.\" Copyright (c) 2012-2018 Dovecot authors, see the included COPYING file
.TH DOVEADM\-INSTANCE 1 "2012-02-16" "Dovecot v2.3" "Dovecot"
.SH NAME
doveadm\-instance \- Manage the list of running Dovecot instances
.\"------------------------------------------------------------------------
.SH SYNOPSIS
.BR doveadm " [" \-Dv "] [" \-f
.IR formatter ]
.B instance list
.br
.BR doveadm " [" \-Dv "] " "instance remove"
.IR name " | " base_dir
.\"------------------------------------------------------------------------
.SH DESCRIPTION
The
.B doveadm instance
commands are used to manage the list of Dovecot instances running on the
server.
In most installations there is only one Dovecot instance, but in some cases
is may be useful to have more (e.g. running director proxy and backend in
the same server).
.PP
Instances are added to the list automatically when Dovecot is started.
Each instance is uniquely identified by its
.I base_dir
setting.
Instances can be named by setting
.I instance_name
in each instance\(aqs
.IR dovecot.conf .
When an instance is named, it can be accessed easily by giving
.BI \-i\  instance_name
command line parameter for Dovecot binaries (e.g. doveadm).
.\"------------------------------------------------------------------------
@INCLUDE:global-options-formatter@
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.SH ARGUMENTS
.TP
.I name
The value of an instance\(aqs
.I instance_name
setting.
.\"-------------------------------------
.TP
.I base_dir
The base directory of a Dovecot instance.
.\"------------------------------------------------------------------------
.SH COMMANDS
.SS instance list
.B doveadm instance list
.PP
This command lists the seen Dovecot instances.
.\"-------------------------------------
.SS instance remove
.B doveadm instance remove
.IR name " | " base_dir
.PP
This command removes the specified instance.
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@INCLUDE:reporting-bugs@
.\"------------------------------------------------------------------------
.SH SEE ALSO
.BR doveadm (1)