Ubuntu Manpage: isync - synchronize IMAP4 and Maildir mailboxes

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.
       isync is deprecated. Please use the -w option to permanently migrate the configuration and
       start using mbsync directly.

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 additional X.509 certificates used to verify server identities.
Directly matched peer certificates are always trusted, regardless of validity.
Note that the system's default certificate store is always used and should not be
specified here.

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.x 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.

AUTHORS

       Originally written by Michael R. Elkins, currently maintained by Oswald Buddenhagen.

                                            2010 Feb 7                                   isync(1)