[Dovecot] Home directories

Rainer Frey rainer.frey at inxmail.de
Wed Aug 25 10:36:39 EEST 2010


On Tuesday 24 August 2010 16:57:23 Timo Sirainen wrote:
> I've noticed that a lot of people are using e.g.:
> 
> mail_location = maildir:/var/vmail/%d/%n
> 
> Then either they don't have home directory set, or their home directory
> is the same as the maildir. http://wiki.dovecot.org/VirtualUsers/Home
> explains all the problems of not separate home and mail directories.

So all it takes is reading and understanding this short piece of text. Should 
be manageable by someone who attempts to operate a mail server.

> 
> Also whenever I try to suggest using a separate home and mail directory,
> the answer is way too often: "But I'm using virtual users. (They don't
> have home directories.)"
> 
> So I started wondering. Maybe simply renaming the "home" to something
> else would help here at least some. 

OTOH you'd need to make distinction between system and virtual users in docs 
everywhere home is used, like:
"mail_location: relative paths are based on $home for system users, and on 
$vhome for virtual users."

IMHO a home dir is a valid and understandable concept for virtual users, and I 
see more disadvantages than advantages if you change the name.

Rainer


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