imap_sieve plugin stripped from mail_plugins array when using custom Dovecot configurations

[audioscavenger]

I am running Docker Mailserver latest stable, with

• ENABLE_RSPAMD=1
• RSPAMD_LEARN=1
• ENABLE_MANAGESIEVE=1.

My goal is to have full-text search indexing (fts_xapian) and automated Rspamd learning via Junk folder movements (imap_sieve) active at the same time.

While my custom header caching and Xapian search parameters are loading correctly, Dovecot completely drops the imap_sieve plugin from the IMAP protocol loop, making manual spam/ham folder training impossible. Messages learned counter stays frozen (stuck at 6).

I attempted to declare the plugin mapping using custom numeric 10/13/99.conf override chains inside the conf.d path as I do for zlib and fts_xapian:

# Append imap_sieve strictly to the IMAP protocol loop
protocol imap {
  mail_plugins = $mail_plugins imap_sieve
}

# Connect Dovecot folder names to Docker Mailserver's internal training scripts
plugin {
  sieve_plugins = sieve_imapsieve
  
  # Trigger when moving mail into the Junk folder
  imapsieve_mailbox1_name = Junk
  imapsieve_mailbox1_causes = COPY MOVE
  imapsieve_mailbox1_before = file:/usr/lib/dovecot/sieve/report-spam.sieve
  
  # Trigger when moving mail out of the Junk folder to any other folder
  imapsieve_mailbox2_name = *
  imapsieve_mailbox2_from = Junk
  imapsieve_mailbox2_causes = COPY MOVE
  imapsieve_mailbox2_before = file:/usr/lib/dovecot/sieve/report-ham.sieve
}

but after I restart/recreate the container, I never get the plugin loaded:

docker exec -it mailserver doveconf -p imap mail_plugins
# Returns: mail_plugins = quota fts fts_xapian zlib

Am I doing smth wrong? Or did I not read the wiki properly ?

[polarathene]

Dovecot completely drops the imap_sieve plugin from the IMAP protocol loop

docker-mailserver/target/scripts/startup/setup.d/dovecot.sh

Lines 100 to 115 in c8ef5b9

	# The `sieve` plugin is always enabled in DMS, this method handles user supplied sieve scripts + ManageSieve protocol
	# NOTE: There is a related post-setup step for this sieve support handled at `_setup_post()` (setup-stack.sh)
	# TODO: Improved sieve support may be needed in DMS to support this use-case:
	# https://github.com/docker-mailserver/docker-mailserver/issues/3904
	# TODO: Change detection support + refactor/DRY this sieve logic:
	# https://github.com/orgs/docker-mailserver/discussions/2633#discussioncomment-11622955
	function _setup_dovecot_sieve() {
	mkdir -p /usr/lib/dovecot/sieve-{filter,global,pipe}
	mkdir -p /usr/lib/dovecot/sieve-global/{before,after}
	# enable Managesieve service by setting the symlink
	# to the configuration file Dovecot will actually find
	if [[ ${ENABLE_MANAGESIEVE} -eq 1 ]]; then
	_log 'trace' 'Sieve management enabled'
	mv /etc/dovecot/protocols.d/managesieved.protocol.disab /etc/dovecot/protocols.d/managesieved.protocol
	fi

Always enabled appears to be regarding lmtp protocol:

docker-mailserver/target/dovecot/20-lmtp.conf

Lines 16 to 19 in c8ef5b9

	protocol lmtp {
	# Space separated list of plugins to load (default is global mail_plugins).
	mail_plugins = $mail_plugins sieve
	}

While the imap profile plugin is empty to begin with:

docker-mailserver/target/dovecot/20-imap.conf

Lines 1 to 4 in c8ef5b9

	protocol imap {
	# allow IMAP clients to ask quota usage
	mail_plugins = $mail_plugins imap_quota
	}

Which we do modify to also get sieve enabled, but note the comments here too:

docker-mailserver/target/scripts/startup/setup.d/dovecot.sh

Lines 41 to 48 in c8ef5b9

	# TODO: `mail_plugins` appending `sieve` should probably be done for both `15-lda.conf` and `20-lmtp.conf`
	# Presently DMS replaces the `20-lmtp.conf` from `dovecot-lmtpd` package with our own modified copy from 2016.
	# The DMS variant only makes this one change to that file, thus we could adjust it as we do below for `15-lda.conf`
	# Reference: https://github.com/docker-mailserver/docker-mailserver/pull/4350#issuecomment-2646736328
	# shellcheck disable=SC2016
	sedfile -i -r \
	-e 's|^(\s*)#?(mail_plugins =).*|\1\2 $mail_plugins sieve|' \

With Rspamd in play too, there appears to be another related modification for some reason:

docker-mailserver/target/scripts/startup/setup.d/security/rspamd.sh

Lines 225 to 227 in c8ef5b9

	sedfile -i -E 's|(mail_plugins =.*)|\1 imap_sieve|' /etc/dovecot/conf.d/20-imap.conf
	sedfile -i -E '/^}/d' /etc/dovecot/conf.d/90-sieve.conf
	cat >>/etc/dovecot/conf.d/90-sieve.conf << EOF

So the existing implementation via our scripts probably needs some love to address the TODO comments. However since we're switching over to Dovecot 2.4 (once I or someone else manages to have time to contribute a proper review confidently of the upgrade PR for that), there isn't much point to taking a PR addressing these concerns until that upgrade is handled.

---

I attempted to declare the plugin mapping using custom numeric 10/13/99.conf override chains inside the conf.d path as I do for zlib and fts_xapian

IIRC Dovecot 2.3 has a global mail_plugins and any protocol specific variant, and there was some caveat related to that... In Dovecot 2.4 the plugin config got an overhaul.

Here's the global mail_plugins setting:

docker-mailserver/target/dovecot/10-mail.conf

Lines 207 to 209 in c8ef5b9

	# Space separated list of plugins to load for all services. Plugins specific to
	# IMAP, LDA, etc. are added to this list in their own .conf files.
	mail_plugins = $mail_plugins quota

Each protocol variant will use the variable reference to the same setting to only insert that global base setting, while providing your own override block for a protocol will replace any existing earlier equivalent AFAIK, hence in this case the loss of imap_sieve.

In Dovecot 2.4, each individual plugin becomes a bool toggle with it's own dedicated setting and can be referenced via a namespace instead of how it is with 2.3 where you have a list of values assigned as a single setting.

[audioscavenger]

thank you and great job despite your small team! alright i understand it's a WIP... sorry and thank you