doveadm backup|sync works for every folder but INBOX

[Aki Tuomi]

> On 03/11/2022 10:09 EET Ralf Becker <rb at egroupware.org> wrote:
> 
>  
> Hi Aki,
> 
> Am 03.11.22 um 08:50 schrieb Aki Tuomi:
> >> On 03/11/2022 09:46 EET Ralf Becker <rb at egroupware.org> wrote:
> >>
> >>   
> >> I'm trying to migrate an old Cyrus 2.5 server to Dovecot 2.3.19 using
> >> doveadm backup -R, which works for all folders but the INBOX itself,
> >> which always stays empty.
> >>
> >> The Cyrus side uses altnamespace:no and unixhierarchysep:no, it's used
> >> as imapc: remote in doveadm backup -R with imapc_list_prefix=INBOX
> >>
> >> Dovecot uses the following namespace to migrate into:
> >>
> >> namespace inboxes {
> >>     inbox = yes
> >>     location =
> >>     mailbox Sent {
> >>       auto = subscribe
> >>       special_use = \Sent
> >>     }
> >>     ### some more folders omitted ###
> >>     prefix = INBOX/
> >>     separator = /
> >>     subscriptions = no
> >> }
> > Hi!
> >
> > When syncing mailboxes from other server, you should use migration config file, which has **no** auto=subscribe or auto=create folders, as these can mess up with synchronization.
> >
> > Please see https://doc.dovecot.org/admin_manual/migrating_mailboxes/ for more details.
> 
> Does a migration config file specified with doveadm -c <file> add to and 
> overwrite the existing Dovecot configuration for the time the command 
> runs, like the -o options, or do I need to start a separate server with 
> a full configuration to e.g. have my authentication and mailbox location 
> available?
> 
> Ralf
>

It does not add/replace/overwrite configuration, you provide a fresh config file which is used *instead of* the default dovecot.conf.

You don't need to run a separate instance necessarely, although in some larger migrations this has been used as well.

Aki