[Dovecot] Data loss from removing dovecot.index* files?
Hi there,
I've been rewriting the courier-dovecot-migrate script to handle
dovecot->courier conversions in addition to courier->dovecot. One
issue I've found is that when the courier->dovecot conversion is
performed a second time (using --overwrite) and the dovecot-uidlist
file is written again, Dovecot starts generating errors when accessing
the maildir. The simple fix is to remove all of the dovecot.index*
files so they are rebuilt when the maildir is scanned again. Is it
safe to do this or is information stored in the index files that can't
be rebuilt by Dovecot the next time it scans the maildir?
J.D.
On Tue, 2008-09-09 at 10:36 -0500, John Lightsey wrote:
Hi there,
I've been rewriting the courier-dovecot-migrate script to handle
dovecot->courier conversions in addition to courier->dovecot. One
issue I've found is that when the courier->dovecot conversion is
performed a second time (using --overwrite) and the dovecot-uidlist
file is written again, Dovecot starts generating errors when accessing
the maildir. The simple fix is to remove all of the dovecot.index*
files so they are rebuilt when the maildir is scanned again. Is it
safe to do this or is information stored in the index files that can't
be rebuilt by Dovecot the next time it scans the maildir?
It's safe, but if any IMAP clients had seen the mailbox the first time they may become confused if the message UIDs change (which is also the reason Dovecot starts complaining).
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Timo Sirainen wrote:
On Tue, 2008-09-09 at 10:36 -0500, John Lightsey wrote:
Hi there,
I've been rewriting the courier-dovecot-migrate script to handle
dovecot->courier conversions in addition to courier->dovecot. One
issue I've found is that when the courier->dovecot conversion is
performed a second time (using --overwrite) and the dovecot-uidlist
file is written again, Dovecot starts generating errors when accessing
the maildir. The simple fix is to remove all of the dovecot.index*
files so they are rebuilt when the maildir is scanned again. Is it
safe to do this or is information stored in the index files that can't
be rebuilt by Dovecot the next time it scans the maildir?It's safe, but if any IMAP clients had seen the mailbox the first time they may become confused if the message UIDs change (which is also the reason Dovecot starts complaining).
Aren't flags only stored in dovecot.index files when there are more than 26 of them (and thus can't be stored in the filename)?
STAR Software (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. http://www.star-group.net/ Phone: +86 (21) 3462 7688 x 826 Fax: +86 (21) 3462 7779
PGP key: E883A005 https://stshacom1.star-china.net/keys/patrick_nagel.asc Fingerprint: E09A D65E 855F B334 E5C3 5386 EF23 20FC E883 A005 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.7 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Fedora - http://enigmail.mozdev.org
iD8DBQFIxy7H7yMg/OiDoAURArS5AJ9rjPOhJsed3bQDUNE88cC8wKed0QCfZNen auRthn0bl6HC8XFbeckmFSA= =h5Bv -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
On Wed, 2008-09-10 at 10:19 +0800, Patrick Nagel wrote:
I've been rewriting the courier-dovecot-migrate script to handle
dovecot->courier conversions in addition to courier->dovecot. One
issue I've found is that when the courier->dovecot conversion is
performed a second time (using --overwrite) and the dovecot-uidlist
file is written again, Dovecot starts generating errors when accessing
the maildir. The simple fix is to remove all of the dovecot.index*
files so they are rebuilt when the maildir is scanned again. Is it
safe to do this or is information stored in the index files that can't
be rebuilt by Dovecot the next time it scans the maildir?It's safe, but if any IMAP clients had seen the mailbox the first time they may become confused if the message UIDs change (which is also the reason Dovecot starts complaining).
Aren't flags only stored in dovecot.index files when there are more than 26 of them (and thus can't be stored in the filename)?
Well, yes, but I'm assuming no-one has more than 26 :) Some day I'll probably make Dovecot force that limit to maildir users.
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Timo Sirainen wrote:
It's safe, but if any IMAP clients had seen the mailbox the first time they may become confused if the message UIDs change (which is also the reason Dovecot starts complaining).
Aren't flags only stored in dovecot.index files when there are more than 26 of them (and thus can't be stored in the filename)?
Well, yes, but I'm assuming no-one has more than 26 :) Some day I'll probably make Dovecot force that limit to maildir users.
Heh, it just depends on how you use your mailbox. More and more people seem to adopt the "Google way" - not sorting mails into folders, but tagging them (one tag = one IMAP flag), and leaving them all in one mailbox. Those people quickly use much more than 26 flags...
STAR Software (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. http://www.star-group.net/ Phone: +86 (21) 3462 7688 x 826 Fax: +86 (21) 3462 7779
PGP key: E883A005 https://stshacom1.star-china.net/keys/patrick_nagel.asc Fingerprint: E09A D65E 855F B334 E5C3 5386 EF23 20FC E883 A005 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.7 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Fedora - http://enigmail.mozdev.org
iD8DBQFIx1a/7yMg/OiDoAURAk7aAJ9udxscVlfdmTZ9pua+Qrtz8NxTBwCfb6Ax 3YW4pyYj2fhzgHVcxHdSey0= =l7n8 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
participants (3)
-
John Lightsey
-
Patrick Nagel
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Timo Sirainen