Ubuntu Manpage: isync - synchronize IMAP4 and Maildir mailboxes

name
synopsis
description
options
configuration
files
bugs
see also
authors

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.

AUTHORS

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

                                                   2010 Feb 7                                           isync(1)