[Leaplist] Evolution Mail problems ...

[Bryan J Smith]

On Tue, 2008-12-02 at 01:18 -0500, Vernon Singleton wrote:
> I've tried every permutation of the commands from howtos like this:
> http://ubuntu.wordpress.com/2005/12/03/how-to-backup-evolution/
> to no avail.  evolution will not recognize my .evolution directory.
> Looking in the .evolution directory. I can see that it contains all my mail.
> Does anyone have any idea how to get evolution to recognize it?

At this point, rename your Evolution folder.  Making a backup to
read-only DVD-R would be a good idea as well.  In fact, I'd recommend
the latter for the following "re-import" (so the original is not
modified).

Now launch Evolution and re-create your accounts.  Setup any "base"
folders you had before.  Also create at least one "filter" so you have a
point-of-reference for filters (especially if it's filtering to an IMAP
or other, non-local folder).

Close Evolution, and then ensure everything is shut down with:  
  $ evolution --force-shutdown  

Now you have two (2) choices.  One is easier.  One is more tedious.

The easiest way is to copy over your mail folders, your address book(s)
and copy over your filter and other files, comparing the new files to
the old and using regex or find/replace in a text editor appropriately. 

[ E.g., my mail filters typically go to IMAP folders, so the reference
in the filter XML file has an unique server identifier for the IMAP
folder.  So all I had to do is use a Find/Replace in my old filter XML
file, using the new string for the single, new filter I created to an
IMAP folder. ]

The harder way is launch Evolution to use "import" to bring in your old
mail folders.  That would be more proper.

You might want to use a combination of both.  E.g., copy over your mail
folders, and let Evolution re-index on next launch, and manually modify
your filters with a text editor.  But then use the import for the
Address Book, Calendaring and other things -- or possibly a combination.

In any case, if something "goes wrong," don't forget to quit Evolution
and then run "evolution --force-shutdown" before copying, editing,
etc... files and/or directories.

BTW, one thing I forgot to point out is that I always use IMAP for mail
storage in Evolution.  I set my folders to exist off-line (as I have
been using notebooks 100% since 2006 now -- totally desktop-free, even
at home).  As an alternative, you can actually setup a local IMAP folder
on your system, and point Evolution at localhost.

If you're just looking for a good mail client, I prefer Thunderbird,
especially for keeping different accounts separate.  In my case, I want
a full collaboration tool -- calendars, contacts, a single inbox, etc...
Evolution fits great there.

-- Bryan

P.S.  In defense of Evolution, in case people are reading into this,
over nearly seven (7) years of usage, I've only had to re-create my
Evolution folder once (using the "easy way").  That's far less than I
have had to do it for each my wife's or parent's Mozilla/Thunderbird
setups in only five (5) years.


-- 
Bryan J  Smith                Professional, Technical Annoyance
Mugshot Homepage:  http://mugshot.org/person?who=58wDcGKx6NcZAb
---------------------------------------------------------------
           Fission Power:  An Inconvenient Solution            


-- 
This message has been scanned for viruses and
dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
believed to be clean.