Installing and setting up Dovecot in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 or CentOS 6 is easy. All we have to do is to enable the services we would like to provide and we are good to go.

Configure Dovecot

Edit dovecot.conf
1. The settings for Dovecot are spread out across several files. Edit the files listed below and update its lines accordingly.
 
/etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf 
protocols = pop3 imap lmtp
/etc/dovecot/conf.d/10-mail.conf 
mail_location = maildir:~/Maildir
/etc/dovecot/conf.d/20-pop3.conf 
pop3_uidl_format = %08Xu%08Xv
pop3_client_workarounds = outlook-no-nuls oe-ns-eoh
Service Configuration2. Start the dovecot service. Learn how to start and stop services here.

Test Dovecot

Terminal1. Click Applications, select System Tools, and click Terminal. This will launch the Terminal window.
Terminal2. In the Terminal window, type in the highlighted commands below.

Sample dovecot session. Replace johndoe and password with any valid user name and password.

[root@mail ~]# telnet localhost pop3
+OK dovecot ready.
user johndoe
+OK
pass password
+OK Logged in.
list
+OK 1 messages:
1 622
.
retr 1
+OK 622 octets
Return-Path: <johndoe@mail.acme.local>
X-Original-To: johndoe
Delivered-To: johndoe@mail.acme.local
Received: from localhost.localdomain (localhost.localdomain [127.0.0.1])
        by mail.acme.local (Postfix) with SMTP id 9729067C17
        for <johndoe>; Thu, 22 Feb 2007 09:06:37 -0500 (EST)
Message-Id: <20070222140640.9729067C17@mail.acme.local>
Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2007 09:06:37 -0500 (EST)
From: johndoe@mail.acme.local
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
X-IMAPbase: 1172153557 1
Status: O
X-UID: 1
Content-Length: 5
X-Keywords:


test
.
quit
+OK Logging out.
Connection closed by foreign host.
[root@mail ~]#

NoteIf you encounter any problems, check the log file at /var/log/maillog.

 
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Posted on 7/22/2011 and last updated on 7/31/2011
Filed under CentOS 6 , Dovecot , Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6