Question by Isaac S: Moving mail between IMAP servers?
So, I’m switching IMAP servers. I’ve got five accounts configured identically on both servers. Question is, when the DNS record switches and the client(s) “sync” with the new server, will messages stored on the client sync up to the server, or will the mailbox “sync” to an empty state, because the server mailboxes contain no messages?
Best answer:
Answer by PAULSC
IMAP clients typically store no messages. The IMAP message store is always on the server, so if you point your client at a new server, it’s going to see no messages, unless you do something to move your message store to the new server.
There have been some compound clients, such as Lotus Notes, that have options to maintain a local database with a copy of the server message store, to allow working with messages offline, and then going through a process to “sync” the local database with the IMAP server at next reconnect. It can be confusing to use those systems, for people who are used to the direct process of online IMAP operations, but the advantage of offline use is tremendous for business travelers.
But even with a client like Notes, you don’t typically use it to move message stores between IMAP servers via database replication, because the mail store in one server needs file pointers and message IDs that are done by that server. So, the “right” way to move from one IMAP server to another, is to forward your message store to the new machine, via SMTP, or through a client simultaneously accessing both the old and new machines. Here’s a Sun document that covers the latter process: http://docs.sun.com/app/docs/doc/819-4428/bgbab?a=view
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