IMAPSYNC(1)

NAME
imapsync - IMAP synchronisation, sync, copy or migration tool. Synchronise mailboxes between two imap servers. Good at IMAP migration. More than 36 different IMAP server softwares supported with success.

$Revision: 1.350 $

SYNOPSIS
To synchronise imap account "foo" on "imap.truc.org"
           to imap account "bar" on "imap.trac.org"
           with foo password "secret1"
           and bar password "secret2":

  imapsync \
   --host1 imap.truc.org --user1 foo --password1 secret1 \
   --host2 imap.trac.org --user2 bar --password2 secret2

INSTALL
 imapsync works fine under any Unix OS with perl.
 imapsync works fine under Windows (2000, XP) with ActiveState's 5.8 Perl
 or as a standalone binary software.

imapsync is already available directly on the following distributions (at least): FreeBSD, Debian, Ubuntu, Gentoo, NetBSD, Darwin, Mandriva and OpenBSD (yeah!).

 Get imapsync at
 http://www.linux-france.org/prj/imapsync/

 You'll find a compressed tarball called imapsync-x.xx.tgz
 where x.xx is the version number. Untar the tarball where
 you want (on Unix):

 tar xzvf  imapsync-x.xx.tgz

 Go into the directory imapsync-x.xx and read the INSTALL file.
 The INSTALL file is also at
 http://www.linux-france.org/prj/imapsync/INSTALL

 The freshmeat record is at http://freshmeat.net/projects/imapsync/

USAGE
 imapsync [options]

To get a description of each option just run imapsync like this:

  imapsync --help
  imapsync

The option list:

  imapsync [--host1 server1]  [--port1 <num>]
           [--user1 <string>] [--passfile1 <string>]
           [--host2 server2]  [--port2 <num>]
           [--user2 <string>] [--passfile2 <string>]
           [--ssl1] [--ssl2]
           [--tls1] [--tls2]
           [--authmech1 <string>] [--authmech2 <string>]
           [--noauthmd5]
           [--folder <string> --folder <string> ...]
           [--folderrec <string> --folderrec <string> ...]
           [--include <regex>] [--exclude <regex>]
           [--prefix2 <string>] [--prefix1 <string>]
           [--regextrans2 <regex> --regextrans2 <regex> ...]
           [--sep1 <char>]
           [--sep2 <char>]
           [--justfolders] [--justfoldersizes] [--justconnect] [--justbanner]
           [--syncinternaldates]
           [--idatefromheader]
           [--buffersize  <int>]
           [--syncacls]
           [--regexmess <regex>] [--regexmess <regex>]
           [--maxsize <int>]
           [--maxage <int>]
           [--minage <int>]
           [--skipheader <regex>]
           [--useheader <string>] [--useheader <string>]
           [--skipsize] [--allowsizemismatch]
           [--delete] [--delete2]
           [--expunge] [--expunge1] [--expunge2] [--uidexpunge2]
           [--subscribed] [--subscribe] [--subscribe_all]
           [--nofoldersizes]
           [--dry]
           [--debug] [--debugimap][--debugimap1][--debugimap2]
           [--timeout <int>] [--fast]
           [--split1] [--split2]
           [--reconnectretry1 <int>] [--reconnectretry2 <int>]
           [--pidfile <filepath>]
           [--tmpdir  <dirpath>]
           [--version] [--help]

DESCRIPTION
The command imapsync is a tool allowing incremental and recursive imap transfer from one mailbox to another.

By default all folders are transferred, recursively.

We sometimes need to transfer mailboxes from one imap server to another. This is called migration.

imapsync is a good tool because it reduces the amount of data transferred by not transferring a given message if it is already on both sides. Same headers and the transfer is done only once. All flags are preserved, unread will stay unread, read will stay read, deleted will stay deleted. You can stop the transfer at any time and restart it later, imapsync works well with bad connections. imapsync is CPU hungry so nice and renice commands can be a good help. imapsync can be memory hungry too, especially with large messages.

You can decide to delete the messages from the source mailbox after a successful transfer (it is a good feature when migrating). In that case, use the --delete --expunge1 options.

You can also just synchronize a mailbox A from another mailbox B in case you just want to keep a "live" copy of B in A (--delete2 may help)

OPTIONS
To get a description of each option just invoke:

imapsync --help

HISTORY
I wrote imapsync because an enterprise (basystemes) paid me to install a new imap server without losing huge old mailboxes located on a far away remote imap server accessible by a low bandwidth link. The tool imapcp (written in python) could not help me because I had to verify every mailbox was well transferred and delete it after a good transfer. imapsync started life as a copy_folder.pl patch. The tool copy_folder.pl comes from the Mail-IMAPClient-2.1.3 perl module tarball source (in the examples/ directory of the tarball).

EXAMPLE
While working on imapsync parameters please run imapsync in dry mode (no modification induced) with the --dry option. Nothing bad can be done this way.

To synchronize the imap account "buddy" (with password "secret1") on host "imap.src.fr" to the imap account "max" (with password "secret2") on host "imap.dest.fr":

 imapsync --host1 imap.src.fr  --user1 buddy --password1 secret1 \
          --host2 imap.dest.fr --user2 max   --password2 secret2

Then you will have max's mailbox updated from buddy's mailbox.

SECURITY
You can use --passfile1 instead of --password1 to give the password since it is safer. With --password1 option any user on your host can see the password by using the 'ps auxwwww' command. Using a variable (like $PASSWORD1) is also dangerous because of the 'ps auxwwwwe' command. So, saving the password in a well protected file (600 or rw-------) is the best solution.

imasync is not totally protected against sniffers on the network since passwords may be transferred in plain text if CRAM-MD5 is not supported by your imap servers. Use --ssl1 (or --tls1) and --ssl2 (or --tls2) to enable encryption on host1 and host2.

You may authenticate as one user (typically an admin user), but be authorized as someone else, which means you don't need to know every user's personal password. Specify --authuser1 "adminuser" to enable this on host1. In this case, --authmech1 PLAIN will be used by default since it is the only way to go for now. So don't use --authmech1 SOMETHING with --authuser1 "adminuser", it will not work. Same behavior with the --authuser2 option.

EXIT STATUS
imapsync will exit with a 0 status (return code) if everything went good. Otherwise, it exits with a non-zero status.

So if you have an unreliable internet connection, you can use this loop in a Bourne shell:

        while ! imapsync ...; do
              echo imapsync not complete
        done

LICENSE
imapsync is free, gratis and open source software cover by the Do What The Fuck You Want To Public License (WTFPL). See COPYING file included in the distribution or the web site http://sam.zoy.org/wtfpl/COPYING

MAILING-LIST
The public mailing-list may be the best way to get support.

To write on the mailing-list, the address is: <imapsync@linux-france.org>

To subscribe, send a message to: <imapsync-subscribe@listes.linux-france.org>

To unsubscribe, send a message to: <imapsync-unsubscribe@listes.linux-france.org>

To contact the person in charge for the list: <imapsync-request@listes.linux-france.org>

The list archives may be available at: http://www.linux-france.org/prj/imapsync_list/ So consider that the list is public, anyone can see your post. Use a pseudonym or do not post to this list if you want to stay private.

Thank you for your participation.

AUTHOR
Gilles LAMIRAL <lamiral@linux-france.org>

Feedback good or bad is always welcome.

The newsgroup comp.mail.imap may be a good place to talk about imapsync. I read it when imapsync is concerned. A better place is the public imapsync mailing-list (see below).

Gilles LAMIRAL earns his living writing, installing, configuring and teaching free, open and gratis softwares. Do not hesitate to pay him for that services.

BUG REPORT GUIDELINES
Help us to help you: follow the following guidelines.

Report any bugs or feature requests to the public mailing-list or to the author.

Before reporting bugs, read the FAQ, the README and the TODO files. http://www.linux-france.org/prj/imapsync/

Upgrade to last imapsync release, maybe the bug is already fixed.

Upgrade to last Mail-IMAPClient Perl module. http://search.cpan.org/dist/Mail-IMAPClient/ maybe the bug is already fixed.

Make a good title with word "imapsync" in it (my spam filter won't filter it), Don't write an email title with just "imapsync" or "problem", a good title is made of keywords summary, not too long (one visible line).

Don't write imapsync in uppercase in the email title, we'll know you run windows(tm) and you haven't read the README yet.

Help us to help you: in your report, please include:

 - imapsync version.

 - output given with --debug --debugimap near the failure point.
   Isolate a message or two in a folder 'BUG' and use

     imapsync ... --folder 'BUG' --debug --debugimap

 - imap server software on both side and their version number.

 - imapsync with all the options you use,  the full command line
   you use (except the passwords of course).

 - IMAPClient.pm version.

 - operating system running imapsync.

 - operating systems on both sides and the third side in case
   you run imapsync on a foreign host from the both.

 - virtual software context (vmware, xen etc.)

Most of those values can be found as a copy/paste at the begining of the output.

One time in your life, read the paper "How To Ask Questions The Smart Way" http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html and then forget it.

IMAP SERVERS
Failure stories reported with the following 4 imap servers:

 - MailEnable 1.54 (Proprietary) http://www.mailenable.com/
 - DBMail 0.9, 2.0.7 (GPL). But DBMail 1.2.1 works.
   Patient and confident testers are welcome.
 - dkimap4 2.39
 - Imail 7.04 (maybe).

Success stories reported with the following 36 imap servers (software names are in alphabetic order):

 - 1und1 H mimap1 84498 [host1]
 - Archiveopteryx 2.03, 2.04, 2.09, 2.10 [host2], 3.0.0 [host2]
   (OSL 3.0) http://www.archiveopteryx.org/
 - BincImap 1.2.3 (GPL) (http://www.bincimap.org/)
 - CommuniGatePro server (Redhat 8.0) (Solaris), CommuniGate Pro 5.2.17[host2] (CentOS 5.4)
 - Courier IMAP 1.5.1, 2.2.0, 2.1.1, 2.2.1, 3.0.8, 3.0.3, 4.1.1 (GPL)
   (http://www.courier-mta.org/)
 - Critical Path (7.0.020)
 - Cyrus IMAP 1.5, 1.6, 2.1, 2.1.15, 2.1.16, 2.1.18
   2.2.1, 2.2.2-BETA, 2.2.10, 2.2.12,
   v2.2.3-Invoca-RPM-2.2.3-8,
   2.3-alpha (OSI Approved),
   v2.2.12-Invoca-RPM-2.2.12-3.RHEL4.1,
   2.2.13,
   v2.3.1-Invoca-RPM-2.3.1-2.7.fc5,
   v2.3.7,
   (http://asg.web.cmu.edu/cyrus/)
 - David Tobit V8 (proprietary Message system).
 - DBMail 1.2.1, 2.0.4, 2.0.9, 2.2rc1 (GPL) (http://www.dbmail.org/).
   2.0.7 seems buggy.
 - Deerfield VisNetic MailServer 5.8.6 [host1]
 - Domino (Notes) 4.61[host1], 6.5, 5.0.6, 5.0.7, 7.0.2, 6.0.2CF1, 7.0.1[host1], 8.0.1[host1]
 - Dovecot 0.99.10.4, 0.99.14, 0.99.14-8.fc4, 1.0-0.beta2.7,
   1.0.0 [dest/source] (LGPL) (http://www.dovecot.org/)
 - Eudora WorldMail v2
 - GMX IMAP4 StreamProxy.
 - Groupwise IMAP (Novell) 6.x and 7.0. Buggy so see the FAQ.
 - iPlanet Messaging server 4.15, 5.1, 5.2
 - IMail 7.15 (Ipswitch/Win2003), 8.12
 - MDaemon 7.0.1, 8.0.2, 8.1, 9.5.4 (Windows server 2003 R2 platform)
 - Mercury 4.1 (Windows server 2000 platform)
 - Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5, 6.0.6249.0[host1], 6.0.6487.0[host1],
   6.5.7638.1 [host2], Exchange 2007 SP1 (with Update Rollup 2),
   Exchange2007-EP-SP2,
   Exchange 2010 RTM (Release to Manufacturing) [host2]
 - Netscape Mail Server 3.6 (Wintel !)
 - Netscape Messaging Server 4.15 Patch 7
 - OpenMail IMAP server B.07.00.k0 (Samsung Contact ?)
 - OpenWave
 - Qualcomm Worldmail (NT)
 - Rockliffe Mailsite 5.3.11, 4.5.6
 - Samsung Contact IMAP server 8.5.0
 - Scalix v10.1, 10.0.1.3, 11.0.0.431
 - SmarterMail, Smarter Mail 5.0 Enterprise.
 - SunONE Messaging server 5.2, 6.0 (SUN JES - Java Enterprise System)
 - Sun Java(tm) System Messaging Server 6.2-2.05,  6.2-7.05
 - Sun Messaging Server 6.3
 - Surgemail 3.6f5-5
 - UW-imap servers (imap-2000b) rijkkramer IMAP4rev1 2000.287
   (RedHat uses UW like 2003.338rh), v12.264 Solaris 5.7 (OSI Approved)
   (http://www.washington.edu/imap/)
 - UW - QMail v2.1
 - Imap part of TCP/IP suite of VMS 7.3.2
 - Zimbra-IMAP 3.0.1 GA 160, 3.1.0 Build 279, 4.0.5, 4.5.2, 4.5.6, 5.5, 6.x

Please report to the author any success or bad story with imapsync and do not forget to mention the IMAP server software names and version on both sides. This will help future users. To help the author maintaining this section report the two lines at the begining of the output if they are useful to know the softwares. Example:

 Host1 software:* OK louloutte Cyrus IMAP4 v1.5.19 server ready
 Host2 software:* OK Courier-IMAP ready

You can use option --justconnect to get those lines. Example:

  imapsync --host1 imap.troc.org --host2 imap.trac.org --justconnect

Please rate imapsync at http://freshmeat.net/projects/imapsync/ or better give the author a book, he likes books: http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/1C9UNDIH3P7R7/ (or its paypal account gilles.lamiral@laposte.net)

HUGE MIGRATION
Pay special attention to options --subscribed --subscribe --delete --delete2 --expunge --expunge1 --expunge2 --uidexpunge2 --maxage --minage --maxsize --useheader --fast

If you have many mailboxes to migrate think about a little shell program. Write a file called file.csv (for example) containing users and passwords. The separator used in this example is ';'

The file.csv file contains:

user0001;password0001;user0002;password0002 user0011;password0011;user0012;password0012 ...

And the shell program is just:

 { while IFS=';' read  u1 p1 u2 p2; do
        imapsync --user1 "$u1" --password1 "$p1" --user2 "$u2" --password2 "$p2" ...
 done ; } < file.csv

Welcome in shell programming !

Hacking
Feel free to hack imapsync as the WTFPL Licence permits it.

Links
Entries for imapsync:
  http://www.imap.org/products/showall.php

SIMILAR SOFTWARES
  imap_tools    : http://www.athensfbc.com/imap_tools
  offlineimap   : http://software.complete.org/offlineimap
  mailsync      : http://mailsync.sourceforge.net/
  imapxfer      : http://www.washington.edu/imap/
                   part of the imap-utils from UW.
  mailutil      : replace imapxfer in
                   part of the imap-utils from UW.
                  http://www.gsp.com/cgi-bin/man.cgi?topic=mailutil
  imaprepl      : http://www.bl0rg.net/software/
                  http://freshmeat.net/projects/imap-repl/
  imap_migrate  : http://freshmeat.net/projects/imapmigration/
  imapcopy      : http://home.arcor.de/armin.diehl/imapcopy/imapcopy.html
  migrationtool : http://sourceforge.net/projects/migrationtool/
  imapmigrate   : http://sourceforge.net/projects/cyrus-utils/
  wonko_imapsync: http://wonko.com/article/554
                  see also tools/wonko_ruby_imapsync
  pop2imap      : http://www.linux-france.org/prj/pop2imap/

Feedback (good or bad) will often be welcome.

$Id: imapsync,v 1.350 2010/09/06 01:05:09 gilles Exp gilles $