Tough one to crack.
- install solr
- rebuild dovecot with solr enabled
- create a file called /var/db/solr/dovecot/conf/elevate.xml
- copy /var/db/solr/solr/conf/elevate.xml to /var/db/solr/dovecot/conf/elevate.xml
- change the owner of the above file to "solr"
Highly non-obvious, but revealed by tracking /var/log/maillog and /var/log/solr/solr.log
Now, to access: ssh -L 8983:localhost:8983