Add migration story for LDAP UUID home directories

This commit is contained in:
Martin Weinelt
2026-03-15 00:31:04 +01:00
parent 59eae7f3d0
commit 98acd76bbf
4 changed files with 461 additions and 4 deletions
+101 -4
View File
@@ -5,10 +5,107 @@ With mail server configuration best practices changing over time we might need
to make changes that require you to complete manual migration steps before you
can deploy a new version of NixOS mailserver.
The initial `mailserver.stateVersion` value should be copied from the setup
guide that you used to initially set up your mail server. If in doubt you can
always initialize it at `1` and walk through all assertions, that might apply
to your setup.
The initial :option:`mailserver.stateVersion` value should be copied from the
setup guide that you used to initially set up your mail server. If in doubt you
can always initialize it at ``1`` and walk through all assertions, that might
apply to your setup.
NixOS 26.05
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#4 Dovecot LDAP UUID-based home directories
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
LDAP Support in NixOS mailserver was introduced during the 23.11 release cycle
and came with a number of flaws that we are correcting now, three years later.
This particular migration is needed because up until now we were
relying on email addresses to construct the Dovecot home directory path
(``var/vmail/ldap/user@example.com``) which is fragile: addresses can
change, requiring manual homedir relocation. Switching to UUID-based homedirs
(``/var/vmail/ldap/<uuid>``) ensures stable, unique paths and applies well-known
best practices to mailserver management.
1. Copy the migration script script to your mailserver and make it executable:
.. code-block:: console
cd /tmp
wcurl https://gitlab.com/simple-nixos-mailserver/nixos-mailserver/-/blob/master/migrations/nixos-mailserver-migration-04.py
chmod +x nixos-mailserver-migration-04.py
2. Stop the ``dovecot.service``.
.. code-block:: bash
systemctl stop dovecot.service
3. Create a backup or snapshot of your :option:`mailserver.mailDirectory`, so
you can restore should anything go wrong.
4. Run the migration script and pass the required arguments to enable LDAP lookups:
The script should be run under the user who owns the :option:`mailserver.mailDirectory`.
If run as root it will automatically switch into the appropriate user by itself.
The script will not modify your data unless called with ``--execute``.
The migration script finds all Dovecot home directories in
``/var/vmail/ldap/`` (or any other :option:`mailserver.mailDirectory`),
for example that of bob at ``/var/vmail/ldap/bob@example.com``.
It then takes ``bob@example.com`` and queries the LDAP server for
``mail=bob@example.com`` to retrieve the UUID attribute. Finally
it starts suggesting the neceessary move operations to arrive at
``/var/vmail/ldap/f3b4e8ea-087f-42cc-95f0-cbfd99386092`` for bob.
Example:
.. code-block:: bash
./nixos-mailserver-migration-04.py \
--ldap-uri ldaps://ldap1.example.com
--ldap-bind-dn cn=mail,ou=accounts,dc=example,dc=com \
--ldap-bind-pw-file /run/keys/ldap-bind-pw \
--ldap-base ou=people,ou=accounts,dc=example,dc=com \
--ldap-scope sub \
--ldap-filter "(mail=%s)" \
--ldap-attr-uuid entryUUID \
/var/vmail
For the ``--ldap-attr-uuid`` parameter we expect a long-term stable
identifier, ideally a UUID field. The exact attribute name depends on your
LDAP implementation, for example:
- Authentik: ``uid`` `[1]`_
- Kanidm: ``uuid`` `[2]`_
- Keycloak ``entryUUID``
- OpenLDAP: ``entryUUID`` (`RFC4530`_)
If yours LDAP provider isn't listed you can determine the correct
attribute by quering a user entry with ``ldapsearch``. Finally, configure
:option:`mailserver.ldap.attributes.uuid` accordingly.
Add ``--ldap-starttls`` if you use the the `ldap://` URI scheme and require
explicit TLS.
.. _[1]: https://docs.goauthentik.io/add-secure-apps/providers/ldap#users
.. _[2]: https://kanidm.github.io/kanidm/stable/integrations/ldap.html#data-mapping
.. _RFC4530: https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc4530.html
5. Review the script output.
It's primary job is to determine the UUID for an LDAP account, so that it
can rename the Dovecot home directory from mail address to UUID within the
same directory.
The script can highlight various inconsistencies and problems, that should
be reviewed and acted upon.
If in doubt, join our community chat for help before applying any changes.
6. Rerun the command with ``--execute`` or run the proposed commands manually.
7. Update the ``mailserver.stateVersion`` to ``4``.
NixOS 25.11
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