Hi,

I am runing a Fedora core 3 server using Sendmail, Dovecot IMAP, Thunderbird and SquirrelMail . As far as i'm aware i'm using the MBOX mail folder format. I have noticed that the INBOX MBOX file resides in /var/spool/mail/username. All the other mail folders i've created through Thunderbird reside in /home/username/mail/foldername.

Why is this? is this correct? I cannot see a option in Thunderbird as to why any folder it creates is stored in /home but the INBOX MBOX file is not?

Also if i try to create a new foler using SquirrelMail it doesnt work? it creates a folder but i cannot access it or delete it easily.

I would like ALL mail to reside in /home if i can!

thanks.

looking at my dovecot.conf file this would exaplin why my INBOX is in /var/spool/mail

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

but why?

Why would the INBOX be in a different location to the other mail folders which are in /home/mail/

cheers!!!!!!

dovecot.conf does not explain where your mail is stored. That is up to Sendmail. Sendmail stores the mail on disk, Dovecot reads it afterwards. You must ensure that Sendmail and Dovecot configuration match eachother. Thunderbird and Squirrelmail connects to Dovecot and uses the paths previously configured in Dovecot.

Yes i know dovecot only looks in the location sendmail drops the mail and the location dovecot looks in is /var/spool/mail/username.

because it works fine i can only assume that sendmail by deafult is also configured to drop new email into the location above.

where within sendmail can i find the location? i believe procmail does this job but i cant see a conf file for procmail?

Also the mail locations from my previous post are correct. i tested it, the inbox resides in /var/spool/mail and any NEW folders created through a email client are stored in the home directory.

please advise! thanks...

/var/spool/mail is just a spooling location for mail. Once you connect and the mail is delivered, it usually resides in your users home directory as most programs/applications use that as a default location so the user has full access.

Personally I would keep sendmail's default in this /var/spool/mail and then the other applications default in the home directory. It's been setup like this since the beginning for many reasons, security reasons and many others. And if your just using IMAP, it only reads the email from the server and keeps it there, it's pop that would remove it and keep it locally in the email client of your choice.

cheers thats what i thought...

i wasnt sure why any mail folders created would be placed in /home and the INBOX located in the spooling directory.

All three programs operate independently and look for files in different folders; postfix, dovecot and squirrelmail. Squirrelmail was designed to work with the IMAP/Maildir format instaed of POP/Mbox. With POP and Mbox you will not be able to create subfolders and with IMAP and Maildir you will. The reason why the Thunderbird subfolders are not appearing in Squirrelmail is because you are using POP and Mbox instead of IMAP and Maildir. I prefer a combination of IMAP, Maildir and MySQL but they are more difficult to implement and administer. However, with this type of setup you can get better integration between all your clients wether Outlook, Thunderbird or Webmail.

No this is in correct. I do not use POP at all, only IMAP.

When i use squirrelmail or Thunderbird i always see the folders and can ascces them correctly. If i however try to create a folder in squirrelmail it doesnt work. If i create a folder in Thunderbird then it works and works with all clients.

maybe its a bug in suirrelmail or a secuirty restriction i have because i'm running Fedora Core 3 i'm also running SElinux...

I also had the same problem with Squirrelmail and I never gave it any thought. Most of my clients use Outlook anyways and they user Squirrelmail as an alternative. However, like you I'd like to be able to create folders in Squirrelmail.

Are you using Mbox or Maildir style mailboxes? I think Squirrelmail subdirectories may work best with Maildir, but I haven't tested this.