Run a local IMAPd server for extra Mail storage
Jun 08, '04 10:36:00AM
Contributed by: tinker
For a while, I struggled with a difficult dilemma: my mail provider was trying hard to get me to transition from POP to IMAP, which everyone told me was wonderful, but they only provided 100mb of space -- about one-seventh of what I'd need, just for my current slew of mail. I looked into cutting down on what I've got stored, but in the end that just wasn't an option.
Finally my brother offered a suggestion that had never occurred to me: run a second IMAPd server on my own computer and use it for long-term storage. I did it, and it works beautifully: I now have one IMAP server for inbox, sent mail, etc., set up by my mail provider, and a second on my own computer for archiving. These directions for setting up one's own IMAPd server were written with beautiful clarity by Michael Johnson. I would only add a few things:
- The line curl -O ftp://ftp.cac.washington.edu/imap/imap-2004.RC.tar.Z should be curl -O ftp://ftp.cac.washington.edu/imap/imap-2004.tar.Z, at least at present. Likewise, tar -zxvf imap-2004.RC.tar.Z should be tar -zxvf imap-2004.tar.Z.
- In both of the xinetd files (imap and imaps), you might consider the only_from option, as detailed in the man file for xinetd.conf.
- If you are running Apple's built-in firewall, go to System Preferences, select Sharing, choose the Firewall tab, click on New, and create an IMAP service that opens ports 143 and 993. Ensure that the box next to that service is checked.
- As far as advanced settings in Mail.app are concerned, I have had the best luck not specifying any account directory at all (certainly do NOT specify the mail subdirectory that you put into env_unix.c before compiling!), automatically synchronizing changed mailboxes, and keeping all messages and attachments; there's one big long synchronization at the start, but then everything's copacetic.
- If you use SSL, the certificate created in Michael's setup is not recognized by Mail, so on startup one must click away a warning window, every time. I have tried to alter this behavior by adding the certificate to various keychains, with no success. If anyone has successfully circumvented this problem, please let me know....
[robg adds: I haven't tried this one...]
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