Connecting to dovecot

[Grant Lowe]

Hi All,

I've got a brand new dovecot installation.  I'm new to dovecot, so please be gentle  :-)

Anyway,
I'm getting some errors when I try to connect to dovecot. I've tried
searching the web and haven't been able to find a lot of information.
Here's the config info:

# dovecot --version
1.1.2
# dovecot -n
sudo dovecot -n
# 1.1.2: /usr/local/etc/dovecot.conf
base_dir: /var/run/dovecot/
log_path: /var/log/dovecot.log
ssl_disable: yes
disable_plaintext_auth: no
login_dir: /var/run/dovecot//login
login_executable: /usr/local/libexec/dovecot/imap-login
mail_location: /var/mail/%u
auth default:
  verbose: yes
  passdb:
    driver: passwd-file
    args: /etc/dovecot/passwd
  userdb:
    driver: static
    args: uid=vmail gid=vmail home=/var/mail/%u
#

Here are the errors I'm getting.

dovecot: Sep 16 18:44:15 Info: imap-login: Login: user=<wfoatst>, method=PLAIN, rip=172.20.58.4, lip=172.20.8.215
dovecot:
Sep 16 18:44:15 Error: IMAP(wfoatst): mail_location not set and
autodetection failed: Mail storage autodetection failed with ho
me=/var/mail/wfoatst

Thanks!

[Scott Silva]

on 9-17-2008 7:25 AM Grant Lowe spake the following:

> Hi All,
>
> I've got a brand new dovecot installation.  I'm new to dovecot, so please be gentle  :-)
>
> Anyway,
> I'm getting some errors when I try to connect to dovecot. I've tried
> searching the web and haven't been able to find a lot of information.
> Here's the config info:
>
> # dovecot --version
> 1.1.2
> # dovecot -n
> sudo dovecot -n
> # 1.1.2: /usr/local/etc/dovecot.conf
> base_dir: /var/run/dovecot/
> log_path: /var/log/dovecot.log
> ssl_disable: yes
> disable_plaintext_auth: no
> login_dir: /var/run/dovecot//login
> login_executable: /usr/local/libexec/dovecot/imap-login
> mail_location: /var/mail/%u

You need to fix your mail location setting;

see http://wiki.dovecot.org/MailLocation

> auth default:
>   verbose: yes
>   passdb:
>     driver: passwd-file
>     args: /etc/dovecot/passwd
>   userdb:
>     driver: static
>     args: uid=vmail gid=vmail home=/var/mail/%u
Since you are also setting mail location here with home setting, you are
probably resolving to /var/mail/%u/var/mail/%u


--
MailScanner is like deodorant...
You hope everybody uses it, and
you notice quickly if they don't!!!!

[Scott Silva]

on 9-17-2008 7:48 AM Scott Silva spake the following:

> on 9-17-2008 7:25 AM Grant Lowe spake the following:
>> Hi All,
>>
>> I've got a brand new dovecot installation.  I'm new to dovecot, so
>> please be gentle  :-)
>>
>> Anyway,
>> I'm getting some errors when I try to connect to dovecot. I've tried
>> searching the web and haven't been able to find a lot of information.
>> Here's the config info:
>>
>> # dovecot --version
>> 1.1.2
>> # dovecot -n
>> sudo dovecot -n
>> # 1.1.2: /usr/local/etc/dovecot.conf
>> base_dir: /var/run/dovecot/
>> log_path: /var/log/dovecot.log
>> ssl_disable: yes
>> disable_plaintext_auth: no
>> login_dir: /var/run/dovecot//login
>> login_executable: /usr/local/libexec/dovecot/imap-login
>> mail_location: /var/mail/%u
> You need to fix your mail location setting;
> see http://wiki.dovecot.org/MailLocation
>
>> auth default:
>>   verbose: yes
>>   passdb:
>>     driver: passwd-file
>>     args: /etc/dovecot/passwd
>>   userdb:
>>     driver: static
>>     args: uid=vmail gid=vmail home=/var/mail/%u
> Since you are also setting mail location here with home setting, you are
> probably resolving to /var/mail/%u/var/mail/%u

Forget this last comment, but the mail location is not set properly.

--
MailScanner is like deodorant...
You hope everybody uses it, and
you notice quickly if they don't!!!!

[Grant Lowe]

So should I comment out the "mail_location = /var/mail/%u" line?  




----- Original Message ----
From: Scott Silva <ssilva@...>
To: dovecot@...
Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2008 7:53:43 AM
Subject: Re: [Dovecot] Connecting to dovecot

on 9-17-2008 7:48 AM Scott Silva spake the following:

> on 9-17-2008 7:25 AM Grant Lowe spake the following:
>> Hi All,
>>
>> I've got a brand new dovecot installation.  I'm new to dovecot, so
>> please be gentle  :-)
>>
>> Anyway,
>> I'm getting some errors when I try to connect to dovecot. I've tried
>> searching the web and haven't been able to find a lot of information.
>> Here's the config info:
>>
>> # dovecot --version
>> 1.1.2
>> # dovecot -n
>> sudo dovecot -n
>> # 1.1.2: /usr/local/etc/dovecot.conf
>> base_dir: /var/run/dovecot/
>> log_path: /var/log/dovecot.log
>> ssl_disable: yes
>> disable_plaintext_auth: no
>> login_dir: /var/run/dovecot//login
>> login_executable: /usr/local/libexec/dovecot/imap-login
>> mail_location: /var/mail/%u
> You need to fix your mail location setting;
> see http://wiki.dovecot.org/MailLocation
>
>> auth default:
>>   verbose: yes
>>   passdb:
>>     driver: passwd-file
>>     args: /etc/dovecot/passwd
>>   userdb:
>>     driver: static
>>     args: uid=vmail gid=vmail home=/var/mail/%u
> Since you are also setting mail location here with home setting, you are
> probably resolving to /var/mail/%u/var/mail/%u

Forget this last comment, but the mail location is not set properly.

--
MailScanner is like deodorant...
You hope everybody uses it, and
you notice quickly if they don't!!!!

[Scott Silva]

on 9-17-2008 8:37 AM Grant Lowe spake the following:
> So should I comment out the "mail_location = /var/mail/%u" line?  
>
Read the wiki I posted. You need to prepend it with what type of mail storage
format you are using like mail_location = mbox:/var/mail/%u or
mail_location = Maildir:/var/mail/%u depending on your mail storage type.
You also might need to add lines for index.

http://wiki.dovecot.org/MailLocation is full of helpful info.

--
MailScanner is like deodorant...
You hope everybody uses it, and
you notice quickly if they don't!!!!

[Grant Lowe]

Hi Scott.

Thanks for the help!  Appricate the feedback.

I reset the dovecot.conf.  Here's the output of dovecot -n now:

#
# 1.1.2: /usr/local/etc/dovecot.conf
base_dir: /var/run/dovecot/
log_path: /var/log/dovecot.log
ssl_disable: yes
disable_plaintext_auth: no
login_dir: /var/run/dovecot/login
login_executable: /usr/local/libexec/dovecot/imap-login
auth default:
  verbose: yes
  passdb:
    driver: pam
  userdb:
    driver: passwd
#

I'm still getting the same error as before:

ovecot: Sep 17 12:42:43 Info: imap-login: Login: user=<wfoatst>, method=PLAIN, rip=127.0.0.1, lip=127.0.0.1, secured
dovecot: Sep 17 12:42:43 Error: IMAP(wfoatst): mail_location not set and autodetection failed: Mail storage autodetection failed with home=/var/mail/wfoatst
dovecot: Sep 17 12:42:43 Fatal: IMAP(wfoatst): Namespace initialization failed

Any more thoughts?




----- Original Message ----
From: Scott Silva <ssilva@...>
To: dovecot@...
Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2008 7:48:39 AM
Subject: Re: [Dovecot] Connecting to dovecot

on 9-17-2008 7:25 AM Grant Lowe spake the following:

> Hi All,
>
> I've got a brand new dovecot installation.  I'm new to dovecot, so please be gentle  :-)
>
> Anyway,
> I'm getting some errors when I try to connect to dovecot. I've tried
> searching the web and haven't been able to find a lot of information.
> Here's the config info:
>
> # dovecot --version
> 1.1.2
> # dovecot -n
> sudo dovecot -n
> # 1.1.2: /usr/local/etc/dovecot.conf
> base_dir: /var/run/dovecot/
> log_path: /var/log/dovecot.log
> ssl_disable: yes
> disable_plaintext_auth: no
> login_dir: /var/run/dovecot//login
> login_executable: /usr/local/libexec/dovecot/imap-login
> mail_location: /var/mail/%u

You need to fix your mail location setting;
see http://wiki.dovecot.org/MailLocation

> auth default:
>   verbose: yes
>   passdb:
>     driver: passwd-file
>     args: /etc/dovecot/passwd
>   userdb:
>     driver: static
>     args: uid=vmail gid=vmail home=/var/mail/%u
Since you are also setting mail location here with home setting, you are
probably resolving to /var/mail/%u/var/mail/%u


--
MailScanner is like deodorant...
You hope everybody uses it, and
you notice quickly if they don't!!!!

[Scott Silva]

on 9-17-2008 12:44 PM Grant Lowe spake the following:

> Hi Scott.
>
> Thanks for the help!  Appricate the feedback.
>
> I reset the dovecot.conf.  Here's the output of dovecot -n now:
>
> #
> # 1.1.2: /usr/local/etc/dovecot.conf
> base_dir: /var/run/dovecot/
> log_path: /var/log/dovecot.log
> ssl_disable: yes
> disable_plaintext_auth: no
> login_dir: /var/run/dovecot/login
> login_executable: /usr/local/libexec/dovecot/imap-login
> auth default:
>   verbose: yes
>   passdb:
>     driver: pam
>   userdb:
>     driver: passwd
> #
>
> I'm still getting the same error as before:
>
> ovecot: Sep 17 12:42:43 Info: imap-login: Login: user=<wfoatst>, method=PLAIN, rip=127.0.0.1, lip=127.0.0.1, secured
> dovecot: Sep 17 12:42:43 Error: IMAP(wfoatst): mail_location not set and autodetection failed: Mail storage autodetection failed with home=/var/mail/wfoatst
> dovecot: Sep 17 12:42:43 Fatal: IMAP(wfoatst): Namespace initialization failed
>
> Any more thoughts?

How about a "ls -la /var/mail/wfoatst"

What do you use for your LDA?


--
MailScanner is like deodorant...
You hope everybody uses it, and
you notice quickly if they don't!!!!

[Grant Lowe]

As far as ls -la:

# ls -la /var/mail/wfoatst
-rw-------   1 wfoatst  users       1406 Sep 16 15:13 /var/mail/wfoatst
#

As far as the LDA, I'm using the dovecot LDA.  Here's the line from /etc/mail/sendmail.cf:

######################*****##############
###   DOVECOT Mailer specification                              ###
##################*****##################
Mdovecot,   P=/usr/local/libexec/dovecot/deliver, F=DFMPhnu9,
                 S=EnvFromSMTP/HdrFromSMTP, R=EnvToSMTP/HdrFromSMTP,
                 T=DNS/RFC822/X-Unix,
                 A=deliver -d $u





----- Original Message ----
From: Scott Silva <ssilva@...>
To: dovecot@...
Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2008 12:57:02 PM
Subject: Re: [Dovecot] Connecting to dovecot

on 9-17-2008 12:44 PM Grant Lowe spake the following:

> Hi Scott.
>
> Thanks for the help!  Appricate the feedback.
>
> I reset the dovecot.conf.  Here's the output of dovecot -n now:
>
> #
> # 1.1.2: /usr/local/etc/dovecot.conf
> base_dir: /var/run/dovecot/
> log_path: /var/log/dovecot.log
> ssl_disable: yes
> disable_plaintext_auth: no
> login_dir: /var/run/dovecot/login
> login_executable: /usr/local/libexec/dovecot/imap-login
> auth default:
>   verbose: yes
>   passdb:
>     driver: pam
>   userdb:
>     driver: passwd
> #
>
> I'm still getting the same error as before:
>
> ovecot: Sep 17 12:42:43 Info: imap-login: Login: user=<wfoatst>, method=PLAIN, rip=127.0.0.1, lip=127.0.0.1, secured
> dovecot: Sep 17 12:42:43 Error: IMAP(wfoatst): mail_location not set and autodetection failed: Mail storage autodetection failed with home=/var/mail/wfoatst
> dovecot: Sep 17 12:42:43 Fatal: IMAP(wfoatst): Namespace initialization failed
>
> Any more thoughts?

How about a "ls -la /var/mail/wfoatst"

What do you use for your LDA?


--
MailScanner is like deodorant...
You hope everybody uses it, and
you notice quickly if they don't!!!!

[Scott Silva]

on 9-17-2008 1:13 PM Grant Lowe spake the following:

> As far as ls -la:
>
> # ls -la /var/mail/wfoatst
> -rw-------   1 wfoatst  users       1406 Sep 16 15:13 /var/mail/wfoatst
> #
>
> As far as the LDA, I'm using the dovecot LDA.  Here's the line from /etc/mail/sendmail.cf:
>
> ######################*****##############
> ###   DOVECOT Mailer specification                              ###
> ##################*****##################
> Mdovecot,   P=/usr/local/libexec/dovecot/deliver, F=DFMPhnu9,
>                  S=EnvFromSMTP/HdrFromSMTP, R=EnvToSMTP/HdrFromSMTP,
>                  T=DNS/RFC822/X-Unix,
>                  A=deliver -d $u
>
>
>

Are you trying to have *all* mail in /var/mail/%u or just inboxes?

Your ls looks like you have mbox format storage.


--
MailScanner is like deodorant...
You hope everybody uses it, and
you notice quickly if they don't!!!!

[Grant Lowe]

We want to have just inboxes in /var/mail/%u.



----- Original Message ----
From: Scott Silva <ssilva@...>
To: dovecot@...
Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2008 2:27:49 PM
Subject: Re: [Dovecot] Connecting to dovecot

on 9-17-2008 1:13 PM Grant Lowe spake the following:

> As far as ls -la:
>
> # ls -la /var/mail/wfoatst
> -rw-------   1 wfoatst  users       1406 Sep 16 15:13 /var/mail/wfoatst
> #
>
> As far as the LDA, I'm using the dovecot LDA.  Here's the line from /etc/mail/sendmail.cf:
>
> ######################*****##############
> ###   DOVECOT Mailer specification                              ###
> ##################*****##################
> Mdovecot,   P=/usr/local/libexec/dovecot/deliver, F=DFMPhnu9,
>                  S=EnvFromSMTP/HdrFromSMTP, R=EnvToSMTP/HdrFromSMTP,
>                  T=DNS/RFC822/X-Unix,
>                  A=deliver -d $u
>
>
>

Are you trying to have *all* mail in /var/mail/%u or just inboxes?
Your ls looks like you have mbox format storage.


--
MailScanner is like deodorant...
You hope everybody uses it, and
you notice quickly if they don't!!!!

[Scott Silva]

on 9-17-2008 2:43 PM Grant Lowe spake the following:
> We want to have just inboxes in /var/mail/%u.
>
>
I'm not sure how well that is going to work. You might need some sort of home
directory, but your earlier conf had mail location and home directory pointing
to the same place. That location can't be a directory AND a file.

Do users have home directories on this server or is it all virtual?

Maybe this has more clues;

http://wiki.dovecot.org/MailLocation



--
MailScanner is like deodorant...
You hope everybody uses it, and
you notice quickly if they don't!!!!

[Grant Lowe]

We have home directories on the server.  Virtual user's can login (at least I've been able to verify that from using telnet to port 143).  Yes the earlier mail was different.  I can go back to that configuration if I need to.  Meanwhile I'll take a look at the link you sent.  Thank you!




----- Original Message ----
From: Scott Silva <ssilva@...>
To: dovecot@...
Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2008 3:01:51 PM
Subject: Re: [Dovecot] Connecting to dovecot

on 9-17-2008 2:43 PM Grant Lowe spake the following:
> We want to have just inboxes in /var/mail/%u.
>
>
I'm not sure how well that is going to work. You might need some sort of home
directory, but your earlier conf had mail location and home directory pointing
to the same place. That location can't be a directory AND a file.

Do users have home directories on this server or is it all virtual?

Maybe this has more clues;

http://wiki.dovecot.org/MailLocation



--
MailScanner is like deodorant...
You hope everybody uses it, and
you notice quickly if they don't!!!!

[Scott Silva]

on 9-17-2008 3:48 PM Grant Lowe spake the following:
> We have home directories on the server.  Virtual user's can login (at least I've been able to verify that from using telnet to port 143).  Yes the earlier mail was different.  I can go back to that configuration if I need to.  Meanwhile I'll take a look at the link you sent.  Thank you!
>
Then try this;
mail_location = mbox:~/mail:INBOX=/var/mail/%u

Make sure the home directories map properly and not to /var/mail/%u from
however you auth. The above puts IMAP folders in a folder called mail in the
users home directory, and the inbox in /var/mail/%u.

Dovecot will also store its indexes in the ~/mail directory, so it has to be a
folder.

--
MailScanner is like deodorant...
You hope everybody uses it, and
you notice quickly if they don't!!!!

[Grant Lowe]

Scott,

That worked!  Thanks again for the help!



----- Original Message ----
From: Scott Silva <ssilva@...>
To: dovecot@...
Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2008 3:57:39 PM
Subject: Re: [Dovecot] Connecting to dovecot

on 9-17-2008 3:48 PM Grant Lowe spake the following:
> We have home directories on the server.  Virtual user's can login (at least I've been able to verify that from using telnet to port 143).  Yes the earlier mail was different.  I can go back to that configuration if I need to.  Meanwhile I'll take a look at the link you sent.  Thank you!
>
Then try this;
mail_location = mbox:~/mail:INBOX=/var/mail/%u

Make sure the home directories map properly and not to /var/mail/%u from
however you auth. The above puts IMAP folders in a folder called mail in the
users home directory, and the inbox in /var/mail/%u.

Dovecot will also store its indexes in the ~/mail directory, so it has to be a
folder.

--
MailScanner is like deodorant...
You hope everybody uses it, and
you notice quickly if they don't!!!!

[billgates1]

Hi,
I had the same error and I discovered it was only a problem of permissions.
I just typed:
chown -R username:mail /home/username
(replace "username" with the real user name)

and I had no more errors!