My mail server suddenly stopped working

Some more info:

Dec 04 14:42:49 da.xxxxx dovecot[1308458]: doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/conf.d/10-mail.conf line 37: location: Unknown setting: location (namespace_location or namespace_inbox_location not found either>Dec 04 14:42:49 da.weblance.nl systemd[1]: dovecot.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=89/n/a
 
Directadmin does use the file /etc/dovecot/conf.d/10-mail.conf. It might mean you have a custom installation. You will need to update the file on your own, or hire somebody to fix it for you.
 
Well, I haven’t changed anything in the config myself, so I find it strange that this file is missing or behaving differently. It could also be that DirectAdmin updated something and didn’t handle it properly, which might explain the issue. Since I don’t have a custom setup, I’d expect the defaults to be consistent.
 
Whenever I upgrade dovecot for my customers, I do update config files as well.
You might open a ticket with DirectAdmin support, probably they will fix it for you for free.

And once again Dovecot 2.3 does not use the file:

Bash:
[root@server ~]# dovecot --version
2.3.21 (47349e2482)
[root@server ~]# cat /etc/dovecot/conf.d/10-mail.conf
cat: /etc/dovecot/conf.d/10-mail.conf: No such file or directory
[root@server ~]#
 
Whenever I upgrade dovecot for my customers, I do update config files as well.
You might open a ticket with DirectAdmin support, probably they will fix it for you for free.

And once again Dovecot 2.3 does not use the file:

Bash:
[root@server ~]# dovecot --version
2.3.21 (47349e2482)
[root@server ~]# cat /etc/dovecot/conf.d/10-mail.conf
cat: /etc/dovecot/conf.d/10-mail.conf: No such file or directory
[root@server ~]#
root@da:~# dovecot --version
2.4.1-4 (7d8c0e5759)
root@da:~#
 
Neither dovecot 2.3 nor dovecot 2.4 use the file:

Bash:
[root@server ~]# cat /etc/dovecot/conf.d/10-mail.conf
cat: /etc/dovecot/conf.d/10-mail.conf: No such file or directory
[root@server ~]# dovecot --version
2.4.2 (0962ed2104)
[root@server ~]#

So you have a custom file installed for Dovecot 2.3, which is not compatible with Dovecot 2.4. If you don't need the file, you can simply remove it.

I don't guarantee anything when you do it on your own.
 
I haven’t installed any custom files myself, so it’s strange to me that this is being flagged as incompatible. It seems more likely that DirectAdmin updated something and didn’t handle the migration properly. Since I haven’t made any manual changes, I’d expect the defaults to work out of the box.
 
How did you install dovecot in the first place? Perhaps you originally installed it via yum/dnf/apt/etc and it installed the "default" conf.d directory containing the 10-mail.conf file. Mine looks like this:
[root@main dovecot]# dovecot --version
2.4.2 (0962ed2104)
[root@main dovecot]# ls /etc/dovecot/conf.d
90-quota.conf 90-sieve.conf 95-sni.conf

You might want to look at https://doc.dovecot.org/main/installation/upgrade/2.3-to-2.4.html to see what config changes don't work with 2.4.
 
I didn’t install Dovecot manually myself — it was installed and managed through DirectAdmin. So the setup is just the default provided by DirectAdmin, not a custom installation.

root@da:~# dovecot --version
2.4.1-4 (7d8c0e5759)
root@da:~# ^C
root@da:~# ls /etc/dovecot/conf.d
10-auth.conf 10-master.conf 15-mailboxes.conf 20-pop3.conf 90-quota.conf.ucf-dist 95-sni.conf auth-master.conf.ext auth-system.conf.ext
10-director.conf.disabled 10-ssl.conf.disabled 20-imap.conf 90-acl.conf.disabled 90-sieve.conf auth-checkpassword.conf.ext auth-passwdfile.conf.ext
10-logging.conf.disabled 10-tcpwrapper.conf 20-lmtp.conf 90-plugin.conf 90-sieve.conf.ucf-dist auth-deny.conf.ext auth-sql.conf.ext
10-mail.conf 15-lda.conf 20-managesieve.conf 90-quota.conf 90-sieve-extprograms.conf auth-dict.conf.ext auth-static.conf.ext
root@da:~#
How did you install dovecot in the first place? Perhaps you originally installed it via yum/dnf/apt/etc and it installed the "default" conf.d directory containing the 10-mail.conf file. Mine looks like this:
[root@main dovecot]# dovecot --version
2.4.2 (0962ed2104)
[root@main dovecot]# ls /etc/dovecot/conf.d
90-quota.conf 90-sieve.conf 95-sni.conf

You might want to look at https://doc.dovecot.org/main/installation/upgrade/2.3-to-2.4.html to see what config changes don't work with 2.4.
 
The only files for dovecot that are installed and managed by Directadmin can be found in the folder:

- dovecot 2.3: /usr/local/directadmin/custombuild/configure/dovecot/2.3/

Bash:
# ls -1R /usr/local/directadmin/custombuild/configure/dovecot/2.3/
/usr/local/directadmin/custombuild/configure/dovecot/2.3/:
conf
conf.d
dovecot.conf

/usr/local/directadmin/custombuild/configure/dovecot/2.3/conf:
alternate_passwd.conf
custom_passdb.conf
general.conf
imap_mail_plugins.conf
ip-default.conf
ip-ipv4.conf
limits.conf
lmtp.conf
lmtp_mail_plugins.conf
maildir_copy_with_hardlinks.conf
mail_max_userip_connections.conf
mail_plugins.conf
namespace_private.conf
passdb.conf
protocol.conf
protocols.conf
service.conf
ssl-default.conf
ssl-modern.conf
ssl-old.conf
userdb.conf

/usr/local/directadmin/custombuild/configure/dovecot/2.3/conf.d:
90-fts-xapian.conf
90-quota.conf
90-sieve.conf
90-zlib.conf
95-sni.conf


- dovecot 2.4: /usr/local/directadmin/custombuild/configure/dovecot/2.4/

Bash:
# ls -1R /usr/local/directadmin/custombuild/configure/dovecot/2.4/
/usr/local/directadmin/custombuild/configure/dovecot/2.4/:
conf
conf.d
dovecot.conf

/usr/local/directadmin/custombuild/configure/dovecot/2.4/conf:
alternate_passwd.conf
custom_passdb.conf
general.conf
imap_mail_plugins.conf
ip-default.conf
ip-ipv4.conf
limits.conf
lmtp.conf
lmtp_mail_plugins.conf
maildir_copy_with_hardlinks.conf
mail_max_userip_connections.conf
mail_plugins.conf
namespace_private.conf
passdb.conf
protocol.conf
protocols.conf
service.conf
ssl-default.conf
ssl-modern.conf
ssl-old.conf
userdb.conf

/usr/local/directadmin/custombuild/configure/dovecot/2.4/conf.d:
90-fts-xapian.conf
90-quota.conf
90-sieve.conf
90-zlib.conf
95-sni.conf


The files that you listed are not either installed or managed by directadmin. You can remove the files or re-install Dovecot if you want to get it working again.

If you want to get the files converted to the syntax of Dovecot 2.4, then you might convert them on your own or hire somebody to do it for you.
 
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