It turned out it was the postfix package that was the problem, and apt was just trying to configure it each time I tried to remove dovecot- postfix. After purging and reinstalling dovecot it picked up the corrected hostname and configured correctly.
** Summary changed: - unable to configure or uninstall dovecot-postfix + funny characters in hostname causes dovecot to fail to configure ** Description changed: - I installed dovecot-postfix, and it failed to configure. The same error - apparently prevents it from being removed as well, so now I'm stuck with - a broken package. The error is: + I installed dovecot-postfix, and it failed to configure. The error is: newaliases: warning: valid_hostname: invalid character 40(decimal): devserv.(null) newaliases: fatal: file /etc/postfix/main.cf: parameter myhostname: bad parameter value: devserv.(null) dpkg: error processing postfix (--configure): This appears to be because my /etc/hosts file listed the FQDN as - "devserv.(null)". I have corrected the name but the dpkg scripts still - are using the broken name and failing to do anything, even remove - --purge. + "devserv.(null)". -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Server Team, which is subscribed to dovecot in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/887599 Title: funny characters in hostname causes dovecot to fail to configure To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/dovecot/+bug/887599/+subscriptions -- Ubuntu-server-bugs mailing list Ubuntu-server-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-server-bugs
