IMAP filtering on Exchange? (Replacing Outlook with mutt)

jleejj · n00b Joined: 18 Jan 2004 Posts: 57 Location: Eugene, OR

Hello:

At work all our mail stays on an Exchange IMAP server. Microsoft Outlook lets you set mail filtering rules for IMAP e-mail accounts to move mail to specific folders, etc. When I start Outlook on a different machine the sorting still occured, making it seem that this was being done on the server.

How can I accomplish a similar thing, but in Linux and using mutt as my mail client?

I have found the "imapfilter" package for sorting mail right on the server, but so far the only solution I can think of is to set up my sorting rules in imapfilter and run a cron job which does the filtering every 5 - 10 minutes.

Is there a better way to do this? Does anyone know exactly how Outlook implements its sorting rules? If the only way to solve this is to use "imapfilter", is there a way to force it to run just before mutt checks my mail so mutt doesn't have to see the messages in the wrong folder (unsorted)?

Thanks in advance for the help.

jleejj · n00b Joined: 18 Jan 2004 Posts: 57 Location: Eugene, OR

Bump.

I'm sure some of you have run into this same problem if you set up a Linux box in a Microsoft-dominated work environment. I'd really appreciate some hints on how to pull of IMAP mail filtering.

nobspangle · Posted: Wed Sep 15, 2004 12:30 pm Post subject:

exchange doesn't use imap, you can connect to it via imap, but that's not generally how it works. When you set up the rules they are sent to the server and processed there, it's a Microsoft propritory system.

jleejj · n00b Joined: 18 Jan 2004 Posts: 57 Location: Eugene, OR

That makes sense based on the behavior I have observed.

So, is an "imapfilter" cron job the only way to get this same functionality? I suppose maintaining a sorted local MailDir and synchronizing it with the server using something like "isync" would also work. Any other suggestions? experiences? please?

mazirian · Posted: Thu Sep 16, 2004 11:41 am Post subject:

Maybe I am missing the issue, but I think this is as simple as procmail. I have procmail sort incoming mail and distribute it to subfolders in INBOX. Just identify the subfolders as ".Subfolder/" Courier-imap serves up my maildir to me from my server and I connect to it using mutt from my workstation. Works like a charm.

jleejj · n00b Joined: 18 Jan 2004 Posts: 57 Location: Eugene, OR

But when you say server there you mean your local IMAP server that you have set up. Correct? This would be great for a home e-mail system, but at work I need to leave the mail on the "official" Exchange server so that if someone decides to pull my Gentoo box I will not lose all my saved mail in the process.

Procmail doesn't have a way of sorting mail and delivering it back to the same IMAP server, does it? That is the functionality I am looking for.

mazirian · Posted: Thu Sep 16, 2004 4:41 pm Post subject:

Ahh, I thought I might have misread something. :oops:

Very embarassing. I thought you trying to create a similar environment somewhere else. No, that filtering, as you indicated, is done by the Outlook client, not at the server. I have the same situation at work myself. There are commerical products available that do content sorting. I know you're mutt user, but perhpas Evolution (using the connector) would offer some similar capabilities.