651 lines
31 KiB
Plaintext
651 lines
31 KiB
Plaintext
OFFLINEIMAP(1) OfflineIMAP manual OFFLINEIMAP(1)
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NAME
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OfflineIMAP - Powerful IMAP/Maildir synchronization and reader support
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SYNOPSIS
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offlineimap [ -1 ] [ -P profiledir ] [ -a accountlist ] [ -c configfile
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] [ -d debugtype[,debugtype...] ] [ -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. With
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OfflineIMAP, you can read the same mailbox from multiple computers.
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You get a current copy of your messages on each computer, and changes
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you make one place will be visible on all other systems. For instance,
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you can delete a message on your home computer, and it will appear
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deleted on your work computer as well. OfflineIMAP is also useful if
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you want to use a mail reader that does not have IMAP support, has poor
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IMAP support, or does not provide disconnected operation.
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OfflineIMAP is FAST; it synchronizes my two accounts with over 50 fold-
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ers in 3 seconds. Other similar tools might take over a minute, and
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achieve a 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 at all.
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Unlike other mail tools, OfflineIMAP features a multi-threaded synchro-
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nization algorithm that can dramatically speed up performance in many
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situations by synchronizing several different things simultaneously.
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OfflineIMAP is FLEXIBLE; you can customize which folders are synced via
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regular expressions, lists, or Python expressions; a versatile and com-
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prehensive configuration file is used to control behavior; two user
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interfaces are built-in; fine-tuning of synchronization performance is
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possible; internal or external automation is supported; SSL and PREAUTH
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tunnels are both supported; offline (or "unplugged") reading is sup-
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ported; and esoteric IMAP features are supported to ensure compatibil-
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ity with the widest variety of IMAP servers.
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OfflineIMAP is SAFE; it uses an algorithm designed to prevent mail loss
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at all costs. Because of the design of this algorithm, even program-
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ming errors should not result in loss of mail. I am so confident in
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the algorithm that I use my own personal and work accounts for testing
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of 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 folders in
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Maildir format locally. Your own mail reader will read mail from this
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tree, and need never know that the mail comes from IMAP. OfflineIMAP
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will detect changes to the mail folders on your IMAP server and your
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own computer and bi-directionally synchronize them, copying, marking,
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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 is likely
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that you have no installation tasks to perform; your system administra-
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tor has already installed it. If you need to install it yourself, you
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have three options: a system-wide installation with Debian, system-wide
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installation with other systems, and a single-user installation. You
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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 conditions satis-
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fied:
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o Your mail server must support IMAP. Most Internet Service
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Providers and corporate networks do, and most operating systems
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have an IMAP implementation readily available.
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o You must have Python version 2.2.1 or above installed. If you
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are running on Debian GNU/Linux, this requirement will automati-
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cally be taken care of for you. If you do not have Python
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already, check with your system administrator or operating sys-
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tem vendor; or, download it from http://www.python.org/. If you
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intend to use the Tk interface, you must have Tkinter (python-
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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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o Have a mail reader that supports the Maildir mailbox format.
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Most modern mail readers have this support built-in, so you can
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choose from a wide variety of mail servers. This format is also
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known as the "qmail" format, so any mail reader compatible with
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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 OfflineIMAP by
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simply running the following command as root:
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apt-get install offlineimap
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If you are not tracking Debian unstable, download the Debian .deb pack-
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age from the OfflineIMAP website and then run dpkg -i to install the
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downloaded package. Then, go to CONFIGURATION below. You will type
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offlineimap to 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 website. Then run
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these commands, making sure that you are the "root" user first:
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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 install
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Some systems will need to use python instead of python2.2. Next, pro-
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ceed to configuration. You will type offlineimap to invoke the pro-
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gram.
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SINGLE-ACCOUNT INSTALLATION
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Download the tar.gz version of the package from the website. Then run
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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 command as
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above and then type ./offlineimap.py; there is no installation step
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necessary.
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CONFIGURATION
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OfflineIMAP is regulated by a configuration file that is normally
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stored in ~/.offlineimaprc. OfflineIMAP ships with a file named
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offlineimap.conf that you should copy to that location and then edit.
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This file is vital to proper operation of the system; it sets every-
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thing you need to run OfflineIMAP. Full documentation for the configu-
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ration file is included within the sample file.
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OfflineIMAP also ships a file named offlineimap.conf.minimal that you
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can also try. It's useful if you want to get started with the most
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basic feature set, and you can read about other features later with
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offlineimap.conf.
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OPTIONS
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Most configuration is done via the configuration file. Nevertheless,
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there are a few options that you may set for OfflineIMAP.
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-1 Disable all multithreading operations and use solely a single-
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thread sync. This effectively sets the maxsyncaccounts and all
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maxconnections configuration file variables to 1.
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-P profiledir
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Sets OfflineIMAP into profile mode. The program will create
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profiledir (it must not already exist). As it runs, Python pro-
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filing information about each thread is logged into profiledir.
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Please note: This option is present for debugging and optimiza-
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tion only, and should NOT be used unless you have a specific
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reason to do so. It will significantly slow program perfor-
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mance, may reduce reliability, and can generate huge amounts of
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data. You must use the -1 option when you use -P.
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-a accountlist
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Overrides the accounts section in the config file. Lets you
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specify a particular account or set of accounts to sync without
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having to edit the config file. You might use this to exclude
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certain accounts, or to sync some accounts that you normally
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prefer not to.
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-c configfile
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Specifies a configuration file to use in lieu of the default,
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~/.offlineimaprc.
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-d debugtype[,debugtype...]
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Enables debugging for OfflineIMAP. This is useful if you are
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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 -1 in order
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to make the results more sensible.
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-d now requires one or more debugtypes, separated by commas.
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These define what exactly will be debugged, and so far include
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two options: imap and maildir. The imap option will enable IMAP
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protocol stream and parsing debugging. Note that the output may
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contain passwords, so take care to remove that from the debug-
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ging output before sending it to anyone else. The maildir
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option will enable debugging for certain Maildir operations.
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-o Run only once, ignoring any autorefresh setting in the config
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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 use. This
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overrides the default specified in the configuration file. The
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UI specified with -u will be forced to be used, even if its
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isuable() method states that it cannot be. Use this option with
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care. The pre-defined options are listed in the USER INTERFACES
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section.
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USER INTERFACES
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OfflineIMAP has a pluggable user interface system that lets you choose
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how the program communicates information to you. There are two graphi-
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cal interfaces, two terminal interfaces, and two noninteractive inter-
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faces suitable for scripting or logging purposes. The ui option in the
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configuration file specifies the user interface preferences. The -u
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command-line option can override the configuration file. The available
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values for the configuration file or command-line are describef in this
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section.
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Tk.Blinkenlights or Curses.Blinkenlights
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This is an interface designed to be sleek, fun to watch, and informa-
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tive of the overall picture of what OfflineIMAP is doing. I consider
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it to be the best general-purpose interface in OfflineIMAP.
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Tk.Blinkenlights contains, by default, a small window with a row of
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LEDs and a row of command buttons. The total size of the window is
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very small, so it uses little desktop space, yet it is quite func-
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tional. There is also an optional, toggable, log that shows more
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detail about what is happening and is color-coded to match the color of
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the lights.
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Curses.Blinkenlights is an interface very similar to Tk.Blinkenlights,
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but is designed to be run in a console window (an xterm, Linux virtual
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terminal, etc.) Since it doesn't have access to graphics, it isn't
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quite as pretty, but it still gets the job done.
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Tk.Blinkenlights is the only user interface that has configurable
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parameters; see the example offlineimap.conf for more details.
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Each light in the Tk.Blinkenlights or Curses.Blinkenlights interface
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represents a thread of execution -- that is, a particular task that
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OfflineIMAP is performing right now. The color indicates what task the
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particular thread is performing, and are as follows:
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Black indicates that this light's thread has terminated; it will light
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up again later when new threads start up. So, black indicates
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no activity.
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Red (Meaning 1)
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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
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in 2001.
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Gray indicates that the thread is establishing a new connection to
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the IMAP server.
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Purple is the color of an account synchronization thread that is moni-
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toring the progress of the folders in that account (not generat-
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ing any I/O).
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Cyan indicates that the thread is syncing a folder.
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Green means that a folder's message list is being loaded.
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Blue is the color of a message synchronization controller thread.
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Orange indicates that an actual message is being copied.
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Red (Meaning 2)
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indicates that a message is being deleted.
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Yellow (bright orange) indicates that message flags are being added.
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Pink (bright red) indicates that message flags are being removed.
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Red / Black Flashing
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corresponds to the countdown timer that runs between synchro-
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nizations.
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The name of this interface derives from a bit of computer science his-
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tory. Eric Raymond's Jargon File defines blinkenlights, in part, as:
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Front-panel diagnostic lights on a computer, esp. a dinosaur.
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Now that dinosaurs are rare, this term usually refers to status
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lights on a modem, network hub, or the like.
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This term derives from the last word of the famous blackletter-
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Gothic sign in mangled pseudo-German that once graced about half
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the computer rooms in the English-speaking world. One version
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ran in its entirety as follows:
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ACHTUNG! ALLES LOOKENSPEEPERS!
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Das computermachine ist nicht fuer gefingerpoken und mitten-
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grabben. Ist easy schnappen der springenwerk, blowenfusen und
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poppencorken mit spitzensparken. Ist nicht fuer gewerken bei
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das dumpkopfen. Das rubbernecken sichtseeren keepen das cotten-
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pickenen hans in das pockets muss; relaxen und watchen das
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blinkenlichten.
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Tk.VerboseUI
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This interface (formerly known as Tk.TkUI) is a graphical interface
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that presents a variable-sized window. In the window, each currently-
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executing thread has a section where its name and current status are
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displayed. This interface is best suited to people running on slower
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connections, as you get a lot of detail, but for fast connections, the
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detail may go by too quickly to be useful. People with fast connec-
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tions may wish to use Tk.Blinkenlights instead.
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TTY.TTYUI
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This interface is the default for people running in terminals. It
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prints out basic status messages and is generally friendly to use on a
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console or xterm.
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Noninteractive.Basic
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This interface is designed for situations where OfflineIMAP will be run
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non-attended and the status of its execution will be logged. You might
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use it, for instance, to have the system run automatically and e-mail
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you the results of the synchronization. This user interface is not
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capable of reading a password from the keyboard; account passwords must
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be specified using one of the configuration file options.
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Noninteractive.Quiet
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This interface is designed for non-attended running in situations where
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normal status messages are not desired. It will output nothing except
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errors and serious warnings. Like Noninteractive.Basic, this user
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interface is not capable of reading a password from the keyboard;
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account passwords must be specified using one of the configuration file
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options.
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EXAMPLES
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Here is an example configuration for a particularly complex situation;
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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 synchronize multi-
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ple 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] section, with
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different localfolder pathnames and enable [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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UW-IMAPD AND REFERENCES
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Some users with a UW-IMAPD server need to use OfflineIMAP's "reference"
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feature to get at their mailboxes, specifying a reference of "~/Mail"
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or "#mh/" depending on the configuration. The below configuration from
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docwhat@gerf.org shows using a reference of Mail, a nametrans that
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strips the leading Mail/ off incoming folder names, and a folderfilter
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that limits the folders synced to just three.
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[Gerf]
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localfolders = ~/Mail
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remotehost = gerf.org
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ssl = yes
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remoteuser = docwhat
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reference = Mail
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# Trims off the preceeding Mail on all the folder names.
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nametrans = lambda foldername: \
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re.sub('^Mail/', '', foldername)
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# Yeah, you have to mention the Mail dir, even though it
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# would seem intuitive that reference would trim it.
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folderfilter = lambda foldername: foldername in [
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'Mail/INBOX',
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'Mail/list/zaurus-general',
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'Mail/list/zaurus-dev',
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]
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maxconnections = 1
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holdconnectionopen = no
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PYTHONFILE CONFIGURATION FILE OPTION
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You can have OfflineIMAP load up a Python file before evaluating the
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configuration file options that are Python expressions. This example
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is based on one supplied by Tommi Virtanen for this feature.
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In ~/.offlineimap.rc, he adds these options:
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[general]
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pythonfile=~/.offlineimap.py
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[foo]
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foldersort=mycmp
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Then, the ~/.offlineimap.py file will contain:
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prioritized = ['INBOX', 'personal', 'announce', 'list']
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def mycmp(x, y):
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for prefix in prioritized:
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if x.startswith(prefix):
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return -1
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elif y.startswith(prefix):
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return +1
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return cmp(x, y)
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def test_mycmp():
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import os, os.path
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folders=os.list-
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dir(os.path.expanduser('~/data/mail/tv@hq.yok.utu.fi'))
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folders.sort(mycmp)
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print folders
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This code snippet illustrates how the foldersort option can be cus-
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tomized with a Python function from the pythonfile to always synchro-
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nize certain folders first.
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ERRORS
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If you get one of some frequently-encountered or confusing errors,
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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 message.
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This number is guaranteed to be unique to a particular message FOREVER.
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No other message in the same folder will ever get the same UID. UIDs
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are an integral part of OfflineIMAP's synchronization scheme; they are
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used to match up messages on your computer to messages on the server.
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Sometimes, the UIDs on the server might get reset. Usually this will
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happen if you delete and then recreate a folder. When you create a
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folder, the server will often start the UID back from 1. But
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OfflineIMAP might still have the UIDs from the previous folder by the
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same name stored. OfflineIMAP will detect this condition and skip the
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folder. This is GOOD, because it prevents data loss.
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You can fix it by removing your local folder and cache data. For
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instance, if your folders are under ~/Folders and the folder with the
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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 in
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~/.offlineimaprc)
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Next time you run OfflineIMAP, it will re-download the folder with the
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new UIDs. Note that the procedure specified above will lose any local
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changes made to the folder.
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Some IMAP servers are broken and do not support UIDs properly. If you
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continue to get this error for all your folders even after performing
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the above procedure, it is likely that your IMAP server falls into this
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category. OfflineIMAP is incompatible with such servers. Using
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OfflineIMAP with them will not destroy any mail, but at the same time,
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it will not actually synchronize it either. (OfflineIMAP will detect
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this condition and abort prior to synchronization)
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OTHER FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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There are some other FAQs that might not fit into another section of
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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 Python, which are
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quite a few.
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I'm using Mutt. Other IMAP sync programs require me to use set
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maildir_trash=yes . Do I need to do that with OfflineIMAP?
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No. OfflineIMAP is smart enough to figure out message deletion
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without this extra crutch. You'll get the best results if you
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don't use this setting, 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 automati-
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cally figure out what folders are present on the IMAP server and
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synchronize them. You can use the folderfilter and foldertrans
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configuration 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 file.
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How can I add or delete a folder?
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OfflineIMAP does not currently provide this feature, but if you
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create a new folder on the IMAP server, it will be created
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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 automatically determining
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the names of your mailboxes. OfflineIMAP can help it (or many
|
|
other) programs out be writing these names out in a format you
|
|
specify. See the example offlineimap.conf file for 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 the general
|
|
section of the config file, and add a per-account section for
|
|
each one.
|
|
|
|
Does OfflineIMAP support POP?
|
|
No. POP is not robust enough to do a completely reliable multi-
|
|
machine synchronization like OfflineIMAP can do. OfflineIMAP
|
|
will not support it.
|
|
|
|
Do you support mailbox formats other than Maildir?
|
|
Not at present. There is no technical reason not to; just no
|
|
demand yet. Maildir is a superior format anyway.
|
|
|
|
[technical] Why are your Maildir message filenames so huge?
|
|
OfflineIMAP has two relevant principles: 1) never modifying your
|
|
messages in any way and 2) ensuring 100% reliable synchroniza-
|
|
tions. In order to do a reliable sync, OfflineIMAP must have a
|
|
way to uniquely identify each e-mail. Three pieces of informa-
|
|
tion 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.
|
|
|
|
So, OfflineIMAP must store both a UID folder ID. The folder ID
|
|
is necessary so OfflineIMAP can detect a message moved to a dif-
|
|
ferent folder. OfflineIMAP stores the UID (U= number) and an
|
|
md5sum of the foldername (FMD5= number) to facilitate this.
|
|
|
|
What is the speed of OfflineIMAP's sync?
|
|
OfflineIMAP versions 2.0 and above contain a multithreaded sys-
|
|
tem. A good way to experiment is by setting maxsyncaccounts to
|
|
3 and maxconnections to 3 in each account clause.
|
|
|
|
This lets OfflineIMAP open up multiple connections simultane-
|
|
ously. That will let it process multiple folders and messages
|
|
at once. In most cases, this will increase performance of the
|
|
sync.
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
An informal benchmark yields these results for my setup:
|
|
|
|
10 minutes with MacOS X Mail.app "manual cache"
|
|
5 minutes with GNUS agent sync
|
|
20 seconds with OfflineIMAP 1.x
|
|
9 seconds with OfflineIMAP 2.x
|
|
3 seconds with OfflineIMAP 3.x "cold start"
|
|
2 seconds with OfflineIMAP 3.x "held connection"
|
|
|
|
CONFORMING TO
|
|
o Internet Message Access Protocol version 4rev1 (IMAP 4rev1) as
|
|
specified in RFC2060
|
|
|
|
o CRAM-MD5 as specified in RFC2195
|
|
|
|
o Maildir as specified in http://www.qmail.org/qmail-manual-
|
|
html/man5/maildir.html and http://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html.
|
|
|
|
o Standard Python 2.2.1 as implemented on POSIX-compliant systems.
|
|
|
|
NOTES
|
|
DELETING LOCAL FOLDERS
|
|
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
|
|
(~/.offlineimap 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)
|
|
|
|
COPYING MESSAGES BETWEEN FOLDERS
|
|
Normally, when you copy a message between folders or add a new message
|
|
to a folder locally, OfflineIMAP will just do the right thing. How-
|
|
ever, sometimes this can be tricky -- if your IMAP server does not pro-
|
|
vide 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.
|
|
|
|
USE WITH EVOLUTION
|
|
OfflineIMAP can work with Evolution. To do so, first configure your
|
|
OfflineIMAP account to have:
|
|
sep = /
|
|
in its configuration. Then, configure Evolution with the "Maildir-for-
|
|
mat mail directories" server type. For the path, you will need to
|
|
specify the name of the top-level folder inside your OfflineIMAP stor-
|
|
age location. You're now set!
|
|
|
|
USE WITH KMAIL
|
|
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 fundamen-
|
|
tally broken) is incompatible with OfflineIMAP.
|
|
|
|
MAILING LIST
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
BUGS
|
|
Reports of bugs should be sent via e-mail to the OfflineIMAP bug-track-
|
|
ing system (BTS) at offlineimap@bugs.complete.org or submitted on-line
|
|
using the Web interface at http://bugs.complete.org/. The Web site
|
|
also lists all current bugs, where you can check their status or con-
|
|
tribute to fixing them.
|
|
|
|
COPYRIGHT
|
|
OfflineIMAP, and this manual, are Copyright (C) 2002, 2003 John
|
|
Goerzen.
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
|
|
WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MER-
|
|
CHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General
|
|
Public License for more details.
|
|
|
|
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
|
|
with this program; if not, write to:
|
|
|
|
Free Software Foundation, Inc.
|
|
59 Temple Place
|
|
Suite 330
|
|
Boston, MA 02111-1307
|
|
USA
|
|
|
|
AUTHOR
|
|
OfflineIMAP, its libraries, documentation, and all included files,
|
|
except where noted, was written by John Goerzen <jgoerzen@complete.org>
|
|
and copyright is held as stated in the COPYRIGHT section.
|
|
|
|
OfflineIMAP may be downloaded, and information found, from its homepage
|
|
via either Gopher or HTTP:
|
|
|
|
gopher://quux.org/1/devel/offlineimap
|
|
http://quux.org/devel/offlineimap
|
|
|
|
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 Subver-
|
|
sion, please visit:
|
|
|
|
http://svn.complete.org/
|
|
|
|
SEE ALSO
|
|
mutt(1), python(1).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
John Goerzen July 12, 2002 OFFLINEIMAP(1)
|