[BlueOnyx:13865] Re: Exporting mail / contact data

[Michael Stauber]

Hi Rob,

> I’m looking for a couple email export tools:
> 
> ·         Is there a tool that will allow us to export a user’s webmail
> contacts all at one time?

That depends on the Webmail client you use. Some have that functionality
built in - in one form or another. Others don't.

> ·         Is there a tool that will allow us to export a user’s email
> (all folders)?

Jeffrey suggested imapsync, which is one way to do it. It is a pretty
neat way, too. But it also depends on what you have in mind and what you
need that export for.

All in all BlueOnyx uses standard POP3 and IMAP methods. To grab the
POP3 mailbox you'd copy ~username/mbox, which is a large textfile in
MBOX format with the emails in it. The IMAP stuff is in ~username/mail,
which is in standard Linux MAILDIR format.

You can copy these files and folders between Linux boxes and all you'd
have to do is to fix the UID's and GID's.

There are plenty of free command line tools available to convert MBOX or
MAILDIR into each others or various other formats. Or (similar to
imapsync) there are other tools that access POP3 and/or IMAP and pull
all emails to move them to another box, or that convert or import them
into something else. The OTRS ticket system for example uses either POP3
or IMAP to pull all emails into a MySQL database, so that you can manage
them via the OTRS web frontend.

If you let us know what your "end game" or desired purpose is, we can
give a more specific answer.

-- 
With best regards

Michael Stauber