.TH "DOVEADM-USER" "1" "May 2026" "e5ac02a" "Dovecot"
.SH "NAME"
\fBdoveadm-user\fR - Perform a user lookup in Dovecot's userdbs
.SH "SYNOPSIS"
.P
\fBdoveadm\fR \[lB]\fIGLOBAL OPTIONS\fR\[rB] \fBuser\fR \[lB]\fB-a\fR \fIuserdb_socket_path\fR\[rB] \[lB]\fB-e\fR \fItemplate\fR\[rB] \[lB]\fB-f\fR \fIfield\fR\[rB] \[lB]\fB-u\fR\[rB] \[lB]\fB-x\fR \fIauth_info\fR\[rB] \fIuser\fR...
.SH "DESCRIPTION"
.P
The \fBuser\fR command is used to perform a user lookup - to show what information Dovecot sees about the \fIuser\fR (s), or if it exists at all in the configured \fIuserdb\fR (s).
.P
The \fIauth_info\fR may be useful when the userdb is for example a SQL database and you are using %variables, like \fB%{protocol}\fR or \fB%{local_ip}\fR, in the \fIuserdb_sql_query\fR setting. Or when you have configured the userdb in a way like this:
.P
.RS 2
.nf
userdb passwd-file {
  passwd_file_path = /etc/%{protocol}.passwd
}
.fi
.RE
.SH "GLOBAL OPTIONS"
.P
Global doveadm(1) \fIoptions\fR:
.P
\fB-D\fR
.RS 0
.RS 4
.P
Enables \fIverbosity\fR and debug messages.
.RE 0

.RE 0

.P
\fB-O\fR
.RS 0
.RS 4
.P
Do not read any config file, just use defaults. The \fBdovecot_storage_version\fR setting defaults to the latest version, but can be overridden with \fB-o\fR.
.RE 0

.RE 0

.P
\fB-k\fR
.RS 0
.RS 4
.P
Preserve entire environment for doveadm, not just \fBimport_environment\fR setting.
.RE 0

.RE 0

.P
\fB-v\fR
.RS 0
.RS 4
.P
Enables verbosity, including progress counter.
.RE 0

.RE 0

.P
\fB-i\fR \fIinstance-name\fR
.RS 0
.RS 4
.P
If using multiple Dovecot instances, choose the config file based on this instance name.
.P
See \fBinstance_name\fR setting for more information.
.RE 0

.RE 0

.P
\fB-c\fR \fIconfig-file\fR
.RS 0
.RS 4
.P
Read configuration from the given \fIconfig-file\fR. By default it first reads config socket, and then falls back to \fI/etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf\fR. You can also point this to config socket of some instance running compatible version.
.RE 0

.RE 0

.P
\fB-o\fR \fIsetting\fR\fB=\fR\fIvalue\fR
.RS 0
.RS 4
.P
Overrides the configuration \fIsetting\fR from \fI/etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf\fR and from the userdb with the given \fIvalue\fR. In order to override multiple settings, the \fB-o\fR option may be specified multiple times.
.RE 0

.RE 0

.SH "OPTIONS"
.P
\fB-a\fR \fIuserdb_socket_path\fR
.RS 0
.RS 4
.P
This option is used to specify an absolute path to an alternative UNIX domain socket.
.P
By default doveadm(1) will use the socket \fI/rundir/auth-userdb\fR. The socket may be located in another directory, when the default \fIbase_dir\fR setting was overridden in \fI/etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf\fR.
.RE 0

.RE 0

.P
\fB-e\fR \fItemplate\fR
.RS 0
.RS 4
.P
When this option and a string with %variables is given, doveadm(1) will show the expanded string for the user. This option can't be used together with the \fB-f\fR or \fB-u\fR options.
.RE 0

.RE 0

.P
\fB-f\fR \fIfield\fR
.RS 0
.RS 4
.P
When this option and the name of a userdb field is given, doveadm(1) will show only the value of the specified field. This option can't be used together with the \fB-e\fR or \fB-u\fR options.
.RE 0

.RE 0

.P
\fB-u\fR
.RS 0
.RS 4
.P
When this option is given, doveadm(1) will only show values from the \fIuserdb\fR. Without \fB-u\fR parameter if any of the \fIuid\fR, \fIgid\fR, \fIhome\fR or \fImail_path\fR fields are missing, their defaults are taken from configuration file. This option can't be used together with the \fB-e\fR or \fB-f\fR options.
.RE 0

.RE 0

.P
\fB-x\fR \fIauth_info\fR
.RS 0
.RS 4
.P
\fIauth_info\fR specifies additional conditions for the \fBuser\fR command. The \fIauth_info\fR option string has to be given as \fIname\fR \fB=\fR \fIvalue\fR pair. For multiple conditions the \fB-x\fR option could be supplied multiple times.
.P
Possible names for the \fIauth_info\fR are:
.P
\fBservice\fR
.RS 4
.P
The service for which the userdb lookup should be tested. The value may be the name of a service, commonly used with Dovecot. For example: \fBimap\fR, \fBpop3\fR or \fBsmtp\fR.
.RE 0

.P
\fBsession\fR
.RS 4
.P
Session identifier.
.RE 0

.P
\fBlip\fR
.RS 4
.P
The local IP address (server) for the test.
.RE 0

.P
\fBrip\fR
.RS 4
.P
The remote IP address (client) for the test.
.RE 0

.P
\fBlport\fR
.RS 4
.P
The local port, e.g. 143
.RE 0

.P
\fBrport\fR
.RS 4
.P
The remote port, e.g. 24567
.RE 0

.P
\fBreal_lip\fR
.RS 4
.P
The local IP to which the client connected on this host.
.RE 0

.P
\fBreal_rip\fR
.RS 4
.P
The remote IP where client connected from to this host.
.RE 0

.P
\fBreal_lport\fR
.RS 4
.P
The local port to which client connected to to this host.
.RE 0

.P
\fBreal_rport\fR
.RS 4
.P
The remote port from where the client connected from to this host.
.RE 0

.P
\fBforward_<field>\fR
.RS 4
.P
Field to forward as %{forward:field} to auth process.
.RE 0

.RE 0

.RE 0

.SH "ARGUMENTS"
.P
\fIuser\fR
.RS 0
.RS 4
.P
Is a \fIuser\fR's login name. Depending on the configuration, a login name may be for example \fBjane\fR or \fB\fI\(lajohn@example.com\(ra\fB\fR. It's also possible to use '\fB*\fR' and '\fB?\fR' wildcards (e.g. \fB-u
\[rs]*@example.org\fR).
.RE 0

.RE 0

.SH "EXAMPLE"
.P
Perform a user lookup for the users jane and \fI\(lajohn@example.com\(ra\fR:
.P
.RS 2
.nf
doveadm user jane john@example.com
.fi
.RE
.P
.RS 2
.nf
userdb: jane
  uid       : 8001
  gid       : 8001
  home      : /home/jane
  mail_path : ~/sdbox
  plugins   : sieve
  quota_storage_size: 150M

userdb: john@example.com
  home      : /srv/mail/8/70312/79832
  uid       : 79832
  gid       : 70312
  mail_path : ~/mdbox
.fi
.RE
.P
User lookup, using wildcards:
.P
.RS 2
.nf
doveadm user \[rs]*.?oe@example.net
.fi
.RE
.P
.RS 2
.nf
jane.doe@example.net
judy.roe@example.net
john.doe@example.net
.fi
.RE
.SH "REPORTING BUGS"
.P
Report bugs, including \fIdoveconf -n\fR output, to the Dovecot Mailing List \fI\(ladovecot@dovecot.org\(ra\fR. Information about reporting bugs is available at: \fI\(lahttps://dovecot.org/bugreport.html\(ra\fR
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.P
doveadm(1)