[Dovecot] Getting rid of the common newbie problems

[Bruce Bodger]

On May 16, 2007, at 9:29 AM, Charles Marcus wrote:

>> I see what you're getting at, but personally i really like having  
>> plenty of documentation in the config files. That way when you're  
>> editing the config file, you can know exactly what you're doing  
>> and have good descriptions right in front of you....
>> Of course this is no substitute for other documentation like  
>> manual/wiki etc

On the subject of newbie questions...

The dovecot-example.conf file, under Mailbox locations and  
namespaces,  states,

"If you're using mbox, giving a path to the INBOX file (eg. /var/mail/ 
%u) isn't enough. You'll also need to tell Dovecot where the other  
mailboxes are and where Dovecot can place its index files. This is  
called the "root mail directory", and it must be the first path given  
in the mail_location setting."

Yet both mbox examples describe otherwise.  The first example,  
"mail_location = mbox:~/mail:INBOX=/var/mail/%u" has no INDEX  
definition and the second example, "mail_location = mbox:/var/mail/%d/ 
%1n/%n:INDEX=/var/indexes/%d/%1n/%n" shows the INDEX definition last  
when the instructions state that it must be first.

I happen to be using (under OS X),

"mail_location = mbox:~/Library/Mail/IMAP:INBOX=/var/mail/%u:INDEX=%h/ 
Library/Mail/DOVECOT.indexes "

...without any problems so basically, I find the instructions a bit  
confusing.

B. Bodger
New York, NY