What is the best way to convert an existing mbox setup to maildir? Reconfiguring the MTA/MDA looks straightforward, but what is the best way to convert existing mailboxes?
Most ISPs that I've dealt with either started with .maildir/ or did the switch around '99-00 when the software caught up with the format change. There are a number of scripts that will do the conversion, google/freshmeat. It's fairly straightforward assuming it's a straight spool conversion and not an imap setup where people have lots of separate files.
I'd run your conversion script a few times to make sure it's cutting up the spool properly. If you can do it all on a separate server for testing you own account so much the better. Then I'd come up with a plan to change your software to support .maildir/. The MTA side should be just a config change, but it'll messier on the pop/imap side. uw-imap does not support .maildir/ whereas courier-imap only supports it. I think most of the major pop packages can do either these days, but I'd verify that. You'll also need to tweak mutt and pine setting as well if users have access to them.
If you have any users that leave their mail on the server, the first day of the switch might be interesting. Chances are their mail client will download all their mail as new. You might be able to tweak this by putting mail into cur/ or renaming files to tell courier that they've been read. Courier adds things to filename to track Sent, Read, etc IIRC. Getting the switch to be completely transparent isn't going to happen, but you can eliminate quite a bit.
All in all it's not complicated, but it's going to take some time. If you don't have that many users and haven't had performance issues, I'd probably leave well enough alone. Though doing it now with less users will make your life easier later if you plan to grow the sytem.
kashani -- [email protected] mailing list
