DOVEADM-EXEC(1)                     Dovecot                    DOVEADM-EXEC(1)

NAME
       doveadm-exec - Easily execute commands from Dovecot's libexec
       directory.

SYNOPSIS
       doveadm [GLOBAL OPTIONS] exec binary [binary arguments]

DESCRIPTION
       This command allows administrators and local users to simply execute
       commands from within /usr/libexec/dovecot. So for example a logged in
       system user could start a pre-authenticated imap session, using the
       command: doveadm exec imap. An administrator would use the command
       doveadm exec imap -u username.

GLOBAL OPTIONS
       Global doveadm(1) options:

       -D

           Enables verbosity and debug messages.



       -O

           Do not read any config file, just use defaults. The
           dovecot_storage_version setting defaults to the latest version, but
           can be overridden with -o.



       -k

           Preserve entire environment for doveadm, not just
           import_environment setting.



       -v

           Enables verbosity, including progress counter.



       -i instance-name

           If using multiple Dovecot instances, choose the config file based
           on this instance name.

           See instance_name setting for more information.



       -c config-file

           Read configuration from the given config-file. By default it first
           reads config socket, and then falls back to
           /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf. You can also point this to config socket
           of some instance running compatible version.



       -o setting=value

           Overrides the configuration setting from /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf
           and from the userdb with the given value. In order to override
           multiple settings, the -o option may be specified multiple times.



ARGUMENTS
       binary

           the name of an executable located in /usr/libexec/dovecot.



       binary arguments

           options and arguments, which will be passed through to the binary.



EXAMPLE
       This example demonstrates how to deliver a message from a file to a
       user's mailbox.

         doveadm exec dovecot-lda -d user@example.net -f admin@example.net < ~/stuff/welcome.msg

REPORTING BUGS
       Report bugs, including doveconf -n output, to the Dovecot Mailing List
       <dovecot@dovecot.org>. Information about reporting bugs is available
       at: <https://dovecot.org/bugreport.html>

       SEE ALSO

       doveadm(1)

e5ac02a                            May 2026                    DOVEADM-EXEC(1)