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IMAP backup (linux)
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IMAP backup (linux)

A problem came up with a buddy the other day who lost all of his email - details are not needed. But that got me thinking. What can I use to have an IMAP backup. I have an in house Ubuntu server running and would like to backup my IMAP accounts to the server. Does anyone have suggestions on ways to do this for Linux? I would like something that I can just cron job to backup and at the same time would give me a way to find/view emails later if something happened.

I see offlineimap but one thing I did not like it that it stores my mail password in a plain text file. If I have to do that I can but not the best way.

Thoughts?

Thank you in advance,

-G

Comments

  • Also interested in find a solution to backup e-mails. Found https://www.mailstore.com/

  • @nqservices I had looked at it but the home version is Windows only and the other version is $300+ and was not clear which OS. A bit more than I want to pay.

  • sanvitsanvit Member
    edited March 2020

    You could buy a cheap webhosting with email and sync it with Imapsync.

  • One thing to note is I am looking for one way sync (copy) for storage. Or read only on the storage. If an email account was hacked and all emails deleted I do not want the backup to delete all emails.

  • angstromangstrom Moderator

    Of course, if your setup is simple and every user has a Maildir/ in their home directory, then you could simply back up /home on a regular basis.

    If you really want to go via IMAP, you could try https://github.com/joeyates/imap-backup , which looks interesting and appears to be actively developed. However, it requires Ruby. (I haven't yet tried it.)

  • mailcheapmailcheap Member, Host Rep

    @MisterG said:
    One thing to note is I am looking for one way sync (copy) for storage. Or read only on the storage. If an email account was hacked and all emails deleted I do not want the backup to delete all emails.

    Imapsync without the delete flag would do this, configure a strong master password for the IMAP server to authenticate to all mailboxes.

    Pavin.

  • Thank @mailcheap but if I am using a third party mail server such as yours I would assume I would have a different password for each account? No master password if I do not control the mail server.

    -G

  • If you or your buddy are by chance using Gmail, there is a great little project for backing up email via its IMAP interface:

    http://gmvault.org

  • mailcheapmailcheap Member, Host Rep

    @MisterG said:
    Thank @mailcheap but if I am using a third party mail server such as yours I would assume I would have a different password for each account? No master password if I do not control the mail server.

    -G

    Our dedicated servers support configuring IMAP master password. There was a time when I thought a master password was just potential for more abuse but it has its uses when used properly, for example to keep a personal backup.

    Pavin.

  • angstromangstrom Moderator

    @aj_potc said:
    If you or your buddy are by chance using Gmail, there is a great little project for backing up email via its IMAP interface:

    http://gmvault.org

    Hmm, the last update was four full years ago. I wonder whether it's still maintained ...

  • Pavin @mailcheap

    Unfortunately your dedicated is out of my budget as my need is small. I have thought about your shared plans for my few domains. But that leaves single password for each.

    @aj_potc Gmail is not an option.

    -G

  • mailcheapmailcheap Member, Host Rep

    @MisterG said:I would like something that I can just cron job to backup and at the same time would give me a way to find/view emails later if something happened.
    I have thought about your shared plans for my few domains. But that leaves single password for each.

    If you're self hosting, there is the more direct approach of using dsync or rsync / rsnapshot.

    Pavin.

  • @mailcheap I am not self-hosting. For myself I am using Rackspace right now but that might change.

  • mailcheapmailcheap Member, Host Rep

    @MisterG said:
    @mailcheap I am not self-hosting. For myself I am using Rackspace right now but that might change.
    Unfortunately your dedicated is out of my budget as my need is small. I have thought about your shared plans for my few domains. But that leaves single password for each.

    You get complete API support for administration even with our shared plans, the sky's the limit as far as molding it to your requirements and constraints. For example, if your users just need simple email access and you're the sole point of contact you could automate the whole procedure of provisioning accounts, providing access to end-users all the while limiting damage from a compromised password using 2FA and device passwords.

    Pavin.

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