[Dovecot] Help needed with plugin - Read Only access to IMAP mailbox

[Marcus Rueckert]

On 2010-08-25 11:59:06 +0200, Chris Moules wrote:
> System info:
> # 1.2.13: /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf
> # OS: Linux 2.6.32-5-686-bigmem i686 Debian squeeze/sid
> ..
> mail_plugins: readonly
> ..
> 
> I have a requirement to have read-only to a mailbox. I have been
> researching through the wiki, the mailing list archives and good old
> Google. There was a number of similar questions with no real
> definitive answer.
> 
> Option 1: ACL
> This can work, but not if the mailbox(s) can change without you
> knowing how. I.E. a online read-only archive of someone else's
> mailbox. There is no wild-card or recursive ACL options. Rsync style
> backups don't allow for easy creation of custom ACL files per
> mailbox.

acls are stored in dovecot-acls files either inside the mailbox or in
/etc/dovecot. so you can preserve them easily with rsync style backup.

>  2) Dovecot needs write access to CONTROL and INDEX files.
> This lead me to using the "CONTROL" and "INDEX" options on the
> mail_locaiton. Setting these to the original 'rw' mount and the rest
> to my 'ro' bind mount. Again, messy but do-able.

Just for the record: you can configure CONTROL and INDEX seperately. see below.

my solution for a similar problem:

[[[
namespace public {
   separator = /

   # Mailboxes are visible under "shared/user at domain/"
   # %%n, %%d and %%u are expanded to the destination user.
   prefix = archive/

   # Mail location for other users' mailboxes. Note that %variables and ~/
   # expands to the logged in user's data. %%n, %%d, %%u and %%h expand to the
   # destination user's data.
   location = maildir:/srv/mail/archive:INDEX=/srv/mail/%u/shared/%%u:CONTROL=/srv/mail/%u/shared

   # Use the default namespace for saving subscriptions.
   subscriptions = yes

   # List the shared/ namespace only if there are visible shared mailboxes.
   list = children
}
]]]

only my mail archive user can deliver mails into that namespace (via ACL (p)).
all other users only have read permissions, as index/control are per user, each user can have their own
flags (like seen).

shouldnt this give you exactly what you want?

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