Arch Linux: Dovecot Sieve Script Won’t Compile

arch-linuxdovecotsievespamspamassassin

  • Arch Linux
  • Linux kernel 4.9.36 (64-bit)
  • Dovecot 2.2.31 (65cde28)
  • SpamAssassin version 3.4.1 running on Perl version 5.26.0
  • Pigeonhole 0.4.19-1

Trying to set up a mail server for the firs by following the Arch Linux Wiki’s Sieve tutorial (which I wound up on from following the Virtual user mail system tutorial).


This is supposed to enable spamtest and spamtestplus. Verbatim what the Wiki calls for with the exception of sieve_trace_debug and stripping out the docu-comments for legibility.

/etc/dovecot/conf.d/90-sieve.conf:

plugin {
  sieve = file:~/sieve;active=~/.dovecot.sieve

  # Start Arch Linux Wiki Config <https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Dovecot#Sieve>
  sieve_extensions = +spamtest +spamtestplus

  sieve_spamtest_status_type = score
  sieve_spamtest_status_header = \
    X-Spam_score: (-?[[:digit:]]+\.[[:digit:]]).*
  sieve_spamtest_max_value = 5.0

  sieve_before = /var/lib/dovecot/sieve/global_sieves/move_to_spam_folder.sieve
  # End Arch Linux Wiki Config

  sieve_trace_debug = yes
}

This is supposed to route SPAM e-mails into a Junk folder.

/var/lib/dovecot/sieve/global_sieves/move_to_spam_folder.sieve:

require "spamtestplus";
require "fileinto";
require "relational";
require "comparator-i;ascii-numeric";

if spamtest :value "ge" :comparator "i;ascii-numeric" "5" {
  fileinto "Junk";
}

Tried to compile the above.

$ sudo sievec /var/lib/dovecot/sieve/global_sieves/move_to_spam_folder.sieve:

move_to_spam_folder: line 1: error: require command: unknown Sieve capability `spamtestplus'.
move_to_spam_folder: line 6: error: unknown test 'spamtest' (only reported once at first occurrence).
move_to_spam_folder: error: validation failed.
sievec(foo): Error: failed to compile sieve script '/var/lib/dovecot/sieve/global_sieves/move_to_spam_folder.sieve’

Didn’t work because it couldn’t find spamtest and spamtestplus. So I tested the configuration.

sudo sieve-test -t - -Tlevel=matching /etc/dovecot/conf.d/90-sieve.conf /home/foo/test.eml:

90-sieve.conf: line 2: error: unexpected character(s) starting with '='.
90-sieve.conf: line 2: error: expected end of command ';' or the beginning of a compound block '{', but found unknown characters.
90-sieve.conf: line 2: error: unexpected character(s) starting with '~'.
90-sieve.conf: line 2: error: unexpected character(s) starting with '='.
90-sieve.conf: line 2: error: expected end of command ';' or the beginning of a compound block '{', but found unknown characters.
90-sieve.conf: line 2: error: unexpected character(s) starting with '.'.
90-sieve.conf: line 2: error: unexpected character(s) starting with '.'.
90-sieve.conf: line 5: error: unexpected character(s) starting with '='.
90-sieve.conf: line 5: error: unexpected character(s) starting with '+'.
90-sieve.conf: line 5: error: unexpected character(s) starting with '+'.
90-sieve.conf: line 7: error: unexpected character(s) starting with '='.
90-sieve.conf: line 8: error: unexpected character(s) starting with '='.
90-sieve.conf: line 8: error: unexpected character(s) starting with '\'.
90-sieve.conf: line 9: error: unexpected character(s) starting with '-'.
90-sieve.conf: line 9: error: unexpected character(s) starting with '-'.
90-sieve.conf: line 9: error: unexpected character(s) starting with '+'.
90-sieve.conf: line 9: error: unexpected character(s) starting with '.'.
90-sieve.conf: line 10: error: unexpected character(s) starting with '='.
90-sieve.conf: line 10: error: unexpected character(s) starting with '.'.
90-sieve.conf: line 12: error: unexpected character(s) starting with '='.
90-sieve.conf: line 12: error: unexpected character(s) starting with '.'.
90-sieve.conf: line 15: error: unexpected character(s) starting with '='.
90-sieve.conf: error: parse failed.

Apparently it can’t even read /etc/dovecot/conf.d/90-sieve.conf? And it’s choking on the equals sign??

It seems if I fix this error, I can enable spamtest and spamtestplus, which will in turn [potentially] fix the sievec compilation error.


doveconf -n:

# 2.2.31 (65cde28): /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf
# Pigeonhole version 0.4.19 (e5c7051)
# OS: Linux 4.9.36-x86_64-linode85 x86_64 Arch Linux
mail_home = /home/vmail/%d/%n
mail_location = maildir:~
managesieve_notify_capability = mailto
managesieve_sieve_capability = fileinto reject envelope encoded-character vacation subaddress comparator-i;ascii-numeric relational regex imap4flags copy include variables body enotify environment mailbox date index ihave duplicate mime foreverypart extracttext
passdb {
  args = /etc/dovecot/dovecot-sql.conf
  driver = sql
}
protocols = imap pop3
service auth {
  unix_listener auth-client {
    group = postfix
    mode = 0660
    user = postfix
  }
  user = root
}
ssl_cert = </etc/ssl/private/vmail.crt
ssl_key =  # hidden, use -P to show it
userdb {
  args = /etc/dovecot/dovecot-sql.conf
  driver = sql
}

Best Answer

Your sieve-specific configuration is not sourced by Dovecot at all. If you use "per-feature" configuraiton files, your /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf file should include a statement like

# Most of the actual configuration gets included below. The filenames are
# first sorted by their ASCII value and parsed in that order. The 00-prefixes
# in filenames are intended to make it easier to understand the ordering.
!include conf.d/*.conf

which sources the individual configuration files in conf.d.

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