Importing a big mail hierarchy into Evolution - how?
I am moving my wife over to xubuntu from windows XP, the move has been precipitated by the disk drive on her XP system dying. Fortunately I was able to extract all the data before it expired completely - but that's another story. (I'll post about that in a minute) She was using Thunderbird and Firefox on XP so the initial transition to Linux has been fairly painless. I have got all of her Thunderbird mail on the Linux system now. However it would be better if I could move her to Evolution because that synchronizes "out of the box" with her Palm Treo - I have the synchronization working already. The trouble is I need to get all of her mail across from Thunderbird to Evolution. It's easy enough copying individual mailboxes across but she has an extensive, hierarchical, mail archive with hundreds of messages in a complex hierarchy of fifty or sixty folders. It would take forever to copy this folder by folder. So, can anyone suggest a way to export the folders from Thunderbird and import them into Evolution preserving the structure? I have found the ImportExportTools add-on for Thunderbird but Evolution doesn't seem to understand the format of what it exports. -- Chris Green
Chris Thunderbird is the only email client that allows archiving with ImportExportTools and the only client that allows migration to linux from windoze Outlook Express importing all Outlook settings. All outlook folders are then in thunderbird's outlook mail.sbd directory. Rather poor that Evolution can't provide their own method for Import. Then you can import into any linux email client. You've chosen Evolution [ghastly programme imho and plenty of bugs]. You select File--Import [import assistant window opens and you select import a single file, choosing the mbox file]. If you have problems copy manually - exit evolution, copy files to ~/.evolution/mail/local. Set filters and create her 60 folders or so... shouldn't take that long.
the ImportExportTools add-on for Thunderbird but Evolution doesn't seem to understand the format of what it exports. It is a pain moving email ! I seem to recall that ImportExport does an html export with an index which could be done for each of the wife's directories. It is not for exporting to another email client. If you use IMAP then you don't have this problem - the new email client will just download all emails when the app starts. May take a while if there is a large amount.
What will you do for backup if you transfer all email folders to evolution - when the files get v.large what will you do? I only use Thunderbird now for downloading emails for archiving using the ImportExportTools - bi-annually. The new themes that googlemail offers are great for customising so i don't see the point of an email client for everyday use. I also use more than one machine so webmail suits me better. I'd say archive those 60 folders and set up evolution using IMAP so you can use the Palm Treo. No one has ever told me what they do with huge mail boxes... eventually they just crash or like me back in 2003 a virus messes it all up... another reason why i stuck to webmail since. james 2009/2/2 Chris G <cl@isbd.net>:
I am moving my wife over to xubuntu from windows XP, the move has been precipitated by the disk drive on her XP system dying. Fortunately I was able to extract all the data before it expired completely - but that's another story. (I'll post about that in a minute)
She was using Thunderbird and Firefox on XP so the initial transition to Linux has been fairly painless. I have got all of her Thunderbird mail on the Linux system now.
However it would be better if I could move her to Evolution because that synchronizes "out of the box" with her Palm Treo - I have the synchronization working already.
The trouble is I need to get all of her mail across from Thunderbird to Evolution. It's easy enough copying individual mailboxes across but she has an extensive, hierarchical, mail archive with hundreds of messages in a complex hierarchy of fifty or sixty folders. It would take forever to copy this folder by folder.
So, can anyone suggest a way to export the folders from Thunderbird and import them into Evolution preserving the structure? I have found the ImportExportTools add-on for Thunderbird but Evolution doesn't seem to understand the format of what it exports.
-- Chris Green
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On Mon, Feb 02, 2009 at 03:58:04PM +0000, James Freer wrote:
Chris
Thunderbird is the only email client that allows archiving with ImportExportTools and the only client that allows migration to linux from windoze Outlook Express importing all Outlook settings. All outlook folders are then in thunderbird's outlook mail.sbd directory. Rather poor that Evolution can't provide their own method for Import.
Irrelevant! :-) No Outlook [Express] involved anywhere, the original mailboxes were Thunderbird on Windows which was trivial to import into Thunderbird on Linux.
Then you can import into any linux email client. You've chosen Evolution [ghastly programme imho and plenty of bugs]. You select File--Import [import assistant window opens and you select import a single file, choosing the mbox file]. If you have problems copy manually - exit evolution, copy files to ~/.evolution/mail/local. Set filters and create her 60 folders or so... shouldn't take that long.
Doesn't work, I tried that, it doesn't know about the mailbox hierarchy. As it turns out it's simpler than simple. All that you need to do is copy the mail files from the Thunderbird mail folder to the Evolution one, e.g. in our case copy from:- ~/.mozilla-thunderbird/53eisfp1.default/Mail/Local Folders to:- ~/.evolution/mail/local Thunderbird and Evolution use the same naming convention, <name> is the mailbox name, <name>.sdb is the directory for sub-folders. Once I'd done this Evolution just re-indexed each folder when I opened it and that was all that was needed.
directories. It is not for exporting to another email client. If you use IMAP then you don't have this problem - the new email client will just download all emails when the app starts. May take a while if there is a large amount.
We do use IMAP but archive stuff the the local system which is where the big hierarchy is.
What will you do for backup if you transfer all email folders to evolution - when the files get v.large what will you do?
All home directories are backed up to an off site system.
I only use Thunderbird now for downloading emails for archiving using the ImportExportTools - bi-annually. The new themes that googlemail offers are great for customising so i don't see the point of an email client for everyday use. I also use more than one machine so webmail suits me better.
I personally use mutt on a remote system that I ssh into, no need for webmail to access from anywhere. I can even use my nokia E71 phone to read my mail using ssh. -- Chris Green
On 02 Feb 10:10, Chris G wrote:
I am moving my wife over to xubuntu from windows XP, the move has been precipitated by the disk drive on her XP system dying. Fortunately I was able to extract all the data before it expired completely - but that's another story. (I'll post about that in a minute)
She was using Thunderbird and Firefox on XP so the initial transition to Linux has been fairly painless. I have got all of her Thunderbird mail on the Linux system now.
However it would be better if I could move her to Evolution because that synchronizes "out of the box" with her Palm Treo - I have the synchronization working already.
The trouble is I need to get all of her mail across from Thunderbird to Evolution. It's easy enough copying individual mailboxes across but she has an extensive, hierarchical, mail archive with hundreds of messages in a complex hierarchy of fifty or sixty folders. It would take forever to copy this folder by folder.
So, can anyone suggest a way to export the folders from Thunderbird and import them into Evolution preserving the structure? I have found the ImportExportTools add-on for Thunderbird but Evolution doesn't seem to understand the format of what it exports.
The usual solution is "IMAP server". Though, quite why the mail wasn't already just stored on the IMAP server is beyond me... people these days! (Weirdly, even though I'm using mutt, and my mail is stored on the same box as I'm composing this, I read my mail via imap - it's slightly quicker for some situations, and lots quicker when I have large maildirs). Cheers, -- Brett Parker
On Mon, Feb 02, 2009 at 04:19:04PM +0000, Brett Parker wrote:
On 02 Feb 10:10, Chris G wrote:
I am moving my wife over to xubuntu from windows XP, the move has been precipitated by the disk drive on her XP system dying. Fortunately I was able to extract all the data before it expired completely - but that's another story. (I'll post about that in a minute)
She was using Thunderbird and Firefox on XP so the initial transition to Linux has been fairly painless. I have got all of her Thunderbird mail on the Linux system now.
However it would be better if I could move her to Evolution because that synchronizes "out of the box" with her Palm Treo - I have the synchronization working already.
The trouble is I need to get all of her mail across from Thunderbird to Evolution. It's easy enough copying individual mailboxes across but she has an extensive, hierarchical, mail archive with hundreds of messages in a complex hierarchy of fifty or sixty folders. It would take forever to copy this folder by folder.
So, can anyone suggest a way to export the folders from Thunderbird and import them into Evolution preserving the structure? I have found the ImportExportTools add-on for Thunderbird but Evolution doesn't seem to understand the format of what it exports.
The usual solution is "IMAP server".
Though, quite why the mail wasn't already just stored on the IMAP server is beyond me... people these days!
We *do* use an IMAP server but, being somewhat paranoid and also sometimes needing to see mail when the ADSL or something dies it's a good idea to keep archives at least on the local system. Not to mention that an IMAP server with >2Gb of E-Mail tends to get a bit slow at times.
(Weirdly, even though I'm using mutt, and my mail is stored on the same box as I'm composing this, I read my mail via imap - it's slightly quicker for some situations, and lots quicker when I have large maildirs).
Personally I use mutt too but it's not for everyone. My mutt runs on a remote system (I have ssh access to my hosting provider) so I can access it from anywhere using ssh - from my Nokia E71 if need be. -- Chris Green
On 02 Feb 17:50, Chris G wrote:
On Mon, Feb 02, 2009 at 04:19:04PM +0000, Brett Parker wrote:
On 02 Feb 10:10, Chris G wrote:
I am moving my wife over to xubuntu from windows XP, the move has been precipitated by the disk drive on her XP system dying. Fortunately I was able to extract all the data before it expired completely - but that's another story. (I'll post about that in a minute)
She was using Thunderbird and Firefox on XP so the initial transition to Linux has been fairly painless. I have got all of her Thunderbird mail on the Linux system now.
However it would be better if I could move her to Evolution because that synchronizes "out of the box" with her Palm Treo - I have the synchronization working already.
The trouble is I need to get all of her mail across from Thunderbird to Evolution. It's easy enough copying individual mailboxes across but she has an extensive, hierarchical, mail archive with hundreds of messages in a complex hierarchy of fifty or sixty folders. It would take forever to copy this folder by folder.
So, can anyone suggest a way to export the folders from Thunderbird and import them into Evolution preserving the structure? I have found the ImportExportTools add-on for Thunderbird but Evolution doesn't seem to understand the format of what it exports.
The usual solution is "IMAP server".
Though, quite why the mail wasn't already just stored on the IMAP server is beyond me... people these days!
We *do* use an IMAP server but, being somewhat paranoid and also sometimes needing to see mail when the ADSL or something dies it's a good idea to keep archives at least on the local system. Not to mention that an IMAP server with >2Gb of E-Mail tends to get a bit slow at times.
brettp@miranda:~/Maildir$ du -sh 1.6G . brettp@miranda:~/Maildir$ So, that's 1.6G of mail, that I access through IMAP all the time...
(Weirdly, even though I'm using mutt, and my mail is stored on the same box as I'm composing this, I read my mail via imap - it's slightly quicker for some situations, and lots quicker when I have large maildirs).
Personally I use mutt too but it's not for everyone. My mutt runs on a remote system (I have ssh access to my hosting provider) so I can access it from anywhere using ssh - from my Nokia E71 if need be.
My mutt runs on a remote system too, it happens to be the mailserver, and I know from experience that it's quicker to access my mail via the IMAP server running on the mailserver than by talking directly to the Maildirs. Also uses less memory (as the IMAP server has a neat index on the Maildir). Oh, and I can access it from anywhere using ssh, even from my phone (well, any of the 4 that I currently carry with me... which includes my 2 "spare" phones). Lalala, -- Brett Parker
On Tue, Feb 03, 2009 at 10:07:27AM +0000, Brett Parker wrote:
We *do* use an IMAP server but, being somewhat paranoid and also sometimes needing to see mail when the ADSL or something dies it's a good idea to keep archives at least on the local system. Not to mention that an IMAP server with >2Gb of E-Mail tends to get a bit slow at times.
brettp@miranda:~/Maildir$ du -sh 1.6G . brettp@miranda:~/Maildir$
So, that's 1.6G of mail, that I access through IMAP all the time...
(Weirdly, even though I'm using mutt, and my mail is stored on the same box as I'm composing this, I read my mail via imap - it's slightly quicker for some situations, and lots quicker when I have large maildirs).
Personally I use mutt too but it's not for everyone. My mutt runs on a remote system (I have ssh access to my hosting provider) so I can access it from anywhere using ssh - from my Nokia E71 if need be.
My mutt runs on a remote system too, it happens to be the mailserver, and I know from experience that it's quicker to access my mail via the IMAP server running on the mailserver than by talking directly to the Maildirs. Also uses less memory (as the IMAP server has a neat index on the Maildir).
So maildir is slow for you! :-) That's one of the reasons that I use mostly mbox where I run my mutt. OK, horses for courses, it depends on the circumstances which will be faster. On the system I use there's considerable overhead for each file access so accessing one large file is much faster than accessing lots of small files. Oh, and my mutt most definitely *isn't* running on the mailserver so running IMAP would involve lots of networking to and fro.
Oh, and I can access it from anywhere using ssh, even from my phone (well, any of the 4 that I currently carry with me... which includes my 2 "spare" phones).
So we agree it's a good way of reading mail! :-) However I don't think I can persuade the rest of my family that mutt is the way to read their mail. -- Chris Green
On 03 Feb 10:37, Chris G wrote:
On Tue, Feb 03, 2009 at 10:07:27AM +0000, Brett Parker wrote:
We *do* use an IMAP server but, being somewhat paranoid and also sometimes needing to see mail when the ADSL or something dies it's a good idea to keep archives at least on the local system. Not to mention that an IMAP server with >2Gb of E-Mail tends to get a bit slow at times.
brettp@miranda:~/Maildir$ du -sh 1.6G . brettp@miranda:~/Maildir$
So, that's 1.6G of mail, that I access through IMAP all the time...
(Weirdly, even though I'm using mutt, and my mail is stored on the same box as I'm composing this, I read my mail via imap - it's slightly quicker for some situations, and lots quicker when I have large maildirs).
Personally I use mutt too but it's not for everyone. My mutt runs on a remote system (I have ssh access to my hosting provider) so I can access it from anywhere using ssh - from my Nokia E71 if need be.
My mutt runs on a remote system too, it happens to be the mailserver, and I know from experience that it's quicker to access my mail via the IMAP server running on the mailserver than by talking directly to the Maildirs. Also uses less memory (as the IMAP server has a neat index on the Maildir).
So maildir is slow for you! :-) That's one of the reasons that I use mostly mbox where I run my mutt. OK, horses for courses, it depends on the circumstances which will be faster. On the system I use there's considerable overhead for each file access so accessing one large file is much faster than accessing lots of small files. Oh, and my mutt most definitely *isn't* running on the mailserver so running IMAP would involve lots of networking to and fro.
The IMAP server talks to the same Maildir... so, err... it's just that the IMAP server also keeps a nice cache of things it's already seen, and so there's not a full scan of the directories by mutt everytime I switch folders. At work I use mutt + a tunnel config that ssh's to the mailserver and spits IMAP over the ssh connection (mostly because that way I don't need to store my password anywhere, and my ssh key's passphrase is handled by ssh-agent - much niceness). offlineimap is a neat way of syncing mail between machines, and would be what I'd end up using if I wanted an offline copy anywhere... probably using a set of tunnels for that... and a local IMAP server on the laptop... dovecot is lovely.
Oh, and I can access it from anywhere using ssh, even from my phone (well, any of the 4 that I currently carry with me... which includes my 2 "spare" phones).
So we agree it's a good way of reading mail! :-)
However I don't think I can persuade the rest of my family that mutt is the way to read their mail.
And that's why using straight IMAP is the obvious answer - no one has to then stick to one particular mail client. My phone, for instance, at the moment picks up my INBOX via IMAP, it's running Pocket Outlook (yes, I know) - it just works. And it's talking to my mail at the same time as mutt. If I got really bored I could also connect thunderbird to it, or GNUmail (wow, the menus on that were a PITA), or $names_of_random_other_mail_clients_here... anything that can talk IMAP4. Ho hum, -- Brett Parker
On Tue, Feb 03, 2009 at 10:51:17AM +0000, Brett Parker wrote:
On 03 Feb 10:37, Chris G wrote:
So maildir is slow for you! :-) That's one of the reasons that I use mostly mbox where I run my mutt. OK, horses for courses, it depends on the circumstances which will be faster. On the system I use there's considerable overhead for each file access so accessing one large file is much faster than accessing lots of small files. Oh, and my mutt most definitely *isn't* running on the mailserver so running IMAP would involve lots of networking to and fro.
The IMAP server talks to the same Maildir... so, err... it's just that the IMAP server also keeps a nice cache of things it's already seen, and so there's not a full scan of the directories by mutt everytime I switch folders.
At work I use mutt + a tunnel config that ssh's to the mailserver and spits IMAP over the ssh connection (mostly because that way I don't need to store my password anywhere, and my ssh key's passphrase is handled by ssh-agent - much niceness).
offlineimap is a neat way of syncing mail between machines, and would be what I'd end up using if I wanted an offline copy anywhere... probably using a set of tunnels for that... and a local IMAP server on the laptop...
dovecot is lovely.
Maybe so but one doesn't always have the luxury of choosing what IMAP server one uses. OK, I could change my hosting provider but their E-Mail isn't the *only* reason I stay with them. My experience of transferring large amounts of E-Mail from one place to another using IMAP has never been trouble free though maybe things are better/cleaner/easier now.
Oh, and I can access it from anywhere using ssh, even from my phone (well, any of the 4 that I currently carry with me... which includes my 2 "spare" phones).
So we agree it's a good way of reading mail! :-)
However I don't think I can persuade the rest of my family that mutt is the way to read their mail.
And that's why using straight IMAP is the obvious answer - no one has to then stick to one particular mail client. My phone, for instance, at the moment picks up my INBOX via IMAP, it's running Pocket Outlook (yes, I know) - it just works. And it's talking to my mail at the same time as mutt. If I got really bored I could also connect thunderbird to it, or GNUmail (wow, the menus on that were a PITA), or $names_of_random_other_mail_clients_here... anything that can talk IMAP4.
Again my experience of using multiple E-Mail clients on one IMAP server has never been quite so transparent (again maybe things are better now) I always found that there were little disagreements and foibles about how/where INBOX was (i.e. root of hierarchy or a mailbox at the first level of the hierarchy), the separators used between folders, etc. Given that our E-Mail service hasn't been so good over the past few months (we use Gradwell) maybe I should be looking at alternatives. -- Chris Green
Brett Parker wrote:
So, that's 1.6G of mail, that I access through IMAP all the time...
I've not had great experience with IMAP in the past so have tended to avoid it, but I'm starting to rethink it, not least because it gives me email client flexibility. If I wanted to run an IMAP server on my desktop as my mail store, though, I'm going to need some help. At present my mail client (TB) pulls the mail via POP3 from several servers, sorts into various folders, does basic (well weak) spam filtering, etc. It also allows me to easily create hierarchies of folders and move messages between them - those two points being things I've found difficult with IMAP in the past (but we're going back to when I last used Outlook Express. Presumably I'm going to need fetchmail or similar for the mail collection, drop the anti-spam for now (unless it's easy to add something?) but how flexible is IMAP when it comes to folder handling? -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0845 45 89 555 Registered in England (0456 0902) at 13 Clarke Rd, Milton Keynes, MK1 1LG
Mark Rogers <mark@quarella.co.uk> wrote: [...]
If I wanted to run an IMAP server on my desktop as my mail store, though, I'm going to need some help. At present my mail client (TB) pulls the mail via POP3 from several servers, sorts into various folders, does basic (well weak) spam filtering, etc. It also allows me to easily create hierarchies of folders and move messages between them - those two points being things I've found difficult with IMAP in the past (but we're going back to when I last used Outlook Express.
Presumably I'm going to need fetchmail or similar for the mail collection, drop the anti-spam for now (unless it's easy to add something?) but how flexible is IMAP when it comes to folder handling?
IMAP is as flexible as its backend when it comes to folder handling. One can have private folders, shared folders and most client-server combinations do a reasonable implementation of hierarchies. I question the presumption above, though. Simply replicating a typical POP3 power user model like the above with IMAP will miss out on several nice features. My favourite benefits of IMAP are:- 1. avoid wasting much download time and ADSL data transfer allowance on spam - mine is taken care of either by server-based Sieve rules, or by my mail client (Heirloom, which won't be to everyone's taste) deleting it without downloading it by using IMAP search commands. If the IMAP server is the desktop machine, this won't happen. 2. disconnected IMAP for when I'm travelling, but very few clients do that well. 3. read-anywhere - I think a STARTTLS-enabled IMAP server in a hosting facility is good for this, instead of a server on one's desktop. I think those three make it worth biting the bullet and discontinuing use of most non-IMAP servers if you can, or setting up IMAP servers to collect and folder the email from the non-IMAP ones somehow. Hope that helps, -- MJ Ray (slef) Webmaster for hire, statistician and online shop builder for a small worker cooperative http://www.ttllp.co.uk/ http://mjr.towers.org.uk/ (Notice http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html) tel:+44-844-4437-237
MJ Ray wrote
IMAP is as flexible as its backend when it comes to folder handling. One can have private folders, shared folders and most client-server combinations do a reasonable implementation of hierarchies.
Thanks, that's good to know. Obviously only used rubbish IMAP servers in the past!
I question the presumption above, though. Simply replicating a typical POP3 power user model like the above with IMAP will miss out on several nice features.
Maybe, but there are some reasons for considering it; one of them being that I really should know much more about the server-side config of this stuff than I do, so learning on my own box makes sense.
My favourite benefits of IMAP are:-
1. avoid wasting much download time and ADSL data transfer allowance on spam - mine is taken care of either by server-based Sieve rules, or by my mail client (Heirloom, which won't be to everyone's taste) deleting it without downloading it by using IMAP search commands. If the IMAP server is the desktop machine, this won't happen.
No it won't. I will likely migrate my personal domains to a server online which will do a lot of the spam checking before I get it, but for the reasons above I'd like to learn more about that at my desktop level first.
2. disconnected IMAP for when I'm travelling, but very few clients do that well.
I don't get about much :-)
3. read-anywhere - I think a STARTTLS-enabled IMAP server in a hosting facility is good for this, instead of a server on one's desktop.
That said remote access to my desktop is not a big problem for me, and something I already use. Being able to access home email via IMAP rather than a remote X session to load up Thunderbird would be a benefit though. Can anyone point me at fairly simple instructions for installing an IMAP server on an Ubuntu desktop? Or recommend a good imap server for this type of use? I think dovecot would be my default choice. -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0845 45 89 555 Registered in England (0456 0902) at 13 Clarke Rd, Milton Keynes, MK1 1LG
On 03 Feb 15:14, Mark Rogers wrote:
Can anyone point me at fairly simple instructions for installing an IMAP server on an Ubuntu desktop? Or recommend a good imap server for this type of use? I think dovecot would be my default choice.
Dovecot is certainly what I use, and is fast, has a decent config file, and is "quite flexible" (tm). For a bog standard setup, a simple aptitude install dovecot-imapd should do. Cheers, -- Brett Parker
On Tue, 3 Feb 2009 15:21:57 +0000 Brett Parker <iDunno@sommitrealweird.co.uk> allegedly wrote:
On 03 Feb 15:14, Mark Rogers wrote:
Can anyone point me at fairly simple instructions for installing an IMAP server on an Ubuntu desktop? Or recommend a good imap server for this type of use? I think dovecot would be my default choice.
Dovecot is certainly what I use, and is fast, has a decent config file, and is "quite flexible" (tm). For a bog standard setup, a simple aptitude install dovecot-imapd should do.
Mark I'd echo that. I managed to get dovecot working with postfix and a backend MySQL database in a groupware package relatively easily by following the dovecot wiki instructions on local delivery. Postfix and dovecot work together well. Take a look at http://wiki.dovecot.org/LDA If you are interested in my groupware experience take a look at http://baldric.net/using-postfix-and-dovecot-to-provide-mail-to-egroupware/ where I have documented what I did. Mick --------------------------------------------------------------------- The text file for RFC 854 contains exactly 854 lines. Do you think there is any cosmic significance in this? Douglas E Comer - Internetworking with TCP/IP Volume 1 http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc854.txt ---------------------------------------------------------------------
On Tue, Feb 03, 2009 at 03:14:55PM +0000, Mark Rogers wrote:
MJ Ray wrote
IMAP is as flexible as its backend when it comes to folder handling. One can have private folders, shared folders and most client-server combinations do a reasonable implementation of hierarchies.
Thanks, that's good to know. Obviously only used rubbish IMAP servers in the past!
I don't think "Obviously only used rubbish IMAP servers in the past!" is necessarily true. One of the reasons I have never stayed with IMAP as my main/only mail repository is that my experience has been similar to yours. There *are* good IMAP servers out there but finding one that is also being run by a reliable/reputable company isn't necessarily easy. Don't let me put you off but don't jump at the first service you see that offers IMAP, I think there's still IMAP and IMAP.
I question the presumption above, though. Simply replicating a typical POP3 power user model like the above with IMAP will miss out on several nice features.
Maybe, but there are some reasons for considering it; one of them being that I really should know much more about the server-side config of this stuff than I do, so learning on my own box makes sense.
It means you can choose your IMAP server software too. As Brett has said Dovecot seems to be a good (and well maintained) modern implementation. [snip]
3. read-anywhere - I think a STARTTLS-enabled IMAP server in a hosting facility is good for this, instead of a server on one's desktop.
That said remote access to my desktop is not a big problem for me, and something I already use. Being able to access home email via IMAP rather than a remote X session to load up Thunderbird would be a benefit though.
Can anyone point me at fairly simple instructions for installing an IMAP server on an Ubuntu desktop? Or recommend a good imap server for this type of use? I think dovecot would be my default choice.
Yes, I'd go for dovecot, I did even run it for a little while to see how 'local IMAP' felt. I seem to remember it was very easy to set up (must be, I set it up!). -- Chris Green
On 03 Feb 15:28, Chris G wrote:
On Tue, Feb 03, 2009 at 03:14:55PM +0000, Mark Rogers wrote:
MJ Ray wrote
IMAP is as flexible as its backend when it comes to folder handling. One can have private folders, shared folders and most client-server combinations do a reasonable implementation of hierarchies.
Thanks, that's good to know. Obviously only used rubbish IMAP servers in the past!
I don't think "Obviously only used rubbish IMAP servers in the past!" is necessarily true. One of the reasons I have never stayed with IMAP as my main/only mail repository is that my experience has been similar to yours. There *are* good IMAP servers out there but finding one that is also being run by a reliable/reputable company isn't necessarily easy.
Don't let me put you off but don't jump at the first service you see that offers IMAP, I think there's still IMAP and IMAP.
And that is why I don't trust other people with my mail ;) It all sits on my little vm that I have from Bluelinux. My laptop and desktop at home are both setup to relay their mail through it too, so no matter where I am I have a decent SMTP server available that will talk to me. This is damned handy! Cheers, -- Brett Parker
On Tue, Feb 03, 2009 at 03:34:24PM +0000, Brett Parker wrote:
On 03 Feb 15:28, Chris G wrote:
On Tue, Feb 03, 2009 at 03:14:55PM +0000, Mark Rogers wrote:
MJ Ray wrote
IMAP is as flexible as its backend when it comes to folder handling. One can have private folders, shared folders and most client-server combinations do a reasonable implementation of hierarchies.
Thanks, that's good to know. Obviously only used rubbish IMAP servers in the past!
I don't think "Obviously only used rubbish IMAP servers in the past!" is necessarily true. One of the reasons I have never stayed with IMAP as my main/only mail repository is that my experience has been similar to yours. There *are* good IMAP servers out there but finding one that is also being run by a reliable/reputable company isn't necessarily easy.
Don't let me put you off but don't jump at the first service you see that offers IMAP, I think there's still IMAP and IMAP.
And that is why I don't trust other people with my mail ;) It all sits on my little vm that I have from Bluelinux. My laptop and desktop at home are both setup to relay their mail through it too, so no matter where I am I have a decent SMTP server available that will talk to me. This is damned handy!
My IMAP server is currently gradwell.com and, like yours, they also provide an authenticated SMTP server so I can send mail from anywhere very easily. Whether your 'own' virtual server on someone else's box is more secure than mine at Gradwell (also a virtual machine actually) I'm not really sure. I don't keep my mail in IMAP (though other family members do), I have my mail delivered to an old-fashioned mail spool on my login account at Gradwell. I must admit I'm tempted by my 'own' virtual server somewhere though, they're getting cheaper all the time. -- Chris Green
participants (6)
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Brett Parker -
Chris G -
James Freer -
Mark Rogers -
mbm -
MJ Ray