David Bishop dovecot@dpe.lusars.net writes:
On Fri, Dec 6, 2013 at 10:28 PM, Nikolaus Rath Nikolaus@rath.org wrote:
David Bishop dovecot@dpe.lusars.net writes:
Is there a way to get a running transaction log from a Dovecot instance to synchronize (and I use that word very, very loosely) multiple instances that don't share a network?
I think what you want is not synchronize the state of one mail server
across multiple computers, but have mail transport from one system to another via sneakernet. In other words, you want UUCP. It might be ancient, but it should do exactly what you want.
I've looked at UUCP, and while it solves a related problem, it doesn't seem like it solves my problem (which is why I originally asked about copying files directly out of the spool). It is, I think, possible to force UUCP to do what I want, but dsync seems an easier solution. (Sadly, it'll be a bit before I have time to work up a testbed.)
As an example: If Bob-from-maintenance is working his way up the line, he may be emailing updates to the maintenance list (stuff like "this needs replacement but I don't have the part" and "This problem has been sorted") before hopping a tram to the next station. At the next station (please note: different server with its own mail spool pretending to be the same server), the local IMAP server should look (to Bob, and Bob's phone) exactly the same (down to message IDs, because otherwise, his phone is going to get confused about the locally-cached email).
Ah, well, your original email never mentioned phones :-). In that case UUCP is not going to work well.
I was assuming that Bob (and everyone else) has a laptop. In that case, he would carry his mail spool around with him, and send and receive emails via UUCP whenever he is in the vicinity of another system.
Best, Nikolaus
-- Encrypted emails preferred. PGP fingerprint: 5B93 61F8 4EA2 E279 ABF6 02CF A9AD B7F8 AE4E 425C
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