Backup restore warnings: MailSync::restricted_restore HTTP 403 Forbidden Access denied

Symptoms

The following warnings appear in the restore log after restoring a cPanel account from a backup:

CONFIG_TEXT: Warning ("MailSync::restricted_restore", line 123): The server failed to synchronize "user@domain.tld"'s mail because an error happened: (XID xxxxxx) "/usr/bin/doveadm" reported error code "75" when it ended: Cpanel::Exception/(XID xxxxxx) HTTP Status 403 - Forbidden Access denied

Cause

During a backup restore, cPanel attempts a post-restore dsync via MailSync::restricted_restore to pull any mail received on the source server after the backup snapshot was taken. The HTTP 403 Forbidden error indicates the source server is unreachable or not authorized for this secondary sync step.

The backup restore itself completes successfully. These warnings are expected and harmless.

Resolution

No action is required. The accounts were restored fully from the backup. Only mail that arrived on the source server after the backup snapshot was taken may be missing.

If recovering the missing mail is necessary, either:

• Use a live transfer instead of a backup restore, or
• Manually sync the delta mail using imapsync or doveadm sync with valid credentials once both servers are accessible.

Additional Resources

What is the Live Transfer option?

How to manually copy email between servers using an IMAP client