IMAP email migration to new server

[TimW]

I have a domain from many years ago which has my surname in it and it is used by self and several family members for an email address. I need to move the web homepage and the email setup to a new server from a new hosting co who require the domain to be registered with them.

I have a dim memory of attempting this before and finding that the IMAP server content is reflected in all the client devices so that when you log on to your newly configured (and empty of data) email server you see all your old emails on your laptop, phone, whatever disappear, deleted forever and quite unrecoverable.

I want to avoid a repeat of this disaster and have the suggestion that I can backup my folders using Thunderbird and an export/import plugin which would obv be wise, but I don't see how I would then restore the folders to the server. If I just restore them on my laptop Thunderbird won't the program then see empty folders on the imap server and delete them again?

Sort of DIY this, I think.

TW

[Andy Burns]

drag and drop (or use the archive function) all your emails to a thunderbird local folder

drag and drop them onto the new server

[Steve Walker]

You can create Local Folders in Thunderbird, which are independent of the IMAP ones and you can just copy the contents of your old inbox (and other directories into there), change servers and copy them back.

Alternatively, set up two accounts under one user in Thunderbird. Set the servers for each using the IP addresses rather than the domain names and copy or move emails from one to the other.

I've done it both ways in the past with my home server upgrades.

There may also be software for it though - in my case, I have just done another server swap in the last week and, as I am using Nethserver, it now includes an option to synchronise the contents of its mail server the old one - so I just switched on mail fetching on the new server, turned it off on the old and hit synchronise.

[John Rumm]

Actually registered with them, or just have the records[1] updated to point at their servers?

[1] Typically you have multiple records stored in the name server that holds your domain. e.g. A records that identify the address of the server hosting the web site, and MX records that identify the server handling incoming email.

IMAP typically keeps a full copy of all mail on the server. You can connect multiple devices, and they should all see the same set of folders and email.

If you make a change from one device, then it is reflected on the others.

If you move to a new mail server, then the mailbox on that one will start out empty. If you want to avoid losing existing email, then you will need to migrate that from the old platform to the new one before you close the account on the old one.

You can do the migration in a number of ways. One way is with a commercial migration service like bittitan. You give that login details for old and new mailboxes, and it migrates everything it can. In the case of IMAP that is typically the folder structure and all the emails. With Exchange mailboxes then it also includes contacts and calendars.

The other alternative is to DIY the migration using a mail client. So in thinderbird you would replicate the folder structure of your IMAP mailbox in the Local Folder section. Then copy all the emails in each folder to the local folders copy. (it can take a while and the UI can bog down if doing to many at once) [2]

Then when you setup the new mail account, you can copy everything back, and then it will be visible to any client that you connect to the mailbox.

(of you have both mailboxes live at the same time, then you can copy from one to the other and miss out the local copy)

[2] There is a cheat that can work in TB since it tends to keep a local copy of all the IMAP mailbox anyway unless you tell it not to. So you can do the migration from "online" to local simply by copying the actual mail files and indexes from the IMAP Mail folder in your mail profile to the local folders section.

[Owain Lastname]

If you want to move stuff between IMAP servers then IMAPsize may be better than a mail client. It's rather out of date and only works on Windows but it handles messages very effectively.

Owain