Re: Sync'ing two dovecot servers

what you are trying to do is enable replication

2.3 is supported it is my understanding this was removed in 2.4 (unless 
you buy a contract)

basic replication is as follows :

on each server ifconfig

mail_plugins = " virtual notify replication fts fts_lucene listescape "

replication_dsync_parameters = -d -N -l 300 -U

plugin {
   mail_log_events = delete undelete expunge copy mailbox_delete 
mailbox_rename
   mail_log_fields = uid, box, msgid, from, subject, size, vsize, flags
   push_notification_driver = dlog

   sieve = file:~/sieve;active=~/sieve/.dovecot.sieve
   #sieve = ~/.dovecot.sieve
   sieve_duplicate_default_period = 1h
   sieve_duplicate_max_period = 1h
   sieve_extensions = +duplicate +notify +imapflags +vacation-seconds
   sieve_global_dir = /usr/local/etc/dovecot/sieve
   sieve_before = /usr/local/etc/dovecot/sieve/duplicates.sieve
   sieve_max_redirects = 64
   #sieve_vacation_send_from_recipient = yes


   mail_replica = tcp:10.221.0.19:12345


< dedicated replication ip address and port each server points to the 
other server >

ie my other server is :

mail_replica = tcp:10.221.0.18:12345

when a received email or imap fuction occurs it send an explation of 
what to do to the other server.

i need to run a mysql or pgsql database for this to work

dovecot-pgsql.conf
driver = pgsql
connect = host=localhost port=5433 dbname=scom_billing user=pgsql 
password=xxxxx
default_pass_scheme = PLAIN
password_query = SELECT username as user, password FROM email_users 
WHERE username = '%u' and password <> 'alias' and status = True and 
destination = '%u'

user_query = SELECT home, uid, gid FROM email_users WHERE username = 
'%u' and password <> 'alias' and status = True and destination = '%u'

#iterate_query = SELECT user, password FROM email_users WHERE username = 
'%u' and password <> 'alias' and status = True and destination = '%u'

iterate_query = SELECT "username" as user, domain FROM email_users WHERE 
status = True and alias_flag = False

}

...

iterate_query returns what is to be replicated / synced

...

protocol imap {
   imap_literal_minus = yes
   imap_idle_notify_interval = 30 seconds
   imapc_max_idle_time = 1440 mins
   mail_max_userip_connections = 50
   mail_plugins = $mail_plugins notify replication
}

protocol pop3 {
   mail_max_userip_connections = 50
   mail_plugins = $mail_plugins notify replication
}

protocol imaps {
   mail_max_userip_connections = 50
   mail_plugins = $mail_plugins notify replication
}

protocol pop3s {
   mail_max_userip_connections = 50
   mail_plugins = $mail_plugins notify replication
}


replication_max_conns = 100

replication_full_sync_interval = 3d

service replicator {
   client_limit = 0
   drop_priv_before_exec = no
   idle_kill = 4294967295s
   process_limit = 1
   process_min_avail = 0
   service_count = 0
   vsz_limit = 8g
         unix_listener replicator-doveadm {
     mode = 0600
     user = vmail
   }
   vsz_limit = 8192M
}


service aggregator {
   process_limit = 1000
   #vsz_limit = 1g
   fifo_listener replication-notify-fifo {
     user = vmail
     group = vmail
     mode = 0666
   }




Hopes this helps.



Thanks - Paul Kudla (Manager SCOM.CA Internet Services Inc.)

Have A Happy Wednesday AND Happy Sucessful 2026 !

Scom.ca Internet Services <http://www.scom.ca>
104-1009 Byron Street South
Whitby, Ontario - Canada
L1N 4S3

Toronto 416.642.7266
Main 1.866.411.7266
Fax 1.888.892.7266
Email [email protected]

On 2026-03-04 12:30 p.m., Marc Singer via dovecot wrote:
>     Greetings,
> 
>     I was pleased to see that dovecot has a sync function in doveadm.  So far,
>     other tools for moving mailbox contents from one server to another has not
>     been successful.
> 
>     However.
> 
>     Perhaps I don't understand how this should work.  I have a new
>     containerized dovecot v2.4.2
> 
>       # 2.4.2 (0962ed2104): /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf
>       # OS: Linux 6.12.63+deb13-amd64 x86_64
> 
>     and I have an existing dovecot running in a VPS:
> 
>       # 2.3.19.1 (9b53102964): /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf
>       # Pigeonhole version 0.5.19 (4eae2f79)
>       # OS: Linux 6.1.0-35-amd64 x86_64 Debian 12.11
> 
>     I want to move one user, as a test.  I execute this in the container.
> 
>       # doveadm sync  -R1 -u USER tcps:OLD_SERVER:993
>       doveadm(USER): Error: conn OLD_SERVER:993 (IP:993): doveadm server sent
>       invalid handshake: * OK [CAPABILITY IMAP4rev1 SASL-IR LOGIN-REFERRALS ID
>       ENABLE IDLE LITERAL+ AUTH=PLAIN AUTH=LOGIN] Dovecot (Debian) ready.
>       doveadm(USER): Error: cmd sync: Disconnected from remote: Connection
>       closed
> 
>     I'm pretty sure that doveadm sync was able to negotiate the TLS
>     connection.  I don't see what it could object to in the sign-on.  What am
>     I missing?
> 
>     Cheers
> 
>     --
>     Marc Oscar Singer
>     Woollysoft
>     Dial 817.1823.602.1+ from right to left.
> 
> 
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