Fetchmail / Dovecot configuration

Lord Wodan · 09-02-2007, 05:37 AM

Hi All,

Somebody on Ubuntu-nl tipped me to use fetchmail and dovecot to distribute my email trough my network.

For as far as I know Fetchmail works fine. He collects the email from my pop3 provider and puts it in var/mail/user (in this case Sander)

Dove cot is another story. I followed the instructions but I can not even get logged in from a client:

A few files:

dovecot.conf

Code:

# Remove pop3 things if you don't want them
protocols = imap imaps

# It's nice to have separate log files for Dovecot. You could do this
# by changing syslog configuration also, but this is easier.
log_path = /var/log/dovecot.log
info_log_path = /var/log/dovecot-info.log

# Disable SSL for now.
ssl_disable = yes
disable_plaintext_auth = no

# We're using Maildir format(NOT)
mail_location = mbox:~/mail:INBOX=/var/mail/%u


# Optimizations:
# dotlock_use_excl=yes
maildir_copy_with_hardlinks=yes

# Authentication configuration:
auth_verbose = yes

auth default {
  mechanisms = plain
  passdb passwd-file {
    args = /etc/passwd.dovecot
  }
userdb passwd {
  }
}

/etc/passwd.dovecot

Code:

sander:{plain}mypasswd

dovecot-info.log

Code:

dovecot: Sep 01 15:40:32 Info: auth(default): passwd-file(sander,192.168.1.100): unknown user

As you see no safety yet.. but also no log in?

2nd question, in my setup, I dont need sendmail or something do i? (i send with the client directly

Lord Wodan · 09-07-2007, 04:35 AM

nobody?

I really cant figure this out

Muraii · 09-08-2007, 01:30 PM

Hi there, Lord Wodan,

I'm having some similar issues. I had read that Dovecot configuration was easier than walking in the street and getting hit by oncoming traffic. So far, the result feels about the same.

I have read a variety of apparently conflicting HOWTOs. I'm sure it's only apparent, and not actual, conflict, which I attribute to my limited (but growing) knowledge of adminstering a Linux system.

There are a variety of authentication systems/methods, and figuring out how to run Dovecot seems to imply learning about those as well. Currently, I have OpenSSL installed, but have never worked with it before, so I don't know precisely what I need to do to work with it. I'm also having some issues with which "user" to specify; the default is "root", but I get "Unknown setting: user".

I'm a little lost.

Lord Wodan · 09-08-2007, 05:12 PM

Hi Murraii,

I partially figured it out.

First of all, my mail is put in /var/mail/<user> in this case /var/mail/sander

This way is called "mbox".

With this in mind, I went googling again and found out that I totally messed up my dovecot.conf. I reinstalled Dovecot so I had a clean start.

Then I found this:
http://www.debian-administration.org/articles/275

In my case, I only use IMAP so the changes I made were these:

Code:

protocols = imap imaps

disable_plaintext_auth = no

ssl_disable = yes

mail_location = mbox:~/mail:INBOX=/var/mail/%u

mail_extra_groups = mail

You have to search in de Dovecot.conf for these directives.

Yet again, this is not a very safe way but it got me on my way. The passwd.dovecot is NOT used in my case yet

In, for example, outlook I selected new emailaccount, incoming server:192.168.1.110, outgoing server: mail.myprovider.com, username: sander, password: whatever

It works.. now the tweaking. Hope to have helped you!

Muraii · 09-08-2007, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lord Wodan

Hi Murraii,

I partially figured it out.

First of all, my mail is put in /var/mail/<user> in this case /var/mail/sander

This way is called "mbox".

Hi, Lord Wodan,

I figured mine out, too. I use the passwd.dovecot file passed in passwd-file, for the moment. I have tested my configuration, and after tweaking a few things, have all my mail available to Thunderbird. Next on the list:

- secure the login
- research sorting mail (probably procmail)
- educate myself on IMAP (for instance, Thunderbird pulled all the mail in and now none sits in any of my cur, new, or tmp folders, using maildir format)
- point mutt at Dovecot

Quote:

It works.. now the tweaking. Hope to have helped you!

That link has, for perspective if nothing else. Thanks.

Daniel

Lord Wodan · 09-09-2007, 07:35 AM

Could you share me the documentation / links youve read??

And wat do you mean by:" I use the passwd.dovecot file passed in passwd-file,"

Muraii · 09-10-2007, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lord Wodan

Could you share me the documentation / links youve read??

They're quite numerous, but here are some I've consulted:

BasicConfiguration via Dovecot wiki
Easy Mail Server podcast episode and forum follow-up via Linux Reality (this is where I got the idea in the first place, honestly)
*

Quote:

And wat do you mean by:" I use the passwd.dovecot file passed in passwd-file,"

The BasicConfiguration page linked above at the Dovecot wiki illustrates using a plaintext password to get Dovecot up and running. The implication is that you would do this prior to worrying about SSL authentication, i.e. locking down the server a bit more. I had a bit of a hassle understanding the different user database options and how/if SSL interacted with them. However, I got the server working, so now I can concentrate on security. I think you noted a similar angle.

I hope this is helpful. I'm thinking about writing something a bit more specific, as even this collection of very useful pointers leaves a few gaps, at least for me. For instance, running Slackware as I do means you're not very likely to be running PAM, which is, apparently, an assuming authentication vector for Dovecot at least. However, before I write anything, I need to better understand what it is I'm doing.

Keep adding to the thread if you'd like. I bet others will find it helpful, as I couldn't find any single, terribly succinct documentation everywhere for folks who don't fully understand the various authentication options.

Daniel

Edit: I also found a pretty lengthy run-through, though it might apply variably to different situations.