RECONSTRUCT(8)

NAME
reconstruct - reconstruct mailboxes

SYNOPSIS
reconstruct [ -C config-file ] [ -p partition ] [ -x ] [ -r ] [ -f ] mailbox...
reconstruct [ -C config-file ] -m

DESCRIPTION
Reconstruct rebuilds one or more IMAP mailboxes. When invoked with the -m switch, it rebuilds the master mailboxes file. It can be used to recover from almost any sort of data corruption.

If Reconstruct can find existing header and index files, it attempts to preserve any data in them that is not derivable from the message files themselves. The state reconstruct attempts to preserve includes the flag names, flag state, and internaldate. Reconstruct derives all other information from the message files.

Reconstruct reads its configuration options out of the imapd.conf(5) file unless specified otherwise by -C. Any mailbox directory underneath the path specified in the partition-news configuration option is assumed to be in news format.

Reconstruct does not adjust the quota usage recorded in any quota root files. After running reconstruct, it is advisable to run quota(8) with the -f switch in order to fix the quota root files.

OPTIONS

-C config-file
    Read configuration options from config-file.

-p partition
    Search for the listed (non-existant) mailboxes on the indicated partition. Create the mailboxes in the database in addition to reconstructing them. (not compatible with the use of wildcards)

-x  When processing a mailbox which is not in the mailbox list (e.g. via the -p or -f options), do not import the metadata from the mailbox, instead create it anew (this specifically affects atleast the mailbox's seen stat unique identifier, user flags, and ACL).

-r  Recursively reconstruct all sub-mailboxes of the mailboxes or mailbox prefixes given as arguments.

-f  Examine the filesystem underneath mailbox, adding all directories with a cyrus.header found there as new mailboxes. Useful for restoring mailboxes from backups.

-m  NOTE: CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE
    Rebuild the mailboxes file. Use whatever data in the existing mailboxes file it can scavenge, then scans all partitions listed in the imapd.conf(5) file for additional mailboxes.

EXAMPLES
You want to reconstruct the index files for a user, you have recovered a deleted mail file from backup and given it a suitable name (eg user/ben-lacy/33.), but it is not visible since it is not indexed:
reconstruct -r user.ben-lacy

If you have the unixhierarchysep:yes option set in /etc/imapd.conf you would need to run:
reconstruct -r user/ben.lacy

FILES

/etc/imapd.conf