For most people, the usual:
./configure
make
sudo make install
is enough. This installs Dovecot under /usr/local.
When building from git, you need to run ./autogen.sh first.
If you have installed some libraries into locations which require special include or library paths, you can give them in CPPFLAGS and LDFLAGS environment variables. For example:
CPPFLAGS=-I/opt/openssl/include LDFLAGS=-L/opt/openssl/lib ./configure
See ./configure --help for a list of all available configure options.
See Installation for more information.
Start with the minimal configuration installed in /usr/local/etc/dovecot/.
Read through, and make needed modifications.
Once everything is configured, start Dovecot by running "dovecot" binary.
See the Online configuration documentation for more information.
If you're in a hurry, go at least through Quick Configuration.
Dovecot supports OpenSSL for SSL/TLS functionality.