NAME

       mailtool - Process mailboxes

SYNOPSIS

       mailtool [options...]

USAGE

       mailtool is a diagnostic utility for handling various operations on mailboxes.  mailtool´s
       main uses include: display the list of folders in a mailbox; displaying list of messages
       in a mailbox; and copying mailboxes.

       The following mailboxes can be accessed by mailtool:

       imap://userid@server[/options]
           An IMAP account.  mailtool will prompt for the login password.

       imaps://userid@server[/options]
           An IMAP account accessed via an encrypted SSL connection.

       pop3://userid@server[/options]
           A POP3 account.  mailtool will prompt for the login password.

       pop3s://userid@server[/options]
           A POP3 account accessed via an encrypted SSL connection.

       maildir:path
           A local maildir mailbox.  path specifies the maildir´s location relative to the home
           directory (NOT the current directory).

       mbox:path
           Local mbox mail folders.  path specifies the path to an mbox folder file, or a
           directory containing mbox folders, relative to the home directory (NOT the current
           directory).

       inbox:path
           Local mbox mail folders, like “mbox:path”; additionally, the system spool mailbox is
           automatically copied to $HOME/Inbox, which is accessible as folder INBOX.

       The name of a remote IMAP or POP3 server may be followed by one or more options that
       control various settings of the IMAP or POP3 connection:

       /cram
           Do not open the account unless the server supports secure password authentication.
           Secure password authentication verifies the account´s password using a
           challenge/response authentication mechanism (where the label "cram" comes from). The
           actual password is never actually transmitted to the server, and therefore cannot be
           intercepted while in transit over an untrusted network.

           Secure password authentication is not supported by all servers. This option may not
           work with some servers. This option does not enable secure password authentication, it
           only mandates its use. If the server supports secure password authentication, it will
           be used even without the /cram option. Traditional userid/password authentication will
           be used only if the server does not implement secure password authentication. The
           /cram option makes secure password authentication mandatory.

           The /cram option is marginally useful even with encrypted server connections. The
           secure password authentication never sends the explicit password to the server.
           Encryption makes it theoretically impossible to recover the password from an encrypted
           data connection; but with secure authentication the password is never sent over the
           connection in the first place (the password´s validity is certified by exchanging
           certain mathematical calculations between the server and the client). If the server is
           compromised, the compromised server will not receive the account password (unless the
           password is recovered from the server in other ways).

       /imap
           Do not use the SMAP if the server claims the availability of this experimental mail
           access protocol, and fall back to IMAP compatibility mode (this option is meaningful
           only with “imap://” and “imaps://” URLs).

       /notls
           Do not upgrade a plain connection to an encrypted one. This option is primarily used
           for testing and debugging purposes. Sometimes this option might be useful with servers
           that claim to offer encryption, but are unable to do so when taken up on their offer.

       /novalidate-cert
           Do not validate the server´s SSL certificate when using an encrypted connection.
           Normally the mail server´s SSL certificate must be validate when using an encrypted
           connection. The certificate´s name must match the server´s name, and the certificate
           must be signed by a trusted certificate authority.

           The encrypted connection normally fails if the certificate cannot be validate.
           Validation requires that a list of trusted certificate authorities must be known and
           configured. It´s simply impossible to know which certificate authorities are valid
           without an explicit list of valid, known, trusted, certificate authorities. If a
           trusted authority list is not configured, no certificate can be validated. If the
           server´s certificate is a self-signed certificate (this is often used for testing
           purposes), or if it´s not signed by a known authority, the encrypted connection fails.

           This /novalidate-cert option disables certificate validation. The encrypted connection
           will be established even if the server´s certificate would otherwise be rejected.

               Note
               This option is applicable even when an encrypted IMAP or POP3 connection is not
               explicitly requested. Many mail servers are capable of automatically upgrading
               unencrypted connections to a fully-encrypted connection. If a mail server claims
               to be able to use encryption, then there´s no reason not to use it. The result is
               that all encryption certification requirements still apply even when encryption is
               not explicitly requested.

   Displaying mailbox contents
       mailtool -tree | -list  account

       -tree shows a hierarchical representation of mail folders in account.  -list generates a
       simple folder listing, one folder name per line.  -tree shows folder names, while -list
       shows the actual mail folder path in account.

           mailtool -tree imap://jsmith@mail.example.com/novalidate-cert/cram

   Creating folders
       mailtool -create | -createdir  folder name account

       -create creates a new subfolder of folder in account. The new subfolder´s name is name.
       -createdir creates a new folder directory (a folder that contains other folders).

           mailtool -create INBOX.lists announcements maildir:Maildir

       This command creates a new folder “announcements” as a subfolders of “INBOX.lists” in the
       local maildir.

   Deleting folders
       mailtool -delete | -deletedir  folder account

       -delete deletes an existing folder in account.

       -deletedir deletes a folder directory.

           mailtool -delete INBOX.lists.announcements maildir:Maildir

   Renaming folders
       mailtool -rename oldfolder folder name account

       -renames renames an existing oldfolder. The folder is renamed as name, as a subfolder of
       folder.  folder may be an empty string if the folder should be moved to the top level of
       account´s folder hierarchy.

           mailtool -rename INBOX.lists.announcements INBOX.lists Announcements maildir:Maildir

       The folder “INBOX.lists.announcements” is renamed to “INBOX.lists.Announcements”. This
       slightly unusual way to rename folder allows folders to be relocated in the mail account´s
       folder hierarchy.

   Reading folder´s index
       mailtool -index folder account

       -index downloads and prints a summary of all messages in folder, in account. The summary
       shows the sender´s and recipients´ address, the message´s subject, and size.

           mailtool -index INBOX imap://john@mail.example.com/novalidate-cert

   Removing a message from a folder
       mailtool -remove folder n account

       -remove removes message #n (ranging from 1 to the number of messages in the folder) in
       folder, in account. The message numbers may be obtained by using -index.

       n may be a comma-separated list of message numbers, in strictly numerically increasing
       order.  -remove confirms the list of messages to remove and issues a “Ready:” prompt.
       Press ENTER to remove the messages.

           mailtool -remove INBOX 28,31 imap://john@mail.example.com/novalidate-cert

   Filtering messages
       mailtool -filter folder account

       -filter is a combination of -index and -remove.  folder´s index is downloaded, and the
       summary of each message is shown, one message at a time. Each message´s summary is
       followed by a prompt: “Delete, Skip, or Exit”. Pressing D removes the message, S leaves
       the message unchanged, and E leaves the remaining messages unchanged.

           mailtool -filter INBOX pop3://john@mail.example.com/novalidate-cert

           Note
           -filter is not meant to be used with large folders. Unless messages are removed
           quickly, the connection to the server may be disconnected for inactivity.

   Copying folders
       mailtool [-recurse] -tofolder tofolder -copyto toaccount -fromfolder fromfolder
                fromaccount

       This command copies an entire folder, fromfolder in fromaccount to a new folder, tofolder
       (which will be created, if necessary) in toaccount. Optionally, -recurse specifies that
       all subfolders of fromfolder should also be copied.

           mailtool -tofolder INBOX -copyto maildir:Maildir \
               -fromfolder "INBOX" imap://mbox100@mail.example.com/novalidate-cert

           mailtool -recurse -tofolder INBOX.converted_mail \
               -copyto maildir:Maildir -fromfolder "mail" \
                   imap://mbox100@mail.example.com/novalidate-cert

       This example first copies the INBOX on the IMAP server to $HOME/Maildir, then copies
       subfolders of “mail” on the IMAP server to the “converted_mail” subfolder in the maildir.

           mailtool -tofolder INBOX -copyto maildir:Maildir \
              -fromfolder "INBOX" inbox:mail

           mailtool -recurse -tofolder INBOX.converted_mail \
               -copyto maildir:Maildir -fromfolder "" mbox:mail

       This example first copies $HOME/Inbox (accessed as the INBOX folder in inbox:mail) to
       $HOME/Maildir, then copies mbox folders from $HOME/mail to the “converted_mail” subfolder
       in the maildir.

           Note
           Mail accounts that contain hybrid folders (folders that contain both messages and
           subfolders) can only be copied to account types that also support hybrid folders:
           either local maildirs, or to remote servers that support hybrid folders.

SEE ALSO

       cone(1).

AUTHOR

       Sam Varshavchik

Cone©                                       04/04/2011                                MAILTOOL(1)