Updated: April 14, 2012
Welcome to the IMAP Tools Website!
Rick Sanders rfs9999@earthlink.net
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Over the years I have written a number of tools and scripts for use with IMAP dedicated servers (what is IMAP? ). The IMAP Tools allow you to easily do such things such as copying user mailboxes from one IMAP server to another, synchronizing accounts on two servers, mass-migrating hundreds or thousands of users, purging duplicate messages, backing up and restoring IMAP accounts, loading messages from Maildir and Mbox servers into IMAP, and many others.
What do I get when I purchase the IMAP Tools set?
For $25 USD you get a package of 20 Perl scripts.
See the table below for a description of each tool and instructions on how to run it.
What kind of support comes with the IMAP Tools?
Support is provided by the developer on a time-available basis.
What if I am not happy with the IMAP Tools?
A 30 day Money-back refund is available.
How do I place an order?
Click on the "Buy Now" button below and you will be
directed to the PayPal website where you can pay with your
PayPal account or a credit card. After your payment has been
received an e-mail will be sent to you with the imap_tools.tar.gz
attachment containing all of the IMAP Tools.
Notes:
Name Description | SSL ?
| imapcopy.pl
| Copies messages and mailboxes from one IMAP server to another.
More info
| Yes
| pop3toimap.pl
| Copies POP3 messages to an IMAP server.
More info
| Yes
| migrateIMAP.pl
| Mass migration of messages for a set of users from one IMAP server to another.
More info
| Yes
| imapfilter.pl
| Moves messages from one IMAP mailbox to another based on a set of rules.
More info
| Yes
| imapCapability.pl
| Queries an IMAP server for a list of features it supports.
More info
| Yes
| imapdump.pl
| Writes IMAP messages to local files.
More info
| Yes
| dumptoIMAP.pl
| Loads messages from imapdump.pl to a mailbox on an IMAP server.
More info
| Yes
| imapPing.pl
| Pings an IMAP server.
More info
| Yes
| imapsync.pl
| Synchronizes two IMAP accounts.
More info
| Yes
| IMAPtoMbox.pl
| Copies messages from IMAP server to Mbox format.
More info
| Yes
| imap_to_maildir.pl
| Copies messages from an IMAP server to a user's Maildir.
More info
| Yes
| maildir_to_imap.pl
| Copies messages from Maildir to IMAP server.
More info
| Yes
| MboxtoIMAP.pl
| Copies messages from Mbox format to IMAP server.
More info
| Yes
| mbxIMAPsync.pl
| Synchronizes mbx and IMAP accounts.
More info
| No
| purgeMbx.pl
| Purges an IMAP mailbox.
More info
| Yes
| trash.pl
| Moves messages marked "Deleted" to trash mailbox.
More info
| No
| mozillatoIMAP.pl
| Copies Mozilla messages to an IMAP server.
More info
| No
| delIMAPdups.pl
| Deletes duplicate IMAP messages.
More info
| Yes
| delete_imap_mailboxes.pl
| Deletes one or more mailboxes.
More info
| Yes
| list_imap_folders.pl
| Displays a list of the user's folders.
More info
| Yes
| |
imapcopy is a utility for copying a user's messages from one IMAP server to another. It logs into one server with your username & password, builds a list of your mailboxes and the messages in them, then logs into the other server with your username/password on that machine and copies the mailboxes and messages to it. The mailbox (folder) structure is reproduced on the other server. The IMAP status flags are preserved (eg SEEN, DELETED, etc) along with the dates on the original messages. Usage: imapcopy.pl -S host1/user1/password1 -D host2/user2/password2 Optional arguments: -d debug -v verbose (displays the progress of copying process) -I show IMAP protocol exchanges -L logfile -m <mailbox list> (copy only certain mailboxes, eg "INBOX,Drafts,etc") -r clears the Deleted flag from copied messages -x <delimiter [prefix]> Specify the src mbx delimiter and prefix (if server does not support NAMESPACE command) -y <delimiter [prefix]> Specify the dst mbx delimiter and prefix (if server does not support NAMESPACE command) -p <root mailbox> (put copied mailboxes under a root mailbox) -M <file of mailbox name mappings> -X <max size in MB> Maximum message size to be copied -U update mode. Only copy messages that do not already exist on the destination. -B <msgnum start> Start copying messages from this number on. -E <msgnum end> Stop copying messages after this one. -a <DD-MMM-YYYY> Copy only those messages after the specifed date. -b <DD-MMM-YYYY> Copy only those messages before the specifed date. You can select a port number other than the standard IMAP port (143) by specifying the host value as host:port, eg localhost:993. The -M argument allows you to change the names of mailboxes as they are copied from the source to the destination system. To do so, create a file of names in the format of "<source mailbox>: <destination mailbox>." For example: Inbox: Migrated_inbox OldMail/2007/documents: OldMail/07/documents Sales: Old/sales/notes Please note that when using the -M option if any mailbox names contain non-ASCII characters you must install the Perl Unicode::IMAPUtf7 module. The IMAP standard requires that such mailbox names be encoded in the Modified UTF-7 character set.Top
pop3toimap.pl is a tool for copying a user's messages from a POP3 server to an IMAP4 server. pop3toimap.pl makes a POP3 connection to the POP3 host and logs in with the user's name and password. It makes an IMAP connection to the IMAP host and logs in with the user's IMAP username and password. pop3toimap.pl then fetches each message from the user's POP3 account and copies it to the user's IMAP account. The usernames and passwords are supplied via a text file specified by the -i argument. The format of the file of users is: popUsername password imapUsername password Usage: pop3toimap.pl -p POP3host -i IMAPhost -u input_file Optional arguments: -n notify e-mail address -r delete POP3 message after copying to IMAP -t timeout in seconds -m <mailbox> Default INBOX. Specify as mbx1/mbx2/mbx3. -d debug mode -I show IMAP protocol exchanges -L logfile -R <range of messages, eg 200-333, to copy> -h print this messageTop
imapdump.pl will copy messages from an IMAP server and place them under a directory the value of which you supply with the -f argument. The name of each file is the message number associated with it in the IMAP server message store. When the script finishes the file structure will look something like this: /tmp/mailboxes/INBOX 1 2 3 4 5 ..... /tmp/mailboxes/drafts/ 1 2 /tmp/mailboxes/save/2002 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 a b c d e f 10 11 ... /tmp/mailboxes/save/2003 etc Usage: imapdump.pl -f /tmp/mailboxes -S localhost/user/mypassword Some optional arguments are: -F <flags> where flags is a comma-separated list of either standard or custom IMAP flags. Messages with flags matching any values in the list will dumped. -d debug -L <logfile> -m <mailbox list> For example "INBOX,drafts,save/2003" will copy only the messages in the indicated folders. -a <DD-MMM-YYYY> Dump only the messages which arrived after this dateTop
dumptoIMAP.pl is a companion script to imapdump. It will take a set of messages extracted from an IMAP server by imapdump (or some other utility which uses the same format) and will load them into a mailbox on an IMAP server. ./dumptoIMAP.pl \ -i host/username/password \ -L dumptoIMAP.log \ -D /work/dump/Inbox \ [-m mbx1,mbx2,...,mbx3] The -D argument points to the directory where the message files are located. This directory should not have any files other than the messages. The optional -m argument can be used to limit the mailboxes to be loaded rather than to the list supplied rather than loading all of them.Top
imapfilter allows you to scan folders on an IMAP server and move selected messages to different folders based on the contents of designated message header fields, eg Subject, From, Date, etc. imapfilter also supports the use of regular expressions in the matching rules. For instance, the following rule will move all messages from a sender named "Jack" from the inbox to the wastebasket. From ^Jack* Inbox Wastebasket Some examples of filter rules: # Header fieldTopmatch source-mailbox destination-mailbox. # Note that mailboxes are case-sensitive but filter criteria are not. Subject test$ Inbox Junk Importance High junk Inbox From *abc.com Inbox Wastebasket X-Priority 3 Inbox Wastebasket Size >50000 Inbox Big_Messages Usage: imapfilter -S host/rfs/mypassword -r rules.dat -L imapfilter.log Optionally the destination mailbox can belong to another user on the local server or on a remote IMAP server. In the following two examples the first rule moves messages to a local mailbox belonging to another user while the second moves messages to a remote IMAP server. Subject *home* INBOX localhost:INBOX Subject *testing* INBOX remotehost.xyz.com:INBOX Access control info must be supplied in the rules file as shown below. Note that you can specify the IMAP port of the remote server if it is different than the standard 143. RemoteServer: localhost/user1/password1 RemoteServer: remotehost.xyz.com/user2/password2 RemoteServer: remote.acme.com:1430/user2/password2 Wild-card mailboxes. You can specify a '*' character in place of the local mailbox name in a rule. This causes imapfilter to search the messages in each mailbox for matches. For example: Subject *sales* * filtered_messages Notes on Date comparision operations. imapfilter permits you to filter on dates which are earlier, later, or the same as a specified date. The date in the rules must be in RFC822 Mail date format (eg, >12 Nov 2009 12:45:10 +0500 means messages whose date is more recent that 12 Nov 2009 12:45:10 +0500) or expressed as an offset from the current date (eg >30 meaning within the past 30 days and <30 meaning more than 30 days old). Some examples: Date ">22 Dec 2008 15:00:00 +0000" INBOX MOVED Date "<15 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0500" INBOX MOVED Date "=25 Dec 2009 08:00:00 +0500" INBOX MOVED Date ">60" INBOX OLD Date "*2009*" INBOX 2009_messages Also please note that in order to use the date comparison feature you must install the DateTime, DateTime::Format::Mail and DateTime::Format::DateParse Perl modules. The -f argument ("first match") causes imapfilter to honor the first rule that matches and to ignore any subsequent matches. Without -f the last matching rule is the one that gets applied.
imapPing is a tool for getting a rough feel for the response times from an IMAP server. It connects to the server and then performs some basic IMAP operations on a user's account and displays the time as each one is executed. The operations are: 1. Connect to the IMAP server 2. Log in with a username and password 3. Get a list of mailboxes 4. Select the INBOX 5. Get a list of messages in the INBOX 6. Log off the server Usage: imapPing.pl -h imap.server.com -u rfs9999 -p XXXXXTop
imapsync is a tool for synchronizing user accounts on a pair of IMAP servers called the "source" and "destination" hosts. You supply it with the host/userid/password on each host (and optionally a list of mailboxes). imapsync does the following: 1. Adds any messages on the 1st host which aren't on the 2nd 2. Deletes any messages from the 2nd which aren't on the 1st 3. Sets the message flags on the 2nd to match the 1st's flags imapsync works like this: 1. Log into the source host using the user name and password 2. Get a list of all mailboxes belonging to the user and a list of messages in each mailbox. 3. Do the same for the destination host 4. For each message on the source see if the message exists on the destination. If not, add it to the destination. 5. For each message on the destination see if the message exists on the source. If not, delete it from the destination (eg, set the \Deleted flag and expunge the mailbox). 6. For each message on the source compare the message flags with the message flags on the destination. If they don't match update the flags on the destination. Some notes: a. By default all of the user's mailboxes are processed but you can limit that by providing a list of mailboxes in which case only those will be examined (eg -m "Inbox, Drafts, Actions"). b. The Message-Id is used for identifying messages in an IMAP account. A consequence of this is that if you have multiple copies of a message in a source mailbox only one copy will be reproduced on the destination host. Usage: imapsync -S sourcehost/username/password -D desthost/username/password imapsync -S sourcehost -D desthost -u <users file> Other (optional) arguments are: -L logfile (if omitted the output goes to STDOUT) -u <file of users> Format srcUser:srcPwd:dstUser:dstPwd -d debug mode -m mailbox list (eg "Inbox, Drafts, Actions") -x <delimiter [prefix]> Specify the src mbx delimiter and prefix (if server does not support NAMESPACE command) -y <delimiter [prefix]> Specify the dst mbx delimiter and prefix (if server does not support NAMESPACE command)Top
IMAPtoMbox will copy mailboxes and messages from an IMAP server to the local server (or PC) in the Unix mbox format. The mailbox hierarchy (nested mailboxes) is preserved. To run IMAPtoMbox you supply the name of the IMAP server, your username & password along with a pointer to the directory on the local host where the mailboxes are to be created. The local mailbox is given the same name as the IMAP mailbox. For example: Usage: IMAPtoMbox -i server/user/pwd -m mailbox_directory Optional arguments: -L logfile For example: ./IMAPtoMbox \ -i mail.abc.com/rick.sanders/mypassword \ -m /home/rfs \ -L IMAPtoMbox.log The -i argument supplies the imap server name / the username / user's password. See the usage() notes for additional arguments, such as -M to copy only certain IMAP mailboxes, -d to turn on debugging output and -o user to set the ownership of the mailbox files. When used with -M the -r argument will copy all submailboxes of the ones in the mailbox list.Top
imap_to_maildir.pl can be used to copy the messages in an IMAP account to a user's Maildir. Usage: imap_to_maildir.pl -S IMAPHost/User/Password -u <user> -M <maildir> For example: ./imap_to_maildir.pl -S localhost/rich/pwd -u rick -M /users/rick/Maildir Optional arguments: -d debug -I log IMAP commands -L logfile -m mailbox list (eg "Inbox,Drafts,Notes". Default is all mailboxes) -a <DD-MMM-YYYY> copy only messages after this dateTop
maildir_to_imap.pl can be used to copy the messages in a maildir to IMAP mailboxes. Usage: maildir_to_imap.pl -i <users list> -D <imapHost[:port]> Each line in the user list must contain a pointer to the user's maildir, his IMAP username, and his IMAP password with the values separated by commas. For example: # Format: maildir,IMAP user,IMAP password /mhub4/maildirs/jsampson@abc.net,jessi.sampson,secret /mhub4/maildirs/rsmith@abc.net,rick.smith,wouldntyouliketoknow /mhub4/maildirs/jjones@abc.net,jane.jones,nip123 Optional arguments: -L logfile -n <integer> (The number of child processes to run, default is 1) -d debug -I log IMAP protocol messagesTop
MboxtoIMAP.pl is used to copy the contents of Unix mailfiles to IMAP mailboxes. It parses the mailfiles into separate messages which are inserted into the corresponding IMAP mailbox. Usage: MbxtoIMAP.pl -m mailfiles -i server/user/pwd Optional arguments: -f <mailfile> full filespec of individual mailfile -n <name of IMAP mailbox> Used with -f argument -L logfile -d debug -r <range of messages to copy> for example, 1-500 or 25-75 -R remove messages from mailfile after copying to the IMAP serverTop
mbxIMAPsync is used to synchronize the contents of a Unix mailfile with an IMAP mailbox. The user supplies the location & name of the Unix mailbox (eg /var/mail/rfs) and the hostname, username, & password of the IMAP account along with the name of the IMAP mailbox. For example: Usage: mbxIMAPsync.pl -f /var/mail/rfs -i imapsrv/rfs/mypass -m INBOX mbxIMAPsync compares the messages in the mailfile with those in the IMAP mailbox by Message-Id and adds the ones in the mailfile which are not in the IMAP mailbox. Then it looks for messages in the IMAP mailbox which are not in the mailfile and removes them from the IMAP mailbox.Top
This script deletes all of the messages in a user's IMAP mailbox. purgeMbx.pl is called like this: ./purgeMbx.pl -s host/user/password -m mailbox Note that the mailbox name is case-sensitive. Optional arguments: -d debug -L logfileTop
trash.pl opens a connection to an IMAP server, logs in with a username and password, searches mailboxes for messages marked for deletion, and moves them to the trash folder. The name of the trash folder is supplied with the -t argument. For example: Usage: trash.pl -S server/user/pwd -t "Wastebasket" Optional arguments: -m mailbox_list (eg "Inbox, Drafts, Notes". Default is all mailboxes) -e empty the trash can -L logfile -d debug For example: trash.pl starting Checking mailboxes for deleted messages... Moved 2 messages from Drafts to Wastebasket Moved 4 messages from Sent Items to Wastebasket Moved 45 messages from INBOX to Wastebasket 51 messages were moved to Wastebasket The Wastebasket mailbox has been emptiedTop
mozillatoIMAP is a tool for copying messages from a Mozilla mailfile to an IMAP server. You supply the script with the name of the IMAP server along with your username and password. The -m argument is used to indicate the root directory where the Mozilla mailfiles reside. For example: "/DOCUMENTS AND SETTINGS/RICK/APPLICATION DATA/Mozilla/Profiles/default/dlss3fw9.slt/Mail/mail.earthlink.net" Usage: mozillaToImap.pl -i host/username/password -m <mozilla root> Optional arguments: -L logfile -d debug mode -I show IMAP protocol exchanges Note that mozillatoIMAP does not map Mozilla message status codes to IMAP flags. There is a comment in the code pointing to a URL with a table of Mozilla codes if someone wants to implement them.Top
delIMAPdups looks for duplicate IMAP messages in a mailbox by finding messages in each mailbox that have the same Message ID. When a duplicate message is found the DELETED flag is set. If the -p argument has been supplied then an EXPUNGE operation is executed on the mailbox in which the message resides to remove it. Note that delIMAPdups does not check for duplicate copies of messages across multiple mailboxes since it is often useful to cross-file messages in multiple mailboxes. Usage: delIMAPdups -S host/user/password Optional Arguments: -m <mailbox list> -p delete the duplicates -M <mailbox> Move duplicate msgs to this mailbox instead of deleting them. -u include the date in determining if a message is unique, not just the message-id -L <logfile> -d debug -H Use an MD5-digest hash of the message body instead of the Message-Id -F <header field> Instead of the Message-Id use a different header field to determine uniqueness, eg Subject or From.Top
migrateIMAP is a utility for mass migration of messages for a set of users from one IMAP server to another. Usage: migrateIMAP -S host1 -D host2 -i <users file> Optional arguments: -n maxChildren -d debug -I show IMAP protocol exchanges -a <DD-MMM-YYYY> Migrate only those messages after the specifed date. -b <DD-MMM-YYYY> Migrate only those messages before the specifed date. -x <delimiter [prefix]> Specify the src mbx delimiter and prefix (if server does not support NAMESPACE command) -y <delimiter [prefix]> Specify the dst mbx delimiter and prefix (if server does not support NAMESPACE command) -M <file of mailbox name mappings>. See description of imapcopy.pl for details. -L logfile -U (update mode) The user list file (-i <file>) should contain entries like this: sourceUser1:password:destinationUser1:password sourceUser2:password:destinationUser2:password etc The maxChildren argument specifies how many child processes will be executed in parallel (the default is 2). The optimum number of children depends on the system's resources but usually 4 or 5 maximizes the performance. Beyond those numbers there is too much contention for resources to obtain additional improvement. Note: migrateIMAP is intended for use on Linux/Unix servers since it takes advantage of the fork() system call to run multiple, simultaneous child processes for higher performance. fork is not available on Windows so if you are running on a Windows platform you should use migrateIMAP-win.pl instead.Top
migrateIMAP-win is basically the same as migrateIMAP.pl except it does not support multiple child processes via fork(). Usage: migrateIMAP-win -S host1 -D host2 -i <users file> Optional arguments: -d debug -I show IMAP protocol exchanges -L logfile
delete_imap_mailboxes can be used to delete one or more mailboxes which are identified using a regex. For example: -m "books" will delete book, old_books, books2010 -m "^books" will delete all mailboxes starting with "books" -m "2010$" will delete all mailboxes ending in 2010 You can combine the criteria into a single filter: -m "books|2010$|Old folders|^My personal folder$" Usage: delete_imap_mailboxes.pl -S host/user/password -m <regex> Optional arguments: -t test mode (show what would have been deleted but don't delete it) -d debug -I show IMAP protocol exchanges -L <logfile>
imapCapability queries an IMAP server and reports which IMAP services it supports. Usage: imapCapability.pl -h <host> -u <username> -p <password> Optional arguments: -d debug -m list the user's folders # ./imapCapability.pl -h localhost:1430 -u rfs9999 -p mysecret The server supports the following IMAP capabilities: IMAP4 IMAP4REV1 ACL NAMESPACE UIDPLUS IDLE LITERAL+ QUOTA ID MULTIAPPEND LISTEXT CHILDREN BINARY LOGIN-REFERRALS UNSELECT STARTTLS AUTH=LOGIN AUTH=PLAIN AUTH=CRAM-MD5 AUTH=DIGEST-MD5 AUTH=GSSAPI AUTH=MSN AUTH=NTLM Please refer to the IMAP RFCs for an explanation of these capabilities.
Top
Most of these utilities support SSL. SSL support is implemented using openSSL and the IO::Socket::SSL Perl module. Both must be installed on the system where you are running these tools.
If you specify port 993 (995 for POP3) then an SSL connection is initiated. If
the port number is 143 (110 for POP3) then it will try a non-SSL connection.
With any other value the port will be tested to see if it supports SSL. If so,
SSL will be used to make the connection; otherwise a non-SSL connection will
be made.
Top
The -d argument will log additional information about what the tool is doing which may be helpful in diagnosing problems. Most of these scripts accept the -I argument which causes logging of the IMAP protocol exchanges between the script and the IMAP server. This can be useful when troubleshooting problems but you probably don't want to use it during normal operations because of the amount of data that gets written to the logfile.
For example:
11-08-2007.03:28:18 2114 >> 1 EXAMINE "Inbox" 11-08-2007.03:28:18 2114 << * FLAGS (\Answered \Flagged \Deleted \Seen \Draft $MDNSent $ Hidden $Media $Forwarded Junk $Label1 $Label2 $Label3) 11-08-2007.03:28:18 2114 << * OK [PERMANENTFLAGS (\Answered \Flagged \Deleted \Seen \Dra ft $MDNSent $Hidden $Media $Forwarded Junk $Label1 $Label2 $Label3)] limited 11-08-2007.03:28:18 2114 << * 86 EXISTS 11-08-2007.03:28:18 2114 << * 0 RECENT 11-08-2007.03:28:18 2114 << * OK [UIDNEXT 360] predicted next UID 11-08-2007.03:28:18 2114 << * OK [UIDVALIDITY 298417783] UIDs valid 11-08-2007.03:28:18 2114 << 1 OK [READ-ONLY] EXAMINE completedTop
list_imap_folders.pl will display a list of the user's folders. Usage: list_imap_folders.pl -S host/user/mypassword [-O output file] AAA BOGUS Big.Box Drafts INBOX INBOX/MOVED INBOX/MOVED/Where International MOVED etcTop
Administrator Login
Some IMAP servers allow you to use an adminstrator password to log into a user's account. Although this feature (sometimes called Triplet authentication) is not supported by most servers it is a is very convenient for doing mass migrations on servers that do support it. The syntax usually is "domain/adminuser/mailbox adminpassword".