Switch from /var/mail/username to IMAP and how to move folders
Bo Milvang-Jensen
I'm currently using mutt (1.5.12) always on the same UNIX machine,
where the inbox is a local file (/var/mail/username) and where
outgoing mail is sent via sendmail.I save mails to folders in a
directory on the local file system (in mbox format) and I keep a
folder containing my sent mails, via
set folder="~/Mail_mutt"
set record="=sent"
I've been told that the current mail system will be shut down and that
I need to start using a mail server that supports POP and IMAP for
incoming and SMTP for outgoing mail.
If I go with IMAP (rather than POP), is it correct that I can choose
whether to keep my mail folders on the local file system (i.e. like
now) or to have them on the IMAP server? What are the pros and cons of
these two ways?
If I'm going to move my 2000 folders containing 4 Gbyte of neatly
organised e-mails from the last 15 years from the local file system to
the IMAP server, how do I do that?
Thanks!
Cheers, Bo
Erwan David
> Hi comp.mail.mutt people,
>
> I'm currently using mutt (1.5.12) always on the same UNIX machine,
> where the inbox is a local file (/var/mail/username) and where
> outgoing mail is sent via sendmail.I save mails to folders in a
> directory on the local file system (in mbox format) and I keep a
> folder containing my sent mails, via
>
> set folder="~/Mail_mutt"
> set record="=sent"
>
> I've been told that the current mail system will be shut down and that
> I need to start using a mail server that supports POP and IMAP for
> incoming and SMTP for outgoing mail.
>
> If I go with IMAP (rather than POP), is it correct that I can choose
> whether to keep my mail folders on the local file system (i.e. like
> now) or to have them on the IMAP server? What are the pros and cons of
> these two ways?
You may even mix and keep some of your mail on local host and some on
server.
From mutt imap folders are just folders whose name begins with
imap://<server>/folder/path
However, for imap support I think you'd better use latest mutt (1.5.20)
with header cache enabled, that's a boost in speed. I also prefer using
tokycabinet as db backend for the cache, also for speed.
> If I'm going to move my 2000 folders containing 4 Gbyte of neatly
> organised e-mails from the last 15 years from the local file system to
> the IMAP server, how do I do that?
Check with your sysadmins wether you have a 4 Gbyte quota on server...
Then you can tag every mail in your old foldrs, and use ;s to move them
in the new folder on Imap (it may be a bit long...)
--
Le travail n'est pas une bonne chose. Si �a l'�tait,
les riches l'auraient accapar�
Erwan David
> Hi comp.mail.mutt people,
>
> I'm currently using mutt (1.5.12) always on the same UNIX machine,
> where the inbox is a local file (/var/mail/username) and where
> outgoing mail is sent via sendmail.I save mails to folders in a
> directory on the local file system (in mbox format) and I keep a
> folder containing my sent mails, via
>
> set folder="~/Mail_mutt"
> set record="=sent"
>
> I've been told that the current mail system will be shut down and that
> I need to start using a mail server that supports POP and IMAP for
> incoming and SMTP for outgoing mail.
>
> If I go with IMAP (rather than POP), is it correct that I can choose
> whether to keep my mail folders on the local file system (i.e. like
> now) or to have them on the IMAP server? What are the pros and cons of
> these two ways?
You may even mix and keep some of your mail on local host and some on
server.
From mutt imap folders are just folders whose name begins with
imap://<server>/folder/path
However, for imap support I think you'd better use latest mutt (1.5.20)
with header cache enabled, that's a boost in speed. I also prefer using
tokyocabinet as db backend for the cache, also for speed.
> If I'm going to move my 2000 folders containing 4 Gbyte of neatly
> organised e-mails from the last 15 years from the local file system to
> the IMAP server, how do I do that?
Check with your sysadmins wether you have a 4 Gbyte quota on server...