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Developer tools · #dovecot
Learn how Dovecot uses binary indexing to eliminate mailbox hangs and optimize IMAP SELECT operations by decoupling metadata from physical mail storage.
Stop IMAP sync hangs in Dovecot. Learn how to leverage indexing and the doveadm utility to optimize large mailboxes and reduce disk I/O.
Context Since Dovecot 2.3 the mailbox_list_index feature is enabled by default, maintaining a per-user index ( dovecot.list.index plus .log ) that accelerates LIST and LSUB commands. The index is updated under an exclusive fcntl / flock lock for every mailbox write operation (EXPUNGE, MOVE, COPY, etc.). Constraint The design chooses strict consistency over t
Dovecot’s built‑in quota plugin lets providers enforce size and message limits per mailbox or domain with minimal overhead. This blog explains why it’s practical, shows how to configure file‑based or SQL backends, walks through a 100 MB domain quota example, and discusses trade‑offs and next steps.
In a typical Dovecot installation, the IMAPS service listens on all available network interfaces (0.0.0.0:993 and [::]:993) unless explicitly restricted. When a server possesses multiple interfaces—such as a public NIC for web traffic and a private NIC for internal services—administrators risk exposing the IMAPS port to the Internet if the listener is not bo
Dovecot Clustered Configuration vs. External Storage Replication for Zero-Downtime Migration The objective is to migrate a small Dovecot deployment to a new node configuration while preserving continuous service availability for existing mail clients. Key constraints involve determining whether Dovecot's hot reload mechanism can synchronize module settings a
Background Dovecot parses the RFC‑5322 Date: header of each message and stores the resulting timestamp internally in UTC. The original header is preserved unchanged. When a client issues an IMAP SEARCH SINCE/BEFORE/ON command, the server interprets the date arguments relative to its configured local time zone. This can lead to off‑by‑one‑day results for clie
Goal I want to use Dovecot's built-in statistics support (the stats plugin queried via doveadm) to measure an IMAP performance bottleneck before changing anything, and then use those measurements to decide whether our mailbox format should stay Maildir or move to mdbox. Assume Dovecot 2.3.x on a single host with local storage. Constraints and uncertainty The
Dovecot mailbox list index cache invalidation on mailbox create, rename, or delete The goal is to keep IMAP LIST responses consistent immediately after a mailbox is created, renamed, or removed, without waiting for the mailbox list index TTL to expire or reloading the server. Dovecot accelerates mailbox listings using a cached index. The cache lifetime appea