Installing the dovecot package
dovecot
package is installed on your system by running, as root
:
yum install dovecot
POP
server, email messages are downloaded by email client applications. By default, most POP
email clients are automatically configured to delete the message on the email server after it has been successfully transferred, however this setting usually can be changed.
POP
is fully compatible with important Internet messaging standards, such as Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME), which allow for email attachments.
POP
works best for users who have one system on which to read email. It also works well for users who do not have a persistent connection to the Internet or the network containing the mail server. Unfortunately for those with slow network connections, POP
requires client programs upon authentication to download the entire content of each message. This can take a long time if any messages have large attachments.
POP
protocol is POP3
.
POP
protocol variants:
POP3
with MDS
(Monash Directory Service) authentication. An encoded hash of the user's password is sent from the email client to the server rather then sending an unencrypted password.
POP3
with Kerberos authentication.
POP3
with RPOP
authentication. This uses a per-user ID, similar to a password, to authenticate POP requests. However, this ID is not encrypted, so RPOP
is no more secure than standard POP
.
pop3s
service, or by using the /usr/sbin/stunnel
application. For more information on securing email communication, refer to Section 10.5.1, “Securing Communication”.
IMAP
server under Fedora is Dovecot and is provided by the dovecot package. See Section 10.1.2.1, “POP” for information on how to install Dovecot.
IMAP
mail server, email messages remain on the server where users can read or delete them. IMAP
also allows client applications to create, rename, or delete mail directories on the server to organize and store email.
IMAP
is particularly useful for users who access their email using multiple machines. The protocol is also convenient for users connecting to the mail server via a slow connection, because only the email header information is downloaded for messages until opened, saving bandwidth. The user also has the ability to delete messages without viewing or downloading them.
IMAP
client applications are capable of caching copies of messages locally, so the user can browse previously read messages when not directly connected to the IMAP
server.
IMAP
, like POP
, is fully compatible with important Internet messaging standards, such as MIME, which allow for email attachments.
SSL
encryption for client authentication and data transfer sessions. This can be enabled by using the imaps
service, or by using the /usr/sbin/stunnel
program. For more information on securing email communication, refer to Section 10.5.1, “Securing Communication”.
imap-login
and pop3-login
processes which implement the IMAP
and POP3
protocols are spawned by the master dovecot
daemon included in the dovecot package. The use of IMAP
and POP
is configured through the /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf
configuration file; by default dovecot
runs IMAP
and POP3
together with their secure versions using SSL
. To configure dovecot
to use POP
, complete the following steps:
/etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf
configuration file to make sure the protocols
variable is uncommented (remove the hash sign (#
) at the beginning of the line) and contains the pop3
argument. For example:
protocols = imap imaps pop3 pop3s
protocols
variable is left commented out, dovecot
will use the default values specified for this variable.
root
:
systemctl restart dovecot.service
systemctl enable dovecot.service
The dovecot service starts the POP3 server
dovecot
only reports that it started the IMAP
server, but also starts the POP3
server.
SMTP
, both IMAP
and POP3
require connecting clients to authenticate using a username and password. By default, passwords for both protocols are passed over the network unencrypted.
SSL
on dovecot
:
/etc/pki/dovecot/dovecot-openssl.conf
configuration file as you prefer. However, in a typical installation, this file does not require modification.
/etc/pki/dovecot/certs/dovecot.pem
and /etc/pki/dovecot/private/dovecot.pem
.
/usr/libexec/dovecot/mkcert.sh
script which creates the dovecot
self signed certificates. These certificates are copied in the /etc/pki/dovecot/certs
and /etc/pki/dovecot/private
directories. To implement the changes, restart dovecot
by typing the following at a shell prompt as root
:
systemctl restart dovecot.service
dovecot
can be found online at http://www.dovecot.org.