba8732c3] -> doveadm(dsync_mailbox_tree_build_name128_hash+0x9a) [0x55e5f58108ba] -> doveadm(dsync_mailbox_tree_fill+0x750) [0x55e5f5811bb0] -> doveadm(dsync_brain_mailbox_trees_init+0x192) [0x55e5f58055b2] -> doveadm(dsync_brain_master_init+0x191) [0x55e5f5801f51] -> doveadm(+0x3544b) [0x55e5f57e644b] -> doveadm(+0x3794e) [0x55e5f57e894e] -> doveadm(doveadm_cmd_ver2_to_mail_cmd_wrapper+0x244) [0x55e5f57e9684] -> doveadm(doveadm_cmdline_run+0x593) [0x55e5f57fd473] -> doveadm(doveadm_cmdline_try_run+0xba) [0x55e5f57fc67a] -> doveadm(main+0x2fd) [0x55e5f57dacfd] -> libc.so.6(__libc_start_main+0xcd) [0x7f7bba4fd03d] -> doveadm(_start+0x2a) [0x55e5f57db0ea] # doveconf -n # 2.4.2 (): /usr/local/dovecot/etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf # Pigeonhole version 2.4.2 (767418c3) # OS: Linux 6.15.3 x86_64 Slackware 15.0 # Hostname: qt dovecot_config_version = 2.4.2 auth_allow_cleartext = yes auth_allow_weak_schemes = yes auth_default_domain = mydomain.tld auth_mechanisms = plain login auth_socket_path = ../../../var/run/dovecot/auth-userdb debug_log_path = /var/log/dovecot/dovecot.log default_login_user = vpopmail doveadm_password = # hidden, use -P to show it dovecot_storage_version = 2.4.2 first_valid_gid = 89 first_valid_uid = 89 fts_autoindex = yes fts_autoindex_max_recent_msgs = 999 fts_search_add_missing = yes hostname = mydomain.tld last_valid_gid = 89 last_valid_uid = 89 listen { * = yes :: = no } log_debug = category=mail log_path = /var/log/dovecot/dovecot.log mail_access_groups = 89 mail_driver = maildir mail_gid = 89 mail_path = ~/Maildir mail_plugins { notify = yes fts = no fts_solr = no quota = yes } mail_privileged_group = 89 mail_uid = 89 mailbox_list_validate_fs_names = no passdb_default_password_scheme = SHA512-CRYPT postmaster_address = postmaster(a)mydomain.tld protocols { imap = yes pop3 = yes sieve = yes } sendmail_path = /var/qmail/bin/sendmail sql_driver = mysql ssl_min_protocol = TLSv1.1 passdb sql { query = SELECT CONCAT(vpopmail.pw_name, '@', vpopmail.pw_domain) AS user, vpopmail.pw_passwd AS password, vpopmail.pw_dir AS userdb_home, 89 AS userdb_uid, 89 AS userdb_gid, CONCAT(REPLACE(SUBSTRING_INDEX(vpopmail.pw_shell, 'S', 1), 'NOQUOTA', '0'), 'B') AS userdb_quota_storage_size FROM vpopmail LEFT JOIN aliasdomains ON aliasdomains.alias='%{user | domain}' LEFT JOIN limits ON limits.domain='%{user | domain}' WHERE vpopmail.pw_name='%{user | username}' AND (vpopmail.pw_domain='%{user | domain}' OR vpopmail.pw_domain=aliasdomains.domain) AND ('%{local_port}'!='995' OR !(vpopmail.pw_gid & 2)) AND ('%{remote_ip}'!='10.0.0.4' OR !(vpopmail.pw_gid & 4)) AND ('%{remote_ip}'='10.0.0.4' OR '%{local_port}'!='993' OR !(vpopmail.pw_gid & 8)) AND ('%{remote_ip}'!='10.0.0.4' OR COALESCE(disable_webmail,0)!=1) AND ('%{remote_ip}'='10.0.0.4' OR COALESCE(disable_imap,0)!=1) } userdb prefetch { driver = prefetch } userdb sql { iterate_query = SELECT CONCAT(pw_name,'@',pw_domain) AS user FROM vpopmail query = SELECT vpopmail.pw_dir AS home, 89 AS uid, 89 AS gid, CONCAT(REPLACE(SUBSTRING_INDEX(vpopmail.pw_shell, 'S', 1), 'NOQUOTA', '0'), 'B') AS quota_storage_size FROM vpopmail WHERE vpopmail.pw_name='%{user | username}' AND vpopmail.pw_domain='%{user | domain}' } namespace inbox { inbox = yes mailbox Drafts { auto = subscribe special_use = "\\Drafts" } mailbox Junk { autoexpunge = 30d special_use = "\\Junk" } mailbox Junk.TeachSpam { auto = subscribe autoexpunge = 30d } mailbox Junk.TeachNotSpam { auto = subscribe autoexpunge = 30d } mailbox Trash { autoexpunge = 60d special_use = "\\Trash" quota_storage_extra = 100M } mailbox Sent { special_use = "\\Sent" } mailbox "Sent Messages" { special_use = "\\Sent" } } protocol !indexer-worker { mail_vsize_bg_after_count = 100 } maildir { broken_filename_sizes = yes } service imap-login { inet_listener imap { } inet_listener imaps { } } service pop3-login { inet_listener pop3 { } inet_listener pop3s { } } service imap { executable = imap postlogin } service pop3 { executable = pop3 postlogin } service postlogin { executable = script-login ../../etc/scripts/dovecot_postlogin.sh user = vpopmail unix_listener postlogin { group = vchkpw mode = 0660 user = vpopmail } } service auth { user = $SET:default_internal_user unix_listener auth-userdb { group = vchkpw mode = 0660 user = vpopmail } } service auth-worker { user = $SET:default_internal_user } service stats { unix_listener stats-reader { group = vchkpw mode = 0660 user = vpopmail } unix_listener stats-writer { group = vchkpw mode = 0660 user = vpopmail } } protocol lda { mail_plugins { sieve = yes mail_log = yes } } protocol imap { mail_plugins { notify = yes mail_log = yes imap_sieve = yes imap_quota = yes } } service managesieve-login { inet_listener sieve { port = 4190 } } service managesieve { } protocol pop3 { mail_plugins { notify = yes mail_log = yes } } language en { default = yes } quota "User quota" { driver = count storage_grace = 10M quota_warning overquota { quota_storage_percentage = 100 execute quota-warning { args = 100 %{user} } } quota_warning warn-95 { quota_storage_percentage = 95 execute quota-warning { args = 95 %{user} } } quota_warning warn-85 { quota_storage_percentage = 85 execute quota-warning { args = 85 %{user} } } } service quota-warning { executable = script ../../etc/scripts/quota-warning.sh user = vpopmail unix_listener quota-warning { group = vchkpw mode = 0660 user = dovenull } } sieve_script personal { active_path = ~/.sieve/dovecot.sieve driver = file path = ~/.sieve } sieve_script move-spam { cause = delivery path = /usr/local/dovecot/etc/sieve/move-spam.sieve type = before } mysql 10.0.0.112 { dbname = vpopmail_test password = # hidden, use -P to show it user = vpopmail_test } ssl_server { cert_file = /etc/ssl/certs/dovecot.pem key_file = /etc/ssl/private/dovecot.pem }

2 1

About mail_inbox_path and mail location
by Aki Tuomi 06 Feb '26

06 Feb '26

Hi! We've been noticing that many people are configuring mail_inbox_path. I assume that for most people this is because debian decided to include it in their default config, so that it would use /var/mail boxes for user INBOXes. If your inbox *does not* reside in some weird location, you should *not* set this setting to any value, instead you can either ensure it's commented out, or set to empty value. IN PARTICULAR, IT IS **NOT** REQUIRED SETTING. Setting it to some random weird value like '.' will just cause Problems, setting it to $MAIL_HOME/ or something else will just be either pointless or cause problems. Some most common conversions (please adjust to your environment) mail_home= /home/vmail/%u => mail_home = /home/vmail/%{user} mail_home = /home/vmail/%d/%u => mail_home = /home/vmail/%{user|domain}/%{user|username} or some variant of this. mail_location = maildir:~/ => mail_path = ~/ mail_driver = maildir mail_location = maildir:/var/srv/foo/%d/%u => mail_path = /var/srv/foo/%{user|domain}/%{user|username} mail_driver = maildir In addition you might want to convert INDEX=~/.index => mail_index_path=~/.index CONTROL=~/.control => mail_control_path=~/.control LAYOUT=fs => mailbox_list_layout=fs A minimal working config is mail_home=/home/vmail/%{user} mail_driver=maildir mail_path=~/maildir mail_uid=vmail mail_gid=vmail ## If you have settings like namespace other { location = maildir:/foo/bar } this converts into namespace other { mail_path = /foo/bar # optional, if this is matches your top level mail_driver = maildir } Hope this clears out some of the confusion. Aki

3 4

Pigeonhole 2.4.2 build failure: cannot find -ldovecot-ldap even without LDAP support
by adesh＠backuply.com 04 Feb '26

04 Feb '26

I'm building Pigeonhole 2.4.2 (fresh tarball from https://pigeonhole.dovecot.org/releases/2.4/dovecot-pigeonhole-2.4.2.tar.gz) against Dovecot 2.4.2 compiled without LDAP support (--without-ldap during Dovecot configure, no libdovecot-ldap.so present). The build fails at linking libdovecot-sieve.la: > > CC ext-fileinto.lo > CC ext-reject.lo > ... > CC sieve.lo > CCLD libdovecot-sieve.la > /opt/rh/devtoolset-11/root/usr/libexec/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/11/ld: cannot find -ldovecot-ldap > collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status > make[4]: *** [Makefile:757: libdovecot-sieve.la] Error 1 NEWS confirms the fix is included: - sieve-ldap-storage: Fix compile without LDAP. Steps tried: make distclean && ./configure --with-dovecot=/usr/local/apps/dovecot --with-ldap=no Confirmed no openldap-devel influencing detection (or temporarily removed) Fresh source extract, no prior build artifacts Configure output shows LDAP as disabled (or paste relevant lines if different). Is there an additional flag needed, or is this a regression/edge case in 2.4.2? Any patch or workaround would be appreciated. System: RHEL-like (devtoolset-11/gcc 11), Dovecot prefix /usr/local/apps/dovecot.

1 0

How to let postfix use dovecot to check quotas for virtual aliases
by jerome＠jolimont.fr 04 Feb '26

04 Feb '26

Hi all. Receiving an email for an alias, I got those errors: <alias(a)domain.tld>Recipient address rejected: Unknown user; I realized this happened when postfix queries dovecot about user quota. Basically, what happens is that postfix queries dovecot using the virutal alias as name, not the virtual user. And since dovecot doesn't find a user under that name, it returns an error and postfix rejects the mail. ### Configuration I followed the docs at https://doc.dovecot.org/latest/core/plugins/quota.html when setting up the server. /etc/postfix/main.cf ``` smtpd_recipient_restrictions = check_policy_service unix:private/quota-status ``` /etc/dovecot/conf.d/90-quota.conf ``` service quota-status { executable = quota-status -p postfix unix_listener /var/spool/postfix/private/quota-status { user = postfix } client_limit = 1 } ``` /etc/dovecot/conf.d/auth-sql.conf.ext ``` userdb sql { query = SELECT '/var/mail/vmail/'||maildir AS home, 110 AS uid, 113 AS gid, quota || 'B' AS quota_storage_size FROM mailbox WHERE username = '%{user}' iterate_query = SELECT username FROM mailbox } ``` ### Solution 1: modify user query This issue was reported and analyzed here: https://dovecot.dovecot.narkive.com/FtjhqCuU/postfix-aliases-with-quota-sta… and there: https://github.com/docker-mailserver/docker-mailserver/issues/2091 A comment (https://dovecot.dovecot.narkive.com/FtjhqCuU/postfix-aliases-with-quota-sta…) suggests to modify the SQL query to also look for aliases. I modified my query like so: ``` query = SELECT '/var/mail/vmail/'||maildir AS home, 110 AS uid, 113 AS gid, quota || 'B' AS quota_storage_size FROM mailbox JOIN alias ON mailbox.username = alias.goto WHERE alias.address = '%{user}'; ``` and it seemed to work. I mean, I can query user quota with an alias: doveadm quota get -u alias(a)domain.tld but the iterate query ignores aliases so doveadm quota get -A only lists users, not aliases (which is what I want) and I can't IMAP login using aliases (which is also what I want) since I didn't modify the password query either. I find this configuration slightly inconsistent: the user query returns aliases, not the iterate query. Is the user query really meant to return aliases as well? Also, I realized this query is broken for alias to multiple addresses. I'd get the following error: Recipient address rejected: Unknown user Surprisingly, it seems to only affect messages from an external source to an alias pointing to an external mailbox. Messages submitted locally (and perhaps messages sent to an alias to local destinations only, I'm not sure) were not affected. ### Solution 2: ignore aliases, it will fail later anyway On another server, I had this configuration: /etc/dovecot/conf.d $ vi 90-quota.conf (Don't put this in `plugin` on dovecot 2.4+.) ``` plugin { quota_status_success = DUNNO quota_status_nouser = DUNNO quota_status_overquota = "552 5.2.2 Mailbox is full" } ``` The alias is unknown so the check returns DUNNO and postfix lets the message pass (postfix log read "delivered via spamassassin service") but then it fails at sieve stage when writing the message: sieve: msgid=<xxx>: failed to store into mailbox 'INBOX': Quota exceeded (mailbox for user is full) The result is what is expected: the message is rejected due to mailbox full. But I don't think it was intended to work this way. And since the message is quota-rejected at sieve stage, I could remove the `check_policy_service` line since it will be rejected for a virtual user (not alias) as well anyway. Right? ### Question What is the recommended configuration to let postfix use dovecot to check quotas for virtual aliases? I couldn't find documentation for this specific use case. Ideally, postfix would query using the resolved user, not the alias. Can this be achieved? Should I remove the check and rely on the fact that writing the message fails at a later step anyway? Thanks. (Question also posted on ServerFault: https://serverfault.com/questions/1197914/how-to-let-postfix-use-dovecot-to…)

3 3

Question about behavior I wound up patching 2.4 to fix
by Andy Baugh 03 Feb '26

03 Feb '26

Howdy, I had a complaint from RoundCube users that the maildir quotas weren't accurate when they logged in after something wound up deleting their maildirsize file on Dovecot 2.4. Since that does IMAP GETQUOTAROOT to fetch the info, I figured we're probably not triggering quota recalculation on maildir like we did on dovecot 2.3 (which doesn't seem to have this issue). Wound up writing a patch to src/plugins/imap-quota/imap-quota-plugin.c to add a hook into cmd_setquota which looks to see if imap_quota is enabled, and if so trigger maildir quota recalculation on IMAP login. This does work to solve the reported issue, but I'm ultimately more curious whether this could even be considered a regression, as per your own documentation for the quota plugin: > Once the maildirsize reaches 5120 bytes, the quota is recalculated and the file is recreated. This makes sure that if quota happens to be broken (e.g. externally deleted files) it won't stay that way forever. This suggests to me that the behavior I'm "fixing" a regression in is actually working "as designed." As such my question would be: Is there a good reason I *should not* be doing this? I would of course be happy to share this patch with the list, but I'm not going to bother if it's actually something the maintainers are not interested in due to it not being a good idea in the first place. Thanks, -- Thomas "Andy" Baugh | Software Development Engineer IV andy.baugh(a)webpros.com www.webpros.com

1 0

Unexpected Configuration Error `Unknown setting: ssl_server_cert_file`
by David Weingut 02 Feb '26

02 Feb '26

Hello, I upgraded from Debian 12 to 13 and thereby also from dovecot 2.3 to 2.4. Now I am facing a weird error in dovecot. The actual error is the following # doveconf -n # 2.4.1-4 (7d8c0e5759): /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf # Pigeonhole version 2.4.1-4 (0a86619f) doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/conf.d/10-ssl.conf line 22: ssl_server_cert_file : Unknown setting: ssl_server_cert_file The corresponding entry in my config is ssl = yes ssl_server_cert_file = /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/fullchain.pem ssl_server_key_file = /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/privkey.pem I am sorry if I missed something in the archives but I did not find any similar posts. Is there something I am missing here and what would be further required to debug this? Best, David Hello, I upgraded from Debian 12 to 13 and thereby also from dovecot 2.3 to 2.4. Now I am facing a weird error in dovecot. The actual error is the following # doveconf -n # 2.4.1-4 (7d8c0e5759): /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf # Pigeonhole version 2.4.1-4 (0a86619f) doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/conf.d/10-ssl.conf line 22: ssl_server_cert_file : Unknown setting: ssl_server_cert_file The corresponding entry in my config is ssl = yes ssl_server_cert_file = /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/fullchain.pem ssl_server_key_file = /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/privkey.pem I am sorry if I missed something in the archives but I did not find any similar posts. Is there something I am missing here and what would be further required to debug this? Best, David

2 3

Compiling Dovecot 2.4 on OpenBSD
by Joel Mawhorter 02 Feb '26

02 Feb '26

I'm writing to see if anyone has had success compiling Dovecot 2.4 on OpenBSD. I can't seem to find any documentation that lists prerequisites. At the moment, the 2.4.2 source tarball from the Dovecot site does not seem to compile on my OpenBSD 7.8 system and the error message is not very helpful. I'm unsure if this is just a problem of some required package not being installed. If anyone could point me to info to help move forward, I would appreciate that. Joel

6 19

How can these MBOX files on a Dovecot-based IMAP server be converted to PST for access in Outlook?
by Rawnie Dolgato 31 Jan '26

31 Jan '26

MBOX files stored on a Dovecot-based IMAP server cannot be accessed directly in Microsoft Outlook, because Outlook does not support the MBOX file format. Outlook works with PST files, so a conversion step is mandatory. While it is technically possible to convert MBOX files to EML and then import them into Outlook, this approach is impractical for real-world scenarios. It is time-consuming, difficult to manage, and not suitable when handling bulk mailboxes or large datasets, which is typically the case with server-level backups. For this reason, an MBOX to PST conversion tool (such as BitRecover MBOX to PST Converter) is recommended. It supports bulk MBOX data, preserves folder structure and metadata, and allows selective migration based on criteria like date, sender, or subject. The process runs 100% offline, ensuring data security, and works on Windows, macOS, and Linux, making it suitable for both single and multi-mailbox migrations.

2 1

Meaning of auth-worker disconnected message and relation to LMTP 451 errors on Ubuntu
by Kim Haverblad 31 Jan '26

31 Jan '26

Hi dovecot list, I’m troubleshooting an LMTP delivery issue with Dovecot and would appreciate clarification on the meaning and impact of the following log message, which appears repeatedly during delivery attempts: auth-worker(2961): Debug: conn unix:auth-worker (pid=2948,uid=107): Disconnected: Connection closed (fd=-1) *Environment* * OS: Ubuntu (latest LTS, fully up to date) * Dovecot: distribution package (current version for Ubuntu) * MTA: Postfix * Delivery: LMTP to Dovecot * User database: MySQL (userdb lookup succeeds) * Mail storage: Maildir * Quotas: enabled via userdb (quota_rule) *Context* * LMTP accepts the recipient and completes userdb lookup successfully. * The mailbox path, uid, gid, and quota are correctly returned. * Postfix later receives a 451 4.3.0 Temporary internal error after the DATA phase. * The above auth-worker ... Disconnected: Connection closed (fd=-1)message appears around the same time. *Questions* 1. Is this Disconnected: Connection closed (fd=-1) message expected/normal behavior for auth-worker processes once a lookup is complete? 2. Under what circumstances would this indicate a real problem versus a harmless connection teardown? 3. Could this message itself contribute to, or explain, LMTP 451 4.3.0 Temporary internal error responses? 4. Are there specific auth-worker, LMTP, or debug settings recommended to determine whether this disconnect is abnormal? So far, authentication and userdb lookups appear clean, and there are no explicit permission or quota errors logged, which makes it unclear whether this message is relevant to the delivery failure or simply informational. Any clarification on how to interpret this log entry — and how to confirm whether it is benign or problematic — would be greatly appreciated. Kind Regards, Kim Hi dovecot list, I'm troubleshooting an LMTP delivery issue with Dovecot and would appreciate clarification on the meaning and impact of the following log message, which appears repeatedly during delivery attempts: auth-worker(2961): Debug: conn unix:auth-worker (pid=2948,uid=107): Disconnected: Connection closed (fd=-1) Environment o OS: Ubuntu (latest LTS, fully up to date) o Dovecot: distribution package (current version for Ubuntu) o MTA: Postfix o Delivery: LMTP to Dovecot o User database: MySQL (userdb lookup succeeds) o Mail storage: Maildir o Quotas: enabled via userdb (quota_rule) Context o LMTP accepts the recipient and completes userdb lookup successfully. o The mailbox path, uid, gid, and quota are correctly returned. o Postfix later receives a 451 4.3.0 Temporary internal error after the DATA phase. o The above auth-worker ... Disconnected: Connection closed (fd=-1) message appears around the same time. Questions 1. Is this Disconnected: Connection closed (fd=-1) message expected/normal behavior for auth-worker processes once a lookup is complete? 2. Under what circumstances would this indicate a real problem versus a harmless connection teardown? 3. Could this message itself contribute to, or explain, LMTP 451 4.3.0 Temporary internal error responses? 4. Are there specific auth-worker, LMTP, or debug settings recommended to determine whether this disconnect is abnormal? So far, authentication and userdb lookups appear clean, and there are no explicit permission or quota errors logged, which makes it unclear whether this message is relevant to the delivery failure or simply informational. Any clarification on how to interpret this log entry -- and how to confirm whether it is benign or problematic -- would be greatly appreciated. Kind Regards, Kim

2 4

sieve auto-creation/subscription - Thunderbird cannot re-arrange folders
by listy 31 Jan '26

31 Jan '26

Hi guys. In Thunderbird auto-subscribed folders - in my case a path with sub-folders - cannot be moved around, meaning top-bottom order. Parent folders Thunderbird shows in cursive and sub-folders (targets for sieve fules) are shown "normal" It seems impossible to re-arrange top/parent folders - but every other folder, top or not, which is not auto created & auto subscribed, Thunderbird can move around as expected. Anybody seen, anybody knows this and knows a way to "fix" it? many thanks, L.

2 4

How can these MBOX files on a Dovecot-based IMAP server be accessed in Outlook?
by Rawnie Dolgato 31 Jan '26

31 Jan '26

MBOX files stored on a Dovecot-based IMAP server cannot be accessed directly in Microsoft Outlook, because Outlook does not support the MBOX file format. Outlook works with PST files, so a conversion step is mandatory. While it is technically possible to convert MBOX files to EML and then import them into Outlook, this approach is impractical for real-world scenarios. It is time-consuming, difficult to manage, and not suitable when handling bulk mailboxes or large datasets, which is typically the case with server-level backups. For this reason, an MBOX to PST conversion tool (such as BitRecover MBOX to PST Converter) is recommended. It supports bulk MBOX data, preserves folder structure and metadata, and allows selective migration based on criteria like date, sender, or subject. The process runs 100% offline, ensuring data security, and works on Windows, macOS, and Linux, making it suitable for both single and multi-mailbox migrations.

1 0

Subscriptions file broken in 2.4.x against 2.3.21 (V2)
by DaLiV 31 Jan '26

31 Jan '26

Hello! /eror at update from 2.3.21 to 2.4.2 / Maildir+ currently is broken. posix - so main hierarchy separator is "/" for file "subscriptions" in versions 2.4 lost possibility to recognize v2 format also as writes v1 instead with header V2 ... so all users will lost their subscriptions and must re-subscribe depsite in folder persist file in format V2 (tab separated) ... on subscribe that appends subscriptions delimeted with "/" namespace Public { type = public prefix = Public/ mail_driver = maildir mail_path = /var/mail/Public/%{auth_user|domain}/ mail_index_private_path = pvt.idx/Public mailbox_list_layout=fs separator = / subscriptions = no list = children } seems not taking in account separators and using "." instead of "/" slighlz debugged - in subsfile_set_subscribed - that gets on subscription for processing : "name"="Public/TEST" but "separator" = "." therefore splits not and decides that is version "0" ... so - somewhere deeper or possible need additional configuration Hello! eror at update from 2.3.21 to 2.4.2 Maildir+ currently is broken. posix - so main hierarchy separator is "/" for file "subscriptions" in versions 2.4 lost possibility to recognize v2 format also as writes v1 instead with header V2 ... so all users will lost their subscriptions and must re-subscribe depsite in folder persist file in format V2 (tab separated) ... on subscribe that appends subscriptions delimeted with "/" namespace Public { type = public prefix = Public/ mail_driver = maildir mail_path = /var/mail/Public/%{auth_user|domain}/ mail_index_private_path = pvt.idx/Public mailbox_list_layout=fs separator = / subscriptions = no list = children } seems not taking in account separators and using "." instead of "/" slighlz debugged - in subsfile_set_subscribed - that gets on subscription for processing : "name"="Public/TEST" but "separator" = "." therefore splits not and decides that is version "0" ... so - somewhere deeper or possible need additional configuration

1 0