dovecot - Oct 2020 - Looking for a guide to collect all e-mail from the ISP mail server

> 2. install and configure OfflineIMAP to synchronize the IMAP folders
between your ISP IMAP server and your Dovecot server; see for example
> http://www.offlineimap.org/doc/quick_start.html
OfflineIMAP is not the way to go. Many ISPs have very low size limits for the
mailbox sizes. The one I am looking at right now does have this problem
(unless you pay extra).

 From what I have gathered now, your hints about Postfix and fetchmail are
correct. The trouble is that those doc pages are not real-life, complete
examples with Dovecot of the two possible ways: 1) multidrop/catch all, and 2)
one mailbox per user.

Yes, I should be able to piece it all together. I will probably try. I just find
it surprising that there is no such a complete guide yet. Because I
am sure that there are a few gotchas along the way.


 > see
 > https://blog.sys4.de/abholdienst-fur-mail-de.html

Yes, getmail is an alternative, and that looks like a good way too. But it's
the same problem: the article is not complete. It states "how you could
arrange it". It would be nice that you did not have to manually write a
getmail config file per user. And an example for multidrop is missing. There
is a note at the end that you should carefully plan the transport ways, but I
wouldn't know yet what to do in that respect.

It's just not a guide that I can follow from top to bottom to get a first
working mail server to play with. That makes it pretty hard for me at this
time. I will need much more time to learn and test every little detail myself.
I'm not promising anything, but I may actually invest the time if I
don't find anything else more interesting in the meantime. 8-)


In any case, thanks for the hints. I know now what the way to go is. Those pesky
port 25 people are not going to get me! ;-)

Regards,
   rdiez

The reason there's no pretty complete how-to is because what you're
doing seems completely insane to the vast majority of people who'd look at
your problem and select your way of approaching solving it.

Yeah, you can also host your own website off of a DSL line, using a rasp-pi
connected via a ham data relay which is faxing pages back and forth over a
couple of soup-cans and string - etc, etc, etc.

While I get, at least in principle, why you want to do it your way - you've
selected a particularly painful, and super time-expensive way, IMO.

A VPS for like $10 a month would do everything you want to do. Run Ubuntu on it,
and allow Ubuntu to do security updates and restarts and you'll almost
certainly be fine. If you want, get a fully managed VPS for a little more, and
they'll do all that for you.

Or, one of a hundred other ways to accomplish handling mail - but you've
picked one of the oddest, most difficult ways...and then "complain"
that there's no examples. Yeah, 'cause no-one wants to do it your way
because it's crazy.

Sorry dude - I kinda get it, but no, I'd never pick your way of doing it,
and I'm not surprised that there's almost no one who has cranked a
complete example of it either.

Not trying to make fun of you, but dang, the time wasted in this thread could
probably have paid for 5 years of hosted mailcow.

Cheers! 
Do have fun.

-Greg

>> 2. install and configure OfflineIMAP to synchronize the IMAP folders
between your ISP IMAP server and your Dovecot server; see for example
>> http://www.offlineimap.org/doc/quick_start.html
RD> OfflineIMAP is not the way to go. Many ISPs have very low size
RD> limits for the mailbox sizes. The one I am looking at right now does have
this problem
RD> (unless you pay extra).

RD>  From what I have gathered now, your hints about Postfix and
RD> fetchmail are correct. The trouble is that those doc pages are not
real-life, complete
RD> examples with Dovecot of the two possible ways: 1)
RD> multidrop/catch all, and 2) one mailbox per user.

RD> Yes, I should be able to piece it all together. I will probably
RD> try. I just find it surprising that there is no such a complete guide
yet. Because I
RD> am sure that there are a few gotchas along the way.


 >> see
 >> https://blog.sys4.de/abholdienst-fur-mail-de.html

RD> Yes, getmail is an alternative, and that looks like a good way
RD> too. But it's the same problem: the article is not complete. It
states "how you could
RD> arrange it". It would be nice that you did not have to manually
RD> write a getmail config file per user. And an example for multidrop is
missing. There
RD> is a note at the end that you should carefully plan the transport
RD> ways, but I wouldn't know yet what to do in that respect.

RD> It's just not a guide that I can follow from top to bottom to get
RD> a first working mail server to play with. That makes it pretty hard for
me at this
RD> time. I will need much more time to learn and test every little
RD> detail myself. I'm not promising anything, but I may actually invest
the time if I
RD> don't find anything else more interesting in the meantime. 8-)


RD> In any case, thanks for the hints. I know now what the way to go
RD> is. Those pesky port 25 people are not going to get me! ;-)

RD> Regards,
RD>    rdiez
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<html><head><style
id="outgoing-font-settings">#response_container_BBPPID{font-family:
initial; font-size:initial; color: initial;}</style></head><body
style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); background-image: initial;
line-height: initial;"><div id="response_container_BBPPID"
style="outline:none;" dir="auto"
contenteditable="false"> <div name="BB10"
id="BB10_response_div_BBPPID" dir="auto"
style="width:100%;"> Ditto this. I pay for a VPS because I
don't want my home facing the internet. If the VPS gets hacked, that is as
far as they get. </div><div name="BB10"
id="BB10_response_div_BBPPID" dir="auto"
style="width:100%;"><br></div><div
name="BB10" id="BB10_response_div_BBPPID"
dir="auto" style="width:100%;">You could do a mail server
on a $5 Digital Ocean or Linode VPS if you don't run SpamAssassin. Rather
than have your email server on a 10 year old laptop, you let someone else
maintain the hardware. You can and should image your VPS or pay for imaging. I
do both. </div><div name="BB10"
id="BB10_response_div_BBPPID" dir="auto"
style="width:100%;"><br></div><div
name="BB10" id="BB10_response_div_BBPPID"
dir="auto" style="width:100%;">My pipe to the outside
world is around 800mbps. I couldn't do that at home. I don't have to
worry about leaving a computer running while on vacation. </div><div
name="BB10" id="BB10_response_div_BBPPID"
dir="auto"
style="width:100%;"><br></div><div
name="BB10" id="BB10_response_div_BBPPID"
dir="auto" style="width:100%;">Should the OP want to join
the real world, here again in the guide I use. I like this person's approach
because you can test each step. The maintenance is gui free. From start to
finish figure on three hours. That includes setting up the VPS, spf, and DKIM. I
strongly encourage Centos. I don't use it at home, but it is great for a
server. It is a long term disty. </div><div name="BB10"
id="BB10_response_div_BBPPID" dir="auto"
style="width:100%;"><br></div><div
name="BB10" id="BB10_response_div_BBPPID"
dir="auto" style="width:100%;">I should point out for
ease of maintenance, use packaged software. You don't want to be compiling
code for updates. </div><div name="BB10"
id="BB10_response_div_BBPPID" dir="auto"
style="width:100%;"><br></div><div
name="BB10" id="BB10_response_div_BBPPID"
dir="auto" style="width:100%;">Stick with IPV4.
</div><div name="BB10"
id="BB10_response_div_BBPPID" dir="auto"
style="width:100%;"><br></div><div
name="BB10" id="BB10_response_div_BBPPID"
dir="auto" style="width:100%;">====</div><div
name="BB10" id="BB10_response_div_BBPPID"
dir="auto" style="width:100%;"><div
name="BB10" id="BB10_response_div_BBPPID"
dir="auto" style="width:100%;">I have used this
person's blog for a few operating systems.</div><div
name="BB10" id="BB10_response_div_BBPPID"
dir="auto"
style="width:100%;">https://blog.andreev.it/?p=1975</div><div
name="BB10" id="BB10_response_div_BBPPID"
dir="auto" style="width:100%;">Poke around for the
correct OS. I only set up dovecot and postfix. Keep it simple.
</div><div name="BB10"
id="BB10_response_div_BBPPID" dir="auto"
style="width:100%;"><br></div><div
name="BB10" id="BB10_response_div_BBPPID"
dir="auto" style="width:100%;">You then need opendkim. I
think opendkim checks the incoming mail. There is another procedure to sign your
mail.</div><div name="BB10"
id="BB10_response_div_BBPPID" dir="auto"
style="width:100%;">When you think it works, use</div><div
name="BB10" id="BB10_response_div_BBPPID"
dir="auto"
style="width:100%;">https://dkimvalidator.com/</div><div
name="BB10" id="BB10_response_div_BBPPID"
dir="auto"
style="width:100%;"><br></div><div
name="BB10" id="BB10_response_div_BBPPID"
dir="auto" style="width:100%;">Also go to mxtools to
verify you haven't created an open relay.</div><div
name="BB10" id="BB10_response_div_BBPPID"
dir="auto"
style="width:100%;"><br></div><div
name="BB10" id="BB10_response_div_BBPPID"
dir="auto" style="width:100%;">Regarding LetsEncrypt, I
use the bash script.</div><div name="BB10"
id="BB10_response_div_BBPPID" dir="auto"
style="width:100%;">https://github.com/acmesh-official/acme.sh</div><div
name="BB10" id="BB10_response_div_BBPPID"
dir="auto" style="width:100%;">This saves you Python
headaches.</div></div><div name="BB10"
id="BB10_response_div_BBPPID" dir="auto"
style="width:100%;"><br></div>                         
<div name="BB10" id="response_div_spacer_BBPPID"
dir="auto" style="width:100%;"> <br
style="display:initial"></div> <div
id="blackberry_signature_BBPPID" name="BB10"
dir="auto">     <div id="_signaturePlaceholder_BBPPID"
name="BB10" dir="auto"></div>
</div></div><div id="_original_msg_header_BBPPID"
dir="auto">                                                        
<table width="100%" style="border-spacing: 0px; display:
table; outline: none;"
contenteditable="false"><tbody><tr><td
colspan="2" style="padding: initial; font-size: initial;
text-align: initial;">                           <div
style="border-right: none; border-bottom: none; border-left: none;
border-image: initial; border-top: 1pt solid rgb(181, 196, 223); padding: 3pt
0in 0in; font-family: Tahoma, "BB Alpha Sans", "Slate Pro";
font-size: 10pt;">  <div
id="from"><b>From:</b>
gregs@sloop.net</div><div
id="sent"><b>Sent:</b> October 26, 2020 6:01
PM</div><div id="to"><b>To:</b>
dovecot@dovecot.org</div><div
id="reply_to"><b>Reply-to:</b> gregs@sloop.net;
dovecot@dovecot.org</div><div
id="subject"><b>Subject:</b> Re: Looking for a guide to
collect all e-mail from the ISP mail
server</div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>
<br> </div><!--start of _originalContent --><div
name="BB10" dir="auto" style="background-image:
initial; line-height: initial; outline: none;"
contenteditable="false"><div><span
style="font-family:'courier new';font-size:9pt">The reason
there's no pretty complete how-to is because what you're doing seems
completely insane to the vast majority of people who'd look at your problem
and select your way of approaching solving it.<br>
<br>
Yeah, you can also host your own website off of a DSL line, using a rasp-pi
connected via a ham data relay which is faxing pages back and forth over a
couple of soup-cans and string - etc, etc, etc.<br>
<br>
While I get, at least in principle, why you want to do it your way - you've
selected a particularly painful, and super time-expensive way, IMO.<br>
<br>
A VPS for like $10 a month would do everything you want to do. Run Ubuntu on it,
and allow Ubuntu to do security updates and restarts and you'll almost
certainly be fine. If you want, get a fully managed VPS for a little more, and
they'll do all that for you.<br>
<br>
Or, one of a hundred other ways to accomplish handling mail - but you've
picked one of the oddest, most difficult ways...and then "complain"
that there's no examples. Yeah, 'cause no-one wants to do it your way
because it's crazy.<br>
<br>
Sorry dude - I kinda get it, but no, I'd never pick your way of doing it,
and I'm not surprised that there's almost no one who has cranked a
complete example of it either.<br>
<br>
Not trying to make fun of you, but dang, the time wasted in this thread could
probably have paid for 5 years of hosted mailcow.<br>
<br>
Cheers!<br>
Do have fun.<br>
<br>
-Greg<br>
<br>
<br>
<span style="color:#800000"><b>>> 2. install and
configure OfflineIMAP to synchronize the IMAP folders between your ISP IMAP
server and your Dovecot server; see for example<br>
</b></span></span><a style="font-family:'courier
new';font-size:9pt"
href="http://www.offlineimap.org/doc/quick_start.html">>>
http://www.offlineimap.org/doc/quick_start.html</a><br><br><span
style="font-family:'courier
new';font-size:9pt;color:#800000"><b>RD> OfflineIMAP is not
the way to go. Many ISPs have very low size<br>
RD> limits for the mailbox sizes. The one I am looking at right now does have
this problem<br>
RD> (unless you pay extra).<br>
<br>
RD>  From what I have gathered now, your hints about Postfix and<br>
RD> fetchmail are correct. The trouble is that those doc pages are not
real-life, complete<br>
RD> examples with Dovecot of the two possible ways: 1)<br>
RD> multidrop/catch all, and 2) one mailbox per user.<br>
<br>
RD> Yes, I should be able to piece it all together. I will probably<br>
RD> try. I just find it surprising that there is no such a complete guide
yet. Because I<br>
RD> am sure that there are a few gotchas along the way.<br>
<br>
<br>
 >> see<br>
</b></span><a style="font-family:'courier
new';font-size:9pt"
href="https://blog.sys4.de/abholdienst-fur-mail-de.html"> >>
https://blog.sys4.de/abholdienst-fur-mail-de.html</a><br><br><span
style="font-family:'courier
new';font-size:9pt;color:#800000"><b>RD> Yes, getmail is an
alternative, and that looks like a good way<br>
RD> too. But it's the same problem: the article is not complete. It
states "how you could<br>
RD> arrange it". It would be nice that you did not have to
manually<br>
RD> write a getmail config file per user. And an example for multidrop is
missing. There<br>
RD> is a note at the end that you should carefully plan the
transport<br>
RD> ways, but I wouldn't know yet what to do in that respect.<br>
<br>
RD> It's just not a guide that I can follow from top to bottom to
get<br>
RD> a first working mail server to play with. That makes it pretty hard for
me at this<br>
RD> time. I will need much more time to learn and test every little<br>
RD> detail myself. I'm not promising anything, but I may actually invest
the time if I<br>
RD> don't find anything else more interesting in the meantime.
8-)<br>
<br>
<br>
RD> In any case, thanks for the hints. I know now what the way to
go<br>
RD> is. Those pesky port 25 people are not going to get me! ;-)<br>
<br>
RD> Regards,<br>
RD>    rdiez<br>
</b></span></div><!--end of _originalContent
--></div></body></html>