shared/public mailbox application

Adrian POPA
Mon, 28 Nov 2016 15:45:28 -0000

> -----Original Message-----
> From: dovecot [mailto:dovecot-bounces at dovecot.org] On Behalf Of Michael
> Fox
> Sent: Thursday, November 24, 2016 11:53 AM
> To: Dovecot Mailing List <dovecot at dovecot.org>
> Subject: shared/public mailbox application
>
> I'm new to Dovecot and I need help configuring a shared or public
> mailbox -
> I'm not sure which is appropriate.  I've read the wiki and
Peer's book and
> neither appears to cover what I'd like to do.  So I could use some
> specific
> help on how to configure a solution for the following:
>
>
>
> I'd like to create two real mailboxes, let's call them AAA and BBB.
Let's
> call the domain "mydomain".  By "real", I mean that
users aaa at mydomain and
> bbb at mydomain can log into their own mailbox.
>
> Anyone user can send mail to them, just like any other address:
> aaa at mydomain or bbb at mydomain.
>
> I'd like all IMAP users in mydomain to be able to read the messages in
> those
> mailboxes.
>
> I'd like all POP users in mydomain to also see those messages.  (But I
> don't
> think I need help with the virtual part).
>
> I'd like only a few designated IMAP users to be able to delete the
> messages
> in those mailboxes, including dummy users AAA and BBB themselves.
>
> Ideally, I'd like them to appear in the client under a separate
namespace
> from shared mailboxes.  Example:
>
>
>
> INBOX
>
> +--- the normal stuff.
>
> Shared
>
> +--- user1
>
> +--- user2
>
> Special
>
> +--- AAA
>
> +--- BBB
>
>
>
> My confusion:
>
> 1)      I don't know if this requires a shared namespace or a public
> namespace.  It "feels" like it's "public", since
all users would have
> access.  But Peer's book and the wiki describe manually creating
folders
> for
> public namespaces and controlling the contents with manual file
> manipulation, which leads me to believe that they can't be used for
> regular
> mail (although the book and the wiki never say one way or the other).   I
> don't want to manually control files.  I want to send mail to the
mailbox
> and delete (see above) it with a client.
>
> 2)      There are several examples in Peer's book and the wiki, but
none
> seem to match what I want.  (This is the problem with documentation that
> is
> predominantly example-based).  I guess I need more explanation of the
> mechanical differences between shared and public and why one would pick
> one
> over the other.
>
>
>
> Can someone help?  Please be as specific as you can.
>
>
>
> Thanks much,
>
> Michael
>

Hi,
I did that in Linux (Ubuntu) by using symbolic links.
In the INBOX of users that you want to see shared emails place a symlink to
the shared INBOX.
<domain>
  | <user 1>
  |  | ...INBOX
  |  | .Drafts (folder)
  |  | .Trash (folder
  |  | ...
  |  | ~.Shared AAA --> ../aaa
  |  | ~.Shared BBB --> ../bbb
  | <user 2>
  |  |  ...INBOX
  |  | ...
  |  | ~.Shared AAA --> ../aaa
  |  | ~.Shared BBB --> ../bbb
  | <aaa>
  |  | ...INBOX
  |  | ...
  | <bbb>
  |  | ...INBOX
  |  | ...
The only thing that could create problems are permissions. I use the same
UID/GID for all users (vmail:vmail) so I don't have such problems.
If you want special permissions for groups of users (some can delete emails
in shared folders) you need to define the permission groups, add users you
want to those groups and set rw permission and set group bit on shared
folders.

If you're not using Linux I cannot help.
Adrian