Hi @all, does anybody know, why dovecot 2.4 didn't make it into extra until now? Couldn't find any info about it. best Friedrich
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Dovecot#Configuration mentions why, there's a significant config syntax change so it's still in extra-testing. --- Thanks, Andrew On 24/10/2025 9:44 am, Friedrich Strohmaier wrote:
Hi @all,
does anybody know, why dovecot 2.4 didn't make it into extra until now?
Couldn't find any info about it.
best
Friedrich
Good evening, I do not know the reason for sure, but I was using [extra-testing] on my mail server for some stupid reason (likely from back when I was a tester) and pulled in the later version of dovecot. The issue with it is they have changed the configuration a lot. I did initially try patching my configs to just get it to work, but so much has changed it appears the best thing to do would be to remove your old configs, start from a clean slate, and reconfigure dovecot all over again. As a disclaimer, I only briefly read through the breaking changes, it might not be as difficult as I currently anticipate to migrate, but it definitely is not a quick process. I believe this is a possible reason for it being held back for so long, and thankfully it has because I have not the time or energy right now to redo my email server configs. You can read through the long list of config changes here [1]. Would be curious to know the official reason for the package being held back though. Take care, -- Polarian Jabber/XMPP: polarian@icebound.dev [1] https://doc.dovecot.org/2.4.1/installation/upgrade/2.3-to-2.4.html
On Fri, 2025-10-24 at 01:14 +0200, Friedrich Strohmaier wrote:
does anybody know, why dovecot 2.4 didn't make it into extra until now? ... Friedrich
Cannot speak to the "why" question - perhaps Carl will respond "why" it is still in testing. That said, 2.4.1 has been in testing quite a while and you can trivially install it (and the new pigeonhole partner package) from there. It has about a dozen "sign offs", suggesting quite a few are using it. I have been using it and has been running perfectly fine since it was pushed to testing. It does require manual intervention that is a bit non-trivial - but straightforward enough to do, following the update guide. Guide is here: https://doc.dovecot.org/2.4.1/installation/upgrade/2.3-to-2.4.html Additionally, there are 1 or 2 quirks still with 2.3.1 (e.g. environment variables don't work "everywhere" - for example certificate path must be exaplicit). Minor for sure. 2.4.2 (not yet released) will address all the current known quirks from what I see. gene -- Gene
On Thu, 2025-10-23 at 19:42 -0400, Genes Lists wrote:
... Additionally, there are 1 or 2 quirks still with 2.3.1 (e.g.
Sorry - typo - i meant quirks with 2.4.1 (obviously) -- Gene
Hi Friedrich,
does anybody know, why dovecot 2.4 didn't make it into extra until now?
Couldn't find any info about it.
As mentioned in this thread, 2.4 comes with breaking changes to the configuration. We haven't gotten around to migrating the configuration of our own (archlinux.org) mail server, but I'm sure we will soon enough. -- Sincerely, Carl Smedstad PGP: 3D309011083BA25E
Hi Carl, @ll, thanks for the status update. I'm aware of the braking changes, beeing at the opposit end of the pole: We are setting up a new dovecot already running in testmode with few basic configuration settings done for now. Thus eagerly awaiting 2.4 to avoid double work for the final setup. Cool to hear 2.4 testing running fine, so we go and install it from there. I never did so but I don't expect a steep learning curve to get it done. I appreciate seeing this topic beeing handled with care! No hurry, guys. Friedrich Am 24.10.25 um 07:15 schrieb Carl Smedstad:
Hi Friedrich,
does anybody know, why dovecot 2.4 didn't make it into extra until now?
Couldn't find any info about it.
As mentioned in this thread, 2.4 comes with breaking changes to the configuration. We haven't gotten around to migrating the configuration of our own (archlinux.org) mail server, but I'm sure we will soon enough.
On 10/24/25 12:15 AM, Carl Smedstad wrote:
Hi Friedrich,
does anybody know, why dovecot 2.4 didn't make it into extra until now?
Couldn't find any info about it.
As mentioned in this thread, 2.4 comes with breaking changes to the configuration. We haven't gotten around to migrating the configuration of our own (archlinux.org) mail server, but I'm sure we will soon enough.
Thank you for the update, Information like this is a critical heads up for those running Arch in production servers. Much better to have lead-time to prepare, and the smoothest transition possible than a business with a mail server dead in the water due to config breakage in one of 100+ packages updated with a pacman update. Will use the lead-time to work out the new config -- hopefully successfully. -- David C. Rankin, J.D.,P.E.
On 10/24/25 12:15 AM, Carl Smedstad wrote:
As mentioned in this thread, 2.4 comes with breaking changes to the configuration. We haven't gotten around to migrating the configuration of our own (archlinux.org) mail server, but I'm sure we will soon enough.
Question, The new dovecot.conf documentation is ambiguous whether setting: dovecot_config_version = 2.3.21 dovecot_storage_version = 2.3.21 (e.g. to the current version) will allow current config and storage to work without changes on upgrade. The documentation for dovecot_config_versions states: "When there are default configuration changes in newer Dovecot versions, the existing installations will continue to work the same as before with the same default settings until this version number is increased." The dovecot_storage_version states: "... specifies the oldest Dovecot version that must be able to read files written by this Dovecot instance." What neither specify is whether this applies to existing dovecot version 2.3.x and version 2.4.x or if this only applies for versions 2.4.x forward? It would be nice to be able to stop dovecot, specify 2.3.21 in the config, upgrade and restart dovecot and have the current config respected. Does anybody know if the values for both dovecot_{config,storage}_version can be set to 2.3.21 for initial update, or if this feature is just for versions 2.4.x forward? -- David C. Rankin, J.D.,P.E.
On Mon, 2025-10-27 at 20:37 -0500, David C Rankin wrote:
On 10/24/25 12:15 AM, Carl Smedstad wrote:
As mentioned in this thread, 2.4 comes with breaking changes to the configuration. We haven't gotten around to migrating the configuration of our own (archlinux.org) mail server, but I'm sure we will soon enough.
Question,
The new dovecot.conf documentation is ambiguous whether setting:
dovecot_config_version = 2.3.21
2.4.x is not able to use any 2.3.x config(s) at all. You must first migrate to the new 2.4.x config format (following the update guide) before attempting to use 2.4. What I did was left production server alone, and built the new 2.4 configs on a develop machine to minimize production downtime. good luck -- Gene
On 10/28/25 8:15 AM, Genes Lists wrote:
The new dovecot.conf documentation is ambiguous whether setting:
dovecot_config_version = 2.3.21
2.4.x is not able to use any 2.3.x config(s) at all.
You must first migrate to the new 2.4.x config format (following the update guide) before attempting to use 2.4.
What I did was left production server alone, and built the new 2.4 configs on a develop machine to minimize production downtime.
good luck
Thank you! That clears up the ambiguity, and I'll need it :) -- David C. Rankin, J.D.,P.E.
On Tue, 2025-10-28 at 22:19 -0500, David C Rankin wrote:
On 10/28/25 8:15 AM, Genes Lists wrote:
..
2.4.x is not able to use any 2.3.x config(s) at all.
Thank you!
That clears up the ambiguity, and I'll need it :)
FYI, 2.4.2 was released upstream this morning, so I assume arch will have 2.4.2 in testing soon(ish).
-- Gene
On 29.10.25 09:05, Genes Lists wrote:
FYI, 2.4.2 was released upstream this morning, so I assume arch will have 2.4.2 in testing soon(ish).
PSA: dovecot 2.4.2 is now in [extra]. While the dovecot 2.3 branch is officially EOL, it is supposed to receive critical security fixes as per [1]:
For Dovecot CE 2.3 we will provide critical security bug fixes.
Since the 2.4 branch no longer supports replication, there is a feature disparity and keeping the 2.3 version around until it is no longer maintained seems to be reasonable. So for those having 2.4-incompatible setups, e.g. using replication, or who are unable to perform the 2.4 migration right now, there are alternatives available in [extra] now: - dovecot23 - pigeonhole23 - dovecot23-fts-elastic - dovecot23-fts-xapian [1] https://dovecot.org/mailman3/archives/list/dovecot@dovecot.org/thread/3P45L7... Cheers -- Thore "foxxx0" Bödecker GPG ID: 0xEB763B4E9DB887A6 GPG FP: 051E AD6A 6155 389D 69DA 02E5 EB76 3B4E 9DB8 87A6
On Wed, 2025-10-29 at 19:13 +0100, Thore Bödecker wrote:
PSA: dovecot 2.4.2 is now in [extra].
Thank you - installed and running well 🙂
...
So for those having 2.4-incompatible setups, e.g. using replication, or who are unable to perform the 2.4 migration right now, there are alternatives available in [extra] now: - dovecot23 - pigeonhole23 - dovecot23-fts-elastic - dovecot23-fts-xapian
I am sure that will be really helpful for those folks. Thank you! -- Gene
On 10/29/25 8:05 AM, Genes Lists wrote:
On Tue, 2025-10-28 at 22:19 -0500, David C Rankin wrote:
On 10/28/25 8:15 AM, Genes Lists wrote:
..
2.4.x is not able to use any 2.3.x config(s) at all.
Thank you!
That clears up the ambiguity, and I'll need it :)
FYI, 2.4.2 was released upstream this morning, so I assume arch will have 2.4.2 in testing soon(ish).
Thanks for the heads up! For those faced with this, give yourself PLENTY of time to work though the dovecot docs before making the change. The changes are extensive and other than having the benefit of running dovecot for almost 20 years, getting dovecot reconfigured and up and running took the same dive into the docs learning dovecot for the first time did. The docs provide a "Quick Configuration" that has a basic example that will get you up and running -- but without any special config changes you currently have. It does orient you to the type of changes made, better than the explanation in the docs. The primary challenge is the addition of a hierarchical naming model and a namespace in the config that changes most every setting. I've moved one box to 2.4 but have held the production box back on dovecot23 (thank you!). The 2.4 box works fine, but I need to test with a client or two before considering my config attempt successful. Do not underestimate this change. -- David C. Rankin, J.D.,P.E.
For those faced with this, give yourself PLENTY of time to work though the dovecot docs before making the change. The changes are extensive and other than having the benefit of running dovecot for almost 20 years, getting dovecot reconfigured and up and running took the same dive into the docs learning dovecot for the first time did. (…)
Extending on that advice. If your old configuration is based on editing the example configuration shipped with Dovecot 2.3, and your idea is to download the 2.4 example, merge old stuff onto the 2.4 example: don’t. You’re probably just wasting your time. It seems this approach fails even for simple configs. Dovecot devs’ choice to design setting name lookup so configs can retain the legacy structure, is of great help. This keeps your old knowledge still mostly correct, even if the underlying model has changed. But the differences are deep enough that simply renaming a few things is not working. Run a diff tool to identify the changes from the defaults. Use the guide and examples to locate 2.4 versions of the settings. And than rewrite it from scratch, for 2.4. From what I get this is the only way. Simple merging or naïve mapping made Dovecot bark at me. While you’re producing the new configs, dovecot23 provides some cushion for the time being.
participants (8)
-
Andrew Welch
-
Carl Smedstad
-
David C Rankin
-
Friedrich Strohmaier
-
Genes Lists
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mpan
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Polarian
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Thore Bödecker