dovecot - Oct 2007 - Disable imap proxy access

I work on a dovecot cluster (15 servers) we need to add a new storage
array and move the data for a list of user from the old storage to the
new one. We use dovecot proxy to redirect imap and pop3 to the same
server everytime.

How to disable pop3 and imap access during the data migration process
(duration 5 minutes to 10 minutes). Can i send a custom error message to
our users ?

Thanks for your help

Dominique Feyer

> How to disable pop3 and imap access during the data migration process
> (duration 5 minutes to 10 minutes). Can i send a custom error message to
> our users ?
>   

I don't recall the exact details, but I think both options are possible 
if you check the dovecot wiki.  There is a good study regarding the 
proxy stuff, and some notes on sending custom errors back (along with a 
note that it's not supported on many clients)

If you use SQL then you could simply change the query temporarily

Also when I do my migration I change the permissions on the home folders 
first (root:root say) - this way if I muck something up they don't get 
logged into the old mailbox.  Then I reset the permissions back on the 
new server and update the proxy settings.  This also gives a random 
error back to the client in the meantime if they try and log in.

I should think that the above could even be scripted and run per mailbox 
for a very subtle downtime period... I use rsync once while the mailbox 
is online, then change perms so that the user can't login, then do a 
final rsync to get any changes across.  I didn't check whether there is 
a problem with an existing connection still accessing the data after the 
perms were changed though...

Good luck

Ed W