dovecot - Feb 2012 - Settings for authentication without an extra password file

Hello, I'm new to dovecot, and, due to having an older version of an
OS installed on a test server, I'll be using an older version of
dovecot (dovecot-1.0-1.2) to provide IMAP services.

On this wiki page
(http://wiki.dovecot.org/BasicConfiguration?highlight=%28passwd.dovecot%29)

There are instructions for creating a separate dovecot password file:

    echo "$USER:{PLAIN}password" > passwd.dovecot
    sudo mv passwd.dovecot /etc

So, it appears that two password files will be needed, one for dovecot
and one for regular system logins.

Is the statement above correct, or am I misreading something?

Is there a setting in dovecot.conf which will authenticate IMAP using
/etc/password and /etc/shadow, without a separate dovecot password
file?


========Keith

On 23.2.2012, at 19.31, Keith Christian wrote:
> Hello, I'm new to dovecot, and, due to having an older version of an
> OS installed on a test server, I'll be using an older version of
> dovecot (dovecot-1.0-1.2) to provide IMAP services.
I think Dovecot v2.x works mostly on the same OSes as v1.x.
> On this wiki page
> (http://wiki.dovecot.org/BasicConfiguration?highlight=%28passwd.dovecot%29)
> 
> There are instructions for creating a separate dovecot password file:
> 
>    echo "$USER:{PLAIN}password" > passwd.dovecot
>    sudo mv passwd.dovecot /etc
> 
> So, it appears that two password files will be needed, one for dovecot
> and one for regular system logins.
Only if you want to.
> Is there a setting in dovecot.conf which will authenticate IMAP using
> /etc/password and /etc/shadow, without a separate dovecot password
> file?
Use passdb pam + userdb passwd (not passwd-file). See password + user databases
under http://wiki.dovecot.org/Authentication