dovecot: security backports, new versioning scheme

- Fix dovecot package download URLs for new
  [release](https://github.com/chatmail/dovecot/releases/tag/upstream%2F2.3.21%2Bdfsg1-3%2Bchatmail2)
  with
    - debian-security backport for 12 CVEs
    - distro-specific suffix (+deb{release}u1), simplified primary URL
      path: remove codename subdirectory
- Use VERSION_ID from os-release as deb_release instead of codename
  mapping, reorder hash-dict to match Github release page
- Remove redundant parsing/validation, let function validate against hash dict
- Update test expectations

.github/workflows/ci-no-dns.yaml

@@ -20,9 +20,9 @@ concurrency:
 jobs:
   no-dns:
     name: LXC deploy and test
-    uses: chatmail/cmlxc/.github/workflows/lxc-test.yml@v0.14.6
+    uses: chatmail/cmlxc/.github/workflows/lxc-test.yml@main
     with:
-      cmlxc_version: v0.14.6
+      cmlxc_version: main
       cmlxc_commands: |
         cmlxc init 
         # single cmdeploy relay test

.github/workflows/ci.yaml

@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ jobs:
           ref: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.sha }}
           persist-credentials: false
       - name: download filtermail
-        run: curl -L https://github.com/chatmail/filtermail/releases/download/v0.6.6/filtermail-x86_64 -o /usr/local/bin/filtermail && chmod +x /usr/local/bin/filtermail
+        run: curl -L https://github.com/chatmail/filtermail/releases/download/v0.7.4/filtermail-x86_64 -o /usr/local/bin/filtermail && chmod +x /usr/local/bin/filtermail
       - name: run chatmaild tests 
         working-directory: chatmaild
         run: pipx run tox
@@ -57,9 +57,9 @@ jobs:
 
   lxc-test:
     name: LXC deploy and test
-    uses: chatmail/cmlxc/.github/workflows/lxc-test.yml@v0.14.6
+    uses: chatmail/cmlxc/.github/workflows/lxc-test.yml@main
     with:
-      cmlxc_version: v0.14.6
+      cmlxc_version: main
       cmlxc_commands: |
         cmlxc init 
         # single cmdeploy relay test

.github/workflows/docker-dispatch.yaml

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ name: Trigger Docker build
 
 on:
   push:
-    branches: [main]
+    branches: [main, j4n/dovecot-multidist]
     tags: ['[0-9]+.[0-9]+.[0-9]+']
   workflow_dispatch:
 

.github/workflows/docs-preview.yaml

@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ jobs:
           mkdir -p "$HOME/.ssh"
           echo "${{ secrets.CHATMAIL_STAGING_SSHKEY }}" > "$HOME/.ssh/key"
           chmod 600 "$HOME/.ssh/key"
-          rsync -rILvh -e "ssh -i $HOME/.ssh/key -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no" $GITHUB_WORKSPACE/doc/build/ "${{ secrets.USERNAME }}@chatmail.at:/var/www/html/staging.chatmail.at/doc/relay/${STEPS_PREPARE_OUTPUTS_PRID}/"
+          rsync -rILvh -e "ssh -i $HOME/.ssh/key -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no" $GITHUB_WORKSPACE/doc/build/ "${{ secrets.USERNAME }}@chatmail.at:${STEPS_PREPARE_OUTPUTS_PRID}/"
         env:
           STEPS_PREPARE_OUTPUTS_PRID: ${{ steps.prepare.outputs.prid }}
 

.github/workflows/docs.yaml

@@ -47,5 +47,5 @@ jobs:
           mkdir -p "$HOME/.ssh"
           echo "${{ secrets.CHATMAIL_STAGING_SSHKEY }}" > "$HOME/.ssh/key"
           chmod 600 "$HOME/.ssh/key"
-          rsync -rILvh -e "ssh -i $HOME/.ssh/key -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no" $GITHUB_WORKSPACE/doc/build/ "${{ secrets.USERNAME }}@chatmail.at:/var/www/html/chatmail.at/doc/relay/"
+          rsync -rILvh -e "ssh -i $HOME/.ssh/key -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no" $GITHUB_WORKSPACE/doc/build/ "${{ secrets.USERNAME }}@chatmail.at:"
 

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -1,5 +1,60 @@
 # Changelog for chatmail deployment
 
+## [1.12.0] - 2026-07-31
+
+### Breaking Changes
+
+- [**breaking**] Introduce configurable system limits to reject new address creation and limit imap/smtp connections.
+  Dovecot default connection limit lowered from 50k to 10k,
+  Postfix default connection limit lowered from 5k to 1k,
+  larger relays need to adjust their settings.
+
+### Features
+
+- Reduce maximal_queue_lifetime from 5d to 2d
+- Disable negative cache in unbound (#992)
+- *(mtail)* Add incoming_mailer_daemon_mail_count
+- *(postfix)* Disable processing of MIME headers
+- *(dovecot)* Advertise privacy_mail as admin contact, drop server comment
+
+### Bug Fixes
+
+- Set relay restrictions per smtpd service with default reject
+- Reduce maxproc for filtermail-transport LMTP client to 500
+- Core 2.50.0 does not have delete_server_after config anymore.
+- Check if all required ports are available for filtermail (#983)
+- Always deploy unbound.conf.d/chatmail.conf (#993)
+- Expire empty directories (#994)
+- Crypt-r dependency was declared for wrong Python version
+- Always overwrite /etc/resolv.conf, even if it is a symbolic link
+- Pass kwargs to files.put()
+- List Iroh proxy endpoints used by 0.35 and 1.0, drop stale /relay/probe from earlier versions
+- Fix port discovery when ss -tulpn shows dovecot before stats
+
+### Documentation
+
+- Add scripts/initenv.sh to upgrade instructions
+- Update overview diagrams (#995)
+- *(overview)* Remove mermaid styles from 'Accepting and delivering mail' (#1009)
+- *(README.md)* Clarify security enforcement (#1011)
+
+### Miscellaneous Tasks
+
+- *(ci)* Auto-trigger docker build on release tag push
+- *(acmetool)* Update let's encrypt ToS link to 1.8
+- *(ci)* Update doc staging upload path
+- *(ci)* Fix docs upload path
+
+### Refactor
+
+- *(postfix)* Remove unused "filter" lmtp service
+- Install dns-root-data instead of using unbound-anchor
+- *(deps)* Remove domain-validator dependency
+
+### Testing
+
+- Set socket security for IMAP and SMTP to "TLS" in "dclogin"
+
 ## [1.11.0] - 2026-05-15
 
 ### Breaking Changes

README.md

@@ -1,19 +1,24 @@
 
 # Chatmail relays for end-to-end encrypted email
 
-Chatmail relay servers are interoperable Mail Transport Agents (MTAs) designed for: 
+Chatmail relay servers are interoperable Mail Transport Agents (MTAs) designed for:
 
 -  **Zero State:** no private data or metadata collected, messages are auto-deleted, low disk usage
 
 -  **Instant/Realtime:** sub-second message delivery, realtime P2P
    streaming, privacy-preserving Push Notifications for Apple, Google, and Huawei;
 
--  **Security Enforcement**: only strict TLS, DKIM and OpenPGP with minimized metadata accepted
+-  **Security Enforcement**: Only connections with strict TLS are accepted;
+   all messages must be correctly signed with DKIM and OpenPGP-encrypted with minimized metadata.
+   There are experimental exceptions for no-DNS relays,
+   which are allowed use self-signed TLS certificates
+   and which do not need to DKIM-sign their messages.
+   Unencrypted messages are allowed in neither case.
 
 -  **Reliable Federation and Decentralization:** No spam or IP reputation checks, federating
    depends on established IETF standards and protocols.
 
-This repository contains everything needed to setup a ready-to-use chatmail relay on an ssh-reachable host. 
+This repository contains everything needed to setup a ready-to-use chatmail relay on an ssh-reachable host.
 For getting started and more information please refer to the web version of this repositories' documentation at
 
 [https://chatmail.at/doc/relay](https://chatmail.at/doc/relay)

RELEASE.md

@@ -1,15 +1,13 @@
 # Releasing a new version of chatmail relay
 
-For example, to release version 1.9.0 of chatmail relay, do the following steps.
+For example, to release version 1.13.0 of chatmail relay, do the following steps.
 
-1. Update the changelog: `git cliff --unreleased --tag 1.9.0 --prepend CHANGELOG.md` or `git cliff -u -t 1.9.0 -p CHANGELOG.md`.
+1. Update the changelog: `git cliff --unreleased --tag 1.13.0 --prepend CHANGELOG.md` or `git cliff -u -t 1.13.0 -p CHANGELOG.md`.
 
 2. Open the changelog in the editor, edit it if required.
 
 3. Commit the changes to the changelog with a commit message `chore(release): prepare for 1.9.0`.
 
-3. Tag the release: `git tag --annotate 1.9.0`.
+4. Open a PR with the new commit, merge it to main after review.
 
-4. Push the release tag: `git push origin 1.9.0`.
-
-5. Create a GitHub release: `gh release create 1.9.0`.
+5. In the web interface, create a GitHub release, tell it to create a new tag.

chatmaild/pyproject.toml

@@ -8,9 +8,9 @@ version = "0.3"
 dependencies = [
   "iniconfig",
   "filelock",
+  "psutil",
   "requests",
-  "crypt-r >= 3.13.1 ; python_version >= '3.11'",
-  "domain-validator",
+  "crypt-r >= 3.13.1 ; python_version >= '3.13'",
 ]
 
 [tool.setuptools]

chatmaild/src/chatmaild/config.py

@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ import ipaddress
 from pathlib import Path
 
 import iniconfig
-from domain_validator import DomainValidator
 
 from chatmaild.user import User
 
@@ -25,7 +24,6 @@ class Config:
             self.mail_domain = f"[{raw_domain}]"
             self.postfix_myhostname = ipaddress.IPv4Address(raw_domain).reverse_pointer
         else:
-            DomainValidator().validate_domain_re(raw_domain)
             self.ipv4_relay = None
             self.mail_domain = raw_domain
             self.postfix_myhostname = raw_domain
@@ -77,6 +75,16 @@ class Config:
         self.privacy_pdo = params.pop("privacy_pdo", None)
         self.privacy_supervisor = params.pop("privacy_supervisor", None)
 
+        self.max_load_1m = float(params.pop("max_load_1m", 5))
+        self.min_available_memory_mb = parse_size_mb(
+            params.pop("min_available_memory", "200M")
+        )
+        self.min_free_disk_space_mb = parse_size_mb(
+            params.pop("min_free_disk_space", "1G")
+        )
+        self.max_imap_connections = int(params.pop("max_imap_connections", 10000))
+        self.max_smtp_connections = int(params.pop("max_smtp_connections", 1000))
+
         # TLS certificate management.
         # If tls_external_cert_and_key is set, use externally managed certs.
         # Otherwise derived from the domain name:

chatmaild/src/chatmaild/doveauth.py

@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ except ImportError:
 from .config import Config, read_config
 from .dictproxy import DictProxy
 from .migrate_db import migrate_from_db_to_maildir
+from .syslimits import has_sufficient_resources
 
 NOCREATE_FILE = "/etc/chatmail-nocreate"
 VALID_LOCALPART_RE = re.compile(r"^[a-z0-9._-]+$")
@@ -147,6 +148,8 @@ class AuthDictProxy(DictProxy):
             return userdata
         if not is_allowed_to_create(self.config, addr, cleartext_password):
             return
+        if not has_sufficient_resources(self.config):
+            return
 
         lock = filelock.FileLock(str(user.password_path) + ".lock", timeout=5)
         with lock:

chatmaild/src/chatmaild/expire.py

@@ -168,6 +168,16 @@ class Expiry:
         if mbox.last_login and mbox.last_login < cutoff_without_login:
             self.remove_mailbox(mbox.basedir)
             return
+        elif mbox.last_login is None:
+            try:
+                if not self.dry:
+                    os.rmdir(mbox.basedir)
+                    self.del_mboxes += 1
+            except OSError:
+                print_info(
+                    f"Skipped deleting {mbox.basedir}, doesn't have last_login but isn't empty"
+                )
+            return
 
         mboxname = os.path.basename(mbox.basedir)
         if self.verbose:

chatmaild/src/chatmaild/ini/chatmail.ini.f

@@ -42,6 +42,33 @@ mail_domain = {mail_domain}
 # minimum length a password must have
 #password_min_length = 9
 
+#
+# System resource limits
+#
+
+# The following three limits refuse creation of new addresses
+# while existing addresses keep working.
+# Rejections are logged by the doveauth service.
+
+# Maximum 1-minute load average, as reported by "uptime";
+# it counts processes waiting for disk I/O as well as for CPU.
+#max_load_1m = 5
+
+# Minimum memory available without swapping.
+#min_available_memory = 200M
+
+# Minimum free disk space on the file system holding the mailboxes.
+#min_free_disk_space = 1G
+
+# Maximum number of concurrent IMAP connections
+# (the Dovecot imap process limit).
+#max_imap_connections = 10000
+
+# Maximum number of concurrent SMTP connections
+# on each of the submission and smtps ports (the Postfix process limit).
+# A single client IP may use up to a fifth of this.
+#max_smtp_connections = 1000
+
 # Use externally managed TLS certificates instead of built-in acmetool.
 # Paths refer to files on the deployment server (not the build machine).
 # Both files must already exist before running cmdeploy.

chatmaild/src/chatmaild/syslimits.py

@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+"""Detect whether the system is at its limits."""
+
+import logging
+
+import psutil
+
+MB = 1024 * 1024
+
+
+def read_value(getter):
+    try:
+        return getter()
+    except Exception as e:
+        logging.warning("ignoring unreadable system limit: %s", e)
+        return None
+
+
+def has_sufficient_resources(config):
+    """Return False if load, memory or disk exceeds a configured limit."""
+    load = read_value(lambda: psutil.getloadavg()[0])
+    mem = read_value(lambda: psutil.virtual_memory().available // MB)
+    disk = read_value(lambda: psutil.disk_usage(str(config.mailboxes_dir)).free // MB)
+    if load is not None and load > config.max_load_1m:
+        msg = f"load avg {load:.2f} > {config.max_load_1m:.2f}"
+    elif mem is not None and mem < config.min_available_memory_mb:
+        msg = f"available memory {mem}MB < {config.min_available_memory_mb}MB"
+    elif disk is not None and disk < config.min_free_disk_space_mb:
+        msg = f"free disk {disk}MB < {config.min_free_disk_space_mb}MB"
+    else:
+        return True
+    logging.warning("registration rejected: %s", msg)
+    return False

chatmaild/src/chatmaild/tests/plugin.py

@@ -20,6 +20,10 @@ def make_config(tmp_path):
         basedir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
         overrides = settings.copy() if settings else {}
         overrides["mailboxes_dir"] = str(basedir)
+        # permissive resource limits so tests never depend on host load/memory/disk
+        overrides.setdefault("max_load_1m", "99999")
+        overrides.setdefault("min_available_memory", "0")
+        overrides.setdefault("min_free_disk_space", "0")
         write_initial_config(inipath, mail_domain, overrides=overrides)
         return read_config(inipath)
 

chatmaild/src/chatmaild/tests/test_config.py

@@ -45,6 +45,8 @@ def test_read_config_basic_using_defaults(tmp_path, maildomain):
     assert example_config.username_min_length == 9
     assert example_config.username_max_length == 9
     assert example_config.password_min_length == 9
+    assert example_config.max_imap_connections == 10000
+    assert example_config.max_smtp_connections == 1000
     assert example_config._unused_keys == []
 
 

chatmaild/src/chatmaild/tests/test_doveauth.py

@@ -202,3 +202,17 @@ def test_50_concurrent_lookups_different_accounts(gencreds, dictproxy):
         res = results.get()
         if res is not None:
             pytest.fail(f"concurrent lookup failed\n{res}")
+
+
+def test_insufficient_resources_block_creation_not_existing_logins(
+    dictproxy, gencreds, monkeypatch
+):
+    addr, password = gencreds()
+    assert dictproxy.lookup_passdb(addr, password)
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        chatmaild.doveauth, "has_sufficient_resources", lambda config: False
+    )
+    newaddr, newpassword = gencreds()
+    assert not dictproxy.lookup_passdb(newaddr, newpassword)
+    assert dictproxy.lookup_passdb(addr, password)

chatmaild/src/chatmaild/tests/test_expire.py

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import itertools
 import os
 import random
+import shutil
 import time
 from datetime import datetime
 from fnmatch import fnmatch
@@ -9,6 +10,7 @@ from pathlib import Path
 import pytest
 
 from chatmaild.expire import (
+    Expiry,
     FileEntry,
     MailboxStat,
     expire_to_target,
@@ -104,6 +106,32 @@ def test_stats_mailbox(mbox1):
     assert mbox3.last_login is None
 
 
+def test_mbox_without_password(mbox1, example_config, capsys):
+    password = Path(mbox1.basedir).joinpath("password")
+    os.remove(password)
+    mbox_rescan = MailboxStat(mbox1.basedir)
+    assert mbox_rescan.last_login is None
+
+    exp = Expiry(
+        example_config, dry=False, now=datetime.now().timestamp(), verbose=False
+    )
+    exp.process_mailbox_stat(mbox_rescan)
+    out, err = capsys.readouterr()
+    assert "doesn't have last_login but isn't empty" in err
+    assert os.path.isdir(mbox_rescan.basedir)
+
+    for entry in os.scandir(mbox_rescan.basedir):
+        if os.path.isdir(entry):
+            shutil.rmtree(entry)
+        else:
+            os.remove(entry)
+
+    exp.process_mailbox_stat(mbox_rescan)
+    out, err = capsys.readouterr()
+    assert "doesn't have last_login but isn't empty" not in err
+    assert not os.path.isdir(mbox_rescan.basedir)
+
+
 def test_report_no_mailboxes(example_config):
     args = (str(example_config._inipath),)
     report_main(args)

chatmaild/src/chatmaild/tests/test_syslimits.py

@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+import shutil
+
+import psutil
+
+from chatmaild.syslimits import has_sufficient_resources
+
+PERMISSIVE = {
+    "max_load_1m": "99999",
+    "min_available_memory": "0",
+    "min_free_disk_space": "0",
+}
+
+
+def test_rejects_constrained_system(make_config, caplog):
+    assert has_sufficient_resources(make_config("chat.example.org", PERMISSIVE))
+    for settings in (
+        {"max_load_1m": "-1.0"},
+        {"min_available_memory": "99999999G"},
+        {"min_free_disk_space": "99999999G"},
+    ):
+        config = make_config("chat.example.org", PERMISSIVE | settings)
+        caplog.clear()
+        assert not has_sufficient_resources(config), settings
+        assert "registration rejected" in caplog.text
+
+
+def test_unreadable_disk_does_not_reject(make_config, caplog):
+    config = make_config(
+        "chat.example.org", PERMISSIVE | {"min_free_disk_space": "99999999G"}
+    )
+    shutil.rmtree(config.mailboxes_dir)
+    assert has_sufficient_resources(config)
+    assert "ignoring" in caplog.text
+
+
+def test_one_unreadable_value_keeps_other_checks(make_config, monkeypatch, caplog):
+    def raise_error(*args):
+        raise psutil.Error("dud")
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(psutil, "getloadavg", raise_error)
+    config = make_config(
+        "chat.example.org", PERMISSIVE | {"min_free_disk_space": "99999999G"}
+    )
+    assert not has_sufficient_resources(config)
+    assert "ignoring" in caplog.text

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/acmetool/response-file.yaml.j2

@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
 "acme-enter-email": "{{ email }}"
-"acme-agreement:https://letsencrypt.org/documents/LE-SA-v1.6-August-18-2025.pdf": true
+"acme-agreement:https://letsencrypt.org/documents/LE-SA-v1.8-July-06-2026.pdf": true

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/basedeploy.py

@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ class Deployer:
             return self.put_template(src, dest, **kwargs)
         return self.put_file(src, dest)
 
-    def put_file(self, src, dest, mode="644"):
+    def put_file(self, src, dest, mode="644", **kwargs):
         if isinstance(src, str):
             src = get_resource(src)
         res = files.put(
@@ -176,6 +176,7 @@ class Deployer:
             user="root",
             group="root",
             mode=mode,
+            **kwargs,
         )
 
         return self._update_restart_signals(dest, res)

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/deployers.py

@@ -98,6 +98,19 @@ def _install_remote_venv_with_chatmaild(deployer) -> None:
         dest=remote_dist_file,
     )
 
+    # Remove venv if its Python major.minor doesn't match the system Python
+    server.shell(
+        name="remove stale chatmaild venv if python version changed",
+        commands=["\n".join([
+            f"if [ -d {remote_venv_dir} ]; then",
+            r"  re='[0-9]+\.[0-9]+'",  # match major.minor from 'Python X.Y.Z'"
+            '   SYS_VERSION=$(python3 --version | grep -oE "$re")',
+            f'  VENV_VERSION=$({remote_venv_dir}/bin/python --version 2>/dev/null | grep -oE "$re")',
+            f'  [ "$SYS_VERSION" = "$VENV_VERSION" ] || rm -rf {remote_venv_dir}',
+            "fi",
+        ])],
+    )
+
     pip.virtualenv(
         name=f"chatmaild virtualenv {remote_venv_dir}",
         path=remote_venv_dir,
@@ -138,9 +151,22 @@ class UnboundDeployer(Deployer):
         # On an IPv4-only system, if unbound is started but not configured,
         # it causes subsequent steps to fail to resolve hosts.
         with blocked_service_startup():
+            # dns-root-data is an optional package
+            # that contains /usr/share/dns/root.key
+            #
+            # This file is copied into /var/lib/unbound/root.key
+            # at the start of "unbound" systemd unit
+            # by /usr/libexec/unbound-helper shell script
+            # from the "unbound" package as of version 1.17.1-2+deb12u4
+            #
+            # The same /var/lib/unbound/root.key can be retrieved directly
+            # following the procedure from
+            # <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7958/#section-3.1>
+            # with "unbound-anchor -a /var/lib/unbound/root.key"
+            # We don't install and use "unbound-anchor".
             apt.packages(
                 name="Install unbound",
-                packages=["unbound", "unbound-anchor", "dnsutils"],
+                packages=["unbound", "dns-root-data", "dnsutils"],
             )
 
     def configure(self):
@@ -164,23 +190,16 @@ class UnboundDeployer(Deployer):
         self.put_file(
             src=BytesIO(b"nameserver 127.0.0.1\nnameserver 9.9.9.9\n"),
             dest="/etc/resolv.conf",
+            force=True,
         )
-        server.shell(
-            name="Generate root keys for validating DNSSEC",
-            commands=[
-                "unbound-anchor -a /var/lib/unbound/root.key || true",
-            ],
+        self.ensure_directory(
+            path="/etc/unbound/unbound.conf.d",
+        )
+        self.put_template(
+            "unbound/unbound.conf.j2",
+            "/etc/unbound/unbound.conf.d/chatmail.conf",
+            disable_ipv6=self.config.disable_ipv6,
         )
-        if self.config.disable_ipv6:
-            self.ensure_directory(
-                path="/etc/unbound/unbound.conf.d",
-            )
-            self.put_template(
-                "unbound/unbound.conf.j2",
-                "/etc/unbound/unbound.conf.d/chatmail.conf",
-            )
-        else:
-            self.remove_file("/etc/unbound/unbound.conf.d/chatmail.conf")
 
     def activate(self):
         server.shell(
@@ -247,6 +266,13 @@ class LegacyRemoveDeployer(Deployer):
     def install(self):
         apt.packages(name="Remove rspamd", packages="rspamd", present=False)
 
+        # unbound-anchor was used to download /var/lib/unbound/root.key
+        # It is replaced by dns-root-data which contains /usr/share/dns/root.key.
+        # unbound systemd unit copies /usr/share/dns/root.key
+        # into /var/lib/unbound/root.key automatically on start
+        # as long as /usr/share/dns/root.key is present.
+        apt.packages(name="Remove unbound-anchor", packages="unbound-anchor", present=False)
+
         # remove historic expunge script
         # which is now implemented through a systemd timer (chatmail-expire)
         self.remove_file("/etc/cron.d/expunge")
@@ -357,6 +383,8 @@ class ChatmailVenvDeployer(Deployer):
     def __init__(self, config):
         self.config = config
         self.units = (
+            # doveauth must restart when chatmaild/ini file changes
+            "doveauth",
             "chatmail-metadata",
             "lastlogin",
             "chatmail-expire",
@@ -391,6 +419,12 @@ class ChatmailDeployer(Deployer):
             src=BytesIO(b'APT::Install-Recommends "false";\n'),
             dest="/etc/apt/apt.conf.d/00InstallRecommends",
         )
+        # Pin dovecot-* to priority -1 before any apt operation, apt should
+        # never manage dovecot as our version might be lower than the distro's.
+        self.put_file(
+            src=StringIO("Package: dovecot-*\nPin: version *\nPin-Priority: -1\n"),
+            dest="/etc/apt/preferences.d/pin-dovecot",
+        )
         apt.update(name="apt update", cache_time=24 * 3600)
         apt.upgrade(name="upgrade apt packages", auto_remove=True)
 
@@ -505,15 +539,17 @@ def deploy_chatmail(config_path: Path, disable_mail: bool, website_only: bool) -
             ("nginx", 443),
             (["master", "smtpd"], 465),
             (["master", "smtpd"], 587),
-            (["imap-login", "dovecot"], 993),
+            (["dovecot", "imap-login"], 993),
             ("iroh-relay", 3340),
             ("mtail", 3903),
-            ("stats", 3904),
+            (["dovecot", "stats"], 3904),
             ("nginx", 8443),
             (["master", "smtpd"], config.postfix_reinject_port),
             (["master", "smtpd"], config.postfix_reinject_port_incoming),
             ("filtermail", config.filtermail_smtp_port),
             ("filtermail", config.filtermail_smtp_port_incoming),
+            ("filtermail", config.filtermail_http_port_incoming),
+            ("filtermail", config.filtermail_lmtp_port_transport),
         ]
         for service, port in port_services:
             print(f"Checking if port {port} is available for {service}...")

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/dovecot/deployer.py

@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-import io
 import urllib.request
 
 from chatmaild.config import Config
@@ -15,16 +14,22 @@ from cmdeploy.basedeploy import (
     is_in_container,
 )
 
-DOVECOT_ARCHIVE_VERSION = "2.3.21+dfsg1-3"
+DOVECOT_ARCHIVE_VERSION = "2.3.21+dfsg1-3+chatmail2"
 DOVECOT_PACKAGE_VERSION = f"1:{DOVECOT_ARCHIVE_VERSION}"
 
 DOVECOT_SHA256 = {
-    ("core", "amd64"): "dd060706f52a306fa863d874717210b9fe10536c824afe1790eec247ded5b27d",
-    ("core", "arm64"): "e7548e8a82929722e973629ecc40fcfa886894cef3db88f23535149e7f730dc9",
-    ("imapd", "amd64"): "8d8dc6fc00bbb6cdb25d345844f41ce2f1c53f764b79a838eb2a03103eebfa86",
-    ("imapd", "arm64"): "178fa877ddd5df9930e8308b518f4b07df10e759050725f8217a0c1fb3fd707f",
-    ("lmtpd", "amd64"): "2f69ba5e35363de50962d42cccbfe4ed8495265044e244007d7ccddad77513ab",
-    ("lmtpd", "arm64"): "89f52fb36524f5877a177dff4a713ba771fd3f91f22ed0af7238d495e143b38f",
+    ("amd64", 12, "core"): "ac3977264d9b9a6fcec53fd3f5cdd2a79ca8aa0324de530c07e535008540826e",
+    ("arm64", 12, "core"): "21626c9c9b52cbdcf1a17b5c09e3c4043e69aa371bf83cc2fcb3b7ddaecdc109",
+    ("amd64", 13, "core"): "47c242ef23c17e700ac19d52d82c9fdb2ebd757d8beb3a7f6781d2de59f87bd0",
+    ("arm64", 13, "core"): "c14c53f112c875f698c4cb6e5870c605cd0a9dd98d35a66e94ceb1827f8020a3",
+    ("amd64", 12, "imapd"): "92a7ab5fc7dc32886a0c34404f919f1335d397b48c467e0c1ef77e56978f60ea",
+    ("arm64", 12, "imapd"): "9369fd566fec4df109ef23debf34ea0417ae85beb29cbe7de619d4d1f31b120c",
+    ("amd64", 13, "imapd"): "e38cc1266455f937ed62f971ea859c47e1a99247841ed0ad946963b524cfdbc5",
+    ("arm64", 13, "imapd"): "11d97dabf23171b37f8b1335dfdb81d408f8b95391aea6d4066aecc9fde01dfe",
+    ("amd64", 12, "lmtpd"): "dc3de473789969f7dd3504ac8783da5e42a446d2d7a305a4e9d7081a6dfe71ab",
+    ("arm64", 12, "lmtpd"): "ae2cbd6c5c43f6d8e2172997b055448f4c79238e2f99cd9ab9200a7d9f548908",
+    ("amd64", 13, "lmtpd"): "833b243e28c7baff141ecf37456e310f5d836e7944a3b9f2fe5074adf0d6a418",
+    ("arm64", 13, "lmtpd"): "55af47a121ba7e23966b20ddaab2dff7feba4b34677864e045e31a702afa180d",
 }
 
 
@@ -34,38 +39,35 @@ class DovecotDeployer(Deployer):
     def __init__(self, config, disable_mail):
         self.config = config
         self.disable_mail = disable_mail
-        self.units = ["doveauth"]
+        self.units = []
 
     def install(self):
         arch = host.get_fact(Arch)
+        version_line = (host.get_fact(Command, "grep '^VERSION_ID=' /etc/os-release") or "").strip()
+        deb_release = int(version_line.split("=", 1)[1].strip('"'))
         with blocked_service_startup():
             debs = []
             for pkg in ("core", "imapd", "lmtpd"):
-                deb, changed = _download_dovecot_package(pkg, arch)
+                deb, changed = _download_dovecot_package(pkg, arch, deb_release)
                 self.need_restart |= changed
                 if deb:
                     debs.append(deb)
             if debs:
                 deb_list = " ".join(debs)
-                # First dpkg may fail on missing dependencies (stderr suppressed);
-                # apt-get --fix-broken pulls them in, then dpkg retries cleanly.
+                # apt-get install with local .deb paths resolves depends
+                # against the configured repos (e.g. pulls libwrap0),
+                # The pin file written earlier by ChatmailDeployer prevents apt
+                # from installing a 'wrong' version
                 server.shell(
                     name="Install dovecot packages",
                     commands=[
-                        f"dpkg --force-confdef --force-confold -i {deb_list} 2> /dev/null || true",
-                        "DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get -y --fix-broken install",
-                        f"dpkg --force-confdef --force-confold -i {deb_list}",
+                        "DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y "
+                        '-o Dpkg::Options::="--force-confdef" '
+                        '-o Dpkg::Options::="--force-confold" '
+                        f"--allow-downgrades {deb_list}",
                     ],
                 )
                 self.need_restart = True
-        self.put_file(
-            src=io.StringIO(
-                "Package: dovecot-*\n"
-                "Pin: version *\n"
-                "Pin-Priority: -1\n"
-            ),
-            dest="/etc/apt/preferences.d/pin-dovecot",
-        )
 
     def configure(self):
         configure_remote_units(self, self.config.mail_domain_bare, self.units)
@@ -78,7 +80,7 @@ class DovecotDeployer(Deployer):
         if not self.disable_mail and not self.need_restart:
             stale = host.get_fact(
                 Command,
-                'pid=$(systemctl show -p MainPID --value dovecot.service 2>/dev/null);'
+                "pid=$(systemctl show -p MainPID --value dovecot.service 2>/dev/null);"
                 ' [ "${pid:-0}" != "0" ] && readlink "/proc/$pid/exe" 2>/dev/null | grep -q "(deleted)"'
                 " && echo STALE || true",
             )
@@ -102,27 +104,32 @@ def _pick_url(primary, fallback):
         return fallback
 
 
-def _download_dovecot_package(package: str, arch: str) -> tuple[str | None, bool]:
+def _download_dovecot_package(package: str, arch: str, deb_release: int) -> tuple[str | None, bool]:
     """Download a dovecot .deb if needed, return (path, changed)."""
     arch = "amd64" if arch == "x86_64" else arch
     arch = "arm64" if arch == "aarch64" else arch
 
     pkg_name = f"dovecot-{package}"
-    sha256 = DOVECOT_SHA256.get((package, arch))
-    if sha256 is None:
+    if (arch, deb_release, package) not in DOVECOT_SHA256:
         op = apt.packages(packages=[pkg_name])
         return None, bool(getattr(op, "changed", False))
+    sha256 = DOVECOT_SHA256[(arch, deb_release, package)]
 
     installed_versions = host.get_fact(DebPackages).get(pkg_name, [])
     if DOVECOT_PACKAGE_VERSION in installed_versions:
         return None, False
 
-    url_version = DOVECOT_ARCHIVE_VERSION.replace("+", "%2B")
-    deb_base = f"{pkg_name}_{url_version}_{arch}.deb"
-    primary_url = f"https://download.delta.chat/dovecot/{deb_base}"
-    fallback_url = f"https://github.com/chatmail/dovecot/releases/download/upstream%2F{url_version}/{deb_base}"
+    # Primary URL: flat structure with distro suffix in filename
+    primary_deb = f"{pkg_name}_{DOVECOT_ARCHIVE_VERSION}+deb{deb_release}u1_{arch}.deb"
+    primary_url = f"https://download.delta.chat/dovecot/{primary_deb}"
+    # GitHub release files: escaped + in tag and filename
+    url_version_escaped = DOVECOT_ARCHIVE_VERSION.replace("+", "%2B")
+    fallback_deb = f"{pkg_name}_{url_version_escaped}%2Bdeb{deb_release}u1_{arch}.deb"
+    fallback_url = (
+        f"https://github.com/chatmail/dovecot/releases/download/upstream%2F{url_version_escaped}/{fallback_deb}"
+    )
     url = _pick_url(primary_url, fallback_url)
-    deb_filename = f"/root/{deb_base}"
+    deb_filename = f"/root/{primary_deb}"
 
     files.download(
         name=f"Download {pkg_name}",
@@ -134,6 +141,7 @@ def _download_dovecot_package(package: str, arch: str) -> tuple[str | None, bool
 
     return deb_filename, True
 
+
 def _configure_dovecot(deployer, config: Config, debug: bool = False):
     """Configures Dovecot IMAP server."""
     deployer.put_template(
@@ -144,9 +152,7 @@ def _configure_dovecot(deployer, config: Config, debug: bool = False):
         disable_ipv6=config.disable_ipv6,
     )
     deployer.put_file("dovecot/auth.conf", "/etc/dovecot/auth.conf")
-    deployer.put_file(
-        "dovecot/push_notification.lua", "/etc/dovecot/push_notification.lua"
-    )
+    deployer.put_file("dovecot/push_notification.lua", "/etc/dovecot/push_notification.lua")
 
     # as per https://doc.dovecot.org/2.3/configuration_manual/os/
     # it is recommended to set the following inotify limits

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/dovecot/dovecot.conf.j2

@@ -37,11 +37,15 @@ default_client_limit = 20000
 # the following warning will be logged:
 #   Warning: service(imap): process_limit (1024) reached, client connections are being dropped
 service imap {
-  process_limit = 50000
+  process_limit = {{ config.max_imap_connections }}
 }
 
-mail_server_admin = mailto:root@{{ config.mail_domain }}
-mail_server_comment = Chatmail server
+{% if config.privacy_mail %}
+# Advertised to clients as IMAP METADATA /shared/admin (RFC 5464).
+# The privacy_mail contact from chatmail.ini is used because it is
+# the only address set by an operator.
+mail_server_admin = mailto:{{ config.privacy_mail }}
+{% endif %}
 
 # `zlib` enables compressing messages stored in the maildir.
 # See

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/filtermail/deployer.py

@@ -20,10 +20,10 @@ class FiltermailDeployer(Deployer):
             return
 
         arch = host.get_fact(facts.server.Arch)
-        url = f"https://github.com/chatmail/filtermail/releases/download/v0.6.6/filtermail-{arch}"
+        url = f"https://github.com/chatmail/filtermail/releases/download/v0.7.4/filtermail-{arch}"
         sha256sum = {
-            "x86_64": "05c7e7ac244606c2eeb275f2d282ffdbc2403e0169f1cdd3110ffcebdb994a92",
-            "aarch64": "8cf8bbda4d907beca547b365cc7e6753532a74b1712492d0d2f3d2d8a553fb3d",
+            "x86_64": "484cb8dff083134aefba9fce4a6b7ef4784a0f0e28e5108ecf8bb9e58a44fd2c",
+            "aarch64": "66aa0ca2ca9add7a12d92883d76f8786384092adfde24a3d3a1d0b1f30d23a9e",
         }[arch]
         self.download_executable(url, self.bin_path, sha256sum)
 

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/mtail/delivered_mail.mtail

@@ -28,6 +28,13 @@ counter created_nonci_accounts
   }
 }
 
+# doveauth refusing new addresses because a chatmail.ini
+# system resource limit is exceeded.
+counter rejected_registrations
+/registration rejected: / {
+  rejected_registrations++
+}
+
 counter postfix_timeouts
 /timeout after DATA/ {
   postfix_timeouts++
@@ -73,6 +80,11 @@ counter incoming_unencrypted_mail_count
   filtered_incoming_mail_count++
 }
 
+counter incoming_mailer_daemon_mail_count
+/Incoming: Filtering mailer-daemon message from/ {
+  incoming_mailer_daemon_mail_count++
+  filtered_incoming_mail_count++
+}
 
 counter rejected_unencrypted_mail_count
 /Rejected unencrypted mail/ {

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/nginx/nginx.conf.j2

@@ -128,7 +128,10 @@ http {
                         proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
                 }
 
-		location /relay/probe {
+		# Endpoints Iroh uses for net_report probes and that clients
+		# probe to tell whether this relay works. Both paths are served
+		# by iroh-relay 0.35 and by the 1.0 line.
+		location /ping {
                         proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3340;
                         proxy_http_version 1.1;
 		}

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/postfix/main.cf.j2

@@ -85,6 +85,14 @@ inet_protocols = all
 
 lmtp_header_checks = regexp:/etc/postfix/lmtp_header_cleanup
 
+# Do not apply header checks to MIME headers
+# and other headers that are actually part of the message body.
+# Reference:
+# <https://www.postfix.org/postconf.5.html#disable_mime_input_processing>
+# <https://www.postfix.org/header_checks.5.html>
+# <https://stump.io/blog/2020/11/29/a-little-gotcha-with-postfixs-header_checks/>
+disable_mime_input_processing = yes
+
 mua_client_restrictions = permit_sasl_authenticated, reject
 mua_sender_restrictions = reject_sender_login_mismatch, permit_sasl_authenticated, reject
 mua_helo_restrictions = permit_mynetworks, reject_invalid_helo_hostname, reject_non_fqdn_helo_hostname, permit

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/postfix/master.cf.j2

@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ smtp      inet  n       -       y       -       -       smtpd
   -o smtpd_tls_mandatory_protocols=>=TLSv1.2
   -o smtpd_proxy_filter=127.0.0.1:{{ config.filtermail_smtp_port_incoming }}
   -o smtpd_relay_restrictions=reject_unauth_destination
-submission inet n       -       y       -       5000    smtpd
+submission inet n       -       y       -       {{ config.max_smtp_connections }}    smtpd
   -o syslog_name=postfix/submission
   -o smtpd_tls_security_level=encrypt
   -o smtpd_tls_mandatory_protocols=>=TLSv1.3
@@ -32,9 +32,9 @@ submission inet n       -       y       -       5000    smtpd
   -o smtpd_sender_restrictions=$mua_sender_restrictions
   -o smtpd_recipient_restrictions=
   -o smtpd_relay_restrictions=permit_sasl_authenticated,reject
-  -o smtpd_client_connection_count_limit=1000
+  -o smtpd_client_connection_count_limit={{ config.max_smtp_connections // 5 }}
   -o smtpd_proxy_filter=127.0.0.1:{{ config.filtermail_smtp_port }}
-smtps     inet  n       -       y       -       5000    smtpd
+smtps     inet  n       -       y       -       {{ config.max_smtp_connections }}    smtpd
   -o syslog_name=postfix/smtps
   -o smtpd_tls_wrappermode=yes
   -o smtpd_tls_security_level=encrypt
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ smtps     inet  n       -       y       -       5000    smtpd
   -o smtpd_sender_restrictions=$mua_sender_restrictions
   -o smtpd_recipient_restrictions=
   -o smtpd_relay_restrictions=permit_sasl_authenticated,reject
-  -o smtpd_client_connection_count_limit=1000
+  -o smtpd_client_connection_count_limit={{ config.max_smtp_connections // 5 }}
   -o smtpd_proxy_filter=127.0.0.1:{{ config.filtermail_smtp_port }}
 #628       inet  n       -       y       -       -       qmqpd
 pickup    unix  n       -       y       60      1       pickup
@@ -76,7 +76,6 @@ lmtp      unix  -       -       y       -       -       lmtp
 anvil     unix  -       -       y       -       1       anvil
 scache    unix  -       -       y       -       1       scache
 postlog   unix-dgram n  -       n       -       1       postlogd
-filter    unix -        n       n       -       -       lmtp
 # Local SMTP server for reinjecting outgoing filtered mail.
 127.0.0.1:{{ config.postfix_reinject_port }} inet  n       -       n       -       100      smtpd
   -o syslog_name=postfix/reinject

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/tests/plugin.py

@@ -10,13 +10,11 @@ from pathlib import Path
 
 import pytest
 from chatmaild.config import is_valid_ipv4, read_config
-from domain_validator import DomainValidator
 
 
 def format_mail_domain(raw_domain: str) -> str:
     if is_valid_ipv4(raw_domain):
         return f"[{raw_domain}]"
-    DomainValidator().validate_domain_re(raw_domain)
     return raw_domain
 
 
@@ -349,9 +347,9 @@ class ChatmailACFactory:
                 qr = (
                     f"dclogin:{addr}"
                     f"?p={password}&v=1"
-                    f"&ih={domain}&ip=993"
-                    f"&sh={domain}&sp=465"
-                    f"&ic=3&ss=default"
+                    f"&ih={domain}&ip=993&is=ssl"
+                    f"&sh={domain}&sp=465&ss=ssl"
+                    f"&ic=3"
                 )
                 future = account.add_transport_from_qr.future(qr)
             else:
@@ -362,7 +360,7 @@ class ChatmailACFactory:
 
             # ensure messages stay in INBOX so that they can be
             # concurrently fetched via extra IMAP connections during tests
-            account.set_config("delete_server_after", "10")
+            account.set_config("bcc_self", "1")
             accounts.append(account)
 
         for future in futures:

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/tests/test_dovecot_deployer.py

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ from types import SimpleNamespace
 
 import pytest
 from pyinfra.facts.deb import DebPackages
+from pyinfra.facts.server import Command
 
 from cmdeploy.dovecot import deployer as dovecot_deployer
 
@@ -19,12 +20,10 @@ def make_host(*fact_pairs):
     """
     facts = dict(fact_pairs)
 
-    def get_fact(cls):
+    def get_fact(cls, *args):
         if cls not in facts:
             registered = ", ".join(c.__name__ for c in facts)
-            raise LookupError(
-                f"unexpected get_fact({cls.__name__}); only registered: {registered}"
-            )
+            raise LookupError(f"unexpected get_fact({cls.__name__}); only registered: {registered}")
         return facts[cls]
 
     return SimpleNamespace(get_fact=get_fact)
@@ -82,7 +81,7 @@ def test_download_dovecot_package_skips_epoch_matched_install(monkeypatch):
         lambda **kwargs: downloads.append(kwargs),
     )
 
-    deb, changed = dovecot_deployer._download_dovecot_package("core", "amd64")
+    deb, changed = dovecot_deployer._download_dovecot_package("core", "amd64", deb_release=12)
 
     assert deb is None, f"expected no deb path when version matches, got {deb!r}"
     assert changed is False, "should not flag changed when version already installed"
@@ -109,12 +108,11 @@ def test_download_dovecot_package_uses_archive_version_for_url_and_filename(
         lambda **kwargs: downloads.append(kwargs),
     )
 
-    deb, changed = dovecot_deployer._download_dovecot_package("core", "amd64")
+    deb, changed = dovecot_deployer._download_dovecot_package("core", "amd64", deb_release=12)
 
-    archive_version = dovecot_deployer.DOVECOT_ARCHIVE_VERSION.replace("+", "%2B")
-    expected_deb = f"/root/dovecot-core_{archive_version}_amd64.deb"
+    expected_deb = f"/root/dovecot-core_{dovecot_deployer.DOVECOT_ARCHIVE_VERSION}+deb12u1_amd64.deb"
 
-    # Verify the returned path uses archive version, not package version (with epoch)
+    # Verify the returned path uses archive version with distro suffix, not package version (with epoch)
     assert changed is True, "should flag changed when package not yet installed"
     assert deb == expected_deb, f"deb path mismatch: {deb!r} != {expected_deb!r}"
     assert dovecot_deployer.DOVECOT_PACKAGE_VERSION not in deb, (
@@ -139,6 +137,7 @@ def test_install_skips_dpkg_path_when_epoch_matched_packages_present(
                 },
             ),
             (dovecot_deployer.Arch, "x86_64"),
+            (Command, 'VERSION_ID="12"'),
         ),
     )
     downloads = []
@@ -152,19 +151,17 @@ def test_install_skips_dpkg_path_when_epoch_matched_packages_present(
 
     assert downloads == [], "should not download when all packages epoch-matched"
     assert track_shell == [], "should not run dpkg when all packages epoch-matched"
-    assert deployer.need_restart is False, (
-        "need_restart should be False when nothing changed"
-    )
+    assert deployer.need_restart is False, "need_restart should be False when nothing changed"
 
 
-def test_install_unsupported_arch_falls_back_to_apt(
-    deployer, patch_blocked, mock_files_put, track_shell, monkeypatch
-):
-    # For unsupported architectures, all fact lookups return the arch string.
+def test_install_unsupported_arch_falls_back_to_apt(deployer, patch_blocked, mock_files_put, track_shell, monkeypatch):
     monkeypatch.setattr(
         dovecot_deployer,
         "host",
-        SimpleNamespace(get_fact=lambda cls: "riscv64"),
+        make_host(
+            (dovecot_deployer.Arch, "riscv64"),
+            (Command, 'VERSION_ID="12"'),
+        ),
     )
     apt_calls = []
 
@@ -184,9 +181,7 @@ def test_install_unsupported_arch_falls_back_to_apt(
         f"expected apt install of core/imapd/lmtpd, got {actual_pkgs}"
     )
     assert track_shell == [], "should not run dpkg for unsupported arch"
-    assert deployer.need_restart is True, (
-        "need_restart should be True when apt installed a package"
-    )
+    assert deployer.need_restart is True, "need_restart should be True when apt installed a package"
 
 
 def test_install_runs_dpkg_when_packages_need_download(
@@ -198,6 +193,7 @@ def test_install_runs_dpkg_when_packages_need_download(
         make_host(
             (dovecot_deployer.DebPackages, {}),
             (dovecot_deployer.Arch, "x86_64"),
+            (Command, 'VERSION_ID="12"'),
         ),
     )
     monkeypatch.setattr(
@@ -213,17 +209,15 @@ def test_install_runs_dpkg_when_packages_need_download(
 
     deployer.install()
 
-    assert len(track_shell) == 1, (
-        f"expected one server.shell() call for dpkg install, got {len(track_shell)}"
-    )
+    assert len(track_shell) == 1, f"expected one server.shell() call for dpkg install, got {len(track_shell)}"
     cmds = track_shell[0]["commands"]
-    assert len(cmds) == 3, f"expected 3 dpkg/apt commands, got: {cmds}"
-    assert cmds[0].startswith("dpkg --force-confdef --force-confold -i ")
-    assert "apt-get -y --fix-broken install" in cmds[1]
-    assert cmds[2].startswith("dpkg --force-confdef --force-confold -i ")
-    assert deployer.need_restart is True, (
-        "need_restart should be True after dpkg install"
-    )
+    assert len(cmds) == 1, f"expected single apt-get install command, got: {cmds}"
+    assert "apt-get install -y" in cmds[0]
+    assert '-o Dpkg::Options::="--force-confdef"' in cmds[0]
+    assert '-o Dpkg::Options::="--force-confold"' in cmds[0]
+    assert "--allow-downgrades" in cmds[0]
+    assert ".deb" in cmds[0]
+    assert deployer.need_restart is True, "need_restart should be True after dpkg install"
 
 
 def test_pick_url_falls_back_on_primary_error(monkeypatch):
@@ -232,6 +226,25 @@ def test_pick_url_falls_back_on_primary_error(monkeypatch):
 
     monkeypatch.setattr(dovecot_deployer.urllib.request, "urlopen", raise_error)
     result = dovecot_deployer._pick_url("http://primary", "http://fallback")
-    assert result == "http://fallback", (
-        f"should fall back when primary fails, got {result!r}"
+    assert result == "http://fallback", f"should fall back when primary fails, got {result!r}"
+
+
+def test_install_fails_on_unsupported_debian_version(deployer, patch_blocked, monkeypatch):
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        dovecot_deployer,
+        "host",
+        make_host(
+            (dovecot_deployer.Arch, "x86_64"),
+            (Command, 'VERSION_ID="99"'),
+        ),
     )
+
+    # Mock apt.packages to handle unsupported release gracefully
+    def fake_apt(**kwargs):
+        return SimpleNamespace(changed=False)
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(dovecot_deployer.apt, "packages", fake_apt)
+
+    # Should not error, just skip the dovecot-specific packages and use apt
+    deployer.install()
+    assert deployer.need_restart is False, "unsupported release should not trigger restart"

cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/unbound/unbound.conf.j2

@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
-# Managed by cmdeploy: disable IPv6 in unbound.
+# Managed by cmdeploy
 server:
+{% if disable_ipv6 %}
   interface: 127.0.0.1
   do-ip6: no
+{% endif %}
+  cache-max-negative-ttl: 0

doc/source/getting_started.rst

@@ -199,6 +199,93 @@ creating addresses, login with ssh to the deployment machine and run:
 Chatmail address creation will be denied while this file is present.
 
 
+.. _system-limits:
+
+Configurable System Limits
+--------------------------
+
+Limits for auto-rejecting address creation
+..........................................
+
+A relay refuses creation of new addresses
+when the machine runs low on resources,
+but existing addresses keep working.
+
+Three ``chatmail.ini`` settings control this,
+shown here with their defaults::
+
+    max_load_1m = 5
+    min_available_memory = 200M
+    min_free_disk_space = 1G
+
+- ``max_load_1m`` is the maximum 1-minute load average,
+  as reported by ``uptime``;
+  it counts processes waiting for disk I/O as well as for CPU.
+  It is deliberately not scaled by the number of CPUs
+  because I/O rather than CPU is what typically limits a relay.
+
+- ``min_available_memory`` is the minimum memory available without swapping.
+
+- ``min_free_disk_space`` is the minimum free disk space
+  on the file system holding the mailboxes.
+
+The defaults suit the small machine described in
+`Minimal requirements and prerequisites`_.
+
+.. note::
+
+   If you run a bigger machine,
+   raise ``max_load_1m`` after watching ``uptime`` under typical load.
+
+Rejections are logged by the ``doveauth`` service,
+so you can check whether a limit is set too tightly::
+
+    journalctl -u doveauth --grep 'registration rejected'
+
+If ``mtail_address`` is set, rejections are also counted
+in the ``rejected_registrations`` metric.
+
+
+Overall IMAP and SMTP connection limits
+.......................................
+
+Two further settings bound how many connections
+the relay accepts at all, again shown with their defaults::
+
+    max_imap_connections = 10000
+    max_smtp_connections = 1000
+
+``max_imap_connections`` becomes the Dovecot imap process limit,
+and ``max_smtp_connections`` the Postfix process limit
+on each of the submission and smtps ports.
+A single client IP may use up to a fifth of ``max_smtp_connections``.
+Each connection costs memory,
+so these limits defend the relay against running out of RAM.
+
+Unless ``imap_compress`` is enabled,
+an IMAP connection that is idle for ``imap_hibernate_timeout``
+is handed over to the ``imap-hibernate`` process
+and does not count towards ``max_imap_connections``,
+which is why a relay can serve far more IMAP clients
+than this setting suggests.
+
+If you run a large relay with 10k or 100k's of addresses,
+check current connection counts before upgrading
+and set the limits accordingly.
+
+To see how close a running relay is to these two limits,
+copy ``scripts/check-connections.sh`` from the relay repository
+onto the relay and run it there::
+
+    imap             5  ports 143,993   (max_imap_connections)
+                     5  dovecot sessions, 0 of them in an active imap process
+    submission       0  ports 465,587   (max_smtp_connections per port)
+    incoming         0  port 25         (from other relays, no chatmail.ini limit)
+
+It counts established sockets with ``ss``
+and cross-checks the IMAP number against ``doveadm who``.
+
+
 Running a relay with self-signed certificates
 ----------------------------------------------
 

doc/source/overview.rst

@@ -156,6 +156,7 @@ Chatmail relay dependency diagram
         postfix --- |10083|filtermail-transport;
         filtermail-outgoing --- |10025 reinject|postfix;
         filtermail-incoming --- |10026 reinject|postfix;
+        postfix --- |milter opendkim.sock|OpenDKIM
         dovecot --- |doveauth.socket|doveauth;
         dovecot --- |message delivery|maildir["maildir
         /home/vmail/.../user"];
@@ -179,26 +180,51 @@ Chatmail relay dependency diagram
         style nginx-right fill:#f66;
         style postfix fill:#f66;
         style dovecot fill:#f66;
+        style OpenDKIM fill:#f66;
         style notification-proxy fill:#f66;
 
-Message between users on the same relay
----------------------------------------
+Accepting and delivering mail
+-----------------------------
 
 .. mermaid::
-    :caption: This diagram shows the path a non-federated message takes.
+    :caption: This diagram shows all the paths a message can take.
 
-    graph LR;
-        sender --> |465|smtps/smtpd;
-        sender --> |587|submission/smtpd;
-        smtps/smtpd --> |10080|filtermail;
-        submission/smtpd --> |10080|filtermail;
-        filtermail --> |10025|smtpd_reinject;
-        smtpd_reinject --> cleanup;
-        cleanup --> qmgr;
-        qmgr --> smtpd_accepts_message;
-        qmgr --> |lmtp|dovecot;
-        dovecot --> recipient;
-        dovecot --> sender's_other_devices;
+    flowchart LR
+        subgraph chatmail relay
+            subgraph postfix
+                qmgr .-> lmtp-filtermail["lmtp/lmtp-filtermail (default_transport)"]
+                qmgr .-> lmtp["lmtp (local_transport)"]
+                lmtp --> cleanup["cleanup (lmtp_header_cleanup)"]
+                bounce
+                smtpd-submission["smtpd/submission"]
+                smtpd-smtps["smtpd/smtps"]
+                smtpd-reinject-outgoing["smtpd/reinject-outgoing"] --> authclean["cleanup/authclean (submission_header_cleanup)"]
+                authclean --> qmgr
+                smtpd-smtp["smtpd/smtp"]
+                smtpd-reinject-incoming["smtpd/reinject-incoming"] --> qmgr
+            end
+            lmtp-filtermail --LMTP inet:10083--> filtermail-transport
+            cleanup --LMTP unix:private/dovecot-lmtp --> dovecot
+            dovecot --> maildir
+            smtpd-submission --SMTP inet:10080--> filtermail-outgoing
+            smtpd-smtps --SMTP inet:10080--> filtermail-outgoing
+            filtermail-outgoing --SMTP inet:10025--> smtpd-reinject-outgoing
+            open-dkim["OpenDKIM (signing only)"] <--milter unix:opendkim/opendkim.sock--> smtpd-reinject-outgoing
+            bounce <--milter unix:opendkim/opendkim.sock--> open-dkim
+            bounce --> qmgr
+            nginx
+            smtpd-smtp -.SMTP inet:10081.-> filtermail-incoming
+            nginx -.HTTP inet:10082.-> filtermail-incoming
+            filtermail-incoming --SMTP inet:10026--> smtpd-reinject-incoming
+        end
+        filtermail-transport -.SMTP inet:25.-> mta1[Remote relay]
+        filtermail-transport -.HTTPS /mxdeliv.-> mta1
+        client[Client] -.SMTP inet:587.-> smtpd-submission
+        client -.SMTP inet:465.-> smtpd-smtps
+        client -.SMTP inet:443.-> nginx
+        nginx -.SMTP inet:465.-> smtpd-smtps
+        mta2[Remote relay] -.SMTP inet:25.-> smtpd-smtp
+        mta2 -.HTTPS /mxdeliv.-> nginx
 
 Operational details of a chatmail relay
 ----------------------------------------

scripts/check-connections.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+#
+# Show current IMAP and SMTP connections on a chatmail relay,
+# to compare against the max_imap_connections and max_smtp_connections
+# settings in chatmail.ini.  Run this on the relay itself.
+set -e
+
+# Count established TCP connections whose local port is one of the arguments.
+established() {
+    filter=$(printf 'sport = :%s or ' "$@")
+    ss -Htn state established "( ${filter% or } )" | wc -l
+}
+
+# doveadm prints a header line and then one line per logged-in user,
+# with that user's number of connections in the second column.
+sessions=$(doveadm who | awk 'NR > 1 { n += $2 } END { print n + 0 }')
+
+# Unless imap_compress is enabled, connections idle for
+# imap_hibernate_timeout are handed over to the imap-hibernate
+# process, so they cost no imap process while idle.
+active=$(pgrep -x imap | wc -l)
+
+printf 'imap        %6d  ports 143,993   (max_imap_connections)\n' "$(established 143 993)"
+printf '            %6d  dovecot sessions, %d of them in an active imap process\n' "$sessions" "$active"
+printf 'submission  %6d  ports 465,587   (max_smtp_connections per port)\n' "$(established 465 587)"
+printf 'incoming    %6d  port 25         (from other relays, no chatmail.ini limit)\n' "$(established 25)"