CYR_DENY(8)

✨ cyr_deny ✨

cyr_deny(8) — like, the Cyrus IMAP version, section 8 of your manual, bestie 💖

okay so picture this: somebody is being SO annoying on your mail server and you need them GONE. not deleted, not locked out forever, just... denied. that's what cyr_deny is for. it's the little bouncer at the door of Cyrus services and it's giving main character energy 💅

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🌸 NAME 🌸

cyr_deny — Cyrus IMAP documentation, and also: deny users access to Cyrus services 🚫

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

cyr_deny [ -C config-file ] [ -s services ] [ -m message ] user
cyr_deny [ -C config-file ] -a user
cyr_deny [ -C config-file ] -l

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✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

okay so cyr_deny is how you deny individual users access to Cyrus services. like, one person. by name. no group drama, no whole-domain meltdown, just them 🙈

the first synopsis up there? that one denies user user access to Cyrus services. the second synopsis? that one allows access again — yes bestie, it's reversible, breathe 💖. and cyr_deny does all of this by adding an entry to the Cyrus user_deny.db database. the third synopsis just lists the entries in the database, so you can peek at who's currently in timeout 👀

the service names that get matched are the ones as used in cyrus.conf(5). so like, whatever you call it over there is what you call it over here. no cap.

and fr fr, cyr_deny reads its configuration options out of the imapd.conf(5) file unless you say otherwise with -C.

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🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

• -C config-file — use the config file config-file you specify instead of the default imapd.conf(5). your config, your rules, periodt ✨
• -a, --allow — allow access to all services for user user. this literally removes any entry from the deny database. it's the un-deny. the "we're good now" button 🫶
• *-s *services, --services=services — deny access only to the given services, which is a comma-separated list of wildcard patterns. the default is "*", which denies access to all services. so like, if you don't say anything, it's everybody-out energy 😭
• *-m *message, --message=message — provide a message which is sent to the user to explain why access is being denied. if you don't specify one, a default message gets used. a little note! a little "it's not you it's the policy" 💌
• -l, --list — list the entries in the deny database. the naughty list, but make it a database 📋

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🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

[NB: Examples needed]

yeah bestie, that's genuinely what it says. the examples section is out here living its unfinished-icon era 💀

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👑 HISTORY 👑

this command was introduced in version 3.0. so it's been serving looks since 3.0, iykyk 🌟

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🍓 FILES 🍓

• /etc/imapd.conf
• <configdirectory>/user_deny.db

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💜 SEE ALSO 💜

• imapd.conf(5)

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🧚 AUTHOR 🧚

The Cyrus Team, Nic Bernstein (Onlight) — icons, honestly 👑

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⭐ COPYRIGHT ⭐

1993–2026, The Cyrus Team

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and that's the whole page, bestie!! this was CYR_DENY(8) from the Cyrus IMAP collection, version 3.12.4, dated Sep 09, 2026. go forth and deny responsibly 💅✨🦋