How to restore (from backup) a cyrus mail folder - 10.3.9 server

Question

How to restore (from backup) a cyrus mail folder - 10.3.9 server

Hi
I have the default cyrus install on 10.3.9 server
I need to restore a deleted folder from backup
The problem is, if I just reatore the older to /var/spool/imap, cyrus wil not know that it is there.
I don't want to do this and then rebuild cyrus, because, based on past experence, it will mess up my ACLs.

Is there a "proper", or at least more elegant, way to restore a mail folder?

Thanks

G5 1.6GHz, Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Posted on Jul 5, 2007 12:23 AM

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Answer 1

pterobyte

Level 6

11,104 points

Jul 5, 2007 3:25 AM in response to Luke Siemaszko1

Is it just one user you need to restore or all?

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Answer 2

Jul 5, 2007 3:29 AM in response to pterobyte

Just one mailbox / folder.

It's actually a shared mailbox, not a user's, but I don't think that makes any difference does it?

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Answer 3

pterobyte

Level 6

11,104 points

Jul 5, 2007 3:36 AM in response to Luke Siemaszko1

If it's just a single mailbox, just restore the messages from the backup (messages are the files with a number and a dot at the end).

When done issue:
sudo -u cyrus /usr/bin/cyrus/bin/reconstruct -r -f user/username

This will just reconstruct that single mailbox. (You will need to re-adjust the ACLs for that single mailbox though)

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Answer 4

Jul 5, 2007 3:45 AM in response to pterobyte

thanks for that

After reading your post I had a look at "man reconstruct". I'm not clear about the "f" flag, you suggest it, and the man page says "useful for restoring backups" - but the example on the man page does not use the "f" flag. I'm not sure whether I should / shouldn't use it.

Also, just to confirm what you said.... In the past I have a done a complete reconstruct of all mailboxes, and had to manually reset all ACLs. This is a big job that I want to avoid, as we have a LOT of shared mailboxes and it is a real pain. But you are saying that if I just reconstruct the ONE mailbox then it is only that one where I need to fix the ACLs? That is much better!!

Thanks for your help.

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Answer 5

pterobyte

Level 6

11,104 points

Jul 5, 2007 4:03 AM in response to Luke Siemaszko1

After reading your post I had a look at "man
reconstruct". I'm not clear about the "f" flag, you
suggest it, and the man page says "useful for
restoring backups" - but the example on the man page
does not use the "f" flag. I'm not sure whether I
should / shouldn't use it.

Up to you to decide whether to trust the man page or me 😉

Just kidding. The -f flag will make sure subfolders containing messages will be take into account as well.

But you are saying
that if I just reconstruct the ONE mailbox then it is
only that one where I need to fix the ACLs? That is
much better!!

Yes, just that one. (Unless your database is already broken for some reason and you need to do a full reconstruct, but you should see this in the logs)

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