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I have recently set up a mail server running postfix as the MTA, and dovecot as the imap/pop3 daemon. Originally, and by default on Debian, it was using the mbox format. For reliability reasons, I decided that it would be best to use the Maildir format instead. Getting help from a friend, I successfully modified the postfix and dovecot servers to use the Maildir format with the mailboxes located in ~/Maildir.

However, mutt is still doing weird things when I try to access my mail using it. It wants to create a ~/Mail directory, and furthermore wants to look for an mbox in /var/mail/. There are a few users on the system, and while I know that I can use my .muttrc to solve this problem, how can I fix this problem for all users on my server?

Ryan H
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2 Answers2

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mutt also uses a global muttrc file. Typically it's in /etc/Muttrc or /usr/local/etc/Muttrc if you compiled it separately from the distro. You can just put the Maildir settings there.

This mutt & Maildir Mini-HOWTO should give you an idea of what settings you need to change. Essentially you need to set folder and mbox and spoolfile to all point to ~/Maildir for everyone, and ensure mbox_type=Maildir as well. Then there are a few other options to change the behavior.

Kamil Kisiel
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    Note: `spoolfile` is the actual delivery ("spool") mailbox, while `folder` is the folder that contains all the user's mailboxes. So typically `spoolfile` would be inside `folder`, not the same. Also, there's no need to mess with `mbox`. Users can set it as they like, or disable moving of mail (`set move=no`), in which case it's not needed. – sleske Aug 25 '10 at 23:27
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Like most Unix / Linux programs, mutt will also read a system-wide configuration file, /etc/Muttrc.

You can put system-wide settings (like where the home mailbox is) there.

sleske
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    "(like where the home mailbox is)" Where? – bobobobo Aug 21 '10 at 16:13
  • @bobobobo: There are several options which control this. Read up on options "mbox", "move" and "spoolfile" in mutt's manual ( http://www.mutt.org/doc/manual/ ). Then ask a specific question here :-). – sleske Aug 25 '10 at 23:23
  • For example, `$HOME/.muttrc` would be one option, which would map to `/home/username/.muttrc` where `username` represents the account used to log into the computer. – Dave Jarvis Sep 14 '18 at 17:44