Maildir FAQ

Setup

Q: How do I set up my mail client to use maildir?

A1: Please see the notes here: EmailMaildir or EmailMaildirMigration

A2: For Thunderbird-specific notes, see: EmailMaildirSetupThunderbird

Q: How can I migrate my existing email from where it is into maildir?

A1: Using GUI-based mail clients such as Thunderbird or Outlook, you can create accounts for both your current mail server as well as the maildir server. You can then copy email messages from one account to the other.

• For more detailed notes, see EmailMaildirMigration

A2: [Isn't there a command line utility that we were testing out?]

Note: on a Windows PC, you may wish to temporarily disable Norton Anti-virus real-time scanning as it will dramatically slow down the move of mail

Access

Q: Can I login to the maildir server?

A: No, shell access to maildir.cs is not provided

Q: Can I still use tools like 'grep' to search my email?

A: No. You will need to use the tools provided by your email client to search messages. Most clients, such as Thunderbird, do provide a full message search function.

Q: Can I access my email using text clients via ssh?

A: No, but you may be able to access remotely using some text clients such as pine/elm [I think you can use pine/elm with command line options to access a remote server - need notes as to how ...]

Q: Can I recover accidentally deleted messages or folders?

A: Yes, if you have your mail client (eg, Thunderbird) set to move deleted messages to the Trash. Otherwise, or if you have emptied the Trash, please contact your point of contact with as much specific information as possible, to initiate a server based recovery from backup.

Q: Is there a web-based service I can use to access my email on maildir.cs?

A: You will need to use http://www.mywaterloo.ca and then enter maildir.cs (Secondary CS) as the mail server

Mail processing

Q: How do I configure my maildir account for Spam handling?

A1: [Current Situation] You must setup a .procmailrc file on mail.cs which will first send off the mail through IST's mail services cluster. Then handle the Spam mail as you wish. The lines from .procmailrc in the example below puts any mail marked as Spam in a "Spam" mail folder on mail.cs (not in maildir):

# tag messages resembling spam (assumes 'spamd' is running)
:0fw
| /software/spamassassin/bin/spamc -d mailservices

# put spam in this folder
:0:
* ^X-Spam-Status: Yes
Spam

A2: [Future plans...] Spam handling is automatically configured to run through IST's mail services cluster. Messages tagged as spam will be put into a "Junk" folder in your Maildir.cs account.

Q: How do I set up my .procmailrc to process incoming mail in my maildir account?

A: That option is not currently available at this time. CSCF is examining ways to provide this feature in the future. For now, if this is a critical issue for you, you should probably consider waiting to migrate to maildir.cs.

Q: I do client-side message filtering on my mail.cs account. Can I copy them over to my maildir.cs account?

A: This will depend on the email client. However, there is a plugin available for Thunderbird that will allow you to export your message filters from one account and then import them into another account - either on the same machine or on another machine. It is critical that any folders referenced in the message filters exist on the new account before you attempt to import them. For more information on downloading, installing and using this plugin, see: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/2474

Q: How do I set up vacation messages?

A: Vacation message handling is not currently available using maildir.cs. However, you can still have mail.cs process your email and handle vacation mail. You will need to use a customized .procmailrc to run the vacation mail program and then forward the email to your maildir.cs account. If you would like more information on how to do this, speak to your Point-of-Contact.

Configuration

Usage

Q: Can I create sub-mailboxes?

A: Yes you can, however they cannot have a dot/period (".") in the name (due to the way it stores mailboxes). In general, it is probably wise to avoid any special characters other than hyphens ("-") and underscores ("_")