Troubleshooting

Start with the logs: set LOG_LEVEL=debug, restart, and watch docker logs -f viauna while you reproduce the problem.

"Could not connect to the mail server (…)"

Viauna couldn't open an IMAP connection; the text in brackets says why.

• A certificate name error ("Hostname/IP does not match certificate's altnames"): you're connecting by an internal name or an IP address. Set IMAP_TLS_SERVERNAME and SMTP_TLS_SERVERNAME to the name on the certificate.
• A self-signed certificate: IMAP_TLS_VERIFY=false and SMTP_TLS_VERIFY=false, on a test server only.
• A timeout or ECONNREFUSED: check the host, the port and the security setting (993 is tls, 143 is starttls), and that the container can reach the server: the same Docker network, no firewall in between.

"Wrong email or password."

The mail server refused the login. Use the full address, as your phone's mail app does. A separate username can only be entered when ALLOW_CUSTOM_SERVERS is on.

"That address can't sign in here."

The address, or the login it uses, isn't in ALLOWED_DOMAINS.

"Too many attempts. Wait a few minutes and try again."

Viauna's own limit: 20 sign-in attempts per client address, and 8 per login, every 15 minutes. If everyone gets it at once, TRUST_PROXY is probably off, so every client looks like your proxy. The counts are kept in memory, so restarting Viauna clears them.

Nobody can sign in, though the passwords are right

Your mail server may be blocking Viauna's address after failed logins. See Logins through Viauna come from one address.

"Cross-origin request refused."

PUBLIC_URL doesn't match the address in the browser. Scheme, host and port must all match: https://webmail.example.com, with no path.

New mail only appears after a reload

Your proxy is buffering the live-update stream. Turn response buffering off for Viauna (proxy_buffering off; in nginx); see Reverse proxy.

New mail in the Inbox should appear within about a second. Mail in other folders, including what filters file there, takes up to a minute: that's expected. See How it works: Mail sync.

A folder doesn't show

Viauna shows the folders the mailbox is subscribed to, and the special ones (Inbox, Sent, Drafts, Archive, Junk, Trash). Subscribe to the folder in another mail app.

Settings > Filters can't connect

Viauna reaches ManageSieve on the IMAP host's port 4190 unless told otherwise. Set MANAGESIEVE_HOST, MANAGESIEVE_PORT and MANAGESIEVE_SECURITY for your server, or, if it has no ManageSieve, FILTERS=false and VACATION=false. See Filters and vacation.

A seventh tab never finishes loading

Browsers allow six connections per site over HTTP/1.1, and each tab's live-update stream holds one. Turn on HTTP/2 in your proxy.

Someone still signed in after being removed from ALLOWED_DOMAINS

ALLOWED_DOMAINS and ALLOW_CUSTOM_SERVERS are checked at sign-in only. Sessions already open run until they expire (SESSION_DAYS after their last use) or the person signs out. An admin can't end someone's session yet; changing SECRET_KEY and restarting signs everyone out.

Everyone is signed out after a restart

The data directory isn't on a persistent volume, SECRET_KEY changed between starts, or DATABASE_URL now points at a different database.

Viauna stops at startup with a database error

• "DATABASE_URL must start with…": only postgres://, postgresql://, mysql:// and mariadb:// URLs are understood; leave it unset for SQLite.
• A connection error: check the host, port and password, and that the database server accepts connections from Viauna's address.
• A permission error: the database user must be able to create tables in its database.

See Databases.

Labels can't be added in some folder

The server doesn't allow custom keywords there (PERMANENTFLAGS without \*). See Mail servers.

Attachments fail to upload or send

Check MAX_UPLOAD_MB, your proxy's body size limit (client_max_body_size in nginx), and your mail server's message size limit.

"Your mail server won't send as …: 553 …"

Someone tried to add an address to Send mail as that the mail server won't let their login send as: it isn't the mailbox's own, nor an alias the server gives it. Give the mailbox that alias on the mail server (in Mailu, on the alias's or the user's page in its admin pages), then add the address again. With SEND_AS=server, Ask your mail server again confirms an address already in the list once the server takes it. See Sending as other addresses.

The code to send as an address never arrives

It goes from the mailbox to that address through the mailbox's own mail server (or, for an address with its own provider's server, through that server, to itself). Look in that address's junk folder, and check that the mailbox can send to it. A new code can be sent once a minute, and five a day to one address.

Searching message text is slow

Search runs on the mail server. Turn on its full-text search; see Mail servers.

Still stuck?

Open an issue with the version (at the foot of the sign-in page), your mail server and reverse proxy, and the relevant log lines. Report security problems privately instead.