How do I restart dovecot IMAP4 / IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) under RHEL / CentOS / Fedora / Debian / Ubutnu Linux?

The Internet Message Access Protocol is a standard client / server protocol for accessing e-mail from your local server. It will not just retrieve email but view it and manipulate it on the server itself. IMAP4 clients can create, rename, and/or delete mailboxes (usually presented to the user as folders) on the server, and move messages between mailboxes. Multiple mailbox support also allows servers to provide access to shared and public folders.

=> The default IMAP server port number: 143
=> Under Linux you can install different IMAP servers.

Restart Dovecot IMAP mail server

Type the following command to start / stop and restart server under RHEL / CentOS / Fedora Linux:
# service dovecot start
# service dovecot stop
# service dovecot restart
Automatically reload sever next boot, enter:
# chkconfig dovecot on
To turn off auto loading on next boot, enter:
# chkconfig dovecot off

A Note About Debian / Ubuntu Linux User

Type the following command to start / stop and restart server under Debian / Ubuntu Linux:
# /etc/init.d/dovecot start
# /etc/init.d/dovecot stop
# /etc/init.d/dovecot restart
Use a text-based application called sysvconfig that allows you to configure which services are started at boot time for each runlevel including dovecot under Debian / Ubuntu Linux:
# sysvconfig