dovecot - Jun 2015 - Does Dovecot allow different clients to subscribe different subsets of IMAP folders?

I have a working Dovecot IMAP server (v. 2.2.9) where I have a single 
user but a lot of folders (over 800 in total, hierarchically arranged, 
about 50 of which are in active use.)

I have multiple clients (including k9Mail on Android and Thunderbird on 
Linux and Windows). These clients all present a consistent subscription 
to a single subset of the available folders .

What I'd like to be able to do is (somehow) allow different devices 
(different email clients) to subscribe to a different subset of folders. 
For example, I may want K9mail on my phone to be subscribed only to my 
"main Inbox" - but for Thunderbird on Windows to also be subscribed to
active mailing-list folders.

Does Dovecot support such a mode of operation? If so, how do I configure 
it? If not, what options are there to achieve the desired end result - 
i.e. different devices/IMAP clients subscribed to different subsets of 
the universe of folders available to a single user.

Mandatory details:
Version : 2.2.9
Configuration: See http://paste.ubuntu.com/11564807/

Hi Steve,

I don't know if dovecot can use different 'subscriptions' but you
can create different accounts and then link (ln -s) the relevant folders in each
respective maildir.

Cheers,
B

On Thu, Jun 04, 2015 at 01:40:57PM +0100, Steve wrote:
> I have a working Dovecot IMAP server (v. 2.2.9) where I have a single
> user but a lot of folders (over 800 in total, hierarchically
> arranged, about 50 of which are in active use.)
> 
> I have multiple clients (including k9Mail on Android and Thunderbird
> on Linux and Windows). These clients all present a consistent
> subscription to a single subset of the available folders .
> 
> What I'd like to be able to do is (somehow) allow different devices
> (different email clients) to subscribe to a different subset of
> folders. For example, I may want K9mail on my phone to be subscribed
> only to my "main Inbox" - but for Thunderbird on Windows to also
be
> subscribed to active mailing-list folders.
> 
> Does Dovecot support such a mode of operation? If so, how do I
> configure it? If not, what options are there to achieve the desired
> end result - i.e. different devices/IMAP clients subscribed to
> different subsets of the universe of folders available to a single
> user.
> 
> Mandatory details:
> Version : 2.2.9
> Configuration: See http://paste.ubuntu.com/11564807/

Hi Steve,

I don't think the IMAP protocol has the concept of a "user agent".
So
there is no way for an IMAP server to distinguish between client programs.

You could use POP and poll different mailboxes - but your clients
probably don't support that. So you'll have to use different users.

But that give you a cool solution: Use shared mailboxes.

You could share all mailboxes of you main user to all the
"device-users"
and then use the clients to subscribe only to those mailboxes that are
of interest.

That way you can change what a client sees using the client program,
without logging into the server as root. Especially nice, when you are
traveling and decide you need to read a mailbox with your mobile you
hadn't though about before.

Greetings
Daniel


Am 04.06.2015 um 14:40 schrieb Steve:
> I have a working Dovecot IMAP server (v. 2.2.9) where I have a single
> user but a lot of folders (over 800 in total, hierarchically arranged,
> about 50 of which are in active use.)
> 
> I have multiple clients (including k9Mail on Android and Thunderbird on
> Linux and Windows). These clients all present a consistent subscription
> to a single subset of the available folders .
> 
> What I'd like to be able to do is (somehow) allow different devices
> (different email clients) to subscribe to a different subset of folders.
> For example, I may want K9mail on my phone to be subscribed only to my
> "main Inbox" - but for Thunderbird on Windows to also be
subscribed to
> active mailing-list folders.
> 
> Does Dovecot support such a mode of operation? If so, how do I configure
> it? If not, what options are there to achieve the desired end result -
> i.e. different devices/IMAP clients subscribed to different subsets of
> the universe of folders available to a single user.
> 
> Mandatory details:
> Version : 2.2.9
> Configuration: See http://paste.ubuntu.com/11564807/
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Hi Daniel,

Hmm - I'm happy to use different 'user names' to log into Dovecot...
as
long as each of these logins can still subscribe to the same universe of 
folders I have available at present.  I can envision using steve_mobile 
and steve_desktop as logins, as long as these still provide access to 
the same mailboxes as I have in steve's Maildir folder.

I'm guessing that this would mean I can't/shouldn't use PAM for
Dovecot
authentication? I don't really want to create 'dummy'
(shell-account)
"users" on my server... but, I guess, it would be OK if I were to use 
some other authentication mechanism, and pointed all these Dovecot-only 
logins to the same Maildir folder.

By any chance, is there a 'howto' detailing a suitable sample 
configuration for such a setup?

BTW - I would definitely want to be able to change subscriptions from 
any device...  I just want independent subscriptions for my 
tablet/phone/desktop/VM clients - as I use email in different ways from 
these different environments.

On 04/06/2015 15:24, Daniel Tr?der wrote:
> Hi Steve,
>
> I don't think the IMAP protocol has the concept of a "user
agent". So
> there is no way for an IMAP server to distinguish between client programs.
>
> You could use POP and poll different mailboxes - but your clients
> probably don't support that. So you'll have to use different users.
>
> But that give you a cool solution: Use shared mailboxes.
>
> You could share all mailboxes of you main user to all the
"device-users"
> and then use the clients to subscribe only to those mailboxes that are
> of interest.
>
> That way you can change what a client sees using the client program,
> without logging into the server as root. Especially nice, when you are
> traveling and decide you need to read a mailbox with your mobile you
> hadn't though about before.
>
> Greetings
> Daniel
>