Email - dovecot.conf
Email Solution · Config document · referenced from Dovecot authentication
The main configuration file of Dovecot on the three internal servers. It chooses the protocols Dovecot serves and the addresses it listens on, and pulls in everything under conf.d. The file is the distribution's dovecot.conf with two settings changed; the stock comments are left out here, the CFG-ON and CFG-OFF markers are mine from the time.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Path on the server | /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf |
| Shown here | DC2-A-VCMSX002 |
| Also on | DC2-A-VCMSX001 and DC2-B-VCMSX001, identical |
| Activated with | systemctl start dovecot and systemctl enable dovecot |
| Software | Dovecot 2.2 from the RHEL 7 repository; the exact package release is not recorded |
The file
# Protocols Dovecot serves. The stock value has pop3 as well; the marker # lines show the two steps in which it was taken out. There is no way to # list "auth" here: the authentication service runs whatever is listed. # CFG-ON -> protocols = imap pop3 lmtp # CFG-OFF -> protocols = imap pop3 lmtp # CFG-ON -> protocols = imap lmtp protocols = imap lmtp # Listen on every IPv4 address of the host and on no IPv6 address # (the stock default is "*, ::"). # CFG-ON -> listen = * listen = * # Stock, empty: dictionary definitions for quota and expire plugins. dict { } # Stock: read every file in conf.d in alphabetical order. !include conf.d/*.conf # Stock: read local.conf if it exists. It does not exist on these servers. !include_try local.conf
Differences between the hosts
None. diff shows the same file on all three servers, which means the internal pair, where Dovecot is needed for authentication only, starts the IMAP and LMTP services as well. What that amounts to is in Dovecot authentication and Mailbox server.
Checked against Dovecot 2.4.5
| As built | Today |
|---|---|
file starts with protocols | the first setting must be dovecot_config_version; dovecot_storage_version is required as well |
protocols = imap lmtp | LMTP is the delivery method upstream recommends; here it was started and not used |
listen = * | still exists; from 2.4.6 the name is inet_listener_listen, the old one stays as an alias |
dict { }, !include conf.d/*.conf | a 2.2 or 2.3 configuration is not accepted by 2.4 and has to be converted |
Dovecot CE 2.4.5 was published on 2026-08-28. Upstream says to upgrade to the latest 2.3 first and then to 2.4, and offers a converter for the configuration. CentOS Stream 9 and 10, the upstream of RHEL 9 and 10, still carry Dovecot 2.3, so on RHEL the step from 2.2 to 2.3 comes first and the 2.4 syntax applies with upstream packages only.