[Dovecot] Creating encrypted passwords for new users /etc/imap.passwd

[John_R._McWade]

Hello.

I've been attempting to locate information on how to actually create the 
encrypted passwords for a new user in /etc/imap.passwd file. Im really 
going into this blindly, not having ever used dovecot before, and really 
just need to be pointed to any existing resources on this topic. This is 
a setup of dovecot (w/ sendmail,squirrelmail) on FC2. I've got one 
successful auth so far as a test user, with their info cut/pasted 
directly from /etc/passwd (it works) whereas using {PLAIN}password 
causes dovecot to drop the connection with an aborted login.

So what I'm actually looking for is a resource or a quick response 
regarding the actual creation of the encrypted password in /etc/passwd 
style. Any clues on where I should look for this info?

John