[Dovecot] Why is dovecot involved in my smtp process

[Steve Campbell]

On 2/23/2012 11:33 AM, /dev/rob0 wrote:
> On Thu, Feb 23, 2012 at 10:16:34AM -0500, Steve Campbell wrote:
>> I've been trying to get smtp auth set up for days. All my sendmail
>> and sasl2 stuff seems to be proper, but the user can't use the
>> system on port 587, which is where I require authorization.
>>
>> Now I see where messages are in my maillog of the type:
>>
>> auth: pam_unix(dovecot:auth) : authentication failure ........
>>
>> Why is dovecot involved in my smtp processes and how do I fix
>> this.
> I would question that these failures are in fact related to what
> Sendmail is doing. Does Sendmail even support Dovecot SASL? AFAIK it
> does not, therefore there is no way that Dovecot could possibly
> interfere with SMTP AUTH in Sendmail.
Why is sendmail using Dovecot sasl when I have the regular sasl set up.

If I turn off dovecot, telnet to 587, I get no failures in my logs. If I 
turn on dovecot and do the same, I get auth failures in my secure file.
>
>> I've got some very mad users.
> And you are jumping to conclusions. I suggest that you take this
> matter to a Sendmail forum. When you do, provide all relevant
> configuration as well as complete logging to show the problem. No
> useful help is possible with what you posted here.

In other words, don't use sendmail if I use dovecot?
>
>> The 10-auth.conf file is pretty much
>> stock except for allowing plain text logins.

I'm really having problems following the logic here. Seems that postfix 
and dovecot are the only way to go if I use alternate ports with smtp 
auth. Is that what everyone is implying?

I'll try to see what sendmail guys are saying, but I don't think they'll 
provide much as long as it involves dovecot.

Thanks for the help

steve