[Dovecot] POP3: Keep a copy on server failed ...

[Dumitru Negara]

Hi,

Dominique Feyer wrote:
> I have a big problem with our cluster, if i read my mail with POP3
> client (and check the option, keep a copy on server), every time I read
> my mail, my client retrive ALL messages an the mailbox !!!
>
> I test this with:
>
> - Apple Mail 1.0 + 2.0
> - M$ Outlook 2000 + 2003
> - Thunderbird
>
> We use:
> - Dovecot RC1
> - Postfix on Debian Sarge (stable)
>
> Can you know this bug ? Or have a workaround ?
>
> This function is really important for our customer as we offer a backup
> solution for her mails.
>
> Thanks
>

It's probably just a configuration issue.

If you upgraded from dovecot 0.99 or maybe migrated from another 
IMAP/POP3 server you should set correctly the "pop3_uidl_format" parameter.

I upgraded from 0.99 to 1.0.rc2 and below is my "pop3_uidl_format":

  # POP3 UIDL format to use. You can use following variables:
  #
  #  %v - Mailbox UIDVALIDITY
  #  %u - Mail UID
  #  %m - MD5 sum of the mailbox headers in hex (mbox only)
  #  %f - filename (maildir only)
  #
  # If you want UIDL compatibility with other POP3 servers, use:
  #  UW's ipop3d         : %08Xv%08Xu
  #  Courier version 0   : %f
  #  Courier version 1   : %u
  #  Courier version 2   : %v-%u
  #  Cyrus (<= 2.1.3)    : %u
  #  Cyrus (>= 2.1.4)    : %v.%u
  #  Older Dovecots      : %v.%u
  #
  # Note that Outlook 2003 seems to have problems with %v.%u format 
which was
  # Dovecot's default, so if you're building a new server it would be a good
  # idea to change this. %08Xu%08Xv should be pretty fail-safe.
  #
  # NOTE: Nowadays this is required to be set explicitly, since the old
  # default was bad but it couldn't be changed without breaking existing
  # installations. %08Xu%08Xv will be the new default, so use it for new
  # installations.
  #
  #pop3_uidl_format =
  pop3_uidl_format = %v.%u

This works fine even with Outlook 2000/2003. Clients (Thunderbird, OE, 
Outlook 2000/2003) download just new mails.

Regards,
Dumitru