isync(1)isync(1)NAMEisync - synchronize IMAP4 and Maildir mailboxes
SYNOPSISisync [options ...] {mailbox ...|-a|-l}
DESCRIPTIONisync is a command line application which synchronizes local Maildir
mailboxes with remote IMAP4 mailboxes, suitable for use in IMAP-discon‐
nected mode. Multiple copies of the remote IMAP4 mailboxes can be
maintained, and all flags are synchronized.
isync is only a wrapper binary around mbsync to simplify upgrades. It
will automatically migrate the UID mapping from previous versions of
isync (even before 0.8) to the new format, and transparently call
mbsync. If you were using isync version 0.8 or 0.9.x you might want to
use mdconvert to convert the mailboxes to the more efficient native UID
storage scheme after migrating them.
isync is deprecated. Please use the -w option to permanently migrate
the configuration and start using mbsync directly.
OPTIONS-c, --config file
Read configuration from file. By default, the configuration is
read from ~/.isyncrc if it exists.
-1, --one-to-one
Instead of using the mailbox specifications in ~/.isyncrc, isync
will pick up all mailboxes from the local directory and remote
folder and map them 1:1 onto each other according to their
names.
-I, --inbox mailbox
Exception to the 1:1 mapping created by -1: the special IMAP
mailbox INBOX is mapped to the local mailbox (relative to the
maildir).
-a, --all
Synchronize all mailboxes (either specified in ~/.isyncrc or
determined by the 1:1 mapping).
-l, --list
Don't synchronize anything, but list all mailboxes and exit.
-L, --create-local
Automatically create the local Maildir mailbox if it doesn't
already exist.
-R, --create-remote
Automatically create the remote IMAP mailbox if it doesn't
already exist.
-C, --create
Automatically create any mailboxes if they don't already exist.
This is simply a combination of -L and -R.
-d, --delete
Causes isync to propagate message deletions. By default, dead
messages are not deleted.
-e, --expunge
Causes isync to permanently remove all messages marked for dele‐
tion. By default, deleted messages are not expunged.
-f, --fast
Only fetch new messages existing on the server into the local
mailbox. Message deletions and flag changes will not be propa‐
gated.
-h, --help
Displays a summary of command line options
-p, --port port
Specifies the port on the IMAP server to connect to (default:
143 for imap, 993 for imaps)
-q, --quiet
Suppress informational messages. If specified twice, suppress
warning messages as well.
-r, --remote box
Specifies the name of the remote IMAP mailbox to synchronize
with (Default: INBOX)
-s, --host [imaps:]host
Specifies the hostname of the IMAP server
-u, --user user
Specifies the login name to access the IMAP server (default:
$USER)
-P, --pass password
Specifies the password to access the IMAP server (prompted for
by default)
-M, --maildir dir
Specifies the location for your local mailboxes.
-F, --folder folder/
Specifies the location for your remote mailboxes.
-v, --version
Displays isync version information.
-V, --verbose
Enables verbose mode, which displays the IMAP4 network traffic.
-D, --debug
Enable printing of debug messages.
-w, --write
Don't run mbsync, but instead write a permanent config file for
it. The UID mappings of all configured mailboxes will be
migrated. Note that most command line options that would affect
an actual sync operation will be incorporated into the new con‐
fig file as well; exceptions are --fast and --cre‐
ate[-remote|-local]. The name of the new config file is deter‐
mined by replacing the last occurrence of "isync" with "mbsync",
or appending ".mbsync" if "isync" was not found.
-W, --writeto file
Like -w, but use the specified name for the new config file.
CONFIGURATIONisync by default reads ~/.isyncrc to load configuration data. Each
non-empty line of the configuration file that does not start with a
hash mark consists of a command. The following commands are under‐
stood:
Mailbox path
Defines a local Maildir mailbox. All configuration commands
following this line, up until the next Mailbox command, apply to
this mailbox only.
Host [imaps:]name
Defines the DNS name or IP address of the IMAP server. If the
hostname is prefixed with imaps: the connection is assumed to be
a SSL connection to port 993 (though you can change this by
placing a Port command after the Host command). Note that mod‐
ern servers support SSL on the default port 143. isync will
always attempt to use SSL if available.
Port port
Defines the TCP port number of the IMAP server (Default: 143 for
imap, 993 for imaps)
Box mailbox
Defines the name of the remote IMAP mailbox associated with the
local Maildir mailbox (Default: INBOX)
User username
Defines the login name on the IMAP server (Default: current
user)
Pass password
Defines the password for username on the IMAP server. Note that
this option is NOT required. If no password is specified in the
configuration file, isync will prompt you for it.
Alias string
Defines an alias for the mailbox which can be used as a shortcut
on the command line.
CopyDeletedTo mailbox
Specifies the remote IMAP mailbox to copy deleted messages to
prior to expunging (Default: none).
Delete yes|no
Specifies whether message deletions are propagated. (Default:
no). NOTE: The -d command line option overrides this setting
when set to no.
Expunge yes|no
Specifies whether deleted messages are expunged. (Default: no).
NOTE: The -e command line option overrides this setting when
set to no.
MailDir directory
Specifies the location of your local mailboxes if a relative
path is specified in a Mailbox command (Default: ~). NOTE: This
directive is allowed only in the global section (see below).
Folder directory/
Specifies the location of your IMAP mailboxes specified in Box
commands (Default: ""). NOTE: You must append the hierarchy
delimiter (usually a slash) to this specification. NOTE 2: This
directive is allowed only in the global section (see below).
MaxMessages count
Sets the number of messages isync should keep in the local copy
of a mailbox. This is useful for mailboxes where you keep a
complete archive on the server, but want to mirror only the last
messages (for instance, for mailing lists). The messages that
were the first to arrive in the mailbox (independently of the
actual date of the message) will be deleted first. Messages
that are flagged (marked as important) and unread messages will
not be automatically deleted. If count is 0, the maximum number
of messages is unlimited. (Default: 0)
MaxSize bytes
Messages larger than that many bytes will not be transferred
over the wire. This is useful for weeding out messages with
large attachments. If bytes is 0, the maximum file size is
unlimited. (Default: 0)
Tunnel command
Specify a command to run to establish a connection rather than
opening a TCP socket. This allows you to run an IMAP session
over an SSH tunnel, for example.
UseNamespace yes|no
Selects whether the server's first "personal" NAMESPACE should
be prefixed to mailbox names. Disabling this makes sense for
some broken IMAP servers. This option is meaningless if a
Folder was specified. (Default: yes)
RequireCRAM yes|no
If set to yes, isync will abort the connection if no CRAM-MD5
authentication is possible. (Default: no)
RequireSSL yes|no
isync will abort the connection if a TLS/SSL session cannot be
established with the IMAP server. (Default: yes)
CertificateFile path
File containing additional X.509 certificates used to verify
server identities. Directly matched peer certificates are always
trusted, regardless of validity.
Note that the system's default certificate store is always used
and should not be specified here.
UseSSLv2 yes|no
Should isync use SSLv2 for communication with the IMAP server
over SSL? (Default: no)
UseSSLv3 yes|no
Should isync use SSLv3 for communication with the IMAP server
over SSL? (Default: yes if the imaps port is used, otherwise
no)
UseTLSv1 yes|no
Should isync use TLSv1 for communication with the IMAP server
over SSL? (Default: yes)
OneToOne
isync will ignore any Mailbox specifications and instead pick up
all mailboxes from the local MailDir and remote Folder and map
them 1:1 onto each other according to their names. NOTE: This
directive is allowed only in the global section (see below).
Inbox mailbox
Exception to the OneToOne mapping: the special IMAP mailbox
INBOX is mapped to the local mailbox (relative to the MailDir).
NOTE: This directive is only meaningful in the global section
(see below).
Configuration commands that appear prior to the first Mailbox command
are considered to be global options which are used as defaults when
those specific options are not specifically set for a defined Mailbox.
For example, if you use the same login name for several IMAP servers,
you can put a User command before the first Mailbox command, and then
leave out the User command in the sections for each mailbox. isync
will then use the global value by default.
FILES
~/.isyncrc
Default configuration file
BUGS
The configuration file takes precedence over command line options.
Use -c /dev/null to work around.
See the INHERENT PROBLEMS section in the mbsync man page, too.
SEE ALSOmbsync(1), mdconvert(1), mutt(1), maildir(5)
Up to date information on isync can be found at http://isync.sf.net/
AUTHORS
Originally written by Michael R. Elkins, currently maintained by Oswald
Buddenhagen.
2010 Feb 7 isync(1)
