d3f86beb9f
- Made folder/Maildir.py/deletemessage() more tolerant if a message asked to be deleted already has been. - In Base.py/copymessageto(), no longer bother calling getmessage() unless a folder's storemessages() returns true. This will also help with syncing to LocalStatus if the user deleted messages in the Maildir since the cachemessagelist() was called.
463 lines
20 KiB
Plaintext
463 lines
20 KiB
Plaintext
OFFLINEIMAP(1) OfflineIMAP manual OFFLINEIMAP(1)
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NAME
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OfflineIMAP - Powerful IMAP/Maildir synchronization and
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reader support
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SYNOPSIS
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offlineimap [ -1 ] [ -a accountlist ] [ -c configfile ]
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[ -d ] [ -o ] [ -u interface ]
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offlineimap -h | --help
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DESCRIPTION
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OfflineIMAP is a tool to simplify your e-mail reading.
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With OfflineIMAP, you can read the same mailbox from mul-
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tiple computers. You get a current copy of your messages
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on each computer, and changes you make one place will be
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visible on all other systems. For instance, you can
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delete a message on your home computer, and it will appear
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deleted on your work computer as well. OfflineIMAP is
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also useful if you want to use a mail reader that does not
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have IMAP support, has poor IMAP support, or does not pro-
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vide disconnected operation.
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OfflineIMAP is FAST; it synchronizes my two accounts with
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over 50 folders in 3 seconds. Other similar tools might
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take over a minute, and achieve a less-reliable result.
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Some mail readers can take over 10 minutes to do the same
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thing, and some don't even support it at all. Unlike
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other mail tools, OfflineIMAP features a multi-threaded
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synchronization algorithm that can dramatically speed up
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performance in many situations by synchronizing several
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different things simultaneously.
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OfflineIMAP is FLEXIBLE; you can customize which folders
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are synced via regular expressions, lists, or Python
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expressions; a versatile and comprehensive configuration
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file is used to control behavior; two user interfaces are
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built-in; fine-tuning of synchronization performance is
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possible; internal or external automation is supported;
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SSL and PREAUTH tunnels are both supported; offline (or
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"unplugged") reading is supported; and esoteric IMAP fea-
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tures are supported to ensure compatibility with the
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widest variety of IMAP servers.
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OfflineIMAP is SAFE; it uses an algorithm designed to pre-
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vent mail loss at all costs. Because of the design of
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this algorithm, even programming errors should not result
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in loss of mail. I am so confident in the algorithm that
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I use my own personal and work accounts for testing of
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OfflineIMAP pre-release, development, and beta releases.
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METHOD OF OPERATION
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OfflineIMAP operates by maintaining a hierarchy of mail
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folders in Maildir format locally. Your own mail reader
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will read mail from this tree, and need never know that
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the mail comes from IMAP. OfflineIMAP will detect changes
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to the mail folders on your IMAP server and your own com-
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puter and bi-directionally synchronize them, copying,
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marking, and deleting messages as necessary.
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INSTALLATION
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If you are reading this document via the "man" command, it
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is likely that you have no installation tasks to perform;
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your system administrator has already installed it. If
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you need to install it yourself, you have three options: a
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system-wide installation with Debian, system-wide instal-
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lation with other systems, and a single-user installation.
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You can download the latest version of OfflineIMAP from
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http://quux.org/devel/offlineimap/.
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PREREQUISITES
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In order to use OfflineIMAP, you need to have these condi-
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tions satisfied:
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o Your mail server must support IMAP. Most Internet
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Service Providers and corporate networks do, and
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most operating systems have an IMAP implementation
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readily available.
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o You must have Python version 2.2.1 or above
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installed. If you are running on Debian GNU/Linux,
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this requirement will automatically be taken care
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of for you. If you do not have Python already,
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check with your system administrator or operating
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system vendor; or, download it from
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http://www.python.org/. If you intend to use the
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Tk interface, you must have Tkiner (python-tk)
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installed. If you intend to use the SSL interface,
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your Python must have been built with SSL support.
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o Have a mail reader that supports the Maildir mail-
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box format. Most modern mail readers have this
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support built-in, so you can choose from a wide
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variety of mail servers. This format is also known
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as the "qmail" format, so any mail reader compati-
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ble with it will work with OfflineIMAP.
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DEBIAN SYSTEM-WIDE INSTALLATION
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If you are tracking Debian unstable, you may install
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OfflineIMAP by simply running the following command as
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root:
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apt-get install offlineimap
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If you are not tracking Debian unstable, download the
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Debian .deb package from the OfflineIMAP website and then
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run dpkg -i to install the downloaded package. Then, go
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to CONFIGURATION below. You will type offlineimap to
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invoke the program.
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OTHER SYSTEM-WIDE INSTALLATION
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Download the tar.gz version of the package from the web-
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site. Then run these commands:
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tar -zxvf offlineimap-x.y.z.tar.gz
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cd offlineimap-x.y.z
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python2.2 setup.py
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Some systems will need to use python instead of python2.2.
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Next, proceed to configuration. You will type offlineimap
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to invoke the program.
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SINGLE-ACCOUNT INSTALLATION
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Download the tar.gz version of the package from the web-
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site. Then run these commands:
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tar -zxvf offlineimap-x.y.z.tar.gz
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cd offlineimap-x.y.z
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When you want to run OfflineIMAP, you will issue the cd
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command as above and then type ./offlineimap; there is no
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installation step necessary.
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CONFIGURATION
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OfflineIMAP is regulated by a configuration file that is
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normally stored in ~/.offlineimaprc. OfflineIMAP ships
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with a file named offlineimap.conf that you should copy to
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that location and then edit. This file is vital to proper
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operation of the system; it sets everything you need to
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run OfflineIMAP. Full documentation for the configuration
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file is included within the sample file.
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OPTIONS
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Most configuration is done via the configuration file.
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Nevertheless, there are a few options that you may set for
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OfflineIMAP.
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-1 Disable all multithreading operations and use
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solely a single-thread sync. This effectively sets
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the maxsyncaccounts and all maxconnections configu-
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ration file variables to 1.
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-a accountlist
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Overrides the accounts section in the config file.
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Lets you specify a particular account or set of
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accounts to sync without having to edit the config
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file. You might use this to exclude certain
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accounts, or to sync some accounts that you nor-
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mally prefer not to.
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-c configfile
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Specifies a configuration file to use in lieu of
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the default, ~/.offlineimaprc.
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-d Enables IMAP protocol stream and parsing debugging.
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This is useful if you are trying to track down a
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malfunction or figure out what is going on under
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the hood. I suggest that you use this with -1 in
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order to make the results more sensible. Note that
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this output will contain full IMAP protocol in
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plain text, including passwords, so take care to
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remove that from the debugging output before send-
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ing it to anyone else.
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-o Run only once, ignoring any autorefresh setting in
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the config file.
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-h, --help
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Show summary of options.
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-u interface
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Specifies an alternative user interface module to
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use. This overrides the default specified in the
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configuration file. The UI specified with -u will
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be forced to be used, even if its isuable() method
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states that it cannot be. Use this option with
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care.
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The pre-defined options are Tk.TKUI (a graphical
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interface) and TTY.TTYUI (a text-mode interface).
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EXAMPLES
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Here is an example configuration for a particularly com-
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plex situation; more examples will be added later.
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MULTIPLE ACCOUNTS WITH MUTT
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This example shows you how to set up OfflineIMAP to syn-
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chronize multiple accounts with the mutt mail reader.
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Start by creating a directory to hold your folders:
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mkdir ~/Mail
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In your ~/.offlineimaprc, specify this:
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accounts = Personal, Work
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Make sure that you have both a [Personal] and a [Work]
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section, with different localfolder pathnames and enable
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[mbnames].
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In each account section, do something like this:
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localfolders = ~/Mail/Personal
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Add these lines to your ~/.muttrc:
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source ~/path-to-mbnames-muttrc-mailboxes
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folder-hook Personal set from="youremail@personal.com"
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folder-hook Work set from="youremail@work.com"
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set mbox_type=Maildir
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set folder=$HOME/Mail
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set spoolfile=+Personal/INBOX
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That's it!
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ERRORS
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If you get one of some frequently-encountered or confusing
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errors, please check this section.
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UID validity problem for folder
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IMAP servers use a unique ID (UID) to refer to a specific
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message. This number is guaranteed to be unique to a par-
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ticular message FOREVER. No other message in the same
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folder will ever get the same UID. UIDs are an integral
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part of OfflineIMAP's synchronization scheme; they are
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used to match up messages on your computer to messages on
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the server.
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Sometimes, the UIDs on the server might get reset. Usu-
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ally this will happen if you delete and then recreate a
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folder. When you create a folder, the server will often
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start the UID back from 1. But OfflineIMAP might still
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have the UIDs from the previous folder by the same name
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stored. OfflineIMAP will detect this condition and skip
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the folder. This is GOOD, because it prevents data loss.
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You can fix it by removing your local folder and cache
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data. For instance, if your folders are under ~/Folders
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and the folder with the problem is INBOX, you'd type this:
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rm -r ~/Folders/INBOX
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rm ~/.offlineimap/AccountName/INBOX
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(replacing AccountName with the account name as specified
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in ~/.offlineimaprc)
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Next time you run OfflineIMAP, it will re-download the
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folder with the new UIDs. Note that the procedure speci-
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fied above will lose any local changes made to the folder.
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Some IMAP servers are broken and do not support UIDs prop-
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erly. If you continue to get this error for all your
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folders even after performing the above procedure, it is
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likely that your IMAP server falls into this category.
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OfflineIMAP is incompatible with such servers. Using
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OfflineIMAP with them will not destroy any mail, but at
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the same time, it will not actually synchronize it either.
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(OfflineIMAP will detect this condition and abort prior to
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synchronization)
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OTHER FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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There are some other FAQs that might not fit into another
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section of this document, and they are enumerated here.
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What platforms does OfflineIMAP run on?
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It should run on most platforms supported by
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Python, which are quite a few.
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I'm using Mutt. Other IMAP sync programs require me to use
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set maildir_trash=yes . Do I need to do that with
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OfflineIMAP?
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No. OfflineIMAP is smart enough to figure out mes-
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sage deletion without this extra crutch. You'll
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get the best results if you don't use this setting,
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in fact.
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How do I specify the names of my folders?
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You do not need to. OfflineIMAP is smart enough to
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automatically figure out what folders are present
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on the IMAP server and synchronize them. You can
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use the folderfilter and foldertrans configuration
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file options to request certain folders and rename
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them as they come in if you like.
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How can I prevent certain folders from being synced?
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Use the folderfilter option in the configuration
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file.
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How can I add or delete a folder?
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OfflineIMAP does not currently provide this fea-
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ture, but if you create a new folder on the IMAP
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server, it will be created locally automatically.
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Are there any other warnings that I should be aware of?
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Yes; see the NOTES section below.
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What is the mailbox name recorder (mbnames) for?
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The Mutt mail reader is not capable of automati-
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cally determining the names of your mailboxes.
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OfflineIMAP can help it (or many other) programs
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out be writing these names out in a format you
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specify. See the example offlineimap.conf file for
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details.
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Can I synchronize multiple accounts with OfflineIMAP?
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Sure. Just name them all in the accounts line in
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the general section of the config file, and add a
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per-account section for each one.
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Does OfflineIMAP support POP?
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No. POP is not robust enough to do a completely
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reliable multi-machine synchronization like
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OfflineIMAP can do. OfflineIMAP will not support
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it.
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Do you support mailbox formats other than Maildir?
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Not at present. There is no technical reason not
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to; just no demand yet. Maildir is a superior for-
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mat anyway.
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[technical] Why are your Maildir message filenames so
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huge?
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OfflineIMAP has two relevant principles: 1) never
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modifying your messages in any way and 2) ensuring
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100% reliable synchronizations. In order to do a
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reliable sync, OfflineIMAP must have a way to
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uniquely identify each e-mail. Three pieces of
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information are required to do this: your account
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name, the folder name, and the message UID. The
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account name can be calculated from the path in
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which your messages are. The folder name can usu-
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ally be as well, BUT some mail clients move mes-
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sages between folders by simply moving the file,
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leaving the name intact.
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So, OfflineIMAP must store both a UID folder ID.
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The folder ID is necessary so OfflineIMAP can
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detect a message moved to a different folder.
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OfflineIMAP stores the UID (U= number) and an
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md5sum of the foldername (FMD5= number) to facili-
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tate this.
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What is the speed of OfflineIMAP's sync?
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OfflineIMAP versions 2.0 and above contain a multi-
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threaded system. A good way to experiment is by
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setting maxsyncaccounts to 3 and maxconnections to
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3 in each account clause.
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This lets OfflineIMAP open up multiple connections
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simultaneously. That will let it process multiple
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folders and messages at once. In most cases, this
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will increase performance of the sync.
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Don't set the number too high. If you do that,
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things might actually slow down as your link gets
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saturated. Also, too many connections can cause
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mail servers to have excessive load. Administra-
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tors might take unkindly to this, and the server
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might bog down. There are many variables in the
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optimal setting; experimentation may help.
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An informal benchmark yields these results for my
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setup:
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10 minutes with MacOS X Mail.app "manual cache"
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5 minutes with GNUS agent sync
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20 seconds with OfflineIMAP 1.x
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9 seconds with OfflineIMAP 2.x
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3 seconds with OfflineIMAP 3.x "cold start"
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2 seconds with OfflineIMAP 3.x "held connection"
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CONFORMING TO
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o Internet Message Access Protocol version 4rev1
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(IMAP 4rev1) as specified in RFC2060
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o Maildir as specified in http://www.qmail.org/qmail-
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manual-html/man5/maildir.html and
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http://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html.
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o Standard Python 2.2.1 as implemented on POSIX-com-
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pliant systems.
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NOTES
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DELETING LOCAL FOLDERS
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OfflineIMAP does a two-way synchronization. That is, if
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you make a change to the mail on the server, it will be
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propogated to your local copy, and vise-versa. Some peo-
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ple might think that it would be wise to just delete all
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their local mail folders periodically. If you do this
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with OfflineIMAP, remember to also remove your local sta-
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tus cache (~/.offlineimap by default). Otherwise,
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OfflineIMAP will take this as an intentional deletion of
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many messages and will interpret your action as requesting
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them to be deleted from the server as well. (If you don't
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understand this, don't worry; you probably won't encounter
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this situation)
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MAILING LIST
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There is an OfflineIMAP mailing list available.
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To subscribe, send the text "Subscribe" in the subject of
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a mail to offlineimap-request@complete.org. To post, send
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the message to offlineimap@complete.org.
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BUGS
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Should be reported to the author at the address specified
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below.
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COPYRIGHT
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OfflineIMAP is Copyright (C) 2002 John Goerzen.
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This program is free software; you can redistribute it
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and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public
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License as published by the Free Software Foundation;
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either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any
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later version.
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This program is distributed in the hope that it will be
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useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied
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warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
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PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more
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details.
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You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public
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License along with this program; if not, write to:
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Free Software Foundation, Inc.
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59 Temple Place
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Suite 330
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Boston, MA 02111-1307
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USA
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AUTHOR
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OfflineIMAP, its libraries, documentation, and all
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included files, except where noted, was written by John
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Goerzen <jgoerzen@complete.org> and copyright is held as
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stated in the COPYRIGHT section.
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OfflineIMAP may be downloaded, and information found, from
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its homepage via either Gopher or HTTP:
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gopher://quux.org/1/devel/offlineimap
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http://quux.org/devel/offlineimap
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SEE ALSO
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mutt(1), python(1).
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John Goerzen July 12, 2002 OFFLINEIMAP(1)
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