Phil Pennock wrote:
> On 2010-09-16 at 10:25 -0600, Morgan Gangwere wrote:
>> I'm trying to get IMAP and Maildir delivery working... Only to see something
>> odd happen.
>>
>> I want mail to live in ~/Maildir/[folders]
>> I don't want the directories my MUA thinks should exist cluttering up my home
>> dir.
>>
>>
>> What I want is something like this:
>> ~/Maildir/inbox/...
>> ~/Maildir/sent/...
>> ~/Maildir/[etc...]
>>
>> How can I configure uw-imapd to do this? /can/ uw-imapd do this?
>
> (1) This is exim-users, for the Exim MTA. If you want to know whether
> or not Exim can be configured to deliver directly in this format,
> that's an appropriate question for this list.
> (2) uw-imapd does not support Maildir, last I checked. This is a
> deliberate decision. You might be able to patch it in, but that's
> no longer uw-imapd. Here we go:
> http://www.washington.edu/imap/IMAP-FAQs/index.html#1.31
> (3) Maildir hierarchies are a Maildir++ feature. The name of the
> directory holding a sub-folder *always* starts with a ".", thus
> you'd have:
> ~/Maildir/ <- the main inbox
> ~/Maildir/.sent/ <- send mail
> ~/Maildir/.Trash/ <- garbage, rubbish, and other 4am posts
> [...]
>
> Exim can certainly be configured to deliver as per point (3) above, but
> first choose IMAP software which can support Maildir storage formats and
> then look at the requirements of that software. Many use their own
> delivery tools which should be invoked for delivery to get a supported
> configuration. I recommend using such tools and only trying to
> short-circuit them out of the loop later, *if* it proves necessary and
> once you already have a working configuration to fall back to.
>
> Regards,
> -Phil
>
'In addition'.... IMAP is not universally properly implemented in all MUA (or
even in all IMAPD's). Not sure there is even 'on the ground' agreement on what
IS 'proper'.
Have a care that [the|all of] MUA you need to support can work with the way you
want your IMAPD to work and/or the reverse.
Not a bad idea to:
- set Exim to create Maildir's in its built-in manner on first-arrival of a
message for a new user. Send a test or 'Welcome' message to that user to trigger
that.
- set your IMAPD of choice (Dovecot in my case) to automagically create its
indices and such on first attempt of that user to login and read.
- 'Subscribe' with (each of) your target MUA(s)
- create and move a few new folders and sub-folders.
THEN ... go and look at what the combination of these players have *actually*
done to your mailstore structure, ownership, and perms.
Once you see what the players expect as default, and/or are doing differently
than expected - you can adjust accordingly.
HTH,
Bill
PS: Exim and Dovecot are about as flexible and painless as partners as I've
seen. UW has it pluses, too. But I'm lazy......
