When working with Dovecot's virtual users, passwords are typically stored in dovecot.passwd using various encryption schemes. The CRYPT format is one of the supported password storage mechanisms, which uses the traditional Unix crypt(3) function.

You have several options to generate CRYPT-compatible password hashes:

# Method 1: Using openssl
openssl passwd -crypt yourpassword

# Method 2: Using Python
python -c 'import crypt; print(crypt.crypt("yourpassword"))'

# Method 3: Using Perl
perl -e 'print crypt("yourpassword", "salt"), "\n"'

The dovecot.passwd file typically follows this format:

username:{CRYPT}hashedpassword:uid:gid::/home/virtual/username::userdb_extra_fields

To update a specific user's password:

# Backup original file
cp /etc/dovecot/dovecot.passwd /etc/dovecot/dovecot.passwd.bak

# Edit the file (replace 'username' and 'newhash')
sed -i 's/^username:{CRYPT}.*/username:{CRYPT}newhash:uid:gid::\/home\/virtual\/username::userdb_extra_fields/' /etc/dovecot/dovecot.passwd

After updating the password file, you should:

1. Restart Dovecot: systemctl restart dovecot
2. Test authentication: doveadm auth test username

If you're managing multiple users, consider these alternatives:

# Using doveadm (requires SSHA or other modern schemes)
doveadm pw -s CRYPT -p yourpassword

# Batch processing with a shell script
while IFS=: read -r user _ uid gid _ home _ extra; do
  if [ "$user" = "targetuser" ]; then
    newhash=$(openssl passwd -crypt "newpassword")
    echo "$user:{CRYPT}$newhash:$uid:$gid::$home::$extra"
  else
    echo "$user:{CRYPT}*:$uid:$gid::$home::$extra"
  fi
done < dovecot.passwd > dovecot.passwd.new

• CRYPT is considered weak - consider migrating to SHA512-CRYPT or ARGON2
• Set proper file permissions: chmod 600 /etc/dovecot/dovecot.passwd
• Use doveadm pw for stronger encryption schemes

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When working with Dovecot's virtual user authentication, passwords are typically stored in /etc/dovecot/passwd or similar location. The file follows this format:

username:{CRYPT}hashedpassword:uid:gid:homedir:maildir

For example, an entry might look like:

john:{CRYPT}$1$saltvalue$hashedvalue:5000:5000:/var/vmail/john:/var/vmail/john/Maildir

The most reliable tool for generating CRYPT hashes is the doveadm utility that comes with Dovecot:

doveadm pw -s CRYPT -p "newpassword"

This will output a string like:

{CRYPT}$1$salt$hashedpassword

If doveadm isn't available, you can use these UNIX tools:

Using openssl (for MD5 CRYPT)

openssl passwd -1 "newpassword"

Using perl

perl -e 'print crypt("newpassword", "\$1\$saltvalue\$") . "\n"'

Once you have the hashed password:

1. Make a backup of the current password file:

   
   cp /etc/dovecot/passwd /etc/dovecot/passwd.backup
   

2. Edit the file with your preferred editor (vim/nano):

   
   vim /etc/dovecot/passwd
   

3. Locate the user and replace the password portion after {CRYPT}
4. Save the file

Test the new password with:

doveadm auth test username

Or manually verify with:

su -s /bin/sh -c 'doveadm auth test username' dovecot

• Always use strong passwords (12+ characters, mixed case, numbers, symbols)
• Consider migrating to more secure schemes like SHA512-CRYPT if supported
• Set proper file permissions on the password file:

  
  chmod 600 /etc/dovecot/passwd
  chown dovecot:dovecot /etc/dovecot/passwd
  

If authentication fails after the change:

• Verify the password file location in /etc/dovecot/conf.d/auth-passwdfile.conf.ext
• Check Dovecot logs:

  
  journalctl -u dovecot -f
  

• Ensure the password scheme in Dovecot configuration matches what you're using