[Dovecot] MBOX to MAILDIR conversion
Thinking about going from mbox to maildir. Started with mbox way back when but thinking about making the conversion. The main reason is that I use rsync for backups and when these huge mailboxes are touched I have to copy the whole thing. With maildir I only copy the files that change.
So - my questions is - what's the easiest way to make this happan. I assume there are conversion utilities. I'm using Exim as an MTA.
Also - using Ext3 for the file system on a Raid 10 array. Backup server will run Ext3 Raid 1. Is the number of files in one directory going to be a problem?
And - any tip/tricks would be appreciated. Things to look out for?
Still in planning stage.
Thanks in Advance.
Marc Perkel wrote:
Thinking about going from mbox to maildir. Started with mbox way back when but thinking about making the conversion. The main reason is that I use rsync for backups and when these huge mailboxes are touched I have to copy the whole thing. With maildir I only copy the files that change.
So - my questions is - what's the easiest way to make this happan. I assume there are conversion utilities. I'm using Exim as an MTA.
You could use the Dovecot 'Convert' plugin, which will convert mail between msg stores and formats when a user logs in... alternatively, you could use mb2md or something similar.
No links at hand sorry, but a quick google should provide the answers.
Cheers, Pete
Peter Fern wrote:
Marc Perkel wrote:
Thinking about going from mbox to maildir. Started with mbox way back when but thinking about making the conversion. The main reason is that I use rsync for backups and when these huge mailboxes are touched I have to copy the whole thing. With maildir I only copy the files that change.
So - my questions is - what's the easiest way to make this happan. I assume there are conversion utilities. I'm using Exim as an MTA.
You could use the Dovecot 'Convert' plugin, which will convert mail between msg stores and formats when a user logs in... alternatively, you could use mb2md or something similar.
No links at hand sorry, but a quick google should provide the answers.
Cheers, Pete
Plugin???? I'm going to have to check that out.
mb2md.pl works really great indeed. And it is fast
HTH Oliver
Peter Fern wrote:
when a user logs in... alternatively, you could use mb2md or something similar.
-- Oliver Schulze L. | Get my e-mail after a captcha in: Asuncion - Paraguay | http://tinymailto.com/oliver
Well, I'm in the process of doing this, along with moving to a new mail server and consolidating all messages, including inboxes, into a single set of directories per user.
I'm moving e-mail from a remote server mounted /mnt/inboxes (the remote server's /var/mail directory) and /mnt/users (the remote server's /home/users directory) and converting them and -lacing them under /home/users/<username> with the mailfolders being within a directory "Maildir" below the virtual home directory.
The scripts I'm attaching are more complex due to historical reasons where we used the UW IMAP server and some users didn't set a "Mail/" prefix in their client settings so I'm having to search their whole home directory space for mail folders!
Steve
Computer Systems Administrator, E-Mail:-steve@earth.ox.ac.uk Department of Earth Sciences, Tel:- +44 (0)1865 282110 University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford, UK. Fax:- +44 (0)1865 272072
participants (4)
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Marc Perkel
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Oliver Schulze L.
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Peter Fern
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Stephen Usher