[Dovecot] Dovecot permission denied error in logs

[Andrew Stuart]

dovecot --version

2.1.7




I am getting he following errors in the logs eve though there is no  
'apply' user in /etc/dovecot/users

I'm not sure wat to do next to diagnose. Can anyone advise please? It  
says 'refer to server log for more information' but I thought this was  
the server log?

May  1 22:40:44 ip-xx-xxx-xx-xx postfix/local[18901]: 1B17763738:  
to=<apply at localhost>, orig_to=<apply at example.org>, relay=local,  
delay=147501, delays=147501/0.54/0/0.06, dsn=4.3.0, status=deferred  
(temporary failure)
May  1 22:40:44 ip-xx-xxx-xx-xx dovecot: lda(apply): Error: user  
apply: Initialization failed: Namespace '': mkdir(/home/vmail//apply)  
failed: Permission denied (euid=1001(apply) egid=1001(apply) missing  
+w perm: /home/vmail/, dir owned by 5000:5000 mode=0755)
May  1 22:40:44 ip-xx-xxx-xx-xx dovecot: lda(apply): Error: user  
apply: Initialization failed: Namespace '': mkdir(/home/vmail//apply)  
failed: Permission denied (euid=1001(apply) egid=1001(apply) missing  
+w perm: /home/vmail/, dir owned by 5000:5000 mode=0755)
May  1 22:40:44 ip-xx-xxx-xx-xx dovecot: lda(apply): Fatal: Invalid  
user settings. Refer to server log for more information.
May  1 22:40:44 ip-xx-xxx-xx-xx dovecot: lda(apply): Fatal: Invalid  
user settings. Refer to server log for more information.
May  1 22:40:44 ip-xx-xxx-xx-xx postfix/local[18926]: 9E5376357A:  
to=<apply at localhost>, orig_to=<apply at example.org>, relay=local,  
delay=235638, delays=235637/0.6/0/0.06, dsn=4.3.0, status=deferred  
(temporary failure)
May  1 22:40:44 ip-xx-xxx-xx-xx postfix/local[18908]: 252106364B:  
to=<apply at localhost>, orig_to=<apply at example.org>, relay=local,  
delay=218930, delays=218929/0.6/0/0.06, dsn=4.3.0, status=deferred  
(temporary failure)
May  1 22:40:44 ip-xx-xxx-xx-xx dovecot: lda(apply): Error: user  
apply: Initialization failed: Namespace '': mkdir(/home/vmail//apply)  
failed: Permission denied (euid=1001(apply) egid=1001(apply) missing  
+w perm: /home/vmail/, dir owned by 5000:5000 mode=0755)
May  1 22:40:44 ip-xx-xxx-xx-xx dovecot: lda(apply): Fatal: Invalid  
user settings. Refer to server log for more information.
May  1 22:40:44 ip-xx-xxx-xx-xx postfix/local[18900]: 9A94063274:  
to=<apply at localhost>, orig_to=<apply at example.org>, relay=local,  
delay=306900, delays=306900/0.66/0/0.03, dsn=4.3.0, status=deferred  
(temporary failure)
May  1 22:41:23 ip-xx-xxx-xx-xx dovecot: pop3-login: Login: user=<my.name at example.org 
 >, method=PLAIN, rip=101.103.174.186, lip=10.172.21.51, mpid=18952,  
session=<mc9XXV74CwBlZ666>
May  1 22:41:24 ip-xx-xxx-xx-xx dovecot: pop3(my.name at example.org):  
Disconnected: Logged out top=0/0, retr=0/0, del=0/424, size=57179196
[/var/log]

dovecot -n
# 2.1.7: /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf
# OS: Linux 3.11.0-19-generic x86_64 Ubuntu 13.10 ext4
auth_mechanisms = plain login
disable_plaintext_auth = no
mail_location = maildir:/home/vmail/%d/%n
managesieve_notify_capability = mailto
managesieve_sieve_capability = fileinto reject envelope encoded- 
character vacation subaddress comparator-i;ascii-numeric relational  
regex imap4flags copy include variables body enotify environment  
mailbox date ihave
namespace inbox {
   inbox = yes
   location =
   mailbox Drafts {
     special_use = \Drafts
   }
   mailbox Junk {
     special_use = \Junk
   }
   mailbox Sent {
     special_use = \Sent
   }
   mailbox "Sent Messages" {
     special_use = \Sent
   }
   mailbox Trash {
     special_use = \Trash
   }
   prefix =
}
passdb {
   args = scheme=CRYPT username_format=%u /etc/dovecot/passdb
   driver = passwd-file
}
plugin {
   sieve = ~/.dovecot.sieve
   sieve_dir = ~/sieve
}
protocols = imap pop3 sieve
service auth {
   unix_listener /var/spool/postfix/private/dovecot-auth {
     group = postfix
     mode = 0660
     user = postfix
   }
}
ssl_cert = </etc/dovecot/mail.example.org.pem
ssl_cipher_list = ALL:!LOW:!SSLv2:ALL:!aNULL:!ADH:!eNULL:!EXP:RC4+RSA: 
+HIGH:+MEDIUM
ssl_key = </etc/dovecot/private/mail.example.org.key
userdb {
   args = username_format=%u /etc/dovecot/users
   driver = passwd-file
}
protocol lda {
   deliver_log_format = msgid=%m: %$
   mail_plugins = sieve
   postmaster_address = postmaster
   quota_full_tempfail = yes
   rejection_reason = Your message to <%t> was automatically rejected: 
%n%r
}
protocol imap {
   imap_client_workarounds = delay-newmail
   mail_max_userip_connections = 10
}
protocol pop3 {
   mail_max_userip_connections = 10
   pop3_client_workarounds = outlook-no-nuls oe-ns-eoh
}
[/etc/dovecot]