How to recover mail files

[Garfieldus]

My server with Plesk 11 died a few days ago. I now have a new server with Plesk 12.

I have the entire /var folder copied up from the old server.

How do I restore emails to the new server? Can I simply copy /var/qmail/mailnames/domain.name from the backed up /var folder into the corresponding folder on the new server?

If not, can anyone suggest how I accomplish this?

 

[Noturns]

I guess you would need an identical mailserver setup first, then copy the maildirs back

 

[dash]

Hi,
You can try the following:
a. Create all necessary domains and mailnames with all necessary settings on new Plesk server.
b. Sync mailbox content to new server ( /var/qmail/mailnames/<domain_name>/<mail_account>/ )
c. Call mchk utility on new Plesk server to reconfigure mail accounts http://kb.odin.com/en/944

 

[Garfieldus]

b. Sync mailbox content to new server ( /var/qmail/mailnames/<domain_name>/<mail_account>/ )
c. Call mchk utility on new Plesk server to reconfigure mail accounts http://kb.odin.com/en/944

In b. do you mean copy the files from the backup to the correct location on the new server?

I'm nervous about c. after reading this....
http://kb.odin.com/en/116565

 

[dash]

The issue is not actual for Plesk, http://kb.odin.com/en/116565

regarding b.)
I mean that mailbox format and destination path is the same on new Plesk server - it's a common linux "Maildir" format.
So yes - you can create mailboxes in new Plesk panel and then copy mail content from backup. I do not recommend to copy .qmail files.
Imho it's better to copy just Maildir folders for each mail account. (/var/qmail/mailnames/<domain_name>/<mail_account>/Maildir)

 

[Garfieldus]

@dash, thank you very much for your help.

In fact there is only one domain with three email addresses to be done. I can very easily copy over the Maildir folders for each of the three.

But I'm wondering if I must then run mchk? I think it will do whatever it does on every domain.

 

[Garfieldus]

Ok, I copied just one Maildir folder over as a test that only has seven emails in it. Although there are now seven emails they read....

This message is no longer available on the server.

So I suspect I do need to run mchk.

@dash any further advice will be appreciated.

 

[Garfieldus]

Content removed after i RTFM !!!

 

[UFHH01]

Hi Garfieldus,

please be aware that WINDOWS isn't LINUX... if you refer to the WIN-CLI reference, you can't assume, that these commands work as well for linux.

To see a list of all possible commands for an utility, please use the string "--help" afterwards:

Example:

/usr/local/psa/admin/sbin/mchk --help
​

Output will be:

Restore settings for all mailboxes.
Usage: /usr/local/psa/admin/sbin/mchk [OPTION]

OPTIONS:
  --without-spam   restore all settings except for SpamAssassin configuration
  --with-spam      restore all settings
  --spam-only      restore only SpamAssassin settings

... there are no "--domain-name=" parameters for the linux mchk - utility. ( Please see as well: http://kb.odin.com/944 )

 

[Garfieldus]

please be aware that WINDOWS isn't LINUX...

Well I suppose you learn something new every day

I have to say that I'm nervous about running this utility. Any need to be?

 

[UFHH01]

no, Garfieldus - there is no need to be nervous... this utility never deletes any mails, nor does it modity them. It is very save to use this utility without any risk to remove eMail - folders or their content.

 

[Garfieldus]

Thank you dash and UFHH01 for your help and encouragement.

I copied the Maildir of the domain in question from backup to the live folder (having first checked that I wasn't overwriting anything) and then ran mchk and can report that all folders and all emails are not back intact and all is well on that domain.

Interestingly it made no difference to what I reported in post #7 above!!

Thank you once again.

 

[danallen1]

Thank you dash and UFHH01 for your help and encouragement.

I copied the Maildir of the domain in question from backup to the live folder (having first checked that I wasn't overwriting anything) and then ran mchk and can report that all folders and all emails are not back intact and all is well on that domain.

Interestingly it made no difference to what I reported in post #7 above!!

Thank you once again.

Did you ever get your mail back? I am in the same boat. Plesk 11 croaked, I need the mail. Did everything you did. Got the ame excellent result. No sign of the mail except in encrypted files in the file system.

 

[Garfieldus]

Yes, I got everything back. I notice I use the words "emails are not back intact ". I should have said "emails are back intact "

Have you tried Horde to read your email?

 

[lorein0688]

Well this happen when the database is terminated and as you said that you have changed your and due to this emails become inaccessible. And by simply copy /var/qmail/mailnames/domain.name from the backed up /var folder into the corresponding folder on the new server, you will not get back the emails. You have to make use of the professional software. Try the Zarafa repair tool. It is designed to repair and retrieve all sorts of data that are stored in your database. With this you can repair the corrupted or damaged database.Hope this will help you!!

Good Luck!!!!!