Dovecot IMAP/POP server replaces the old UW IMAP/POP server

Leaner and meaner IMAP/POP server that sports an internal indexing mechanism for faster performance, TLS/SSL support, compatible with most IMAP clients out there.  (http://www.dovecot.org/)
 

Mailbox location moves from /var/mail to your homedir

Your old mail spool (where your new mail used to arrive, and sometimes collect) used to live in /var/mail (in UNIX mbox format). The new mail architecture will move this mail into your homedir in $HOME/mail/INBOX in a directory format called maildir.

Mailbox format changes from UNIX mbox to Maildir format

The maildir format stores the e-mails in your mail folders as separate files on the file server.  (The old mbox format
used to lump all your e-mails in a folder into one contiguous file.)
 
The maildir directories in $HOME/mail/ will begin with dots. For Example, an existing $HOME/mail/foo folder gets converted
into $HOME/mail/.mail.foo/

What the mailbox/folder transition is really going to do

During the transition, all your mail from your old mail spool in /var/mail will be transferred to $HOME/mail/INBOX in your homedir. The transition scripts will also convert all IMAP folders it finds in $HOME/mail, $HOME/Mail and your home directory to maildir format in $HOME/mail.

Any existing subfolder structures  you may have created under the old UW IMAP server will be turned into directories in the root of $HOME/mail/, but will be named .mail.sub.dir/, and will show up properly via IMAP as 'dir' living inside 'sub'".

For example, if you had a subfolder structure:

        foo
        foo/bar
        foo/zot

it will appear in your home directory as:

        $HOME/mail/.mail.foo/
        $HOME/mail/.mail.foo.bar/
        $HOME/mail/.mail.foo.zot/

The behavior, from your IMAP client, will be unchanged.  (Hence most users who never manipulate their folders from behind the scenes will never know things have changed.)

No support for #MH/ for IMAP

The Dovecot IMAP server does not support the #MH/ extension that the old UW IMAP server used to provide (for MH users to map to their MH folders directly). MH users will need to either convert, or just use MH without imap. See below for more MH information.

Authenticated connections only (No more POP/IMAP before SMTP)

TheCAT is no longer supporting "POP or IMAP before SMTP" as an authentication scheme.  Remote users will have to enter
their password before sending mail.  (The user's mail reader will prompt for this.)

Encrypted sessions to mailserver only (for remote access)

All sessions that include logins and passwords MUST be encrypted.  This includes all pop, imap, and remote SMTP
sessions.  These sessions must use TLS or SSL.  See the following link for configuration details:

http://www.cat.pdx.edu/mail/remote-mail-access-3.html

Procmail instructions for using folders compatible with dovecot

Procmail users wishing to deliver to their maildir (imap compatible) folders should have a / at the end.

Example:
        :0:
        $HOME/mail/.mail.foo/

Procmail instructions for delivering directly to MH folders

To deliver directly to an MH folder, give the path to the folder,
with a trailing '/.' .

Example:
        :0:
        $HOME/Mail/inbox/.

MH issues

MH does not support the maildir inbox format. We just implemented a patch to nmh on the Solaris systems to allow 'inc' to parse your new ~/mail/INBOX directory. It is currently working.

We strongly urge MH mail users to use procmail to deliver new mail into an MH folder.  Contact us for details.

UNIX mail clients that have been modified to deal with the new inbox format

        pine
        mutt
        MH

UNIX mail clients that have NOT been modified to deal with the new inbox format

        elm (doesn't support it)
        mail
        mailx

        Avoid using these as your primary mail user agent. The 'mail' and 'mailx' programs can still be used to send email, though.