[Dovecot] Same filenames on different servers?

[Tom Hendrikx]

Hi,

This is a general backup issue (files changing during backup run) and
nothing Dovecot specific. You should look into something that gives you
a consistent view of the data, f.i. LVM snapshots (when you're running
linux).

Regards,
	Tom

Alexander Chekalin wrote:
> Yes, I'm trying to make some backup solution.
> 
> The idea was to have two identical (well, nearly identical) servers with
> the same software and data on them, and while the first do its job as
> SMTP and POP3/IMAP4 server, the second server just get copy of first's
> current state (that is, copy user db and mail spool). In case of
> something wrong with 1st server I'll just put its IP on second one and
> will go on.
> 
> And the problem is that rsynced mailboxes sometimes have duplicates that
> may confuse users. It happens when box changes between rsyncs by means
> of Dovecot's ordinary operations (when msg file move from new/ to cur/
> on 1st server and after rsync to 2nd this may produce two files with
> same filename in new/ and cur/, and Dovecot for some reason renames one
> of it).
> 
> Doing this using imapsync won't work. It is slow (hours vs minutes with
> rsync) so I can't run it every 5 minutes, and, moreover, it crashes on
> some messages, so can not rely on it in production.
> 
> Yours,
>   Alexander
> 
> 11.01.2010 15:07, Charles Marcus wrote:
>> On 2010-01-11, Alexander Chekalin (achekalin at lazurit.com) wrote:
>>> I'm not sure if this is intended behaviour. It is quite easy to see
>>> such situation when doing periodical rsync (SMTP put message to new/
>>> dir, then rsync copy it to second server, then message on the first
>>> server move to cur/, and second rsync results in two files on second
>>> server).
>>>
>>> It there any workaround?
>>
>> I would only use rsync for migrating to a new box, or for backups only...
>>
>> It soundslike you're using the wrong tool for the job - maybe you should
>> be using something like imapsync?
>>
>> Or, please describe what you are trying to accomplish?
>