Re: [SM-USERS] Importing or transferring messages from one account to a new account/server

[Alan in T. <Ala...@fi...>]

On Fri, April 18, 2008 11:39 pm, Paul Lesniewski wrote:
> On Fri, Apr 18, 2008 at 1:54 PM, Alan in Toronto
> <Ala...@fi...> wrote:
>> SquirrelMail 1.4.13
>>  Courier IMAP (in a cPanel release)
>>  maildir mail storage format
>>  Apache, cPanel virtual web hosting account
>>  (sorry, I usually provide more details of my setup, but I've just moved to a new
>>  host and I don't have all their details yet.)
>>
>>  Hello all:
>>
>>  I'm moving from one host to a new host, new server. I need to transfer messages
>> and
>>  mail folders from my old IMAP server to the new server. I just tested one method,
>>  using Horde webmail. Horde has a function that lets you download a mail folder or
>>  folders, including all contained messages. Then you can login to Horde on the new
>>  server and import all those downloaded messages. Really useful feature!
>>
>>  1. Does SquirrelMail have a feature like that, to facilitate saving or
>> transferring
>>  and importing messages from one server or account to a new server or account? I
>>  looked through the various plugins, but didn't see anything that seemed to fit.
>>
>>  2. Is there a better method someone can suggest for doing what I want? Someone
>>  mentioned using a local mail client (Outlook, Thunderbird, etc.) to login to the
>> old
>>  mail account and download all the mail folders and messages, then login to the
>> new
>>  account and somehow transfer (drag and drop?) all the folders and messages to the
>>  new account? Would that work, and would that be a better method?
>
> Yes, that is exactly what would work.  It has to be done on a per-user
> basis, but if that suits, then it's extremely easy.  Just set up both
> IMAP host accounts in Thunderbird (or similar) and drag any messages
> from one account to the other and you're done.
>
> If both systems are Courier and you have shell access, you might be
> able to just tar up the mail spool for each user and copy it to the
> new server.(?)

Thanks Paul, your message arrive just after I sent an update to my post.

Thanks for the recommendation. For this situation, yes per-user would suit just
fine. Is it safe to drag entire folders, for the folders and contents to recreate on
the new server? Or do we need to first create the folders on the new account, then
drag just messages into the folders?

Both systems are Courier and maildir. I don't have SSH access, but might be able to
get it. Would the mail spool add messages to any already present on the new server,
or would it entirely replace what's already there?

And, do you know of that Horde capability being available in SquirrelMail, or how
difficult or trivial it would be to add that capability? Several people in forums
have recommended Horde partly for that function, so it would be good to tell them
that Squirrel could do it too. (Since I always try to promote Squirrel.)

Thanks Paul!!!