Managing IMAP

Preface

This book is both an overview of the IMAP protocol as well as a comprehensive installation and management guide for the two leading Unix-based IMAP servers. The University of Washington IMAP server, written by Mark Crispin, the father of the IMAP protocol, is an easy-to-install server that auto-detects and adapts to numerous mailstore formats on an individual user basis. The Cyrus IMAP server, from Carnegie Mellon University, is a high-performance, scalable server embraced by many larger sites.

As important as IMAP is to the growth of email, we were very surprised to find that a book on IMAP hadn’t already been written—at least we couldn’t find one. There was a lot of disconnected information out on the Net in various documents in documentation included with source distributions, on web sites, buried inside archives for mailing lists, and in Usenet newsgroups, but there was very little centralized assistance for the system administrator who wanted information on IMAP protocol, server administration, system design, and troubleshooting all in one place.

This book is directed at Unix and email system administrators who are (or might be) using IMAP to get email from their central mailstore to their users’ client software. If you have five email users or five hundred thousand, we describe a system in this book that would meet your needs. If your users are all using a common platform like Microsoft Windows, Solaris, or Mac OS, or if none of your users have access to anything but a web browser, we outline ways to provide reliable, robust, manageable, and consistently powerful email service to each of your users.

We’re true believers in IMAP because we’ve found that with a well-designed IMAP system, end-user email frustration is only directed at the content of their email, not at the quality of the service.

How This Book Is Organized

Part I, IMAP Fundamentals

The first three chapters introduce IMAP. They explain what IMAP is, how it fits into the world of email, and how it works. The rest of the book is organized into four parts.

Part II, IMAP Mail User Agents (MUAs)

Chapters 4 and 5 cover IMAP clients and web-based IMAP clients.

Part III, The Cyrus IMAP Server

Chapters 6 through 9 cover the Cyrus IMAP server.

Part IV, The UW IMAP Server

Chapters 10 through 12 cover the University of Washington (UW) IMAP server.

Part V, Other Topics

Chapters 13 through 18 cover miscellaneous important topics that are related to maintaining a robust and reliable IMAP server.

Part VI, Appendixes

We’ve included three appendixes in the book. Appendix A, Conversion from Berkeley Mail Format to Cyrus: Tools , is a list of tools that will aid in thewill aid in the conversion from Berkeley Mail format to Cyrus. Appendix B, Adding SSL Support to IMAP, is useful for those readers who want to add SSL support to IMAP. And Appendix C, IMAP Commands, is a list of IMAP commands.