Configuring cyrus

For this we'll just configure it to use slap auth and start imap/pop3 and enable imap to do "idle-way" push mail.

Configuring it lo launch pop and imap servers.

We'll make sure that this is uncommented in /etc/cyrus.conf:

   imap                cmd="imapd -U 30" listen="imap" prefork=0 maxchild=100
   pop3                cmd="pop3d -U 30" listen="pop3" prefork=0 maxchild=50

Configuring it to use sasl auth

After stripping all the comments with (in vim):

   %s/^#.*$//
   %s/\n\n//

My conffile looks like:

   configdirectory: /var/lib/cyrus
   defaultpartition: default
   partition-default: /var/spool/cyrus/mail
   partition-news: /var/spool/cyrus/news
   newsspool: /var/spool/news
   altnamespace: no
   unixhierarchysep: no
   lmtp_downcase_rcpt: yes
   admins: cyrus
   allowanonymouslogin: no
   popminpoll: 1
   autocreatequota: 0
   umask: 077
   sieveusehomedir: false
   sievedir: /var/spool/sieve
   hashimapspool: true
   allowplaintext: yes
   sasl_pwcheck_method: saslauthd
   sasl_auto_transition: no
   tls_ca_path: /etc/ssl/certs
   tls_session_timeout: 1440
   tls_cipher_list: TLSv1+HIGH:!aNULL:@STRENGTHlmtp
   socket: /var/run/cyrus/socket/lmtp
   idlemethod: poll
   idlesocket: /var/run/cyrus/socket/idle
   notifysocket: /var/run/cyrus/socket/notify
   syslog_prefix: cyrus
   sasl_pwcheck_method: saslauthd

Now have a look at "configuring pam"

Once configured you'll be able now to add users as system users or at the mysql db.

Other thoughts

Don't forget to create de mailbox after creating the user.

Logs are in /var/log/mail.* , you can find usefull information there, for example if you don't create the mailbox, a normal client would tell you there have been an auth error. Looking at the logs you'll realise the mbox is not created.

According to Postfix-Cyrus-Web-cyradm this may happen (editing is needed in postfix's main.cf):

   You need to change just one line:
    old: flags=R user=cyrus argv=/cyrus/bin/deliver -e -m ${extension} ${user}
    new: flags= user=cyrus argv=/usr/cyrus/bin/deliver -r ${sender} -m ${extension

   What does that change affect?
    A look to the cyrus man-pages man deliver clears up that issue:
    The Postfix default setup uses a wrong path to cyrus deliver,
    this is the first change.
    The parameter »-r« inserts a proper return path. Without that, mail rejected/retured
    by sieve will be sent to the cyrus user at yourdomain.

That manual is based on old versions (2.1) of cyrus and postfix (), I didn't had that problem on current versions (2.2)