Eray Aslan <[email protected]> writes: > Feedback welcome. Thanks > > > Title: mail-mta/postfix-3.11.0: Default database change > Author: Eray Aslan <[email protected]> > Posted: 2026-03-13 > Revision: 1 > News-Item-Format: 2.0 > Display-If-Installed: mail-mta/postfix > > The default local database type in mail-mta/postfix has been hash for > local files and btree for caches and both file types depend on > sys-libs/db. However, BerkeleyDB has not been developed sufficiently in > recent years and the licensing change in 2013 made using the latest > versions of BerkeleyDB problematic. Consequently, we are stuck with > using ancient versions of BerkeleyDB and there is a general tendency in > the Linux ecosystem to sunset BerkeleyDB support. > > Postfix made switching database types easier with its latest release. We > will be changing the default database type in postfix for both local > databases and caches to lmdb starting with mail-mta/postfix-3.11.0. > > Timeline: > mail-mta/postfix-3.11.0: March 2026. Both lmdb and berkdb USE flags are > on by default. BerkeleyDB is still supported by default but the default > database and cache type changes to lmdb.
Just a comment: I'd consider either doing '# Timeline' or indenting the
text below nuder that heading.
People often skim these or find them overwhelming to read and making
clear headings/sections can help. But this is just a suggestion, feel
free to not do it.
Also, maybe bullet points for these ("mail-mta/...") two lines?
>
> mail-mta/postfix-3.12.0: Expected Q1 2027. BerkeleyDB support will be
> off by default. You will need to turn it on manually if still needed.
> mail-mta/postfix will continue supporting BerkeleyDB until it is
> sunsetted in Gentoo.
>
> Changing the default database and cache types in postfix-3.11.0 requires
> migration for the entries in main.cf and master.cf that do not specify a
> database type. A few pointers / suggestions:
Maybe explicitly "Option 1/" or similar and so on?
>
> 1/ Always specify database type in main.cf and master.cf and in your
> postmap commands. Turn berkdb/lmdb/cdb USE flags on and off as required.
> Using lmdb, and migrating away from BerkeleyDB, is recommended. As you
> are always specifying the database type, the default database and cache
> type settings do not come into play.
>
> 2/ Accept the new defaults and migrate to lmdb. The default USE flags
> take effect and lmdb becomes the new default when
>>=mail-mta/postfix-3.11.0 is installed. All local database files without
> a specified type and, optionally, caches need to be migrated to lmdb.
>
> If your configuration is simple or if you are familiar with Postfix
> configuration, a few "grep" commands will find all the problems, and a
> few edits will be easy to make.
>
> Read https://www.postfix.org/NON_BERKELEYDB_README.html#manual for a
> complete walk through and the commands you can run to find instances of
> BerkeleyDB usage in your postfix configuration.
>
I was going to suggest inlining the instructions but inded they seem a
bit complex and it'd bloat the news item, so perhaps not.
> 3/ If your configuration is too complex for the manual migration step
> above or if you are not familiar with the details of your postfix
> configuration, postfix provides enable-redirect[1] and enable-reindex[2]
> options. Read the documentation for the details and their caveats. They
> provide valuable help in migration, especially for an operating system
> that do not have BerkeleyDB support anymore - which is NOT the case for
> Gentoo. However, these options still help in complex configuration
> cases.
>
> 4/ Turning off lmdb USE flag is not recommended but is possible. The
> default stays the same as previous versions of postfix, namely hash for
> local files and btree for caches. No further action is necessary until
> BerkeleyDB support is sunsetted in Gentoo when you will have to do the
> above migration.
>
> For more details, please read:
> https://www.postfix.org/NON_BERKELEYDB_README.html
>
It looks good to me overall with comments above. Thanks.
>
> [1] https://www.postfix.org/NON_BERKELEYDB_README.html#enable-redirect
> [2] https://www.postfix.org/NON_BERKELEYDB_README.html#enable-reindex
signature.asc
Description: PGP signature
