NAME¶
isync - synchronize IMAP4 and Maildir mailboxes
SYNOPSIS¶
isync [
options ...] {
mailbox ...|
-a|
-l}
DESCRIPTION¶
isync is a command line application which synchronizes local Maildir
mailboxes with remote IMAP4 mailboxes, suitable for use in IMAP-disconnected
mode. Multiple copies of the remote IMAP4 mailboxes can be maintained, and all
flags are synchronized.
isync is only a wrapper binary around
mbsync to simplify upgrades.
It will automatically migrate the UID mapping from previous versions of
isync (even before 0.8) to the new format, and transparently call
mbsync. If you were using
isync version 0.8 or 0.9.x you might
want to use
mdconvert to convert the mailboxes to the more efficient
native UID storage scheme after migrating them.
OPTIONS¶
- -c, --config file
- Read configuration from file. By default, the configuration is read
from ~/.isyncrc if it exists.
- -1, --one-to-one
- Instead of using the mailbox specifications in ~/.isyncrc, isync will pick
up all mailboxes from the local directory and remote folder and map them
1:1 onto each other according to their names.
- -I, --inbox mailbox
- Exception to the 1:1 mapping created by -1: the special IMAP mailbox
INBOX is mapped to the local mailbox (relative to the
maildir).
- -a, --all
- Synchronize all mailboxes (either specified in ~/.isyncrc or determined by
the 1:1 mapping).
- -l, --list
- Don't synchronize anything, but list all mailboxes and exit.
- -L, --create-local
- Automatically create the local Maildir mailbox if it doesn't already
exist.
- -R, --create-remote
- Automatically create the remote IMAP mailbox if it doesn't already
exist.
- -C, --create
- Automatically create any mailboxes if they don't already exist. This is
simply a combination of -L and -R.
- -d, --delete
- Causes isync to propagate message deletions. By default,
dead messages are not deleted.
- -e, --expunge
- Causes isync to permanently remove all messages marked for
deletion. By default, deleted messages are not
expunged.
- -f, --fast
- Only fetch new messages existing on the server into the local mailbox.
Message deletions and flag changes will not be propagated.
- -h, --help
- Displays a summary of command line options
- -p, --port port
- Specifies the port on the IMAP server to connect to (default: 143 for
imap, 993 for imaps)
- -q, --quiet
- Suppress informational messages. If specified twice, suppress warning
messages as well.
- -r, --remote box
- Specifies the name of the remote IMAP mailbox to synchronize with
(Default: INBOX)
- -s, --host [imaps:]host
- Specifies the hostname of the IMAP server
- -u, --user user
- Specifies the login name to access the IMAP server (default: $USER)
- -P, --pass password
- Specifies the password to access the IMAP server (prompted for by
default)
- -M, --maildir dir
- Specifies the location for your local mailboxes.
- -F, --folder folder/
- Specifies the location for your remote mailboxes.
- -v, --version
- Displays isync version information.
- -V, --verbose
- Enables verbose mode, which displays the IMAP4 network
traffic.
- -D, --debug
- Enable printing of debug messages.
- -w, --write
- Don't run mbsync, but instead write a permanent config file for it.
The UID mappings of all configured mailboxes will be migrated. Note that
most command line options that would affect an actual sync operation will
be incorporated into the new config file as well; exceptions are --fast
and --create[-remote|-local]. The name of the new config file is
determined by replacing the last occurrence of "isync" with
"mbsync", or appending ".mbsync" if "isync"
was not found.
- -W, --writeto file
- Like -w, but use the specified name for the new config file.
CONFIGURATION¶
isync by default reads
~/.isyncrc to load configuration data. Each
non-empty line of the configuration file that does not start with a hash mark
consists of a command. The following commands are understood:
- Mailbox path
- Defines a local Maildir mailbox. All configuration commands following this
line, up until the next Mailbox command, apply to this mailbox
only.
- Host [imaps:]name
- Defines the DNS name or IP address of the IMAP server. If the hostname is
prefixed with imaps: the connection is assumed to be a SSL
connection to port 993 (though you can change this by placing a
Port command after the Host command). Note that
modern servers support SSL on the default port 143. isync will
always attempt to use SSL if available.
- Port port
- Defines the TCP port number of the IMAP server (Default: 143 for imap, 993
for imaps)
- Box mailbox
- Defines the name of the remote IMAP mailbox associated with the local
Maildir mailbox (Default: INBOX)
- User username
- Defines the login name on the IMAP server (Default: current user)
- Pass password
- Defines the password for username on the IMAP server. Note that
this option is NOT required. If no password is specified in the
configuration file, isync will prompt you for it.
- Alias string
- Defines an alias for the mailbox which can be used as a shortcut on the
command line.
- CopyDeletedTo mailbox
- Specifies the remote IMAP mailbox to copy deleted messages to prior to
expunging (Default: none).
- Delete yes|no
- Specifies whether message deletions are propagated. (Default: no).
NOTE: The -d command line option overrides this setting when
set to no.
- Expunge yes|no
- Specifies whether deleted messages are expunged. (Default: no).
NOTE: The -e command line option overrides this setting when
set to no.
- MailDir directory
- Specifies the location of your local mailboxes if a relative path is
specified in a Mailbox command (Default: ~). NOTE:
This directive is allowed only in the global section (see
below).
- Folder directory/
- Specifies the location of your IMAP mailboxes specified in Box
commands (Default: ""). NOTE: You must
append the hierarchy delimiter (usually a slash) to this specification.
NOTE 2: This directive is allowed only in the global section
(see below).
- MaxMessages count
- Sets the number of messages isync should keep in the local copy of
a mailbox. This is useful for mailboxes where you keep a complete archive
on the server, but want to mirror only the last messages (for instance,
for mailing lists). The messages that were the first to arrive in the
mailbox (independently of the actual date of the message) will be deleted
first. Messages that are flagged (marked as important) and unread messages
will not be automatically deleted. If count is 0, the maximum
number of messages is unlimited. (Default: 0)
- MaxSize bytes
- Messages larger than that many bytes will not be transferred over the
wire. This is useful for weeding out messages with large attachments. If
bytes is 0, the maximum file size is unlimited. (Default:
0)
- Tunnel command
- Specify a command to run to establish a connection rather than opening a
TCP socket. This allows you to run an IMAP session over an SSH tunnel, for
example.
- UseNamespace yes|no
- Selects whether the server's first "personal" NAMESPACE should
be prefixed to mailbox names. Disabling this makes sense for some broken
IMAP servers. This option is meaningless if a Folder was specified.
(Default: yes)
- RequireCRAM yes|no
- If set to yes, isync will abort the connection if no
CRAM-MD5 authentication is possible. (Default: no)
- RequireSSL yes|no
- isync will abort the connection if a TLS/SSL session cannot be
established with the IMAP server. (Default: yes)
- CertificateFile path
- File containing X.509 CA certificates used to verify server
identities.
- UseSSLv2 yes|no
- Should isync use SSLv2 for communication with the IMAP server over
SSL? (Default: no)
- UseSSLv3 yes|no
- Should isync use SSLv3 for communication with the IMAP server over
SSL? (Default: yes if the imaps port is used, otherwise
no)
- UseTLSv1 yes|no
- Should isync use TLSv1 for communication with the IMAP server over
SSL? (Default: yes)
- OneToOne
- isync will ignore any Mailbox specifications and instead
pick up all mailboxes from the local MailDir and remote
Folder and map them 1:1 onto each other according to their names.
NOTE: This directive is allowed only in the global section
(see below).
- Inbox mailbox
- Exception to the OneToOne mapping: the special IMAP mailbox INBOX
is mapped to the local mailbox (relative to the MailDir).
NOTE: This directive is only meaningful in the global
section (see below).
Configuration commands that appear prior to the first
Mailbox command are
considered to be
global options which are used as defaults when those
specific options are not specifically set for a defined Mailbox. For example,
if you use the same login name for several IMAP servers, you can put a
User command before the first
Mailbox command, and then leave
out the
User command in the sections for each mailbox.
isync
will then use the global value by default.
FILES¶
- ~/.isyncrc
- Default configuration file
BUGS¶
The configuration file takes precedence over command line options.
Use -c /dev/null to work around.
See the
INHERENT PROBLEMS section in the
mbsync man page, too.
SEE ALSO¶
mbsync(1),
mdconvert(1),
mutt(1),
maildir(5)
Up to date information on
isync can be found at
http://isync.sf.net/
AUTHORS¶
Originally written by Michael R. Elkins, currently maintained by Oswald
Buddenhagen.