1 ## Dovecot configuration file
3 # '#' character and everything after it is treated as comments. Extra spaces
4 # and tabs are ignored. If you want to use either of these explicitly, put the
5 # value inside quotes, eg.: key = "# char and trailing whitespace "
7 # Default values are shown after each value, it's not required to uncomment
8 # any of the lines. Exception to this are paths, they're just examples
9 # with real defaults being based on configure options. The paths listed here
10 # are for configure --prefix=/usr --sysconfdir=/etc --localstatedir=/var
11 # --with-ssldir=/etc/ssl
13 # Base directory where to store runtime data.
14 #base_dir = /var/run/dovecot/
16 # Protocols we want to be serving:
17 # imap imaps pop3 pop3s
18 #protocols = imap imaps
21 # IP or host address where to listen in for connections. It's not currently
22 # possible to specify multiple addresses. "*" listens in all IPv4 interfaces.
23 # "[::]" listens in all IPv6 interfaces, but may also listen in all IPv4
24 # interfaces depending on the operating system. If you want to specify ports
25 # for each service, you will need to configure these settings inside the
26 # protocol imap/pop3 { ... } section, so you can specify different ports
30 # IP or host address where to listen in for SSL connections. Defaults
31 # to above if not specified.
34 # Disable SSL/TLS support.
38 # PEM encoded X.509 SSL/TLS certificate and private key. They're opened before
39 # dropping root privileges, so keep the key file unreadable by anyone but
41 #ssl_cert_file = /etc/ssl/certs/ssl-cert-snakeoil.pem
42 #ssl_key_file = /etc/ssl/private/ssl-cert-snakeoil.key
44 # If key file is password protected, give the password here. Alternatively
45 # give it when starting dovecot with -p parameter.
48 # File containing trusted SSL certificate authorities. Usually not needed.
51 # Request client to send a certificate.
52 #ssl_verify_client_cert = no
54 # How often to regenerate the SSL parameters file. Generation is quite CPU
55 # intensive operation. The value is in hours, 0 disables regeneration
57 #ssl_parameters_regenerate = 168
60 #ssl_cipher_list = ALL:!LOW
62 # Disable LOGIN command and all other plaintext authentications unless
63 # SSL/TLS is used (LOGINDISABLED capability). Note that 127.*.*.* and
64 # IPv6 ::1 addresses are considered secure, this setting has no effect if
65 # you connect from those addresses.
66 disable_plaintext_auth = no
68 # Use this logfile instead of syslog(). /dev/stderr can be used if you want to
69 # use stderr for logging (ONLY /dev/stderr - otherwise it is closed).
72 # For informational messages, use this logfile instead of the default
75 # Prefix for each line written to log file. % codes are in strftime(3)
77 log_timestamp = "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S "
79 # Syslog facility to use if you're logging to syslog. Usually if you don't
80 # want to use "mail", you'll use local0..local7. Also other standard
81 # facilities are supported.
82 #syslog_facility = mail
88 # Directory where authentication process places authentication UNIX sockets
89 # which login needs to be able to connect to. The sockets are created when
90 # running as root, so you don't have to worry about permissions. Note that
91 # everything in this directory is deleted when Dovecot is started.
92 #login_dir = /var/run/dovecot/login
94 # chroot login process to the login_dir. Only reason not to do this is if you
95 # wish to run the whole Dovecot without roots.
96 # http://wiki.dovecot.org/Rootless
99 # User to use for the login process. Create a completely new user for this,
100 # and don't use it anywhere else. The user must also belong to a group where
101 # only it has access, it's used to control access for authentication process.
102 # Note that this user is NOT used to access mails.
103 # http://wiki.dovecot.org/UserIds
104 #login_user = dovecot
106 # Set max. process size in megabytes. If you don't use
107 # login_process_per_connection you might need to grow this.
108 #login_process_size = 32
110 # Should each login be processed in it's own process (yes), or should one
111 # login process be allowed to process multiple connections (no)? Yes is more
112 # secure, espcially with SSL/TLS enabled. No is faster since there's no need
113 # to create processes all the time.
114 #login_process_per_connection = yes
116 # Number of login processes to create. If login_process_per_connection is
117 # yes, this is the number of extra processes waiting for users to log in.
118 #login_processes_count = 3
120 # Maximum number of extra login processes to create. The extra process count
121 # usually stays at login_processes_count, but when multiple users start logging
122 # in at the same time more extra processes are created. To prevent fork-bombing
123 # we check only once in a second if new processes should be created - if all
124 # of them are used at the time, we double their amount until limit set by this
125 # setting is reached. This setting is used only if login_process_per_use is yes.
126 #login_max_processes_count = 128
128 # Maximum number of connections allowed in login state. When this limit is
129 # reached, the oldest connections are dropped. If login_process_per_connection
130 # is no, this is a per-process value, so the absolute maximum number of users
131 # logging in actually login_processes_count * max_logging_users.
132 #login_max_logging_users = 256
134 # Greeting message for clients.
135 #login_greeting = Dovecot ready.
137 # Space-separated list of elements we want to log. The elements which have
138 # a non-empty variable value are joined together to form a comma-separated
140 #login_log_format_elements = user=<%u> method=%m rip=%r lip=%l %c
142 # Login log format. %$ contains login_log_format_elements string, %s contains
143 # the data we want to log.
144 #login_log_format = %$: %s
150 # Maximum number of running mail processes. When this limit is reached,
151 # new users aren't allowed to log in.
152 #max_mail_processes = 1024
154 # Show more verbose process titles (in ps). Currently shows user name and
155 # IP address. Useful for seeing who are actually using the IMAP processes
156 # (eg. shared mailboxes or if same uid is used for multiple accounts).
157 #verbose_proctitle = no
159 # Show protocol level SSL errors.
162 # Valid UID range for users, defaults to 500 and above. This is mostly
163 # to make sure that users can't log in as daemons or other system users.
164 # Note that denying root logins is hardcoded to dovecot binary and can't
165 # be done even if first_valid_uid is set to 0.
166 #first_valid_uid = 500
169 # Valid GID range for users, defaults to non-root/wheel. Users having
170 # non-valid GID as primary group ID aren't allowed to log in. If user
171 # belongs to supplementary groups with non-valid GIDs, those groups are
176 # Grant access to these extra groups for mail processes. Typical use would be
177 # to give "mail" group write access to /var/mail to be able to create dotlocks.
178 mail_extra_groups = mail
180 # ':' separated list of directories under which chrooting is allowed for mail
181 # processes (ie. /var/mail will allow chrooting to /var/mail/foo/bar too).
182 # This setting doesn't affect login_chroot or auth_chroot variables.
183 # WARNING: Never add directories here which local users can modify, that
184 # may lead to root exploit. Usually this should be done only if you don't
185 # allow shell access for users. See
186 # /usr/share/doc/dovecot-common/configuration.txt for more information.
189 # Default chroot directory for mail processes. This can be overridden for
190 # specific users in user database by giving /./ in user's home directory
191 # (eg. /home/./user chroots into /home). Note that usually there is no real
192 # need to do chrooting, Dovecot doesn't allow users to access files outside
193 # their mail directory anyway.
196 # Enable mail process debugging. This can help you figure out why Dovecot
197 # isn't finding your mails.
200 # Default MAIL environment to use when it's not set. By leaving this empty
201 # dovecot tries to do some automatic detection as described in
202 # /usr/share/doc/dovecot-common/mail-storages.txt. There's a few special
203 # variables you can use, eg.:
206 # %n - user part in user@domain, same as %u if there's no domain
207 # %d - domain part in user@domain, empty if there's no domain
208 # %h - home directory
210 # See /usr/share/doc/dovecot-common/variables.txt for full list. Some examples:
212 # default_mail_env = maildir:/var/mail/%1u/%u/Maildir
213 # default_mail_env = mbox:~/mail/:INBOX=/var/mail/%u
214 # default_mail_env = mbox:/var/mail/%d/%n/:INDEX=/var/indexes/%d/%n
218 # If you need to set multiple mailbox locations or want to change default
219 # namespace settings, you can do it by defining namespace sections:
221 # You can have private, shared and public namespaces. The only difference
222 # between them is how Dovecot announces them to client via NAMESPACE
223 # extension. Shared namespaces are meant for user-owned mailboxes which are
224 # shared to other users, while public namespaces are for more globally
225 # accessible mailboxes.
227 # REMEMBER: If you add any namespaces, the default namespace must be added
228 # explicitly, ie. default_mail_env does nothing unless you have a namespace
229 # without a location setting. Default namespace is simply done by having a
230 # namespace with empty prefix.
232 # Hierarchy separator to use. You should use the same separator for all
233 # namespaces or some clients get confused. '/' is usually a good one.
236 # Prefix required to access this namespace. This needs to be different for
237 # all namespaces. For example "Public/".
240 # Physical location of the mailbox. This is in same format as
241 # default_mail_env, which is also the default for it.
244 # There can be only one INBOX, and this setting defines which namespace
248 # If namespace is hidden, it's not advertised to clients via NAMESPACE
249 # extension or shown in LIST replies. This is mostly useful when converting
250 # from another server with different namespaces which you want to depricate
251 # but still keep working. For example you can create hidden namespaces with
252 # prefixes "~/mail/", "~%u/mail/" and "mail/".
256 # Space-separated list of fields to initially save into cache file. Currently
257 # these fields are allowed:
259 # flags, date.sent, date.received, size.virtual, size.physical
260 # mime.parts, imap.body, imap.bodystructure
262 # Different IMAP clients work in different ways, so they benefit from
263 # different cached fields. Some do not benefit from them at all. Caching more
264 # than necessary generates useless disk I/O, so you don't want to do that
267 # Dovecot attempts to automatically figure out what client wants and it keeps
268 # only that. However the first few times a mailbox is opened, Dovecot hasn't
269 # yet figured out what client needs, so it may not perform optimally. If you
270 # know what fields the majority of your clients need, it may be useful to set
271 # these fields by hand. If client doesn't actually use them, Dovecot will
272 # eventually drop them.
274 # Usually you should just leave this field alone. The potential benefits are
275 # typically unnoticeable.
278 # Space-separated list of fields that Dovecot should never save to cache file.
279 # Useful if you want to save disk space at the cost of more I/O when the fields
281 #mail_never_cache_fields =
283 # The minimum number of mails in a mailbox before updates are done to cache
284 # file. This allows optimizing Dovecot's behavior to do less disk writes at
285 # the cost of more disk reads.
286 #mail_cache_min_mail_count = 0
288 # When IDLE command is running, mailbox is checked once in a while to see if
289 # there are any new mails or other changes. This setting defines the minimum
290 # time to wait between those checks. Dovecot is however able to use dnotify
291 # and inotify with Linux to reply immediately after the change occurs.
292 #mailbox_idle_check_interval = 30
294 # Allow full filesystem access to clients. There's no access checks other than
295 # what the operating system does for the active UID/GID. It works with both
296 # maildir and mboxes, allowing you to prefix mailboxes names with eg. /path/
298 #mail_full_filesystem_access = no
300 # Maximum allowed length for mail keyword name. It's only forced when trying
301 # to create new keywords.
302 #mail_max_keyword_length = 50
304 # Save mails with CR+LF instead of plain LF. This makes sending those mails
305 # take less CPU, especially with sendfile() syscall with Linux and FreeBSD.
306 # But it also creates a bit more disk I/O which may just make it slower.
307 # Also note that if other software reads the mboxes/maildirs, they may handle
308 # the extra CRs wrong and cause problems.
311 # Use mmap() instead of read() to read mail files. read() seems to be a bit
312 # faster with my Linux/x86 and it's better with NFS, so that's the default.
313 # Note that OpenBSD 3.3 and older don't work right with mail_read_mmaped = yes.
314 #mail_read_mmaped = no
316 # Don't use mmap() at all. This is required if you store indexes in remote
317 # filesystems (NFS or clustered filesystem).
320 # Don't write() to mmaped files. This is required for some operating systems
321 # which use separate caches for them, such as OpenBSD.
324 # Locking method for index files. Alternatives are fcntl, flock and dotlock.
325 # Dotlocking uses some tricks which may create more disk I/O than other locking
326 # methods. NOTE: If you use NFS, remember to change also mmap_disable setting!
327 # Solaris doesn't support flock, so Solaris users need to change this to fcntl.
330 # By default LIST command returns all entries in maildir beginning with dot.
331 # Enabling this option makes Dovecot return only entries which are directories.
332 # This is done by stat()ing each entry, so it causes more disk I/O.
333 # (For systems setting struct dirent->d_type, this check is free and it's
334 # done always regardless of this setting)
335 #maildir_stat_dirs = no
337 # Copy mail to another folders using hard links. This is much faster than
338 # actually copying the file. This is problematic only if something modifies
339 # the mail in one folder but doesn't want it modified in the others. I don't
340 # know any MUA which would modify mail files directly. IMAP protocol also
341 # requires that the mails don't change, so it would be problematic in any case.
342 # If you care about performance, enable it.
343 #maildir_copy_with_hardlinks = no
345 # Which locking methods to use for locking mbox. There's four available:
346 # dotlock: Create <mailbox>.lock file. This is the oldest and most NFS-safe
347 # solution. If you want to use /var/mail/ like directory, the users
348 # will need write access to that directory.
349 # fcntl : Use this if possible. Works with NFS too if lockd is used.
350 # flock : May not exist in all systems. Doesn't work with NFS.
351 # lockf : May not exist in all systems. Doesn't work with NFS.
353 # You can use multiple locking methods; if you do the order they're declared
354 # in is important to avoid deadlocks if other MTAs/MUAs are using multiple
355 # locking methods as well. Some operating systems don't allow using some of
356 # them simultaneously.
357 #mbox_read_locks = fcntl
358 #mbox_write_locks = dotlock fcntl
360 # Maximum time in seconds to wait for lock (all of them) before aborting.
361 #mbox_lock_timeout = 300
363 # If dotlock exists but the mailbox isn't modified in any way, override the
364 # lock file after this many seconds.
365 #mbox_dotlock_change_timeout = 30
367 # When mbox changes unexpectedly we have to fully read it to find out what
368 # changed. If the mbox is large this can take a long time. Since the change
369 # is usually just a newly appended mail, it'd be faster to simply read the
370 # new mails. If this setting is enabled, Dovecot does this but still safely
371 # fallbacks to re-reading the whole mbox file whenever something in mbox isn't
372 # how it's expected to be. The only real downside to this setting is that if
373 # some other MUA changes message flags, Dovecot doesn't notice it immediately.
374 # Note that a full sync is done with SELECT, EXAMINE, EXPUNGE and CHECK
376 #mbox_dirty_syncs = yes
378 # Like mbox_dirty_syncs, but don't do full syncs even with SELECT, EXAMINE,
379 # EXPUNGE or CHECK commands. If this is set, mbox_dirty_syncs is ignored.
380 #mbox_very_dirty_syncs = no
382 # Delay writing mbox headers until doing a full write sync (EXPUNGE and CHECK
383 # commands and when closing the mailbox). This is especially useful for POP3
384 # where clients often delete all mails. The downside is that our changes
385 # aren't immediately visible to other MUAs.
386 #mbox_lazy_writes = yes
388 # If mbox size is smaller than this (in kilobytes), don't write index files.
389 # If an index file already exists it's still read, just not updated.
390 #mbox_min_index_size = 0
392 # Maximum dbox file size in kilobytes until it's rotated.
393 #dbox_rotate_size = 2048
395 # Minimum dbox file size in kilobytes before it's rotated
396 # (overrides dbox_rotate_days)
397 #dbox_rotate_min_size = 16
399 # Maximum dbox file age in days until it's rotated. Day always begins from
400 # midnight, so 1 = today, 2 = yesterday, etc. 0 = check disabled.
401 #dbox_rotate_days = 0
403 # umask to use for mail files and directories
406 # Drop all privileges before exec()ing the mail process. This is mostly
407 # meant for debugging, otherwise you don't get core dumps. It could be a small
408 # security risk if you use single UID for multiple users, as the users could
409 # ptrace() each others processes then.
410 #mail_drop_priv_before_exec = no
412 # Set max. process size in megabytes. Most of the memory goes to mmap()ing
413 # files, so it shouldn't harm much even if this limit is set pretty high.
414 #mail_process_size = 256
416 # Log prefix for mail processes. See
417 # /usr/share/doc/dovecot-common/variables.txt for list of possible variables
419 #mail_log_prefix = "%Us(%u): "
422 ## IMAP specific settings
426 # Login executable location.
427 #login_executable = /usr/lib/dovecot/imap-login
429 # IMAP executable location. Changing this allows you to execute other
430 # binaries before the imap process is executed.
432 # This would write rawlogs into ~/dovecot.rawlog/ directory:
433 # mail_executable = /usr/lib/dovecot/rawlog /usr/lib/dovecot/imap
435 # This would attach gdb into the imap process and write backtraces into
436 # /tmp/gdbhelper.* files:
437 # mail_executable = /usr/lib/dovecot/gdbhelper /usr/lib/dovecot/imap
439 #mail_executable = /usr/lib/dovecot/imap
441 # Maximum IMAP command line length in bytes. Some clients generate very long
442 # command lines with huge mailboxes, so you may need to raise this if you get
443 # "Too long argument" or "IMAP command line too large" errors often.
444 #imap_max_line_length = 65536
446 # Support for dynamically loadable modules.
447 #mail_use_modules = no
448 #mail_modules = /usr/lib/dovecot/modules/imap
450 # Send IMAP capabilities in greeting message. This makes it unnecessary for
451 # clients to request it with CAPABILITY command, so it saves one round-trip.
452 # Many clients however don't understand it and ask the CAPABILITY anyway.
453 #login_greeting_capability = no
455 # Workarounds for various client bugs:
457 # Send EXISTS/RECENT new mail notifications only when replying to NOOP
458 # and CHECK commands. Some clients ignore them otherwise, for example
459 # OSX Mail. Outlook Express breaks more badly though, without this it
460 # may show user "Message no longer in server" errors. Note that OE6 still
461 # breaks even with this workaround if synchronization is set to
464 # Outlook and Outlook Express never abort IDLE command, so if no mail
465 # arrives in half a hour, Dovecot closes the connection. This is still
466 # fine, except Outlook doesn't connect back so you don't see if new mail
469 # Netscape 4.x breaks if message headers don't end with the empty "end of
470 # headers" line. Normally all messages have this, but setting this
471 # workaround makes sure that Netscape never breaks by adding the line if
472 # it doesn't exist. This is done only for FETCH BODY[HEADER.FIELDS..]
473 # commands. Note that RFC says this shouldn't be done.
474 # tb-extra-mailbox-sep:
475 # With mbox storage a mailbox can contain either mails or submailboxes,
476 # but not both. Thunderbird separates these two by forcing server to
477 # accept '/' suffix in mailbox names in subscriptions list.
478 # The list is space-separated.
479 #imap_client_workarounds = outlook-idle
483 ## POP3 specific settings
487 # Login executable location.
488 #login_executable = /usr/lib/dovecot/pop3-login
490 # POP3 executable location
491 #mail_executable = /usr/lib/dovecot/pop3
493 # Don't try to set mails non-recent or seen with POP3 sessions. This is
494 # mostly intended to reduce disk I/O. With maildir it doesn't move files
495 # from new/ to cur/, with mbox it doesn't write Status-header.
496 #pop3_no_flag_updates = no
498 # Support LAST command which exists in old POP3 specs, but has been removed
499 # from new ones. Some clients still wish to use this though. Enabling this
500 # makes RSET command clear all \Seen flags from messages.
501 #pop3_enable_last = no
503 # POP3 UIDL format to use. You can use following variables:
505 # %v - Mailbox UIDVALIDITY
507 # %m - MD5 sum of the mailbox headers in hex (mbox only)
508 # %f - filename (maildir only)
510 # If you want UIDL compatibility with other POP3 servers, use:
511 # UW's ipop3d : %08Xv%08Xu
512 # Courier version 0 : %f
513 # Courier version 1 : %u
514 # Courier version 2 : %v-%u
515 # Cyrus (<= 2.1.3) : %u
516 # Cyrus (>= 2.1.4) : %v.%u
517 # Older Dovecots : %v.%u
519 # Note that Outlook 2003 seems to have problems with %v.%u format which was
520 # Dovecot's default, so if you're building a new server it would be a good
521 # idea to change this. %08Xu%08Xv should be pretty fail-safe.
523 # NOTE: Nowadays this is required to be set explicitly, since the old
524 # default was bad but it couldn't be changed without breaking existing
525 # installations. %08Xu%08Xv will be the new default, so use it for new
530 # POP3 logout format string:
531 # %t - number of TOP commands
532 # %T - number of bytes sent to client as a result of TOP command
533 # %r - number of RETR commands
534 # %R - number of bytes sent to client as a result of RETR command
535 # %d - number of deleted messages
536 # %m - number of messages (before deletion)
537 # %s - mailbox size in bytes (before deletion)
538 #pop3_logout_format = top=%t/%T, retr=%r/%R, del=%d/%m, size=%s
540 # Support for dynamically loadable modules.
541 #mail_use_modules = no
542 #mail_modules = /usr/lib/dovecot/modules/pop3
544 # Workarounds for various client bugs:
546 # Outlook and Outlook Express hang if mails contain NUL characters.
547 # This setting replaces them with 0x80 character.
549 # Outlook Express and Netscape Mail breaks if end of headers-line is
550 # missing. This option simply sends it if it's missing.
551 # The list is space-separated.
552 #pop3_client_workarounds =
556 ## dovecot-lda specific settings
560 # If you wish to use plugins you need to specify plugin directory
561 # For example quota enforcing is implemented by plugin
562 #module_dir = /usr/local/lib/dovecot/lda
564 # Address from LDA should send MDNs like out of quota
565 # postmaster_address = postmaster@your.dom
567 # If there is no user-specific Sieve-script, global Sieve script is
569 #global_script_path =
571 # UNIX socket path to master authentication server to find users.
572 #auth_socket_path = /var/run/dovecot-auth-master
576 ## Authentication processes
579 # Executable location
580 #auth_executable = /usr/lib/dovecot/dovecot-auth
582 # Set max. process size in megabytes.
583 #auth_process_size = 256
585 # Authentication cache size in kilobytes. 0 means it's disabled.
586 # Note that bsdauth, PAM and vpopmail require cache_key to be set for caching
587 # to be used. Also note that currently auth cache doesn't work very well if
588 # you're using multiple passdbs with same usernames in them.
590 # Time to live in seconds for cached data. After this many seconds the cached
591 # record is no longer used, *except* if the main database lookup returns
593 #auth_cache_ttl = 3600
595 # Space separated list of realms for SASL authentication mechanisms that need
596 # them. You can leave it empty if you don't want to support multiple realms.
597 # Many clients simply use the first one listed here, so keep the default realm
601 # Default realm/domain to use if none was specified. This is used for both
602 # SASL realms and appending @domain to username in plaintext logins.
603 #auth_default_realm =
605 # List of allowed characters in username. If the user-given username contains
606 # a character not listed in here, the login automatically fails. This is just
607 # an extra check to make sure user can't exploit any potential quote escaping
608 # vulnerabilities with SQL/LDAP databases. If you want to allow all characters,
609 # set this value to empty.
610 #auth_username_chars = abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ01234567890.-_@
612 # Username character translations before it's looked up from databases. The
613 # value contains series of from -> to characters. For example "#@/@" means
614 # that '#' and '/' characters are translated to '@'.
615 #auth_username_translation =
617 # Username to use for users logging in with ANONYMOUS SASL mechanism
618 #auth_anonymous_username = anonymous
620 # More verbose logging. Useful for figuring out why authentication isn't
624 # Even more verbose logging for debugging purposes. Shows for example SQL
628 # In case of password mismatches, log the passwords and used scheme so the
629 # problem can be debugged. Requires auth_debug=yes to be set.
630 #auth_debug_passwords = no
632 # Maximum number of dovecot-auth worker processes. They're used to execute
633 # blocking passdb and userdb queries (eg. MySQL and PAM). They're
634 # automatically created and destroyed as needed.
635 #auth_worker_max_count = 30
637 # Kerberos keytab to use for the GSSAPI mechanism. Will use the system
638 # default (usually /etc/krb5.keytab) if not specified.
642 # Space separated list of wanted authentication mechanisms:
643 # plain digest-md5 cram-md5 apop anonymous gssapi
647 ## dovecot-lda specific settings
651 # path = /var/run/dovecot-auth-master
653 # user = vmail # User running Dovecot LDA
654 # #group = mail # Or alternatively mode 0660 + LDA user in this group
659 # Password database is used to verify user's password (and nothing more).
660 # You can have multiple passdbs and userdbs. This is useful if you want to
661 # allow both system users (/etc/passwd) and virtual users to login without
662 # duplicating the system users into virtual database.
664 # http://wiki.dovecot.org/Authentication
667 # Users can be temporarily disabled by adding a passdb with deny=yes.
668 # If the user is found from that database, authentication will fail.
669 # The deny passdb should always be specified before others, so it gets
670 # checked first. Here's an example:
671 #passdb passwd-file {
672 # File contains a list of usernames, one per line
673 #args = /etc/dovecot.deny
677 # PAM authentication. Preferred nowadays by most systems.
678 # Note that PAM can only be used to verify if user's password is correct,
679 # so it can't be used as userdb. If you don't want to use a separate user
680 # database (passwd usually), you can use static userdb.
682 # [session=yes] [cache_key=<key>] [<service name>]
684 # session=yes makes Dovecot open and immediately close PAM session. Some
685 # PAM plugins need this to work, such as pam_mkhomedir.
687 # cache_key can be used to enable authentication caching for PAM
688 # (auth_cache_size also needs to be set). It isn't enabled by default
689 # because PAM modules can do all kinds of checks besides checking password,
690 # such as checking IP address. Dovecot can't know about these checks
691 # without some help. cache_key is simply a list of variables (see
692 # /usr/share/doc/dovecot-common/variables.txt) which must match for the
693 # cached data to be used.
694 # Here are some examples:
695 # %u - Username must match. Probably sufficient for most uses.
696 # %u%r - Username and remote IP address must match.
697 # %u%s - Username and service (ie. IMAP, POP3) must match.
699 # If service name is "*", it means the authenticating service name
700 # is used, eg. pop3 or imap.
703 # args = session=yes *
704 # args = cache_key=%u dovecot
708 # /etc/passwd or similar, using getpwnam()
709 # In many systems nowadays this uses Name Service Switch, which is
710 # configured in /etc/nsswitch.conf.
714 # /etc/shadow or similiar, using getspnam(). Deprecated by PAM nowadays.
718 # BSD authentication. Used by at least OpenBSD.
720 # [cache_key=<key>] - See cache_key in PAM for explanation.
724 # passwd-like file with specified location
725 #passdb passwd-file {
726 # Path for passwd-file
730 # checkpassword executable authentication
731 # NOTE: You will probably want to use "userdb prefetch" with this.
732 #passdb checkpassword {
733 # Path for checkpassword binary
739 # Path for SQL configuration file, see /etc/dovecot/dovecot-sql.conf for
746 # Path for LDAP configuration file, see /etc/dovecot/dovecot-ldap.conf for
751 # vpopmail authentication
753 # [cache_key=<key>] - See cache_key in PAM for explanation.
758 # User database specifies where mails are located and what user/group IDs
759 # own them. For single-UID configuration use "static".
761 # http://wiki.dovecot.org/Authentication
762 # http://wiki.dovecot.org/VirtualUsers
765 # /etc/passwd or similar, using getpwnam()
766 # In many systems nowadays this uses Name Service Switch, which is
767 # configured in /etc/nsswitch.conf.
771 # passwd-like file with specified location
772 #userdb passwd-file {
773 # Path for passwd-file
777 # static settings generated from template
779 # Template for settings. Can return anything a userdb could normally
780 # return, eg.: uid, gid, home, mail, nice
784 # args = uid=500 gid=500 home=/var/mail/%u
785 # args = uid=500 gid=500 home=/home/%u mail=mbox:/home/%u/mail nice=10
792 # Path for SQL configuration file, see /etc/dovecot/dovecot-sql.conf for
799 # Path for LDAP configuration file, see /etc/dovecot/dovecot-ldap.conf for
808 # "prefetch" user database means that the passdb already provided the
809 # needed information and there's no need to do a separate userdb lookup.
810 # This can be made to work with SQL and LDAP databases, see their example
811 # configuration files for more information how to do it.
812 # http://wiki.dovecot.org/AuthSpecials
816 # User to use for the process. This user needs access to only user and
817 # password databases, nothing else. Only shadow and pam authentication
818 # requires roots, so use something else if possible. Note that passwd
819 # authentication with BSDs internally accesses shadow files, which also
820 # requires roots. Note that this user is NOT used to access mails.
821 # That user is specified by userdb above.
824 # Directory where to chroot the process. Most authentication backends don't
825 # work if this is set, and there's no point chrooting if auth_user is root.
826 # Note that valid_chroot_dirs isn't needed to use this setting.
829 # Number of authentication processes to create
832 # Require a valid SSL client certificate or the authentication fails.
833 #ssl_require_client_cert = no
835 # Take the username from client's SSL certificate, using X509_NAME_oneline()
836 # which typically uses subject's Distinguished Name.
837 #ssl_username_from_cert = no
840 # It's possible to export the authentication interface to other programs,
841 # for example SMTP server which supports talking to Dovecot. Client socket
842 # handles the actual authentication - you give it a username and password
843 # and it returns OK or failure. So it's pretty safe to allow anyone access to
844 # it. Master socket is used to a) query if given client was successfully
845 # authenticated, b) userdb lookups.
847 # listener sockets will be created by Dovecot's master process using the
848 # settings given inside the auth section
849 #auth default_with_listener {
857 # path = /var/run/dovecot-auth-master
858 # # WARNING: Giving untrusted users access to master socket may be a
859 # # security risk, don't give too wide permissions to it!
861 # # Default user/group is the one who started dovecot-auth (root)
866 # path = /var/run/dovecot-auth-client
872 # connect sockets are assumed to be already running, Dovecot's master
873 # process only tries to connect to them. They don't need any other settings
874 # than path for the master socket, as the configuration is done elsewhere.
875 # Note that the client sockets must exist in login_dir.
879 # path = /var/run/dovecot-auth-master
885 # Here you can give some extra environment variables to mail processes.
886 # This is mostly meant for passing parameters to plugins. %variable
887 # expansion is done for all values.
890 #quota = dirsize:%h/mail
892 # Convert plugin. If set, specifies the source storage path which is
893 # converted to destination storage (default_mail_env).
894 #convert_mail = mbox:%h/mail