Dovecot Configuration
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From: Artist on 22 Apr 2010 16:24 I am confused about the * wild card for the listen statement in the dovecot.conf file as described here: http://wiki.dovecot.org/MainConfig Here it says an entry of "listen = *" means to listen in all interfaces. An interface appears to be defined as an ip number and a port. I cannot believe that this asterisk means to listen to every possible ip number and port number on the Internet. So I need to know what defines the set of interfaces within which all will be listened to. -- To reply directly remove the sj. from my email address. This is a spam jammer.
From: Keith Keller on 22 Apr 2010 17:07 On 2010-04-22, Artist <artist(a)sj.speakeasy.net> wrote: > I am confused about the * wild card for the listen statement in the > dovecot.conf file as described here: > http://wiki.dovecot.org/MainConfig > Here it says an entry of "listen = *" means to listen in all interfaces. > An interface appears to be defined as an ip number and a port. I cannot > believe that this asterisk means to listen to every possible ip number > and port number on the Internet. So I need to know what defines the set > of interfaces within which all will be listened to. It means all interfaces currently configured on the host. Do an /sbin/ifconfig to see all the interfaces currently defined and active. (The asterisk does *not* mean to listen to every port number; there's a separate directive for which port(s) to listen on, and that can not be a wildcard.) --keith -- kkeller-usenet(a)wombat.san-francisco.ca.us (try just my userid to email me) AOLSFAQ=http://www.therockgarden.ca/aolsfaq.txt see X- headers for PGP signature information
From: Artist on 23 Apr 2010 11:09 Keith Keller wrote: > It means all interfaces currently configured on the host. Do an > /sbin/ifconfig to see all the interfaces currently defined and active. > (The asterisk does *not* mean to listen to every port number; there's > a separate directive for which port(s) to listen on, and that can not > be a wildcard.) > > --keith > I assume that port number directive to be "listen = *:110" My buggy control panel put the "listen = *" directive in the third line of dovecot.conf. This is outside of any of the protocol directives so I assume this is the default for all protocols. This would be convenient but I am not sure that the same port is appropriate for all protocols. The protocol directives in the dovecot.conf are: protocol imap { .. } protocol pop3 { .. } protocol lda { .. } I know that port 110 is appropriate for imap and pop3. I do not know about lda. There is also an auth directive. I am also not sure whether it needs a listen directive and if so whether port 110 is appropriate for it. -- If you desire to respond directly remove the "sj." from the domain name part of my email address. It is a spam jammer.
From: Keith Keller on 23 Apr 2010 13:18 On 2010-04-23, Artist <Artist(a)sj.speakeasy.net> wrote: > Keith Keller wrote: > >> (The asterisk does *not* mean to listen to every port number; there's >> a separate directive for which port(s) to listen on, and that can not >> be a wildcard.) Okay, this is half-right: you can add a list of ports to the listen directive. The default is to listen on the default ports (as defined in /etc/services). You should probably leave the ports blank unless you specifically want to use nondefault ports (which you shouldn't unless you know what you're doing). > My buggy control panel put the "listen = *" directive in the third line > of dovecot.conf. This is outside of any of the protocol directives so I > assume this is the default for all protocols. This would be convenient > but I am not sure that the same port is appropriate for all protocols. > The protocol directives in the dovecot.conf are: > > protocol imap { .. } > protocol pop3 { .. } > protocol lda { .. } > > I know that port 110 is appropriate for imap and pop3. I do not know > about lda. You should leave it as * with no port specification. Port 110 is not the usual port for imap, that's 143. If you don't specify any ports on the listen directive dovecot will figure all of this out for you. The lda protocol is local mail delivery; I'm not very familiar with its configuration, but it likely does not listen on a port. (It's in charge of taking incoming mail from the MTA and putting it in the right place on local disk, typically a user's mailbox.) > There is also an auth directive. I am also not sure whether it needs a > listen directive and if so whether port 110 is appropriate for it. It does not. The auth section tells dovecot how to decide whether a given username/password is valid. If you're configuring a new dovecot from scratch, it's probably better to start with the example dovecot-example.conf and modify it as needed. There really should be very little to modify, especially if you've installed it through your package manager. --keith -- kkeller-usenet(a)wombat.san-francisco.ca.us (try just my userid to email me) AOLSFAQ=http://www.therockgarden.ca/aolsfaq.txt see X- headers for PGP signature information
From: Artist on 24 Apr 2010 02:14
Keith Keller wrote: > If you're configuring a new dovecot from scratch, it's probably better > to start with the example dovecot-example.conf and modify it as needed. > There really should be very little to modify, especially if you've > installed it through your package manager. > > --keith > I have looked at /etc/services and see now where the ports are defined. I am using the dovecot.conf my control panel (http://froxlor.org) instructed to use. I see nothing listening on port 110, emails sent to my server bounce, and email client connection attempts are refused. I have been looking for something wrong in dovecot.conf -- If you desire to respond directly remove the "sj." from the domain name part of my email address. It is a spam jammer. |