1043 lines
40 KiB
Plaintext
1043 lines
40 KiB
Plaintext
<!DOCTYPE reference PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook V4.1//EN" [
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<!ENTITY OfflineIMAP "<application>OfflineIMAP</application>">
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]>
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<!-- "file:///usr/share/sgml/docbook/dtd/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd"> -->
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<reference>
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<title>OfflineIMAP Manual</title>
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<refentry>
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<refentryinfo>
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<address><email>jgoerzen@complete.org</email></address>
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<author><firstname>John</firstname><surname>Goerzen</surname></author>
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<date> $Date: 2003-04-17 13:25:30 -0500 (Thu, 17 Apr 2003) $ </date>
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</refentryinfo>
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<refmeta>
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<refentrytitle>offlineimap</refentrytitle>
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<manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
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<refmiscinfo>John Goerzen</refmiscinfo>
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</refmeta>
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<refnamediv>
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<refname>OfflineIMAP</refname>
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<refpurpose>Powerful IMAP/Maildir synchronization
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and reader support</refpurpose>
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</refnamediv>
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<refsynopsisdiv>
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<cmdsynopsis>
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<command>offlineimap</command>
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<arg>-1</arg>
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<arg>-P <replaceable>profiledir</replaceable></arg>
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<arg>-a <replaceable>accountlist</replaceable></arg>
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<arg>-c <replaceable>configfile</replaceable></arg>
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<arg>-d <replaceable>debugtype[,...]</replaceable></arg>
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<arg>-o</arg>
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<arg>-u <replaceable>interface</replaceable></arg>
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</cmdsynopsis>
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<cmdsynopsis>
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<command>offlineimap</command>
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<group choice="plain"><arg>-h</arg><arg>--help</arg></group>
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</cmdsynopsis>
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</refsynopsisdiv>
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<refsect1>
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<title>Description</title>
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<para>&OfflineIMAP; is a tool to simplify your e-mail
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reading. With &OfflineIMAP;, you can read the same mailbox
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from multiple computers. You get a current copy of your
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messages on each computer, and changes you make one place will be
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visible on all other systems. For instance, you can delete a message
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on your home computer, and it will appear deleted on your work
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computer as well. &OfflineIMAP; is also useful if you want to
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use a mail reader that does not have IMAP support, has poor IMAP
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support, or does not provide disconnected operation.
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</para>
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<para>&OfflineIMAP; is <emphasis>FAST</emphasis>; it synchronizes
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my two accounts with over 50 folders in 3 seconds. Other
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similar tools might take over a minute, and achieve a
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less-reliable result. Some mail readers can take over 10
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minutes to do the same thing, and some don't even support it
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at all. Unlike other mail tools, &OfflineIMAP; features a
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multi-threaded synchronization algorithm that can dramatically
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speed up performance in many situations by synchronizing
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several different things simultaneously.
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</para>
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<para>&OfflineIMAP; is <emphasis>FLEXIBLE</emphasis>; you can
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customize which folders are synced via regular expressions,
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lists, or Python expressions; a versatile and comprehensive
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configuration file is used to control behavior; two user
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interfaces are built-in; fine-tuning of synchronization
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performance is possible; internal or external automation is
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supported; SSL and PREAUTH tunnels are both supported; offline
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(or "unplugged") reading is supported; and esoteric IMAP
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features are supported to ensure compatibility with the widest
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variety of IMAP servers.
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</para>
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<para>&OfflineIMAP; is <emphasis>SAFE</emphasis>; it uses an
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algorithm designed to prevent mail loss at all costs. Because
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of the design of this algorithm, even programming errors
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should not result in loss of mail. I am so confident in the
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algorithm that I use my own personal and work accounts for
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testing of &OfflineIMAP; pre-release, development, and beta
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releases. Of course, legally speaking, &OfflineIMAP; comes
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with no warranty, so I am not responsible if this turns out
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to be wrong.
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</para>
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<refsect2>
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<title>Method of Operation</title>
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<para>&OfflineIMAP; operates by maintaining a hierarchy of
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mail folders in Maildir format locally. Your own mail
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reader will read mail from this tree, and need never know
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that the mail comes from IMAP. &OfflineIMAP; will detect
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changes to the mail folders on your IMAP server and your own
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computer and bi-directionally synchronize them, copying,
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marking, and deleting messages as necessary.
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</para>
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</refsect2>
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</refsect1>
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<refsect1>
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<title>Quick Start</title>
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<para>If you have already installed &OfflineIMAP; system-wide,
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or your system adminstrator has done that for you, your task
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for setting up &OfflineIMAP; for the first time is quite
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simple. You just need to set up your configuration file, make
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your folder directory, and run it!
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</para>
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<para>You can quickly set up your configuration file. The distribution
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includes a file <filename>offlineimap.conf.minimal</filename>
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(Debian users
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may find this at
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<filename>/usr/share/doc/offlineimap/examples/offlineimap.conf.minimal</filename>) that is a basic example of setting of &OfflineIMAP;. You can
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simply copy this file into your home directory and name it
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<filename>.offlineimaprc</filename> (note the leading period). A
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command such as <command>cp offlineimap.conf.minimal ~/.offlineimaprc</command> will do it. Or, if you prefer, you can just copy this text to
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<filename>~/.offlineimaprc</filename>:
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</para>
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<PROGRAMLISTING>[general]
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accounts = Test
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[Test]
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localfolders = ~/Test
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remotehost = examplehost
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remoteuser = jgoerzen
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</PROGRAMLISTING>
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<para>Now, edit the <filename>~/.offlineimaprc</filename> file with
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your favorite editor. All you have to do is specify a directory
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for your folders to be in (on the <property>localfolders</property>
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line), the host name of your IMAP server (on the
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<property>remotehost</property> line), and your login name on
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the remote (on the <property>remoteuser</property> line). That's
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it!</para>
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<para>To run &OfflineIMAP;, you just have to say
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<command>offlineimap</command> -- it will fire up, ask you for
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a login password if necessary, synchronize your folders, and exit.
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See? You can just throw away the rest of this finely-crafted,
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perfectly-honed manual! Of course, if you want to see how you can
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make &OfflineIMAP; FIVE TIMES FASTER FOR JUST $19.95 (err, well,
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$0), you have to read on!
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</para>
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</refsect1>
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<refsect1>
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<title>Installation</title>
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<para>If you are reading this document via the "man" command, it is
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likely
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that you have no installation tasks to perform; your system
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administrator has already installed it. If you need to install it
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yourself, you have three options: a system-wide installation with
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Debian, system-wide installation with other systems, and a single-user
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installation. You can download the latest version of &OfflineIMAP; from
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<ulink url="http://quux.org/devel/offlineimap/">the &OfflineIMAP;
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website</ulink>.
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</para>
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<refsect2>
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<title>Prerequisites</title>
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<para>In order to use &OfflineIMAP;, you need to have these conditions
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satisfied:
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</para>
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem>
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<para>Your mail server must support IMAP. Most Internet Service
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Providers
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and corporate networks do, and most operating systems
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have an IMAP
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implementation readily available.
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</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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You must have Python version 2.2.1 or above installed.
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If you are
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running on Debian GNU/Linux, this requirement will automatically be
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taken care of for you. If you do not have Python already, check with
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your system administrator or operating system vendor; or, download it from
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<ulink url="http://www.python.org/">the Python website</ulink>.
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If you intend to use the Tk interface, you must have Tkinter
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(python-tk) installed. If you intend to use the SSL interface, your
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Python must have been built with SSL support.
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</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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Have a mail reader that supports the Maildir mailbox format. Most
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modern mail readers have this support built-in, so you can choose from
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a wide variety of mail servers. This format is also known as the
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"qmail" format, so any mail reader compatible with it will work with
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&OfflineIMAP;.
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</itemizedlist>
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</refsect2>
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<refsect2>
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<title>System-Wide Installation, Debian</title>
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<para>
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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 root:
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</para>
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<para>
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<command>apt-get install offlineimap</command>
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</para>
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<para>
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If you are not tracking Debian unstable, download the Debian .deb
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package from the <ulink url="http://quux.org/devel/offlineimap/">&OfflineIMAP; website</ulink>
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and then run <command>dpkg -i</command> to install the downloaded
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package. Then, skip to <xref linkend="configuration" endterm="configuration-title"> below. You will type <command>offlineimap</command> to
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invoke the program.
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</para>
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</refsect2>
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<refsect2>
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<title>System-Wide Installation, Other</title>
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<para>
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Download the tar.gz version of the package from the
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<ulink url="http://quux.org/devel/offlineimap/">website</ulink>.
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Then run
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these commands, making sure that you are the "root" user first:
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</para>
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<ProgramListing>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 install</ProgramListing>
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<para>On some systems, you will need to use
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<command>python</command> instead of <command>python2.2</command>.
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Next, proceed to <xref linkend="configuration" endterm="configuration-title"> below. You will type <command>offlineimap</command> to
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invoke the program.
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</para>
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</refsect2>
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<refsect2>
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<title>Single-Account Installation</title>
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<para>
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Download the tar.gz version of the package from the
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<ulink url="http://quux.org/devel/offlineimap/">website</ulink>.
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Then run these commands:
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</para>
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<ProgramListing>tar -zxvf offlineimap_x.y.z.tar.gz
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cd offlineimap-x.y.z</ProgramListing>
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<para>When you want to run &OfflineIMAP;, you will issue the
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<command>cd</command> command as above and then type
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<command>./offlineimap.py</command>; there is no installation
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step necessary.
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</para>
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</refsect2>
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</refsect1>
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<refsect1 id="configuration">
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<title id="configuration-title">Configruation</title>
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<para>
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&OfflineIMAP; is regulated by a configuration file that is normally
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stored in <filename>~/.offlineimaprc</filename>. &OfflineIMAP;
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ships with a file named <filename>offlineimap.conf</filename>
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that you should copy to that location and then edit. This file is
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vital to proper operation of the system; it sets everything you need
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to run &OfflineIMAP;. Full documentation for the configuration file
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is included within the sample file.
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</para>
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<para>
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&OfflineIMAP; also ships a file named
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<filename>offlineimap.conf.minimal</filename> that you can also try.
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It's useful if you want to get started with
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the most basic feature set, and you can read about other features
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later with <filename>offlineimap.conf</filename>.
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</para>
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</refsect1>
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<refsect1>
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<title>Options</title>
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<para>
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Most configuration is done via the configuration file. Nevertheless,
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there are a few command-line options that you may set for
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&OfflineIMAP;.
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</para>
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<variablelist>
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<varlistentry><term>-1</term>
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<listitem><para>Disable most multithreading operations and use
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solely a single-connection
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sync. This effectively sets the <property>maxsyncaccounts</property>
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and all <property>maxconnections</property> configuration file
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variables to 1.
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</para></listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry><term>-P <replaceable>profiledir</replaceable></term>
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<listitem><para>Sets &OfflineIMAP; into profile mode. The program
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will create <replaceable>profiledir</replaceable>
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(it must not already exist). As it runs, Python profiling
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information
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about each thread is logged into profiledir. Please note: This option
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is present for debugging and optimization only, and should NOT be used
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unless you have a specific reason to do so. It will significantly
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slow program performance, may reduce reliability, and can generate
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huge amounts of data. You must use the <option>-1</option> option when
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you use <option>-P</option>.
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</para></listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry><term>-a <replaceable>accountlist</replaceable></term>
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<listitem><para>Overrides the <property>accounts</property> option
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in the <property>general</property> section of the configuration
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file. You might use this to exclude certain accounts, or to sync
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some accounts that you normally prefer not to. Separate the
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accounts by commas, and use no embedded spaces.
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</para></listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry><term>-c <replaceable>configfile</replaceable></term>
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<listitem><para>Specifies a configuration file to use in lieu of
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the default, <filename>~/.offlineimaprc</filename>.
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</para></listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry><term>-d <replaceable>debugtype[,...]</replaceable></term>
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<listitem><para>Enables debugging for OfflineIMAP. This is useful if
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you are trying to track down a malfunction or figure out what is going
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on under the hood. I suggest that you use this with
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<option>-1</option> to make the results more sensible.</para>
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<para><option>-d</option> requires one or more debugtypes,
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separated by commas. These define what exactly will be
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debugged, and include three options: <property>imap</property>,
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<property>maildir</property>, and <property>thread</property>.
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The <property>imap</property>
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option will enable IMAP protocol stream and parsing debugging. Note
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that the output may contain passwords, so take care to remove that
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from the debugging output before sending it to anyone else. The
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<property>maildir</property> option will enable debugging for
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certain Maildir operations. And <property>thread</property>
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will debug the threading model.
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</para></listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry><term>-o</term>
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<listitem><para>Run only once, ignoring all
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<property>autorefresh</property> settings in the configuration
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file.</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry><term>-h</term> <term>--help</term>
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<listitem><para>Show summary of options.</para></listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry><term>-u <replaceable>interface</replaceable></term>
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<listitem><para>Specifies an alternative user interface module
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to use. This overrides the defailt specified in the
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configuration file. The pre-defined options are listed in
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the User Interfaces section.</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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</variablelist>
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</refsect1>
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<refsect1>
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<title>User Interfaces</title>
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<para>&OfflineIMAP; has a pluggable user interface system that lets you choose how the
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program communicates information to you. There are two graphical
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interfaces, two terminal interfaces, and two noninteractive interfaces
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suitable for scripting or logging purposes. The
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<property>ui</property> option in the configuration file specifies
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user interface preferences. The <option>-u</option> command-line
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option can override the configuration file setting. The available
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values for the configuration file or command-line are described
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in this section.</para>
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<refsect2>
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<title>Tk.Blinkenlights</title>
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<para>Tk.Blinkenlights is an interface designed to be sleek, fun to watch, and
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informative of the overall picture of what &OfflineIMAP;
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is doing. I consider it to be the best general-purpose interface in
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&OfflineIMAP;.
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</para>
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<para>
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Tk.Blinkenlights contains, by default, a small window with a row of
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LEDs, a small log, and a row of command buttons.
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The total size of the window is
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very small, so it uses little desktop space, yet it is quite
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functional. The optional, toggleable, log shows more
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detail about what is happening and is color-coded to match the color
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of the lights.
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</para>
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<para>
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Tk.Blinkenlights is the only user interface that has configurable
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parameters; see the example <filename>offlineimap.conf</filename>
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for more details.
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</para>
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<para>
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Each light in the Blinkenlights interface represents a thread
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of execution -- that is, a particular task that &OfflineIMAP;
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is performing right now. The colors indicate what task
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the particular thread is performing, and are as follows:
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</para>
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<variablelist>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>Black</term>
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<listitem><para>indicates that this light's thread has terminated; it will light up
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again later when new threads start up. So, black indicates no
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activity.
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</para></listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>Red (Meaning 1)</term>
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<listitem><para>is the color of the main program's thread, which basically does
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nothing but monitor the others. It might remind you of HAL 9000 in
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<citation>2001</citation>.
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</para></listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>Gray</term>
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<listitem><para>indicates that the thread is establishing a new connection to the IMAP
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server.
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</para></listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>Purple</term>
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<listitem><para>is the color of an account synchronization thread that is monitoring
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the progress of the folders in that account (not generating any I/O).
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</para></listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>Cyan</term>
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<listitem><para>indicates that the thread is syncing a folder.
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</para></listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>Green</term>
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<listitem><para>means that a folder's message list is being loaded.
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</para></listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>Blue</term>
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<listitem><para>is the color of a message synchronization controller thread.
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</para></listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>Orange</term>
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<listitem><para>indicates that an actual message is being copied.
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(We use fuschia for fake messages.)
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</para></listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>Red (meaning 2)</term>
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<listitem><para>indicates that a message is being deleted.
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</para></listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>Yellow / bright orange</term>
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<listitem><para>indicates that message flags are being added.
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</para></listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>Pink / bright red</term>
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<listitem><para>indicates that message flags are being removed.
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</para></listitem>
|
|
</varlistentry>
|
|
<varlistentry>
|
|
<term>Red / Black Flashing</term>
|
|
<listitem><para>corresponds to the countdown timer that runs between
|
|
synchronizations.
|
|
</para></listitem>
|
|
</varlistentry>
|
|
</variablelist>
|
|
<para>The name of this interfaces derives from a bit of computer
|
|
history. Eric Raymond's <citation>Jargon File</citation> defines
|
|
<firstterm>blinkenlights</firstterm>, in part, as:
|
|
</para>
|
|
<blockquote>
|
|
<para>Front-panel diagnostic
|
|
lights on a computer, esp. a dinosaur. Now that dinosaurs are rare,
|
|
this term usually refers to status lights on a modem, network hub, or
|
|
the like.
|
|
</para>
|
|
<para>
|
|
This term derives from the last word of the famous blackletter-Gothic
|
|
sign in mangled pseudo-German that once graced about half the computer
|
|
rooms in the English-speaking world. One version ran in its entirety as
|
|
follows:
|
|
</para>
|
|
<para>
|
|
<emphasis>ACHTUNG! ALLES LOOKENSPEEPERS!</emphasis>
|
|
</para>
|
|
<para>
|
|
Das computermachine ist nicht fuer gefingerpoken und mittengrabben.
|
|
Ist easy schnappen der springenwerk, blowenfusen und poppencorken
|
|
mit spitzensparken. Ist nicht fuer gewerken bei das dumpkopfen.
|
|
Das rubbernecken sichtseeren keepen das cotten-pickenen hans in das
|
|
pockets muss; relaxen und watchen das blinkenlichten.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
</refsect2>
|
|
|
|
<refsect2>
|
|
<title>Curses.Blinkenlights</title>
|
|
<para>
|
|
Curses.Blinkenlights is an interface very similar to Tk.Blinkenlights,
|
|
but is designed to be run in a console window (an xterm, Linux virtual
|
|
terminal, etc.) Since it doesn't have access to graphics, it isn't
|
|
quite as pretty, but it still gets the job done.
|
|
</para>
|
|
<para>Please see the Tk.Blinkenlights section above for more
|
|
information about the colors used in this interface.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</refsect2>
|
|
|
|
<refsect2>
|
|
<title>Tk.VerboseUI</title>
|
|
<para>
|
|
Tk.VerboseUI (formerly known as Tk.TkUI) is a graphical interface
|
|
that presents a variable-sized window. In the window, each
|
|
currently-executing thread has a section where its name and current
|
|
status are displayed. This interface is best suited to people running
|
|
on slower connections, as you get a lot of detail, but for fast
|
|
connections, the detail may go by too quickly to be useful. People
|
|
with fast connections may wish to use Tk.Blinkenlights instead.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</refsect2>
|
|
|
|
<refsect2>
|
|
<title>TTY.TTYUI</title>
|
|
<para>
|
|
TTY.TTYUI interface is for people running in basic, non-color terminals. It
|
|
prints out basic status messages and is generally friendly to use on a console
|
|
or xterm.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</refsect2>
|
|
|
|
<refsect2>
|
|
<title>Noninteractive.Basic</title>
|
|
<para>
|
|
Noninteractive.Basic is designed for situations in which &OfflineIMAP;
|
|
will be run non-attended and the status of its execution will be
|
|
logged. You might use it, for instance, to have the system run
|
|
automatically and
|
|
e-mail you the results of the synchronization. This user interface
|
|
is not capable of reading a password from the keyboard; account
|
|
passwords must be specified using one of the configuration file options.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</refsect2>
|
|
|
|
<refsect2>
|
|
<title>Noninteractive.Quiet</title>
|
|
<para>
|
|
Noninteractive.Quiet is designed for non-attended running in situations
|
|
where normal status messages are not desired. It will output nothing
|
|
except errors and serious warnings. Like Noninteractive.Basic,
|
|
this user interface
|
|
is not capable of reading a password from the keyboard; account
|
|
passwords must be specified using one of the configuration file options.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</refsect2>
|
|
|
|
</refsect1>
|
|
|
|
<refsect1>
|
|
<title>Examples</title>
|
|
<para>Here are some example configurations for various situations.
|
|
Please e-mail any other examples you have that may be useful to
|
|
me.
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<refsect2>
|
|
<title>Multiple Accounts with Mutt</title>
|
|
<para>
|
|
This example shows you how to set up &OfflineIMAP; to
|
|
synchronize multiple accounts with the mutt mail reader.
|
|
</para>
|
|
<para>
|
|
Start by creating a directory to hold your folders by running
|
|
<command>mkdir ~/Mail</command>. Then, in your
|
|
<filename>~/.offlineimaprc</filename>, specify:
|
|
</para>
|
|
<programlisting>accounts = Personal, Work</programlisting>
|
|
<para>
|
|
Make sure that you have both a <property>[Personal]</property>
|
|
and a <property>[Work]</property> section, each with different
|
|
<property>localfolder</property> path names. Also, make sure
|
|
to enable <property>[mbnames]</property>.
|
|
</para>
|
|
<para>
|
|
In each account section, write something like this:
|
|
</para>
|
|
<programlisting>localfolders = ~/Mail/Personal</programlisting>
|
|
<para>
|
|
Finally, add these lines to your <filename>~/.muttrc</filename>:
|
|
</para>
|
|
<programlisting>source ~/path-to-mbnames-muttrc-mailboxes
|
|
folder-hook Personal set from="youremail@personal.com"
|
|
folder-hook Work set from="youremail@work.com"
|
|
set mbox_type=Maildir
|
|
set folder=$HOME/Mail
|
|
spoolfile=+Personal/INBOX</programlisting>
|
|
<para>
|
|
That's it!
|
|
</para>
|
|
</refsect2>
|
|
|
|
<refsect2>
|
|
<title>UW-IMAPD and References</title>
|
|
<para>Some users with a UW-IMAPD server need to use &OfflineIMAP;'s
|
|
"reference" feature to get at their mailboxes, specifying a reference
|
|
of "~/Mail" or "#mh/" depending on the configuration. The below
|
|
configuration from docwhat@gerf.org
|
|
shows using a <property>reference</property> of Mail, a <property>nametrans</property>
|
|
that strips
|
|
the leading Mail/ off incoming folder names, and a
|
|
<property>folderfilter</property> that
|
|
limits the folders synced to just three.
|
|
</para>
|
|
<programlisting>[Gerf]
|
|
localfolders = ~/Mail
|
|
remotehost = gerf.org
|
|
ssl = yes
|
|
remoteuser = docwhat
|
|
reference = Mail
|
|
# Trims off the preceeding Mail on all the folder names.
|
|
nametrans = lambda foldername: \
|
|
re.sub('^Mail/', '', foldername)
|
|
# Yeah, you have to mention the Mail dir, even though it
|
|
# would seem intuitive that reference would trim it.
|
|
folderfilter = lambda foldername: foldername in [
|
|
'Mail/INBOX',
|
|
'Mail/list/zaurus-general',
|
|
'Mail/list/zaurus-dev',
|
|
]
|
|
maxconnections = 1
|
|
holdconnectionopen = no</programlisting>
|
|
</refsect2>
|
|
|
|
<refsect2>
|
|
<title>pythonfile Configuration File Option</title>
|
|
<para>You can have &OfflineIMAP;
|
|
load up a Python file before evaluating the
|
|
configuration file options that are Python expressions. This example
|
|
is based on one supplied by Tommi Virtanen for this feature.
|
|
</para>
|
|
<para>
|
|
In <filename>~/.offlineimap.rc</filename>, he adds these options:
|
|
</para>
|
|
<programlisting>[general]
|
|
pythonfile=~/.offlineimap.py
|
|
[foo]
|
|
foldersort=mycmp</programlisting>
|
|
<para>
|
|
Then, the <filename>~/.offlineimap.py</filename> file will
|
|
contain:
|
|
</para>
|
|
<programlisting>prioritized = ['INBOX', 'personal', 'announce', 'list']
|
|
|
|
def mycmp(x, y):
|
|
for prefix in prioritized:
|
|
if x.startswith(prefix):
|
|
return -1
|
|
elif y.startswith(prefix):
|
|
return +1
|
|
return cmp(x, y)
|
|
|
|
def test_mycmp():
|
|
import os, os.path
|
|
folders=os.listdir(os.path.expanduser('~/data/mail/tv@hq.yok.utu.fi'))
|
|
folders.sort(mycmp)
|
|
print folders</programlisting>
|
|
<para>
|
|
This code snippet illustrates how the <property>foldersort</property>
|
|
option can be customized with a Python function from the
|
|
<property>pythonfile</property> to always synchronize certain
|
|
folders first.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</refsect2>
|
|
</refsect1>
|
|
|
|
<refsect1>
|
|
<title>Errors</title>
|
|
<para>
|
|
If you get one of some frequently-encountered or confusing errors,
|
|
please check this section.
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<refsect2>
|
|
<title>UID validity problem for folder</title>
|
|
<para>IMAP servers use a unique ID (UID) to refer to a specific message.
|
|
This number is guaranteed to be unique to a particular message
|
|
<emphasis>forever</emphasis>.
|
|
No other message in the same folder will ever get the same
|
|
UID. UIDs are an integral part of &OfflineIMAP;'s synchronization
|
|
scheme; they are used to match up messages on your computer to
|
|
messages on the server.
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
Sometimes, the UIDs on the server might get reset. Usually this will
|
|
happen if you delete and then recreate a folder. When you create a
|
|
folder, the server will often start the UID back from 1. But
|
|
&OfflineIMAP; might still have the UIDs from the previous folder by the
|
|
same name stored. &OfflineIMAP; will detect this condition and skip the
|
|
folder. This is GOOD, because it prevents data loss.
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
You can fix it by removing your local folder and cache data. For
|
|
instance, if your folders are under <filename>~/Folders</filename>
|
|
and the folder with the problem is INBOX, you'd type this:
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<programlisting>rm -r ~/Folders/INBOX
|
|
rm -r ~/.offlineimap/AccountName/INBOX</programlisting>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
(Of course, replace AccountName with the account name as specified
|
|
in <filename>~/.offlineimaprc</filename>).
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<para>Next time you run &OfflineIMAP;, it will re-download
|
|
the folder with the
|
|
new UIDs. Note that the procedure specified above will lose any local
|
|
changes made to the folder.
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
Some IMAP servers are broken and do not support UIDs properly. If you
|
|
continue to get this error for all your folders even after performing
|
|
the above procedure, it is likely that your IMAP server falls into
|
|
this category. &OfflineIMAP; is incompatible with such servers.
|
|
Using &OfflineIMAP; with them will not destroy any mail, but at the same time,
|
|
it will not actually synchronize it either. (&OfflineIMAP; will detect
|
|
this condition and abort prior to synchronization.)
|
|
</para>
|
|
</refsect2>
|
|
</refsect1>
|
|
<refsect1>
|
|
<title>Other Frequently Asked Questions</title>
|
|
<para>There are some other FAQs that might not fit into another section
|
|
of the document, so they are discussed here.
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<variablelist>
|
|
<varlistentry><term>What platforms does &OfflineIMAP; run on?</term>
|
|
<listitem><para>
|
|
It should run on most platforms supported by Python, which are quite a
|
|
few.
|
|
</para></listitem>
|
|
</varlistentry>
|
|
|
|
<varlistentry><term>I'm using Mutt. Other IMAP sync programs require me to use "set maildir_trash=yes". Do I need to do that with &OfflineIMAP;?</term>
|
|
<listitem><para>
|
|
No. &OfflineIMAP; is smart enough to figure out message deletion without this extra
|
|
crutch. You'll get the best results if you don't use this setting, in
|
|
fact.
|
|
</para></listitem>
|
|
</varlistentry>
|
|
|
|
<varlistentry><term>How do I specify the names of my folders?</term>
|
|
<listitem><para>
|
|
You do not need to. &OfflineIMAP; is smart
|
|
enough to automatically figure out what folders are present
|
|
on the IMAP server and synchronize them. You can use the
|
|
<property>folderfilter</property> and <property>foldertrans</property>
|
|
configuration file options to request certain folders and rename them
|
|
as they come in if you like.
|
|
</para></listitem>
|
|
</varlistentry>
|
|
|
|
<varlistentry><term>How can I prevent certain folders from being synced?</term>
|
|
<listitem><para>
|
|
Use the <property>folderfilter</property> option in the configuration file.
|
|
</para></listitem>
|
|
</varlistentry>
|
|
|
|
<varlistentry><term>How can I add or delete a folder?</term>
|
|
<listitem><para>
|
|
&OfflineIMAP; does not currently provide this feature, but if you create a new
|
|
folder on the IMAP server, it will be created locally automatically.
|
|
</para></listitem>
|
|
</varlistentry>
|
|
|
|
<varlistentry><term>Are there any other warnings that I should be aware of?</term>
|
|
<listitem><para>
|
|
Yes; see the Notes section below.
|
|
</para></listitem>
|
|
</varlistentry>
|
|
|
|
<varlistentry><term>What is the mailbox name recorder (mbnames) for?</term>
|
|
<listitem><para>Some mail readers, such as Mutt, are not capable
|
|
of automatically determining the names of your mailboxes.
|
|
&OfflineIMAP; can help these programs by writing the names
|
|
of the folders ni a format you specify. See the example
|
|
<filename>offlineimap.conf</filename> for details.
|
|
</para></listitem>
|
|
</varlistentry>
|
|
|
|
<varlistentry><term>Can I synchronize multiple accounts with &OfflineIMAP?</term>
|
|
<listitem><para>Sure. Just name them all in the
|
|
<property>accounts</property> line in the <property>general</property>
|
|
section of the configuration file, and add a per-account section
|
|
for each one.
|
|
</para></listitem>
|
|
</varlistentry>
|
|
|
|
<varlistentry><term>Does &OfflineIMAP; support POP?</term>
|
|
<listitem><para>No. POP is not robust enough to do a completely reliable
|
|
multi-machine synchronization like &OfflineIMAP; can do. &OfflineIMAP;
|
|
will not support it.
|
|
</para></listitem>
|
|
</varlistentry>
|
|
|
|
<varlistentry><term>Does &OfflineIMAP; support mailbox formats other than Maildir?</term>
|
|
<listitem><para>Not at present. There is no technical reason not to; just no
|
|
demand yet. Maildir is a superior format anyway.
|
|
</para></listitem>
|
|
</varlistentry>
|
|
|
|
<varlistentry><term>[technical] Why are your Maildir message filenames so huge?</term>
|
|
<listitem><para>&OfflineIMAP; has two relevant principles: 1) never modifying your
|
|
messages in any way and 2) ensuring 100% reliable synchronizations.
|
|
In order to do a reliable sync, &OfflineIMAP;
|
|
must have a way to
|
|
uniquely identify each e-mail. Three pieces of information are
|
|
required to do this: your account name, the folder name, and the
|
|
message UID. The account name can be calculated from the path in
|
|
which your messages are. The folder name can usually be as well, BUT
|
|
some mail clients move messages between folders by simply moving the
|
|
file, leaving the name intact.
|
|
</para>
|
|
<para>
|
|
So, &OfflineIMAP; must store both a UID folder ID. The folder ID is
|
|
necessary so &OfflineIMAP; can detect a message moved to a different
|
|
folder. &OfflineIMAP; stores the UID (U= number) and an md5sum of the
|
|
foldername (FMD5= number) to facilitate this.
|
|
</para></listitem>
|
|
</varlistentry>
|
|
|
|
<varlistentry><term>What is the speed of &OfflineIMAP;'s sync?</term>
|
|
<listitem><para>OfflineIMAP
|
|
versions 2.0 and above contain a multithreaded system. A good way to
|
|
experiment is by setting <property>maxsyncaccounts</property> to 3 and <property>maxconnections</property> to 3
|
|
in each account clause.
|
|
</para>
|
|
<para>This lets OfflineIMAP open up multiple connections simultaneously.
|
|
That will let it process multiple folders and messages at once. In
|
|
most cases, this will increase performance of the sync.
|
|
</para>
|
|
<para>Don't set the number too high. If you do that, things might actually
|
|
slow down as your link gets saturated. Also, too many connections can
|
|
cause mail servers to have excessive load. Administrators might take
|
|
unkindly to this, and the server might bog down. There are many
|
|
variables in the optimal setting; experimentation may help.
|
|
</para>
|
|
<para>An informal benchmark yields these results for my setup:
|
|
</para>
|
|
<itemizedlist>
|
|
<listitem><para>10 minutes with MacOS X Mail.app "manual cache"
|
|
</para></listitem>
|
|
<listitem><para>5 minutes with GNUS agent sync</para></listitem>
|
|
<listitem><para>20 seconds with OfflineIMAP 1.x</para></listitem>
|
|
<listitem><para>9 seconds with OfflineIMAP 2.x</para></listitem>
|
|
<listitem><para>3 seconds with OfflineIMAP 3.x "cold start"</para></listitem>
|
|
<listitem><para>2 seconds with OfflineIMAP 3.x "held connection"</para></listitem>
|
|
</itemizedlist>
|
|
</listitem></varlistentry>
|
|
</variablelist>
|
|
</refsect1>
|
|
|
|
<refsect1>
|
|
<title>Conforming To</title>
|
|
<itemizedlist>
|
|
<listitem><para>Internet Message Access Protocol version 4rev1 (IMAP 4rev1) as
|
|
specified in RFC2060</para></listitem>
|
|
<listitem><para>CRAM-MD5 as specified in RFC2195</para></listitem>
|
|
<listitem><para>Maildir as specified in
|
|
<ulink url="http://www.qmail.org/qmail-manual-html/man5/maildir.html">the Maildir manpage</ulink> and
|
|
<ulink url="http://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html">the qmail website</ulink>.</para></listitem>
|
|
<listitem><para>Standard Python 2.2.1 as implemented on POSIX-compliant systems.</para></listitem>
|
|
</itemizedlist>
|
|
</refsect1>
|
|
|
|
<refsect1>
|
|
<title>Notes</title>
|
|
<refsect2>
|
|
<title>Deleting Local Folders</title>
|
|
<para>&OfflineIMAP; does a two-way synchronization. That is, if you
|
|
make a change to the mail on the server, it will be propogated to your
|
|
local copy, and vise-versa. Some people might think that it would be
|
|
wise to just delete all their local mail folders periodically. If you
|
|
do this with &OfflineIMAP;, remember to also remove your local status
|
|
cache (<filename>~/.offlineimap</filename> by default). Otherwise, &OfflineIMAP; will take
|
|
this as an intentional deletion of many messages and will interpret
|
|
your action as requesting them to be deleted from the server as well.
|
|
(If you don't understand this, don't worry; you probably won't
|
|
encounter this situation)
|
|
</para>
|
|
</refsect2>
|
|
|
|
<refsect2>
|
|
<title>Multiple Instances</title>
|
|
<para>&OfflineIMAP; is not designed to have several instances (for instance, a cron job and an interactive invocation) run over the same
|
|
mailbox simultaneously. It will perform a check on startup and
|
|
abort if another &OfflineIMAP; is already running. If you need
|
|
to schedule synchronizations, please use the
|
|
<property>autorefresh</property> settings rather than cron.
|
|
Alternatively, you can set a separate <property>metadata</property>
|
|
directory for each instance.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</refsect2>
|
|
|
|
<refsect2>
|
|
<title>Copying Messages Between Folders</title>
|
|
<para>
|
|
Normally, when you copy a message between folders or add a new message
|
|
to a folder locally, &OfflineIMAP;
|
|
will just do the right thing. However, sometimes this can be tricky
|
|
-- if your IMAP server does not provide the SEARCH command, or does
|
|
not return something useful, &OfflineIMAP;
|
|
cannot determine the new UID of the message. So, in these rare
|
|
instances, OfflineIMAP will upload the message to the IMAP server and
|
|
delete it from your local folder. Then, on your next sync, the
|
|
message will be re-downloaded with the proper UID.
|
|
&OfflineIMAP; makes sure that the message was properly uploaded before deleting it,
|
|
so there should be no risk of data loss.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</refsect2>
|
|
|
|
<refsect2>
|
|
<title>Use with Evolution</title>
|
|
<para>&OfflineIMAP; can work with Evolution. To do so, first configure
|
|
your &OfflineIMAP; account to have
|
|
<option>sep = /</option> in its configuration. Then, configure
|
|
Evolution with the
|
|
"Maildir-format mail directories" server type. For the path, you will need to
|
|
specify the name of the top-level folder
|
|
<emphasis>inside</emphasis> your &OfflineIMAP; storage location.
|
|
You're now set!
|
|
</para>
|
|
</refsect2>
|
|
|
|
<refsect2>
|
|
<title>Use with KMail</title>
|
|
<para>At this time, I believe that &OfflineIMAP; is not compatible
|
|
with KMail. KMail cannot work in any mode other than to move
|
|
all messages out of all folders immediately, which (besides being annoying
|
|
and fundamentally broken) is incompatible with &OfflineIMAP;.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</refsect2>
|
|
|
|
<refsect2>
|
|
<title>Mailing List</title>
|
|
<para>There is an OfflineIMAP mailing list available.
|
|
To subscribe, send the text "Subscribe" in the subject of a mail to
|
|
offlineimap-request@complete.org. To post, send the message to
|
|
offlineimap@complete.org.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</refsect2>
|
|
|
|
<refsect2>
|
|
<title>Bugs</title>
|
|
<para>Reports of bugs should be sent via e-mail to the
|
|
&OfflineIMAP; bug-tracking system (BTS) at
|
|
offlineimap@bugs.complete.org or submitted online using
|
|
the <ulink url="http://bugs.complete.org/">web interface</ulink>.
|
|
</para>
|
|
<para>
|
|
The Web site also lists all current bugs, where you can check their
|
|
status or contribute to fixing them.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</refsect2>
|
|
</refsect1>
|
|
|
|
<refsect1>
|
|
<title>Copyright</title>
|
|
<para>OfflineIMAP, and this manual, are Copyright © 2002, 2003 John Goerzen.</para>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
|
|
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
|
|
the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
|
|
(at your option) any later version.
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
|
|
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
|
|
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
|
|
GNU General Public License for more details.
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
|
|
along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
|
|
Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA</para>
|
|
|
|
<para>imaplib.py comes from the Python dev tree and is licensed under
|
|
the GPL-compatible PSF license as stated in the file
|
|
<filename>COPYRIGHT</filename> in the &OfflineIMAP;
|
|
distribution.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</refsect1>
|
|
|
|
<refsect1>
|
|
<title>Author</title>
|
|
<para>&OfflineIMAP;, its libraries, documentation, and all included files, except where
|
|
noted, was written by John Goerzen <email>jgoerzen@complete.org</email> and
|
|
copyright is held as stated in the COPYRIGHT section.
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
&OfflineIMAP; may be downloaded, and information found, from its
|
|
homepage via either <ulink url="gopher://quux.org/1/devel/offlineimap">Gopher</ulink>
|
|
or <ulink url="http://quux.org/devel/offlineimap">HTTP</ulink>.
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
&OfflineIMAP; may also be downloaded using Subversion. Additionally,
|
|
the distributed tar.gz may be updated with a simple "svn update"
|
|
command; it is ready to go. For information on getting OfflineIMAP
|
|
with Subversion, please visit the
|
|
<ulink url="http://svn.complete.org/">complete.org Subversion page</ulink>.
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
</refsect1>
|
|
|
|
<refsect1>
|
|
<title>See Also</title>
|
|
<para><application>mutt</application>(1),
|
|
<application>python</application>(1)
|
|
</para>
|
|
</refsect1>
|
|
</refentry>
|
|
</reference>
|
|
|
|
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