Re: [Evolution] From POP3 to IMAP

[Pete Biggs <pete biggs org uk>]

> I use Evolution on a thin-client server with over 100 users.
> At the moment POP3 is used, the mail is stored in maildir.
>
> I would like to change to IMAP and I am looking for a way without
> loosing flags like "read".
>
> Do I loose the flags when I would install an IMAP server like Dovecot or
> Courier?
>
> And does an IMAP server like Dovecot or Courier change anything in the
> existing maildir?
>
> I would like to use Cyrus IMAP, but Cyrus does not use maildir. When I
> install Dovecot or Courier I could use the program ImapSync to migrate
> everything over IMAP to Cyrus.

Either I've misunderstood what you are trying to do or you are not aware
what POP and IMAP do.

If you are using POP to currently access your mail, then your mail is on
a remote server (otherwise, why would you use POP) - in Evolution POP as
a protocol downloads all your mail from the server and places it under
"On This Computer".

Conversely with IMAP all your mail is left on the server and in
Evolution you have another account (as well as "On This Computer") at
the top level where all your mail is displayed.  The mail is never
transferred to your local machine (other than as a cache).

Most importantly though in all this, the POP and IMAP servers run on the
remote machine, not your local one, and as such the backend format of
the mail store is largely irrelevant.

If you do indeed have access to the mail server and you are talking
about installing a different IMAP server on there, then it will know
nothing about the status of the mail on your client.  However, once you
setup the connection to the IMAP server in Evolution, you will be able
to copy the mail from your local mailstore to the IMAP account within
Evolution and all your mail flags will be preserved.

Two other things I will mention - I know of no modern mail client server
(such as Dovecot, Courier etc.) that doesn't support both POP and IMAP.

Second, if your mail is delivered locally to the machine your are logged
in on (whether that be a thin client or a server), then you really
shouldn't be using POP (or IMAP) to access your mail - you need to find
out what format the mail spool uses and configure an account
appropriately in Evolution.

P.