Mail Archiving/Backup

Discussion:

Chris Walker

2018-11-24 13:43:14 UTC

Hi all:

Does anyone have any suggestion for archiving mail?

Whilst IMAP has its advantages I’m starting to run out of server space and whilst I can transfer stuff to my machine from within Apple Mail I would like an alternative so I can move the database elsewhere as backup.

Mail Archiver X looks good but does anyone have any other suggestions or experiences?

Best

Chris

Macs R We

2018-11-24 18:12:45 UTC

Permalink

I’ve been using MailSteward Lite for close to a decade and am pretty satisfied with it. I keep telling myself that I ought to upgrade to their top-end version at some point, so it will do real server/client searches on the central repository machine instead of sucking all the data over the network, but never seem to have the time to devote to conversion. I archive my mail on an annual basis cone January, and use it maybe once a quarter to answer questions such as, “When did I get my roof replaced and is it still in warranty?”

Post by Chris Walker
Does anyone have any suggestion for archiving mail?
Whilst IMAP has its advantages I’m starting to run out of server space and whilst I can transfer stuff to my machine from within Apple Mail I would like an alternative so I can move the database elsewhere as backup.
Mail Archiver X looks good but does anyone have any other suggestions or experiences?
Best
Chris
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Chris Walker

2018-11-24 19:22:30 UTC

Permalink

Thanks for the reply.

I was coming round to either MailSteward or Mail Archiver X. Either would seem to fit the bill.

How does MailSteward handle Mai Tags, or don’t you use them

Best

Chris

Post by Macs R We
I’ve been using MailSteward Lite for close to a decade and am pretty satisfied with it. I keep telling myself that I ought to upgrade to their top-end version at some point, so it will do real server/client searches on the central repository machine instead of sucking all the data over the network, but never seem to have the time to devote to conversion. I archive my mail on an annual basis cone January, and use it maybe once a quarter to answer questions such as, “When did I get my roof replaced and is it still in warranty?”

Macs R We

2018-11-24 19:52:02 UTC

Permalink

I do in fact happen to use the mail tag software, but I've never used the tags function per se — I use it to add notes and tickle reminders. I've never tried searching for a tag, but I've launched a search right now to see how it works.

Well, it's somewhat less than deluxe. I did a search for messages with "X-Mailtags" in any raw header. It found them successfully, but the actual tag header line was not displayed, even with View / View Text selected (I'd never used that function before, and it isn't at all comprehensive. It seems to just turn off HTML, but it doesn't actually show the raw text of the mail, certainly not the header portion.)

I tried searching for "X-Mailtags%623" in raw headers (that's my local area code, so I figured I'd get at least one) and got one message. Again, I couldn't view the actual tag header. I used the menu item that saved the raw text of the found messages to a text file, and the information was apparent:

X-Mailtags: {"mailTagsAnnotation":"Experienced Roofing, LLC\nPhone: (623) 414-0303\n15030 N. 172nd Lane, Surprise, AZ 85388"}

It's more steps to go through than one would like, but it's doable and it's not too unwieldy.

Also, I'm not running the latest version of the software (there wasn't anything in the upgrades I felt I needed to pay for) so it's possible the newer versions do a better job of raw display than the one I'm running. Or it's possible the developer could add a real raw display choice to an upcoming update (I'm copying him).

Post by Chris Walker
Thanks for the reply.
I was coming round to either MailSteward or Mail Archiver X. Either would seem to fit the bill.
How does MailSteward handle Mai Tags, or don’t you use them
Best
Chris

Macs R We

2018-11-24 20:17:56 UTC

Permalink

Indeed, it's there (though it's at the upper right in my version). I guess I should have paid attention to the buttons as well as the menus.

Select an email in the list and click on the top left Raw button. It will display the raw source of the email.

Post by Macs R We
I do in fact happen to use the mail tag software, but I've never used the tags function per se — I use it to add notes and tickle reminders. I've never tried searching for a tag, but I've launched a search right now to see how it works.
Well, it's somewhat less than deluxe. I did a search for messages with "X-Mailtags" in any raw header. It found them successfully, but the actual tag header line was not displayed, even with View / View Text selected (I'd never used that function before, and it isn't at all comprehensive. It seems to just turn off HTML, but it doesn't actually show the raw text of the mail, certainly not the header portion.)
X-Mailtags: {"mailTagsAnnotation":"Experienced Roofing, LLC\nPhone: (623) 414-0303\n15030 N. 172nd Lane, Surprise, AZ 85388"}
It's more steps to go through than one would like, but it's doable and it's not too unwieldy.
Also, I'm not running the latest version of the software (there wasn't anything in the upgrades I felt I needed to pay for) so it's possible the newer versions do a better job of raw display than the one I'm running. Or it's possible the developer could add a real raw display choice to an upcoming update (I'm copying him).