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authorGuilhem Moulin <guilhem@fripost.org>2019-12-13 04:53:52 +0100
committerGuilhem Moulin <guilhem@fripost.org>2019-12-13 20:30:35 +0100
commita3ea9a08d501c4dbd2930e91bb368b2d7a8ab2b6 (patch)
tree8654cf91a1dfc55d4fea6bd342b0642317d13728
parent0dfcd073ffc391ca38b523a8d43e3f9479bb14c1 (diff)
Add documentation for multi-remote setups.
-rw-r--r--doc/getting-started.md7
-rw-r--r--doc/index.md1
-rw-r--r--doc/multi-account.md209
3 files changed, 213 insertions, 4 deletions
diff --git a/doc/getting-started.md b/doc/getting-started.md
index 9499cbb..1d29231 100644
--- a/doc/getting-started.md
+++ b/doc/getting-started.md
@@ -102,7 +102,6 @@ Dovecot configuration:
mail_location = maildir:~/Mail
namespace {
inbox = yes
- list = yes
separator = /
}
EOF
@@ -219,7 +218,7 @@ synchronize.
A user unit for systemd is provided. Run the following command to
enable and start the service:
- $ systemctl --user enable --now interimap
+ $ systemctl --user enable --now interimap.service
By default the connection to the IMAP servers remains open, and a status
update is requested every minute. Thanks to the [`QRESYNC`][RFC 7162]
@@ -240,7 +239,7 @@ updates to 20s:
<!-- -->
$ systemctl --user daemon-reload
<!-- -->
- $ systemctl --user restart interimap
+ $ systemctl --user restart interimap.service
Email client configuration
@@ -263,7 +262,7 @@ Further Reading and Resources
Other use-cases:
-: *TODO*
+: [Multi-remote setup](multi-account.html)
Benchmarks:
diff --git a/doc/index.md b/doc/index.md
index bbd35d0..d475592 100644
--- a/doc/index.md
+++ b/doc/index.md
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ General documentation
---------------------
* [Getting started with InterIMAP](getting-started.html)
+ * [Multi-remote setup for InterIMAP](multi-account.html)
* [InterIMAP benchmark metrics and comparison](benchmark.html)
Manuals (HTML versions)
diff --git a/doc/multi-account.md b/doc/multi-account.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cc0a1b8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/multi-account.md
@@ -0,0 +1,209 @@
+% Multi-remote setup for InterIMAP
+% [Guilhem Moulin](mailto:guilhem@fripost.org)
+
+This document describes the setup of InterIMAP against two remotes
+accounts, a *personal* account at `imap.example.net`, and a *work*
+account at `imap.example.com`. (The same setup can be adapted to remote
+accounts or more.) These remotes accounts are to be synchronized
+locally, each being mirrored to its own local namespace in a
+bidirectional fashion.
+
+We assume familiarity with the [Getting Started] tutorial.
+Prerequisites, such as installing dependencies, creating directories,
+etc., won't be repeated here.
+
+
+Layout
+======
+
+For this example we assume the *personal* account has the following
+mailbox hierarchy (with delimiter `/`):
+
+ INBOX
+ debian
+ debian/debian-devel
+ debian/debian-project
+ debian/debian-security
+ archives
+
+And the *work* account the following mailbox hierarchy (with delimiter `.`):
+
+ INBOX
+ INBOX.todo
+ attic
+
+These remote mailbox hierarchies are to be mirrored locally as:
+
+ INBOX
+ perso/INBOX
+ perso/debian
+ perso/debian/debian-devel
+ perso/debian/debian-project
+ perso/debian/debian-security
+ perso/archives
+ work/INBOX
+ work/INBOX/todo
+ work/attic
+
+Using again (arbitrarily) `/` as local hierarchy delimiter. (Since 0.5
+each server can choose its own hierarchy delimiter independently on the
+other ones, and even change it — for instance after changing the server
+software — without breaking synchronization.)
+
+Note that there are alternative layouts (one can for instance replace
+the prefix `perso/` with the empty string), however for this example
+we'll focus on the above layout.
+
+
+Local Dovecot configuration
+===========================
+
+Although it's not required (it's possible to use the default namespace
+for everything), we propose to use a dedicated [IMAP namespace][RFC
+2342] for each remote account to mirror locally:
+
+ * It provides better isolation of the locally mirrored accounts: one
+ can use entirely independent mail storage for instance, and even
+ different hierarchy delimiters.
+ * One can use `perso/INBOX` as the local `INBOX`. (Per [RFC 3501] the
+ `INBOX` mailbox has a special nature.) Or even alias a particular
+ namespace to the default namespace. That being said, one should use
+ aliases with care as they might have undesired side effects, such as
+ `perso/INBOX` missing from `LIST` responses when the mailbox is used
+ as the local `INBOX`; or confusion between `perso/work/foo` and
+ `work/foo` when `perso/` is aliased to the default namespace.
+
+We define 3 namespaces: a default namespace holding the local `INBOX`,
+as well as a dedicated namespace — with a suitable prefix — for each
+remote account to mirror locally. Consult the [Dovecot namespaces]
+documentation for more information. Note that mailboxes (and the
+messages they contain) residing in the default namespace won't be copied
+over: they will only live on the local instance.
+
+ $ cat >${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-~/.config}/dovecot/dovecot.conf <<-EOF
+ ssl = no
+ namespace {
+ location = maildir:~/Mail
+ inbox = yes
+ separator = /
+ }
+ namespace perso {
+ prefix = perso/
+ location = maildir:~/Mail/perso
+ separator = /
+ }
+ namespace work {
+ prefix = work/
+ location = maildir:~/Mail/work
+ separator = /
+ }
+ EOF
+
+
+We can see the three namespaces using the `` `~/.local/bin/dovecot-imap` ``
+wrapper defined in the [Getting Started] tutorial.
+
+ $ ~/.local/bin/dovecot-imap
+ S: * PREAUTH [CAPABILITY IMAP4rev1 …] Logged in as myuser
+ C: a NAMESPACE
+ S: * NAMESPACE (("" "/")("work/" "/")("perso/" "/")) NIL NIL
+ S: a OK Namespace completed (0.001 + 0.000 secs).
+ C: b LIST "" "*"
+ S: * LIST (\Noselect \HasNoChildren) "/" work
+ S: * LIST (\Noselect \HasNoChildren) "/" perso
+ S: * LIST (\HasNoChildren) "/" INBOX
+ S: b OK List completed (0.001 + 0.000 secs).
+ C: q LOGOUT
+ S: * BYE Logging out
+ S: q OK Logout completed (0.001 + 0.000 secs).
+
+
+InterIMAP configuration
+=======================
+
+We use a dedicated [`interimap`(1)] instance for each remote account to
+synchronize, starting with the *personal* account. Again, see the
+[Getting Started] guide for details about the configuration file and its
+settings.
+
+ $ install -m0600 /dev/null ${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-~/.config}/interimap/personal
+<!-- -->
+ $ cat >${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-~/.config}/interimap/personal <<-EOF
+ database = personal.db
+
+ [local]
+ type = tunnel
+ list-reference = perso/
+ command = exec ~/.local/bin/dovecot-imap
+
+ [remote]
+ type = imaps
+ host = imap.example.net
+ username = myname
+ password = xxxxxxxx
+ EOF
+<!-- -->
+ $ interimap --config=personal
+ Creating new schema in database file …/personal.db
+ database: Created mailbox INBOX
+ local: Created mailbox perso/INBOX
+ […]
+
+And similarly for the *work* account:
+
+ $ install -m0600 /dev/null ${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-~/.config}/interimap/work
+<!-- -->
+ $ cat >${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-~/.config}/interimap/work <<-EOF
+ database = work.db
+
+ [local]
+ type = tunnel
+ list-reference = work/
+ command = exec ~/.local/bin/dovecot-imap
+
+ [remote]
+ type = imaps
+ host = imap.example.com
+ username = myname2
+ password = xxxxxxxx
+ EOF
+<!-- -->
+ $ interimap --config=work
+ Creating new schema in database file …/work.db
+ database: Created mailbox INBOX
+ local: Created mailbox work/INBOX
+ […]
+
+The local mail storage should now have the desired local layout:
+
+ $ ~/.local/bin/dovecot-imap
+ S: * PREAUTH [CAPABILITY IMAP4rev1 …] Logged in as myuser
+ C: b LIST "" "*"
+ S: * LIST (\Noselect \HasChildren) "/" work
+ S: * LIST (\HasNoChildren) "/" work/attic
+ S: * LIST (\HasChildren) "/" work/INBOX
+ S: * LIST (\HasChildren) "/" work/INBOX
+ S: * LIST (\HasNoChildren) "/" work/INBOX/todo
+ S: * LIST (\Noselect \HasChildren) "/" perso
+ S: * LIST (\HasNoChildren) "/" perso/INBOX
+ S: * LIST (\HasChildren) "/" perso/debian
+ S: * LIST (\HasNoChildren) "/" perso/debian/debian-security
+ S: * LIST (\HasNoChildren) "/" perso/debian/debian-project
+ S: * LIST (\HasNoChildren) "/" perso/debian/debian-devel
+ S: * LIST (\HasNoChildren) "/" perso/archives
+ S: * LIST (\HasNoChildren) "/" INBOX
+ S: a OK List completed (0.003 + 0.000 + 0.002 secs).
+ C: q LOGOUT
+ S: * BYE Logging out
+ S: q OK Logout completed (0.001 + 0.000 secs).
+
+Template user unit for systemd are provided in order to run these
+[`interimap`(1)] instances as services:
+
+ $ systemctl --user enable --now interimap@{personal,work}.service
+
+[Getting Started]: getting-started.html
+[RFC 2342]: https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2342
+[RFC 3501]: https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501
+[Dovecot namespaces]: https://doc.dovecot.org/configuration_manual/namespace/
+[`interimap`(1)]: interimap.1.html