1. Introduction

The cyrus part is only valid for Cyrus-IMAP 2.1.x and Cyrus-SASL 2.1.x. If you plan to use Cyrus-IMAP 2.0.x then please consult the deprecated version 1.0.x of this HOWTO.

I strongly recommend that you upgrade to Cyrus Version 2.1.x. If you do so, you will have a better ability to get valuable support from the user community

1.1. Contributors and Contacts

First I would thank all those people who sent questions and suggestions that made the further development of this document possible. It shows me that sharing knowledge is the right way. I would encourage you to send me more suggestion, just write me an email

1.2. Why I wrote this document

There are different approaches on how to set up different mailsystems. Most documents that are available are related to Sendmail, procmail, WU-IMAPd and friends. These packages are very good but are unfortunately very inflexible in their user administration.

For a long time I was testing alternative MTA's like qmail, postfix and exim, in conjunction with IMAP/POP-servers like Cyrus, vpopmail, Courier IMAP and others.

At the end of the day, from my point of view the couple Postfix/Cyrus seems to be the most flexible and best performing solution.

All these combinations of software had one thing in common: their was very little documentation available describing how these packages work together with each other. To install the software, lot of effort has be spent to get all information needed to get all the software running.

1.3. Copyright Information

This document is copyrighted (c) 2002, 2003, 2004 Luc de Louw and is distributed under the terms of the Linux Documentation Project (LDP) license, stated below.

Unless otherwise stated, Linux HOWTO documents are copyrighted by their respective authors. Linux HOWTO documents may be reproduced and distributed in whole or in part, in any medium physical or electronic, as long as this copyright notice is retained on all copies. Commercial redistribution is allowed and encouraged; however, the author would like to be notified of any such distributions.

All translations, derivative works, or aggregate works incorporating any Linux HOWTO documents must be covered under this copyright notice. That is, you may not produce a derivative work from a HOWTO and impose additional restrictions on its distribution. Exceptions to these rules may be granted under certain conditions; please contact the Linux HOWTO coordinator at the address given below.

In short, we wish to promote dissemination of this information through as many channels as possible. However, we do wish to retain copyright on the HOWTO documents, and would like to be notified of any plans to redistribute the HOWTOs.

If you have any questions, please contact

1.4. Disclaimer

No liability for the contents of this documents can be accepted. Use the concepts, examples and other content at your own risk. As this is a new edition of this document, there may be errors and inaccuracies, that may of course be damaging to your system. Proceed with caution, and although this is highly unlikely, the author(s) do not take any responsibility for that.

All copyrights are held by their by their respective owners, unless specifically noted otherwise. Use of a term in this document should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark.

Naming of particular products or brands should not be seen as endorsements.

You are strongly recommended to take a backup of your system before major installation and backups at regular intervals.

1.5. New Versions

New version of this document are announced on freshmeat

The latest version of this document can be obtained from http://www.delouw.ch/linux

1.6. Credits

1.7. Feedback

Feedback is most certainly welcome for this document. Without your submissions and input, this document wouldn't exist. Please send your additions, comments and criticisms to the following email address : .

Please understand, that I don't want to add Cyrus-IMAP 2.0.x related stuff in this document anymore.

1.8. Translations

At the moment no translations are available. A German translation is planned and would be written by me as soon as I get the time.

Translations to other languages are always welcome. If you translate this document, please translate the SGML source. Please let me know if you begin to translate, so I can set a link here.