-OFFLINEIMAP(1) OfflineIMAP manual OFFLINEIMAP(1)
+OFFLINEIMAP(1) OfflineIMAP Manual OFFLINEIMAP(1)
SYNOPSIS
offlineimap [ -1 ] [ -P profiledir ] [ -a accountlist ] [ -c configfile
- ] [ -d debugtype[,debugtype...] ] [ -o ] [ -u interface ]
+ ] [ -d debugtype[,...] ] [ -l filename ] [ -o ] [ -u interface ]
+
offlineimap -h | --help
+
DESCRIPTION
- OfflineIMAP is a tool to simplify your e-mail reading. With
+ OfflineIMAP is a tool to simplify your e-mail reading. With
OfflineIMAP, you can read the same mailbox from multiple computers.
You get a current copy of your messages on each computer, and changes
you make one place will be visible on all other systems. For instance,
at all costs. Because of the design of this algorithm, even program-
ming errors should not result in loss of mail. I am so confident in
the algorithm that I use my own personal and work accounts for testing
- of OfflineIMAP pre-release, development, and beta releases.
+ of OfflineIMAP pre-release, development, and beta releases. Of course,
+ legally speaking, OfflineIMAP comes with no warranty, so I am not
+ responsible if this turns out to be wrong.
METHOD OF OPERATION
- OfflineIMAP operates by maintaining a hierarchy of mail folders in
- Maildir format locally. Your own mail reader will read mail from this
- tree, and need never know that the mail comes from IMAP. OfflineIMAP
- will detect changes to the mail folders on your IMAP server and your
- own computer and bi-directionally synchronize them, copying, marking,
- and deleting messages as necessary.
+ OfflineIMAP traditionally operates by maintaining a hierarchy of mail
+ folders in Maildir format locally. Your own mail reader will read mail
+ from this tree, and need never know that the mail comes from IMAP.
+ OfflineIMAP will detect changes to the mail folders on your IMAP server
+ and your own computer and bi-directionally synchronize them, copying,
+ marking, and deleting messages as necessary.
+
+ With OfflineIMAP 4.0, a powerful new ability has been introduced -- the
+ program can now synchronize two IMAP servers with each other, with no
+ need to have a Maildir layer in-between. Many people use this if they
+ use a mail reader on their local machine that does not support
+ Maildirs. People may install an IMAP server on their local machine,
+ and point both OfflineIMAP and their mail reader of choice at it. This
+ is often preferable to the mail reader's own IMAP support since
+ OfflineIMAP supports many features (offline reading, for one) that most
+ IMAP-aware readers don't. However, this feature is not as time-tested
+ as traditional syncing, so my advice is to stick with normal methods of
+ operation for the time being.
+
+QUICK START
+ If you have already installed OfflineIMAP system-wide, or your system
+ administrator has done that for you, your task for setting up
+ OfflineIMAP for the first time is quite simple. You just need to set
+ up your configuration file, make your folder directory, and run it!
+
+ You can quickly set up your configuration file. The distribution
+ includes a file offlineimap.conf.minimal (Debian users may find this at
+ /usr/share/doc/offlineimap/examples/offlineimap.conf.minimal) that is a
+ basic example of setting of OfflineIMAP. You can simply copy this file
+ into your home directory and name it .offlineimaprc (note the leading
+ period). A command such as cp offlineimap.conf.minimal
+ ~/.offlineimaprc will do it. Or, if you prefer, you can just copy this
+ text to ~/.offlineimaprc:
+
+ [general]
+ accounts = Test
+
+ [Account Test]
+ localrepository = Local
+ remoterepository = Remote
+
+ [Repository Local]
+ type = Maildir
+ localfolders = ~/Test
+
+ [Repository Remote]
+ type = IMAP
+ remotehost = examplehost
+ remoteuser = jgoerzen
+
+ Now, edit the ~/.offlineimaprc file with your favorite editor. All you
+ have to do is specify a directory for your folders to be in (on the
+ localfolders line), the host name of your IMAP server (on the remote-
+ host line), and your login name on the remote (on the remoteuser line).
+ That's it!
+
+ To run OfflineIMAP, you just have to say offlineimap -- it will fire
+ up, ask you for a login password if necessary, synchronize your fold-
+ ers, and exit. See? You can just throw away the rest of this finely-
+ crafted, perfectly-honed manual! Of course, if you want to see how you
+ can make OfflineIMAP FIVE TIMES FASTER FOR JUST $19.95 (err, well, $0),
+ you have to read on!
INSTALLATION
- If you are reading this document via the "man" command, it is likely
+ If you are reading this document via the "man" command, it is likely
that you have no installation tasks to perform; your system administra-
- tor has already installed it. If you need to install it yourself, you
+ tor has already installed it. If you need to install it yourself, you
have three options: a system-wide installation with Debian, system-wide
- installation with other systems, and a single-user installation. You
- can download the latest version of OfflineIMAP from
- http://quux.org/devel/offlineimap/.
+ installation with other systems, and a single-user installation. You
+ can download the latest version of OfflineIMAP from the OfflineIMAP
+ website <URL:http://quux.org/devel/offlineimap/>.
PREREQUISITES
- In order to use OfflineIMAP, you need to have these conditions satis-
+ In order to use OfflineIMAP, you need to have these conditions satis-
fied:
- o Your mail server must support IMAP. Most Internet Service
- Providers and corporate networks do, and most operating systems
- have an IMAP implementation readily available.
-
- o You must have Python version 2.2.1 or above installed. If you
- are running on Debian GNU/Linux, this requirement will automati-
- cally be taken care of for you. If you do not have Python
- already, check with your system administrator or operating sys-
- tem vendor; or, download it from http://www.python.org/. If you
- intend to use the Tk interface, you must have Tkinter (python-
- tk) installed. If you intend to use the SSL interface, your
- Python must have been built with SSL support.
-
- o Have a mail reader that supports the Maildir mailbox format.
- Most modern mail readers have this support built-in, so you can
- choose from a wide variety of mail servers. This format is also
- known as the "qmail" format, so any mail reader compatible with
- it will work with OfflineIMAP.
-
- DEBIAN SYSTEM-WIDE INSTALLATION
- If you are tracking Debian unstable, you may install OfflineIMAP by
+ o Your mail server must support IMAP. Most Internet Service Providers
+ and corporate networks do, and most operating systems have an IMAP
+ implementation readily available.
+
+ o You must have Python version 2.2.1 or above installed. If you are
+ running on Debian GNU/Linux, this requirement will automatically be
+ taken care of for you. If you do not have Python already, check with
+ your system administrator or operating system vendor; or, download it
+ from the Python website <URL:http://www.python.org/>. If you intend
+ to use the Tk interface, you must have Tkinter (python-tk) installed.
+ If you intend to use the SSL interface, your Python must have been
+ built with SSL support.
+
+ o Have a mail reader that supports the Maildir mailbox format. Most
+ modern mail readers have this support built-in, so you can choose
+ from a wide variety of mail servers. This format is also known as
+ the "qmail" format, so any mail reader compatible with it will work
+ with OfflineIMAP. If you do not have a mail reader that supports
+ Maildir, you can often install a local IMAP server and point both
+ OfflineIMAP and your mail reader at it.
+
+ SYSTEM-WIDE INSTALLATION, DEBIAN
+ If you are tracking Debian unstable, you may install OfflineIMAP by
simply running the following command as root:
apt-get install offlineimap
If you are not tracking Debian unstable, download the Debian .deb pack-
- age from the OfflineIMAP website and then run dpkg -i to install the
- downloaded package. Then, go to CONFIGURATION below. You will type
- offlineimap to invoke the program.
+ age from the OfflineIMAP website
+ <URL:http://quux.org/devel/offlineimap/> and then run dpkg -i to
+ install the downloaded package. Then, skip to [XRef to CONFIGURATION]
+ below. You will type offlineimap to invoke the program.
- OTHER SYSTEM-WIDE INSTALLATION
- Download the tar.gz version of the package from the website. Then run
- these commands:
+ SYSTEM-WIDE INSTALLATION, OTHER
+ Download the tar.gz version of the package from the website
+ <URL:http://quux.org/devel/offlineimap/>. Then run these commands,
+ making sure that you are the "root" user first:
- tar -zxvf offlineimap-x.y.z.tar.gz
+ tar -zxvf offlineimap_x.y.z.tar.gz
cd offlineimap-x.y.z
- python2.2 setup.py
+ python2.2 setup.py install
- Some systems will need to use python instead of python2.2. Next, pro-
- ceed to configuration. You will type offlineimap to invoke the pro-
- gram.
+ On some systems, you will need to use python instead of python2.2.
+ Next, proceed to [XRef to CONFIGURATION] below. You will type
+ offlineimap to invoke the program.
SINGLE-ACCOUNT INSTALLATION
- Download the tar.gz version of the package from the website. Then run
- these commands:
+ Download the tar.gz version of the package from the website
+ <URL:http://quux.org/devel/offlineimap/>. Then run these commands:
- tar -zxvf offlineimap-x.y.z.tar.gz
+ tar -zxvf offlineimap_x.y.z.tar.gz
cd offlineimap-x.y.z
- When you want to run OfflineIMAP, you will issue the cd command as
- above and then type ./offlineimap.py; there is no installation step
+ When you want to run OfflineIMAP, you will issue the cd command as
+ above and then type ./offlineimap.py; there is no installation step
necessary.
CONFIGURATION
- OfflineIMAP is regulated by a configuration file that is normally
- stored in ~/.offlineimaprc. OfflineIMAP ships with a file named
- offlineimap.conf that you should copy to that location and then edit.
- This file is vital to proper operation of the system; it sets every-
+ OfflineIMAP is regulated by a configuration file that is normally
+ stored in ~/.offlineimaprc. OfflineIMAP ships with a file named
+ offlineimap.conf that you should copy to that location and then edit.
+ This file is vital to proper operation of the system; it sets every-
thing you need to run OfflineIMAP. Full documentation for the configu-
ration file is included within the sample file.
+ OfflineIMAP also ships a file named offlineimap.conf.minimal that you
+ can also try. It's useful if you want to get started with the most
+ basic feature set, and you can read about other features later with
+ offlineimap.conf.
+
OPTIONS
Most configuration is done via the configuration file. Nevertheless,
- there are a few options that you may set for OfflineIMAP.
+ there are a few command-line options that you may set for OfflineIMAP.
- -1 Disable all multithreading operations and use solely a single-
- thread sync. This effectively sets the maxsyncaccounts and all
- maxconnections configuration file variables to 1.
+ -1 Disable most multithreading operations and use solely a single-
+ connection sync. This effectively sets the maxsyncaccounts and
+ all maxconnections configuration file variables to 1.
-P profiledir
- Sets OfflineIMAP into profile mode. The program will create
+ Sets OfflineIMAP into profile mode. The program will create
profiledir (it must not already exist). As it runs, Python pro-
- filing information about each thread is logged into profiledir.
- Please note: This option is present for debugging and optimiza-
- tion only, and should NOT be used unless you have a specific
- reason to do so. It will significantly slow program perfor-
- mance, may reduce reliability, and can generate huge amounts of
+ filing information about each thread is logged into profiledir.
+ Please note: This option is present for debugging and optimiza-
+ tion only, and should NOT be used unless you have a specific
+ reason to do so. It will significantly slow program perfor-
+ mance, may reduce reliability, and can generate huge amounts of
data. You must use the -1 option when you use -P.
-
-a accountlist
- Overrides the accounts section in the config file. Lets you
- specify a particular account or set of accounts to sync without
- having to edit the config file. You might use this to exclude
- certain accounts, or to sync some accounts that you normally
- prefer not to.
+ Overrides the accounts option in the general section of the con-
+ figuration file. You might use this to exclude certain
+ accounts, or to sync some accounts that you normally prefer not
+ to. Separate the accounts by commas, and use no embedded
+ spaces.
-c configfile
- Specifies a configuration file to use in lieu of the default,
+ Specifies a configuration file to use in lieu of the default,
~/.offlineimaprc.
- -d debugtype[,debugtype...]
- Enables debugging for OfflineIMAP. This is useful if you are
- trying to track down a malfunction or figure out what is going
- on under the hood. I suggest that you use this with -1 in order
- to make the results more sensible.
+ -d debugtype[,...]
+ Enables debugging for OfflineIMAP. This is useful if you are
+ trying to track down a malfunction or figure out what is going
+ on under the hood. I suggest that you use this with -1 to make
+ the results more sensible.
- -d now requires one or more debugtypes, separated by commas.
- These define what exactly will be debugged, and so far include
- two options: imap and maildir. The imap option will enable IMAP
+ -d requires one or more debugtypes, separated by commas. These
+ define what exactly will be debugged, and include three options:
+ imap, maildir, and thread. The imap option will enable IMAP
protocol stream and parsing debugging. Note that the output may
- contain passwords, so take care to remove that from the debug-
- ging output before sending it to anyone else. The maildir
- option will enable debugging for certain Maildir operations.
+ contain passwords, so take care to remove that from the debug-
+ ging output before sending it to anyone else. The maildir
+ option will enable debugging for certain Maildir operations.
+ And thread will debug the threading model.
- -o Run only once, ignoring any autorefresh setting in the config
- file.
+ -l filename
+ Enables logging to filename. This will log everything that goes
+ to the screen to the specified file. Additionally, if any
+ debugging is specified with -d, then debug messages will not go
+ to the screen, but instead to the logfile only.
- -h, --help
- Show summary of options.
+ -o Run only once, ignoring all autorefresh settings in the configu-
+ ration file.
+
+ -h
+
+ --help Show summary of options.
-u interface
- Specifies an alternative user interface module to use. This
- overrides the default specified in the configuration file. The
- UI specified with -u will be forced to be used, even if its
- isuable() method states that it cannot be. Use this option with
- care. The pre-defined options are listed in the USER INTERFACES
- section.
+ Specifies an alternative user interface module to use. This
+ overrides the default specified in the configuration file. The
+ pre-defined options are listed in the User Interfaces section.
USER INTERFACES
OfflineIMAP has a pluggable user interface system that lets you choose
how the program communicates information to you. There are two graphi-
- cal interfaces, one terminal interface, and two noninteractive inter-
+ cal interfaces, two terminal interfaces, and two noninteractive inter-
faces suitable for scripting or logging purposes. The ui option in the
- configuration file specifies the user interface preferences. The -u
- command-line option can override the configuration file. The available
- values for the configuration file or command-line are describef in this
- section.
-
- Tk.Blinkenlights
- This is an interface designed to be sleek, fun to watch, and informa-
- tive of the overall picture of what OfflineIMAP is doing. I consider
- it to be the best general-purpose interface in OfflineIMAP.
- Tk.Blinkenlights contains, by default, a small window with a row of
- LEDs and a row of command buttons. The total size of the window is
- very small, so it uses little desktop space, yet it is quite func-
- tional. There is also an optional, toggable, log that shows more
- detail about what is happening and is color-coded to match the color of
- the lights.
+ configuration file specifies user interface preferences. The -u com-
+ mand-line option can override the configuration file setting. The
+ available values for the configuration file or command-line are
+ described in this section.
+
+ TK.BLINKENLIGHTS
+ Tk.Blinkenlights is an interface designed to be sleek, fun to watch,
+ and informative of the overall picture of what OfflineIMAP is doing. I
+ consider it to be the best general-purpose interface in OfflineIMAP.
+
+ Tk.Blinkenlights contains, by default, a small window with a row of
+ LEDs, a small log, and a row of command buttons. The total size of the
+ window is very small, so it uses little desktop space, yet it is quite
+ functional. The optional, toggleable, log shows more detail about what
+ is happening and is color-coded to match the color of the lights.
Tk.Blinkenlights is the only user interface that has configurable
parameters; see the example offlineimap.conf for more details.
- Each light in the Tk.Blinkenlights interface represents a thread of
- execution -- that is, a particular task that OfflineIMAP is performing
- right now. The color indicates what task the particular thread is per-
- forming, and are as follows:
+ Each light in the Blinkenlights interface represents a thread of execu-
+ tion -- that is, a particular task that OfflineIMAP is performing right
+ now. The colors indicate what task the particular thread is perform-
+ ing, and are as follows:
Black indicates that this light's thread has terminated; it will light
up again later when new threads start up. So, black indicates
Blue is the color of a message synchronization controller thread.
- Orange indicates that an actual message is being copied.
+ Orange indicates that an actual message is being copied. (We use fuch-
+ sia for fake messages.)
- Red (Meaning 2)
+ Red (meaning 2)
indicates that a message is being deleted.
- Yellow (bright orange) indicates that message flags are being added.
+ Yellow / bright orange
+ indicates that message flags are being added.
- Pink (bright red) indicates that message flags are being removed.
+ Pink / bright red
+ indicates that message flags are being removed.
Red / Black Flashing
- corresponds to the countdown timer that runs between synchro-
+ corresponds to the countdown timer that runs between synchro-
nizations.
- The name of this interface derives from a bit of computer science his-
- tory. Eric Raymond's Jargon File defines blinkenlights, in part, as:
+ The name of this interfaces derives from a bit of computer history.
+ Eric Raymond's Jargon File defines blinkenlights, in part, as:
+
- Front-panel diagnostic lights on a computer, esp. a dinosaur.
- Now that dinosaurs are rare, this term usually refers to status
+ 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.
- This term derives from the last word of the famous blackletter-
+ 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
+ the computer rooms in the English-speaking world. One version
ran in its entirety as follows:
- ACHTUNG! ALLES LOOKENSPEEPERS!
+ ACHTUNG! ALLES LOOKENSPEEPERS!
- Das computermachine ist nicht fuer gefingerpoken und mitten-
- grabben. Ist easy schnappen der springenwerk, blowenfusen und
- poppencorken mit spitzensparken. Ist nicht fuer gewerken bei
+ Das computermachine ist nicht fuer gefingerpoken und mitten-
+ grabben. 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
+ pickenen hans in das pockets muss; relaxen und watchen das
blinkenlichten.
- Tk.VerboseUI
- This interface (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 connec-
+ CURSES.BLINKENLIGHTS
+ 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.
+
+ Please see the Tk.Blinkenlights section above for more information
+ about the colors used in this interface.
+
+ TK.VERBOSEUI
+ Tk.VerboseUI (formerly known as Tk.TkUI) is a graphical interface that
+ presents a variable-sized window. In the window, each currently-exe-
+ cuting thread has a section where its name and current status are dis-
+ played. This interface is best suited to people running on slower con-
+ nections, as you get a lot of detail, but for fast connections, the
+ detail may go by too quickly to be useful. People with fast connec-
tions may wish to use Tk.Blinkenlights instead.
TTY.TTYUI
- This interface is the default for people running in terminals. It
- prints out basic status messages, has an interruptible timer like the
- graphical interfaces do, and is generally friendly to use on a console
- or xterm.
-
- Noninteractive.Basic
- This interface is designed for situations where 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.
-
- Noninteractive.Quiet
- This interface 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
+ TTY.TTYUI interface is for people running in basic, non-color termi-
+ nals. It prints out basic status messages and is generally friendly to
+ use on a console or xterm.
+
+ NONINTERACTIVE.BASIC
+ 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 auto-
+ matically 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.
+ NONINTERACTIVE.QUIET
+ 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.
+
EXAMPLES
- Here is an example configuration for a particularly complex situation;
- more examples will be added later.
+ Here are some example configurations for various situations. Please e-
+ mail any other examples you have that may be useful to me.
MULTIPLE ACCOUNTS WITH MUTT
- This example shows you how to set up OfflineIMAP to synchronize multi-
+ This example shows you how to set up OfflineIMAP to synchronize multi-
ple accounts with the mutt mail reader.
- Start by creating a directory to hold your folders:
- mkdir ~/Mail
+ Start by creating a directory to hold your folders by running mkdir
+ ~/Mail. Then, in your ~/.offlineimaprc, specify:
- In your ~/.offlineimaprc, specify this:
accounts = Personal, Work
- Make sure that you have both a [Personal] and a [Work] section, with
- different localfolder pathnames and enable [mbnames].
+ Make sure that you have both an [Account Personal] and an [Account
+ Work] section. The local repository for each account must have differ-
+ ent localfolder path names. Also, make sure to enable [mbnames].
+
+ In each local repository section, write something like this:
- In each account section, do something like this:
localfolders = ~/Mail/Personal
- Add these lines to your ~/.muttrc:
+ Finally, add these lines to your ~/.muttrc:
+
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
- set spoolfile=+Personal/INBOX
+ spoolfile=+Personal/INBOX
That's it!
UW-IMAPD AND REFERENCES
Some users with a UW-IMAPD server need to use OfflineIMAP's "reference"
- feature to get at their mailboxes, specifying a reference of "~/Mail"
+ 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 reference of Mail, a nametrans that
- strips the leading Mail/ off incoming folder names, and a folderfilter
- that limits the folders synced to just three.
+ (originally from docwhat@gerf.org) shows using a reference of Mail, a
+ nametrans that strips the leading Mail/ off incoming folder names, and
+ a folderfilter that limits the folders synced to just three.
- [Gerf]
+ [Account Gerf]
+ localrepository = GerfLocal
+ remoterepository = GerfRemote
+
+ [Repository GerfLocal]
+ type = Maildir
localfolders = ~/Mail
+
+ [Repository GerfRemote]
+ type = IMAP
remotehost = gerf.org
ssl = yes
remoteuser = docwhat
# 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',
- ]
+ 'Mail/INBOX',
+ 'Mail/list/zaurus-general',
+ 'Mail/list/zaurus-dev',
+ ]
maxconnections = 1
holdconnectionopen = no
PYTHONFILE CONFIGURATION FILE OPTION
- You can have OfflineIMAP load up a Python file before evaluating the
- configuration file options that are Python expressions. This example
+ 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.
In ~/.offlineimap.rc, he adds these options:
[general]
pythonfile=~/.offlineimap.py
- [foo]
+ [Repository foo]
foldersort=mycmp
Then, the ~/.offlineimap.py file will contain:
def mycmp(x, y):
for prefix in prioritized:
- if x.startswith(prefix):
- return -1
- elif y.startswith(prefix):
- return +1
+ xsw = x.startswith(prefix)
+ ysw = y.startswith(prefix)
+ if xsw and ysw:
+ return cmp(x, y)
+ elif xsw:
+ return -1
+ elif ysw:
+ return +1
return cmp(x, y)
def test_mycmp():
import os, os.path
- folders=os.list-
- dir(os.path.expanduser('~/data/mail/tv@hq.yok.utu.fi'))
+ folders=os.listdir(os.path.expanduser('~/data/mail/tv@hq.yok.utu.fi'))
folders.sort(mycmp)
print folders
If you get one of some frequently-encountered or confusing errors,
please check this section.
- UID validity problem for folder
+ UID VALIDITY PROBLEM FOR FOLDER
IMAP servers use a unique ID (UID) to refer to a specific message.
- This number is guaranteed to be unique to a particular message FOREVER.
+ This number is guaranteed to be unique to a particular message forever.
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.
problem is INBOX, you'd type this:
rm -r ~/Folders/INBOX
- rm ~/.offlineimap/AccountName/INBOX
+ rm -r ~/.offlineimap/Account-AccountName
+ rm -r ~/.offlineimap/Repository-RepositoryName
- (replacing AccountName with the account name as specified in
- ~/.offlineimaprc)
+ (Of course, replace AccountName and RepositoryName with the names as
+ specified in ~/.offlineimaprc).
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
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)
+ this condition and abort prior to synchronization.)
+ This question comes up frequently on the OfflineIMAP mailing list
+ <URL:http://lists.complete.org/offlineimap@complete.org/>. You can
+ find a detailed discussion <URL:http://lists.com-
+ plete.org/offlineimap@complete.org/2003/04/msg00012.html.gz> of the
+ problem there.
OTHER FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
There are some other FAQs that might not fit into another section of
- this document, and they are enumerated here.
+ the document, so they are discussed here.
What platforms does OfflineIMAP run on?
It should run on most platforms supported by Python, which are
quite a few.
- I'm using Mutt. Other IMAP sync programs require me to use set
- maildir_trash=yes . Do I need to do that with OfflineIMAP?
+ I'm using Mutt. Other IMAP sync programs require me to use "set
+ maildir_trash=yes". Do I need to do that with OfflineIMAP?
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.
+ I've upgraded and now OfflineIMAP crashes when I start it up! Why?
+ You need to upgrade your configuration file. See [XRef to
+ UPGRADING.4.0] at the end of this manual.
+
How do I specify the names of my folders?
- You do not need to. OfflineIMAP is smart enough to automati-
+ You do not need to. OfflineIMAP is smart enough to automati-
cally figure out what folders are present on the IMAP server and
- synchronize them. You can use the folderfilter and foldertrans
+ synchronize them. You can use the folderfilter and foldertrans
configuration file options to request certain folders and rename
them as they come in if you like.
Use the folderfilter option in the configuration file.
How can I add or delete a folder?
- OfflineIMAP does not currently provide this feature, but if you
- create a new folder on the IMAP server, it will be created
+ OfflineIMAP does not currently provide this feature, but if you
+ create a new folder on the IMAP server, it will be created
locally automatically.
Are there any other warnings that I should be aware of?
- Yes; see the NOTES section below.
+ Yes; see the Notes section below.
What is the mailbox name recorder (mbnames) for?
- The Mutt mail reader is not capable of automatically determining
- 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.
+ Some mail readers, such as Mutt, are not capable of automati-
+ cally determining the names of your mailboxes. OfflineIMAP can
+ help these programs by writing the names of the folders in a
+ format you specify. See the example offlineimap.conf for
+ details.
Can I synchronize multiple accounts with OfflineIMAP?
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.
+ section of the configuration 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?
+ Does OfflineIMAP 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.
+ demand yet. Maildir is a superior format anyway. However,
+ OfflineIMAP can sync between two IMAP servers, and some IMAP
+ servers support other formats. You could install an IMAP server
+ on your local machine and have OfflineIMAP sync to that.
[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.
+ 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 cal-
+ culated 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-
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"
+ o 10 minutes with MacOS X Mail.app "manual cache"
+
+ o 5 minutes with GNUS agent sync
+
+ o 20 seconds with OfflineIMAP 1.x
+
+ o 9 seconds with OfflineIMAP 2.x
+
+ o 3 seconds with OfflineIMAP 3.x "cold start"
+
+ o 2 seconds with OfflineIMAP 3.x "held connection"
CONFORMING TO
- o Internet Message Access Protocol version 4rev1 (IMAP 4rev1) as
- specified in RFC2060
+ o Internet Message Access Protocol version 4rev1 (IMAP 4rev1) as speci-
+ fied in RFC2060 and RFC3501
- o CRAM-MD5 as specified in RFC2195
+ 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 Maildir as specified in the Maildir manpage
+ <URL:http://www.qmail.org/qmail-manual-html/man5/maildir.html> and
+ the qmail website <URL:http://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html>.
- o Standard Python 2.2.1 as implemented on POSIX-compliant systems.
+ 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
+ change to the mail on the server, it will be propagated 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
don't understand this, don't worry; you probably won't encounter this
situation)
+ MULTIPLE INSTANCES
+ 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 syn-
+ chronizations, please use the autorefresh settings rather than cron.
+ Alternatively, you can set a separate metadata directory for each
+ instance.
+
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-
sure that the message was properly uploaded before deleting it, so
there should be no risk of data loss.
- MAILING LIST
- There is an OfflineIMAP mailing list available.
+ USE WITH EVOLUTION
+ OfflineIMAP can work with Evolution. To do so, first configure your
+ OfflineIMAP account to have sep = / in its configuration. Then, con-
+ figure Evolution with the "Maildir-format mail directories" server
+ type. For the path, you will need to specify the name of the top-level
+ folder inside your OfflineIMAP storage location. You're now set!
+
+ USE WITH KMAIL
+ At this time, I believe that OfflineIMAP with Maildirs is not compati-
+ ble 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.
- 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.
+ However, I have made KMail version 3 work well with OfflineIMAP by
+ installing an IMAP server on my local machine, having OfflineIMAP sync
+ to that, and pointing KMail at the same server.
-BUGS
+ MAILING LIST
+ There is an OfflineIMAP mailing list available. To subscribe, send the
+ text "Subscribe" in the subject of a mail to offlineimap-request@com-
+ plete.org. To post, send the message to offlineimap@complete.org.
+ Archives are available at
+ <URL:http://lists.complete.org/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.
+ ing system (BTS) at offlineimap@bugs.complete.org or submitted online
+ using the web interface <URL:http://bugs.complete.org/>.
+
+ The Web site also lists all current bugs, where you can check their
+ status or contribute to fixing them.
+
+UPGRADING TO 4.0
+ If you are upgrading from a version of OfflineIMAP prior to 3.99.12,
+ you will find that you will get errors when OfflineIMAP starts up
+ (relating to ConfigParser or AccountHashGenerator) and the configura-
+ tion file. This is because the config file format had to change to
+ accommodate new features in 4.0. Fortunately, it's not difficult to
+ adjust it to suit.
+
+ First thing you need to do is stop any running OfflineIMAP instance,
+ making sure first that it's synced all your mail. Then, modify your
+ ~/.offlineimaprc file. You'll need to split up each account section
+ (make sure that it now starts with "Account ") into two Repository sec-
+ tions (one for the local side and another for the remote side.) See
+ the files offlineimap.conf.minimal and offlineimap.conf in the distri-
+ bution if you need more assistance.
+
+ OfflineIMAP's status directory area has also changed. Therefore, you
+ should delete everything in ~/.offlineimap as well as your local mail
+ folders.
+
+ When you start up OfflineIMAP 4.0, it will re-download all your mail
+ from the server and then you can continue using it like normal.
COPYRIGHT
- OfflineIMAP is Copyright (C) 2002 John Goerzen.
+ 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
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:
+ with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
+ 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
- Free Software Foundation, Inc.
- 59 Temple Place
- Suite 330
- Boston, MA 02111-1307
- USA
+ imaplib.py comes from the Python dev tree and is licensed under the
+ GPL-compatible PSF license as stated in the file COPYRIGHT in the
+ OfflineIMAP distribution.
AUTHOR
- OfflineIMAP, its libraries, documentation, and all included files,
+ 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
+ via either Gopher <URL:gopher://quux.org/1/devel/offlineimap> or HTTP
+ <URL: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
- Subversion, please visit:
-
- http://svn.complete.org/
+ it is ready to go. For information on getting OfflineIMAP with Subver-
+ sion, please visit the complete.org Subversion page
+ <URL:http://svn.complete.org/>.
SEE ALSO
- mutt(1), python(1).
+ mutt(1), python(1)
+
+HISTORY
+ Detailed history may be found in the file ChangeLog in the OfflineIMAP
+ distribution. Feature and bug histories may be found in the file
+ debian/changelog which, despite its name, is not really Debian-spe-
+ cific. This section provides a large overview.
+
+ Development on OfflineIMAP began on June 18, 2002. Version 1.0.0 was
+ released three days later on June 21, 2002. Point releases followed,
+ including speed optimizations and some compatibility fixes.
+
+ Version 2.0.0 was released on July 3, 2002, and represented the first
+ time the synchronization became multithreaded and, to the best of my
+ knowledge, the first multithreaded IMAP syncrhonizing application in
+ existance. The last 2.0.x release, 2.0.8, was made on July 9.
+
+ Version 3.0.0 was released on July 11, 2002, and introduced modular
+ user interfaces and the first GUI interface for OfflineIMAP. This man-
+ ual also was introduced with 3.0.0, along with many command-line
+ options. Version 3.1.0 was released on July 21, adding the Noninterac-
+ tive user interfaces, profiling support, and several bugfixes. 3.2.0
+ was released on July 24, adding support for the Blinkenlights GUI
+ interface. OfflineIMAP entered maintenance mode for awhile, as it had
+ reached a feature-complete milestone in my mind.
+
+ The 3.99.x branch began in on October 7, 2002, to begin work for 4.0.
+ The Curses.Blinkenlights interface was added in 3.99.6, and many archi-
+ tectural changes were made.
+
+ 4.0.0 was released on July 18, 2003, including the ability to synchro-
+ nize directly between two IMAP servers, the first re-architecting of
+ the configuration file to refine the notion of an account, and the new
+ Curses interface.
-John Goerzen July 12, 2002 OFFLINEIMAP(1)
+John Goerzen 04 June 2004 OFFLINEIMAP(1)