Package: dovecot-core
Version: 2.4.1-4 (7d8c0e5759)
Severity: normal
Tags: trixie
Description:
Dovecot 2.4.1-4 appears to have a bug where it cannot be configured to
use a custom INBOX filename. The system is hardcoded to look for "INBOX"
(uppercase) but cannot be configured to use "inbox" (lowercase) or other
custom filenames.
Steps to reproduce:
1. Set up mail system with mbox format using lowercase "inbox" files
2. Configure mail_home to point to the correct directory
3. Attempt to configure mail_location with INBOX= parameter to specify
custom INBOX filename
4. Dovecot reports "unknown setting" error for mail_location
5. Without mail_location, Dovecot creates empty "INBOX" files instead of
using existing "inbox" files
Expected behavior:
Dovecot should be able to be configured to use custom INBOX filenames,
allowing users to specify case-sensitive filenames that match their
existing mail storage.
Actual behavior:
- mail_location setting is not recognized (reports "unknown setting")
- Dovecot creates new "INBOX" files instead of using existing "inbox" files
- No configuration option available to specify custom INBOX filename
- Results in email clients connecting successfully but not downloading
any mail
Configuration attempted:
mail_home = /RAID/home/%{user}/mail
mail_location = mbox:~/mail:INBOX=~/mail/inbox
Error message:
"unknown setting" when trying to use mail_location
Environment:
- Debian version: Trixie
- Dovecot version: 2.4.1-4 (7d8c0e5759)
- OS: Linux 6.12.48+deb13-amd64 x86_64 Debian 13.1
- Mail format: mbox
- File system: ext4 (case sensitive)
Impact:
This prevents users from using existing mail storage with non-standard
INBOX filenames, requiring either file renaming or symlink creation for
each user account.
Workaround:
Create symlinks from INBOX to inbox for each user:
ln -s /path/to/user/mail/inbox /path/to/user/mail/INBOX
Additional information:
- The issue affects all users with lowercase "inbox" files or other
custom file names
- fetchmail successfully updates the "inbox" files
- Manual IMAP testing works but clients cannot download mail due to
empty INBOX files
- This appears to be a regression from previous Dovecot versions that
supported mail_location configuration
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