IMAP Backup Tool

I recently tried out imap reinforcement content as a solution for downloading each IMAP letter box into a mbox record, which can then be imported into Mail.app or another mail program. One great feature is that when called from a file with existing mbox reports, it checks if the messages have already been downloaded and only adds any new messages to the mbox records. However, I encountered some issues with it on OS X, including a rare error related to authentication and a memory discharge. While I was able to download most of my folders, I suspect my IMAP server may be to blame for the issues I encountered.

Determined to find a solution that worked better, I downloaded Pierre Duquesne's imapsave program as it supports IMAPS in addition to IMAP. This program had more success and was able to download almost all of the folders, even when encountering errors with certain directories. However, I encountered another issue where the two programs were able to download messages for five folders but ended up with differently sized mbox records.

To resolve this issue, I searched for a program that better understood mbox reports and came across Mark Sapiro's mbmerge script. Running his script in a loop helped me merge the mbox files and ultimately resolved the issue. Overall, these three programs provided a good solution for backing up my IMAP messages, but there were some limitations and issues to be aware of.