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% 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
|
