qmail+vpopmail+courier-imap but without mysql

backtrackdown · n00b Joined: 21 Jan 2005 Posts: 3

Hi all,

Recently I was assigned into upgrading a slackware distro server. Before I start, let me state my experience in linux. I am a linux user for about 2 years, not exactly a superb administrator, but competent enough to get things up and running[such as apache, mysql, etc].

Now since I don't want to constantly search the net for the latest update and fixes, I thought maybe I should give gentoo a try just because of the emerge utility.

So here's what is running on the original and current servers:

slackware 9 2.4 -> gentoo with kernel 2.6 no problem
apache 1.3 -> apache 2 and migrated data with no problem
mysql -> upgraded and migrated data with no problem

e-mail -> this is the part that is getting me stuck, and where I need help, as I have absolutely no previous e-mail server setup experience.

the old server's e-mail is done the following:
qmail + vpopmail + courier-imap, but it is not integrated with mysql.
the e-mails are stored in the /home/vpopmail/domains/<mydomain> directory[each user has their folder name, and e-mail under the folder], and all the usernames and passwords are stored as vpasswd file in the <mydomain> folder. This is all I know about the server's setup, as the former administrator left.

I have read the excellent qmail guides on the forum and gentoo.org:

https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=171499&highlight=courierimap
and
http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/qmail-howto.xml

however to my dismay both are configured with mysql. I want the e-mail to be setup without change, as there's about 25 users who depend on it and I can not afford to have any downtime. So I went ahead and give a try to tweak. This is what I got so far.

Long story short, I was able to install qmail, vpopmail, and courier-imap without mysql[did the USE="-mysql" flag". Configure it with some of the parameters discussed on the howto guides. Then I went ahead to create a test-domain. It created successfully, so I added a test-user. Everything is fine so far. However, when I tried to do the qmail-inject to write a sample e-mail to test-user, I noticed no mail was created nor sent. Upon checking the test-user directory in vpopmail, there's only a .maildir folder, and inside are a few empty sub-folder[cur, new, tmp]. I have been trying for the past days to accomplish this, however i am buffled as why on the old server it worked while on the new one it doesn't.

If anyone have any experience on this particular setup, please share your experience. Any help is appreicated.

Thanks.

adaptr · Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2005 10:46 am Post subject:

Read the qmail logs.
Sounds trite, I know - but you really should get overly familiar with mailserver logs if you hope to be able to administer one ;-)

But if these 25 users are all in the same mail domain, why not dump the whole vpopmail scenario and just make them regular users ?
25 users sounds pretty low to have to set up virtual mail hosting.
_________________
>>> emerge (3 of 7) mcse/70-293 to /
Essential tools: gentoolkit eix profuse screen

backtrackdown · n00b Joined: 21 Jan 2005 Posts: 3

Adaptr, thanks for the reply.

I forgot to mention I have taken a look into the qmail log in the /var/log/qmail/qmail-smtp, and the folder is empty except with the following:

vmgen qmail # cd qmail-smtpd/
vmgen qmail-smtpd # ls -al
total 12
total 12
drwxr-xr-x 2 qmaill root 4096 Jan 21 09:27 .
drwxr-xr-x 7 qmaill root 4096 Jan 20 18:03 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 Jan 20 18:03 .keep
-rw-r--r-- 1 qmaill nofiles 406 Jan 20 23:34 @4000000041f1115839eaf914.u
-rw-r--r-- 1 qmaill nofiles 0 Jan 21 09:27 current
-rw------- 1 qmaill nofiles 0 Jan 20 22:37 lock
-rw-r--r-- 1 qmaill nofiles 0 Jan 21 09:27 state

I tried to open the @4000000041f1115839eaf914.u bout couldn't, the more command can't see the file.

As I stated, I want to keep everything the same since I am not familiar at all with the e-mail setup process, and want to keep everything as simple as possible[adding mysql adds an extra layer].

adaptr · Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2005 6:24 pm Post subject:

Sure, just as removing virtual hosting removes a layer of complexity.

Configuring a normal mail server is not really that hard - set a domain, restrict access, add users, test.

Emerge and run courier-imapd and you're set.
_________________
>>> emerge (3 of 7) mcse/70-293 to /
Essential tools: gentoolkit eix profuse screen

backtrackdown · n00b Joined: 21 Jan 2005 Posts: 3

After some frustrating re-building, I finally got it up and running!

One very important step in which I missed was the USE flag of imap, which I thought I have included but did not, which effects the entire setup!