bincimap.conf - Global configuration file for Binc IMAP

A section of a bincimap.conf file might look something like this:

Authentication {
    allow plain auth in non ssl = "no",
    auth penalty = 4,
    disable starttls = "no"
}

This manual page describes the format and content of the file bincimap.conf. First comes a summary of sections of options that users can set, then we describe the bincimap.conf structure more in detail.

All Binc IMAP's configuration files use the same Binc::Storage format. It's basically a sequence of named sections enclosed in {braces}, each containing a set of comma separated key=value pairs. The keys must be alphanumeric, and the values can contain any character if it's quoted.

Options are presented in the format Section::name. To set the option, enter the name with no quotes in the section as described in FORMAT below.

The following options can be set in bincimap.conf.

Authentication::allow plain auth in non ssl = [yes|no]

If yes, allows plain text authentication in an unencrypted (SSL/TLS) IMAP session.

Authentication::auth penalty = <n>

Server will sleep for <n> seconds if the client issues a username/password pair that fails to authenticate.

Log::environment ip variable = <var>

Which environment variable bincimapd should search for the remote host IP in.

Log::syslog facility = <var>

If syslog mode is used, sets the facility to log to. Default is LOG_DAEMON. Allowed values are LOG_USER and LOG_LOCAL0-LOG_LOCAL7.

Log::syslog facility number = <nr>

If syslog mode is used, sets the facility number to log to. Default is the value of LOG_DAEMON.

Log::type = <type>

Which method Binc IMAP should use to log. syslog means to connect to syslog. multilog means to log to stderr(2). Typically used together with the multilog utility. For xinetd, use syslog. For daemontools/supervise, use multilog.

Mailbox::type = <type>

Which type of mailbox should the server use? By default, only supports only Maildir.

Mailbox::depot = <type>

Which type of depot should the server use? By default, supports only IMAPdir and Maildir++.

Mailbox::path = <path>

Path to depot relative from user's home area. Typically Maildir for Maildir mailboxes, or the empty string "" if the home area is the same as the Maildir directory.

Mailbox::auto create inbox = [yes|no]

If yes, server will create the default mailbox INBOX on first login if it does not exist.

Mailbox::auto subscribe mailboxes = <mailboxes>

If present, server will automatically subscribe client to the given list of mailboxes on first login. Mailbox list is given as a comma separated list with the mailbox' full path, for example INBOX,INBOX.Sent-Mail,INBOX.Trash

Mailbox::umask = <umask>

Server will use this umask throughout session. Defaults to user's default umask.

Security::jail path = <path>

Which path bincimap-up should chroot to after starting bincimapd.

Security::jail user = <userid>

Which user bincimap-up should become after starting bincimapd.

Security::jail group = <groupid>

Which group bincimap-up should enter after starting bincimapd.

Security::version in greeting = [yes|no]

When set to "yes", Binc IMAP will display its version number in the greeting displayed to clients when they connect; otherwise no version number is displayed. This version number is useful for debugging and identifying the service, but it is also useful for malicious users who wish to identify versions to exploit known security holes.

Session::idle timeout = <n>

When the server is in authenticated mode, and does not detect any client activity, it will wait <n> seconds before closing (t/o) the connection. <n> can not be less than 1800 seconds.

Session::auth timeout = <n>

When the server is in unauthenticated mode, and does not detect any client activity, it will wait <n> seconds before closing (t/o) the connection. <n> can not be less than 30 seconds.

Session::transfer timeout = <n>

The server writes data to the client in bulks. Each bulk gets <n> seconds to complete before the server times out.

Session::transfer buffer size = <n>

The server will buffer up to <n> bytes of data before sending it off to the client. A lower value will give smoother response from the server, but is a bad idea for clients with a big RTT (for example dial-ins). A high value gives better throughput, but a more bulky transfer.

SSL::pem file = <file>

The path to the SSL certificate file, in PEM format.

SSL::ca file = <file>

A file with one or more certificate authority certificates. It is used to help the client verify the SSL certificate.

SSL::ca path = <path>

A path with lists of certificate authorities' cerficates. It is used to help the client verify the SSL certificate.

SSL::cipher list = <cipherlist>

Sets the list of available SSL ciphers.

SSL::verify peer = [yes|no]

If yes, server will attempt to verify peer certificate.

This file format is named Binc::Storage, after its C++ class name.

The file starts with an optional list of aliases. These aliases start with a question mark '?', followed by the alias, a colon ':', the replacement text, and finally a semicolon ';'. This example defines the alias "m" to represent the text "myfirstsection":

?m:MyFirstSection;

A section starts with an identifier, or a name. The name contains only alphanumeric characters, and it's case sensitive. The section itself is enclosed in braces.

MyFirstSection {

}

Inside a section, we have a comma separated list of key=value pairs. The key consists of a sequence of one or more alphanumeric words. The value can also contain quoted strings.

MyFirstSection {
  certificate path = "/etc/path/certificate.txt",
  optional argument = "yes"
}

The aliases that we could define at the start of the bincimap.conf file are useful if we wish to abbreviate long words in a key or section name, to save space. Normally this is only used in generated files, but they can also make a manually edited conf file more compact:

m {
  certificate path = "/etc/path/certificate.txt",
  optional argument = "yes"
}

Copyright (C) 2002-2005 Andreas Aardal Hanssen

This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is NO warranty.

Please report any bugs to the Binc IMAP mailing list. Before posting your bug, check out the Binc IMAP official home page for a list of mailing list archives to browse.

Mailing list: <binc@bincimap.org>
Developers' mailing list: <binc-dev@bincimap.org>
Announcements list: <binc-news@bincimap.org>

Subscribing to a mailing list: <binc-subscribe@bincimap.org> Home page: http://www.bincimap.org/

Andreas Aardal Hanssen <andreas-binc@bincimap.org>

multilog(8) supervise(8) tcpserver(1) bincimapd(1) bincimap.conf(5) xinetd(8) xinetd.conf(5)

Note: The first three man pages are available for download from http://www.qmail.org/.