[Dovecot] how to migrate from one server to another?

[Jon Roma]

Bram Mertens <bram-mertens at linux.be> wrote:

> Hi
>
> I have purchased and installed a new PC and would like to transfer my
> mail (in Maildir format) to it.
>
> Are there any precautions I must take before copying the mail over?
>
> I will disable mail delivery temporarily so no new mail gets written to
> disk but I don't know if dovecot has to be stopped before copying/editing
> mail for backup or migrating purposes.
>
> Anything else I must pay attention to?

I would advise not only stopping mail delivery but stopping dovecot as
well; the rule of thumb is that you want NOTHING to be manipulating the
mail when you're moving it or backing it up.  This includes dovecot.

I'd recommend making a backup and/or saving the old mail for as long as
necessary to ensure that everything's in good shape on your new machine.

I just completed a conversion (not only of servers but of mail formats)
of about 3 gigabytes -- while your conversion may be simpler and less
tedious than mine, I can't overstate the importance of having a "safe"
backup copy of your mail should anything go awry.

You didn't mention what OS you're using, but assuming you're using a UNIX
or Linux system, you might make a tar image of your maildir tree, squirrel
away a copy of the image for safekeeping, and then copy the image to the
new box.

Then when you untar the image, be sure you preserve the ownership and
permissions or run 'find' to fix them up after you explode the tarball
into its new home.

Good luck.