[Dovecot] dsync backup questions

[Joe Beaubien]

Hi,

I'm currently trying to setup remote backups of my emails but i'm running
into issues (mdbox format, indexes and storage in the same folder
hierarchy).

Local backup command: dsync -u "my_user" backup /backups/my_user

(1) Recently, I noticed that the local backup takes up twice the size as
the original mail location (8gb vs. 4gb). I purged alot of emails from the
original location, so the size shrunk, but the local backup just keeps on
getting bigger. I couldn't find any dsync option that would delete extra
emails.

- Question: Why isn't the local backup synced properly and remove the extra
emails?


(2) What is the best why to copy this local backup to a remote location
that does NOT have the possibility to run dsync.

- Question 1: is rsync safe to use and will this data work for restore?

- Question 2: Would it be safe to simply rsync the original mail_location
to the remote server?


I searched the net, but it seems that mdbox is tricky to backup.

Thanks in advance,

-Joe