HTTPD(8)

💅 HTTPD(8) — Cyrus IMAP, bestie edition

okay so this is the httpd page from the Cyrus IMAP docs, and honestly? it's giving "small but mighty." let's get into it 🎀

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✨ NAME ✨

httpd — Cyrus IMAP documentation

HTTP server process. yep, that's the whole vibe. it serves HTTP. icon behavior.

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

httpd [ -C config-file ] [ -U uses ] [ -T timeout ] [ -D ]
    [ -s ] [ -p ssf ] [ -q ]

look at her go. so many little flags. main character energy fr 💅

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

okay so httpd is an HTTP server. she takes commands in on her standard input and responds back out on her standard output. that's the whole loop, no cap.

⚠️ here's the important part, bestie: httpd MUST be invoked by master(8) with those descriptors attached to a remote client connection. like, that's not a suggestion. it must happen. don't try to launch her yourself and get weird about it 😭

she reads her config options out of the imapd.conf(5) file, unless you tell her otherwise with -C. simple as that.

and here's a cute little detail 🫶 — if the directory <configdirectory>/log/user exists, then httpd will create protocol telemetry logs for sessions that authenticate as user. those telemetry logs get stored in the log/user directory, with a filename of the httpd process-id. so log/user/<pid> energy. slay.

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💖 OPTIONS 💖

• -C config-file — use the config file config-file instead of the default imapd.conf(5). like, "I know a guy" but for config. ✨
• -U uses — the max number of times this process should be used for new connections before shutting down. default is 250. she has a limit, she's only human 💀
• -T timeout — how many seconds the process will wait for a new connection before shutting down. note: a value of 0 (zero) will disable the timeout entirely. default is 60.
• -D — run the external debugger specified in debug_command. detective mode 🔍
• -s — serve HTTP over SSL (https). all data to and from httpd is encrypted using the Secure Sockets Layer. privacy queen 🌈
• -p ssf — tell httpd that an external layer exists. an SSF (security strength factor) of 1 means an integrity protection layer exists. any higher SSF implies some form of privacy protection. iykyk 🔥
• -q — ignore quotas on DAV appends. this feature was introduced in version 3.0. (yes she's been around a minute 👑)

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🧚 EXAMPLES 🧚

httpd is commonly included in the SERVICES section of cyrus.conf(5) like so:

SERVICES {
    imap        cmd="imapd -U 30" listen="imap" prefork=0
    imaps       cmd="imapd -s -U 30" listen="imaps" prefork=0 maxchild=100
    lmtpunix    cmd="lmtpd" listen="/var/run/cyrus/socket/lmtp" prefork=0 maxchild=20
    sieve       cmd="timsieved" listen="sieve" prefork=0
    notify      cmd="notifyd" listen="/var/run/cyrus/socket/notify" proto="udp" prefork=1
    httpd       cmd="httpd" listen=8080 prefork=1 maxchild=20
}

see how she's just vibing in there at the bottom? prefork=1 maxchild=20. that's her. 🎀

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🕰️ HISTORY 🕰️

a beta release of httpd was first introduced in the caldav branch of Cyrus in version 2.4.17, and was included in the mainline releases beginning in version 2.5.0. glow-up confirmed ✨

the quota override option, -q, was introduced with Cyrus version 3.0. she got an upgrade 💅

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🍓 FILES 🍓

• /etc/imapd.conf

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👀 SEE ALSO 👀

• imapd.conf(5)
• master(8)

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🌟 AUTHOR 🌟

The Cyrus Team, Nic Bernstein (Onlight). legends only 🫶

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💜 COPYRIGHT 💜

1993–2026, The Cyrus Team

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okay that's the whole page, bestie! go forth and serve that HTTP 💖

shoutout to version 3.8.8, dated Sep 09, 2026 — she's stamped, sealed, and absolutely iconic. periodt. 🎀✨