# Debian 13 and dovecot **URL:** \ **Category:** Virtualmin\ **Created:** [November 27, 2025, 6:53pm UTC](https://forum.virtualmin.com/t/debian-13-and-dovecot/135899 "2025-11-27T18:53:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![oinopneuma](https://cdn.forum.virtualmin.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/o/57b2e6/32.png) [@oinopneuma](https://forum.virtualmin.com/u/oinopneuma)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2025, 6:53pm UTC](https://forum.virtualmin.com/t/debian-13-and-dovecot/135899/1 "2025-11-27T18:53:23Z")
| SYSTEM INFORMATION | | | --- | --- | | OS type and version | Debian GNU/Linux 13 (trixie) | | Webmin version | 2.610 | | Virtualmin version | 7.50.0 GPL | | Webserver version | Apache/2.4.65 (Debian) | I’ve installed debian 13 on Monday with the older stable version of webmin (2.520) and today I updated to version 2.610. Everything seems to work ok except for saslauthd and dovecot. I managed to fix saslauthd by applying the fix in the first post of this thread: [Saslauthd fails to start on Debian 13 (Trixie) causing SMTP authentication failure: Wrong PID path in service file](https://forum.virtualmin.com/t/saslauthd-fails-to-start-on-debian-13-trixie-causing-smtp-authentication-failure-wrong-pid-path-in-service-file/134678) But dovecot fails with this error: ```auto doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf line 89: default_mail_env: Unknown setting: default_mail_env ``` I changed ```auto default_mail_env = maildir:~/Maildir ``` to ```auto mail_location = maildir:~/Maildir ``` But I now see this error: ```auto doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf line 90: mail_location: Unknown setting: mail_location ``` Can I fix it without installing virtualmin again? ---
**Author:** ![Joe](https://cdn.forum.virtualmin.com/user_avatar/forum.virtualmin.com/joe/32/9_2.png) [@Joe](https://forum.virtualmin.com/u/Joe)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2025, 8:19pm UTC](https://forum.virtualmin.com/t/debian-13-and-dovecot/135899/4 "2025-11-27T20:19:11Z")
I’ve spent some time poking around in dovecot configs and I’m confused by what’s going on with you configuration. Where did you get `default_mail_env` from? Did you upgrade from an older version of Debian? ---
**Author:** ![oinopneuma](https://cdn.forum.virtualmin.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/o/57b2e6/32.png) [@oinopneuma](https://forum.virtualmin.com/u/oinopneuma)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2025, 9:55pm UTC](https://forum.virtualmin.com/t/debian-13-and-dovecot/135899/5 "2025-11-27T21:55:47Z")
No, it’s a new installation. I found it in /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf at the end of file ```auto ... # A config file can also tried to be included without giving an error if # it's not found: !include_try local.conf default_mail_env = maildir:~/Maildir disable_plaintext_auth = no local_name xxxxx { ssl_server_cert_file = /etc/ssl/virtualmin/176398922446871/ssl.combined ssl_server_key_file = /etc/ssl/virtualmin/176398922446871/ssl.key } ``` where xxxxx is my server’s hostname. ---
**Author:** ![Adambean](https://cdn.forum.virtualmin.com/user_avatar/forum.virtualmin.com/adambean/32/21069_2.png) [@Adambean](https://forum.virtualmin.com/u/Adambean)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2025, 10:08am UTC](https://forum.virtualmin.com/t/debian-13-and-dovecot/135899/6 "2025-11-28T10:08:05Z")
I don’t think that `mail_location` is meant to be in “`dovecot.conf`” at all. In the “`conf.d`” directory, file “`10-mail.conf`” has this block: ```auto # Debian defaults # Note that upstream considers mbox deprecated and strongly recommends # against its use in production environments. See further information # at # https://doc.dovecot.org/2.4.1/core/config/mailbox/formats/mbox.html mail_driver = mbox mail_home = /home/%{user | username} mail_path = %{home}/mail mail_inbox_path = /var/mail/%{user} ``` I had to comment out those 4 lines and everything just worked. There is no `default_mail_env` or `mail_location` in any of my Dovecot configs. Particularly in “`dovecot.conf`” it goes `!include_try local.conf` then immediately into `local_name` directives. ---
**Author:** ![oinopneuma](https://cdn.forum.virtualmin.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/o/57b2e6/32.png) [@oinopneuma](https://forum.virtualmin.com/u/oinopneuma)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2025, 11:05am UTC](https://forum.virtualmin.com/t/debian-13-and-dovecot/135899/7 "2025-11-28T11:05:05Z")
I removed default\_mail\_env and disable\_plaintext\_auth from /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf I disabled the 4 lines in 10-mail.conf And now i see this: ```auto Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf: pop3_uidl_format setting doesn't contain any %{variables}. ``` I see this entry: ```auto /etc/dovecot/conf.d/20-pop3.conf:51:pop3_uidl_format = %08Xu%08Xv ``` And a commented one in 10-mail.conf ```auto /etc/dovecot/conf.d/10-mail.conf:380:# pop3_uidl_format=%m. For backwards compatibility we use apop3d inspired ``` ---
**Author:** ![Ilia](https://cdn.forum.virtualmin.com/user_avatar/forum.virtualmin.com/ilia/32/10185_2.png) [@Ilia](https://forum.virtualmin.com/u/Ilia)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2025, 11:51am UTC](https://forum.virtualmin.com/t/debian-13-and-dovecot/135899/8 "2025-11-28T11:51:48Z")
It’s coming from the current version of Virtualmin Config, it’s expected. To be clear, this isn’t an issue in the Virtualmin [RC 8.0.0 install](https://download.virtualmin.dev/virtualmin-install.sh) script on Debian 13. And, this is expected to happen with the current installer, but once Virtualmin 8 is released, it will work out of the box. If you really want a Debian 13 system right now, use the RC install script. ---
**Author:** ![oinopneuma](https://cdn.forum.virtualmin.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/o/57b2e6/32.png) [@oinopneuma](https://forum.virtualmin.com/u/oinopneuma)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2025, 3:20pm UTC](https://forum.virtualmin.com/t/debian-13-and-dovecot/135899/9 "2025-11-28T15:20:01Z")
Can I apply a patch (e.g. change files) to fix it without removing everything and installing Virtualmin again? If not, if I use the RC install script will I be in a RC branch for future updates? I mean would it be possible to switch to Virtualmin 8 once it is released? ---
**Author:** ![Ilia](https://cdn.forum.virtualmin.com/user_avatar/forum.virtualmin.com/ilia/32/10185_2.png) [@Ilia](https://forum.virtualmin.com/u/Ilia)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2025, 5:38pm UTC](https://forum.virtualmin.com/t/debian-13-and-dovecot/135899/10 "2025-11-28T17:38:10Z")
> [@oinopneuma](#): > > If not, if I use the RC install script will I be in a RC branch for future updates? I mean would it be possible to switch to Virtualmin 8 once it is released? Yes, it would be possible. > Can I apply a patch (e.g. change files) to fix it without removing everything and installing Virtualmin again? Well, yeah, you could—just remove that `default_mail_env ` deprecated directive and set manually: ```auto mail_path = ~/Maildir mail_driver = maildir mail_home # remove mail_inbox_path # remove ``` ---
**Author:** ![system](https://cdn.forum.virtualmin.com/uploads/default/original/2X/c/cd96d761e326db4b2bef94886a639109bd7a8e76.svg) [@system](https://forum.virtualmin.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 5:38pm UTC](https://forum.virtualmin.com/t/debian-13-and-dovecot/135899/11 "2026-01-27T17:38:26Z")
Closed on January 27, 2026, 5:38pm UTC This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.