55 lines
2.1 KiB
Markdown
55 lines
2.1 KiB
Markdown
# IMAP-to-IMAP Email Migration
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Migrate all emails from one provider to another for a domain. Used for moving boy's emails (greyson@, garrison@) from SiteGround to MXroute.
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## Process
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1. **DNS check** — Verify MX records point to the destination provider:
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```bash
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dig +short MX iamgmb.com
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```
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2. **Verify old account access**:
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```bash
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python3 -c "
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import imaplib, ssl
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ctx = ssl.create_default_context()
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s = imaplib.IMAP4_SSL('old_host', 993, ssl_context=ctx, timeout=10)
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s.login('email@domain.com', 'password')
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r = s.select('INBOX')
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print(f'{r[1][0].decode()} messages in INBOX')
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s.logout()
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"
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```
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3. **List all folders** — SiteGround uses `INBOX.` prefix for subfolders; MXroute uses flat top-level folder names.
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4. **Migrate each folder**:
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- Map old folder names to new folder names (e.g. `INBOX.Deleted Messages` → `Trash`)
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- Create destination folders on new server
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- Copy messages preserving dates via IMAP APPEND
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5. **Verify** — Count messages on new server match old server per folder.
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## Folder Mapping (SiteGround → MXroute)
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| SiteGround | MXroute |
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|-----------|---------|
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| INBOX | INBOX |
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| INBOX.Trash | Trash |
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| INBOX.Deleted Messages | Trash |
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| INBOX.Sent | Sent |
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| INBOX.Sent Messages | Sent |
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| INBOX.Drafts | Drafts |
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| INBOX.spam | INBOX.spam |
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| INBOX.Junk | Junk |
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| INBOX.Archive | Archive |
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## Pitfalls
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- **Folder listing format differs** — SiteGround uses `INBOX.` subfolder notation and returns `"."` entries from LIST (ignore those). MXroute returns flat format `(flags) "." folder_name`.
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- **IMAP responses are bytes** — Decode with `decode()`, not `.decode('ascii')`. UTF-8 is safe.
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- **Rate limits** — If migrating many messages (300+ per folder), batch in groups of 50 and add `time.sleep(0.5)` between batches.
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- **Deduplication** — Messages ARE appended. If the script runs twice, duplicates happen. Track by `(folder, UID)` composite key.
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- **Password visibility** — SMTP/IMAP passwords are passed on the command line in heredocs. Use `ps aux | grep` awareness. For production, read from a file.
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