Re: Dovecot
On Wednesday 10 September 2003 19:32, Mark Devin wrote:
> Yes, I have been experimenting with dbmail. I would say the pros and
> cons are as follows:
>
> Pros:
> 1. Uses mysql or postgresql backend for storing mail (both headers and
> bodies).
What is the advantage of the emails being stored within a database versus in
Maildir or mbox format on the filesystem?
> 2. Ease of management for virtual user accounts. Just need to add user
> details into the database to create a new account. This negates any
> need to give users unix accounts on the system.
You can hook ldap or mysql into postfix (and no doubt most mailservers) to do
this. I use the postfix-mysql package in many places with great success.
> 3. A separate application (dbmail-smtp) is used to take emails for
> configured domains and put them in the database. This runs as a separate
> user and does not need root permissions since it does not write to the
> filesystem at all. It simply connects to the database and so only needs
> permissions at the database level.
Most email servers these days do not deliver as root. Whether you use
procmail, maildrop, postfix, etc. generally the local delivery agent is
non-priviledged.
> 4. Similarly, the imap and pop3 servers that are part of dbmail also drop
> their privileges to simple users and don't need root level access past the
> initial binding to the 143/110 ports.
Common to most imap and pop servers.
Check the "Postfix+Courier-IMAP+MySQL for multiple domains HOWTO" at
http://kirb.insanegenius.net/postfix.html ... everything you need to
accomplish such a system is packaged up in Debian stable. I've been using
systems such as this for 6 months and haven't had any glitches yet, the
systems are not high volume but they're steadily used. With user accounts
stored in a database whipping up an administrative interface for domains is
quite trivial, I just don't see the advantages of going the extra step of
putting the emails themselves into a database.
--
Fraser Campbell <fraser@wehave.net> http://www.wehave.net/
Halton Hills, Ontario, Canada Debian GNU/Linux
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