unexpunge¶

Recover messages the user has (accidentally) deleted.

Synopsis¶

unexpunge [ -C config-file ] -l mailbox [ uid... ]
unexpunge [ -C config-file ] -t time-interval [ -d ] [ -v ] [ -f flagname ] mailbox
unexpunge [ -C config-file ] -a [ -d ] [ -v ] [ -f flagname ] mailbox
unexpunge [ -C config-file ] -u [ -d ] [ -v ] [ -f flagname ] mailbox uid...

Description¶

The unexpunge program is used to list or restore messages which have been deleted from a mailbox, but still reside in the Cyrus IMAP mail spool.

This utility is only useful when the server is configured with expunge_mode set to delayed in its configuration file.

unexpunge reads its configuration options out of the imapd.conf(5) file unless specified otherwise by -C.

Options¶

-C config-file¶: Use the specified configuration file config-file rather than the default imapd.conf(5).

-l¶: List the expunged messages in the specified mailbox which are available for restoration. Optionally, only list the messages in the mailbox matching the UIDs in the space-separated list at the end of the command invocation.

-t time-interval¶: Unexpunge messages which where expunged within the last time-interval seconds. Use one of the trailing modifiers – m (minutes), h (hours), d (days) or w (weeks) – to specify a different time unit.

-a¶: Restore all of the expunged messages in the specified mailbox.

-u¶: Restore only messages matching the UIDs, in a space-separated list at the end of the command invocation, in the specified mailbox.

-d¶: Unset the \Deleted flag on any restored messages.

-f flagname¶: Set the user flag \flagname on the messages restored, making it easier for the user(s) to find the restored messages and operate on them (in a batch).

-v¶: Enable verbose output/logging.

Examples¶

unexpunge -l user/john@example.org

List the messages that are expunged and could be restored for mailbox user/john@example.org.

UID: 278786
    Size: 2548
    Sent: Sat Mar  7 12:00:00 2015
    Recv: Sat Mar  7 12:42:52 2015
    Expg: Sun Mar  8 14:37:43 2015
    From: <notifications@fedoraproject.org>
    To  : <john+fedora@example.org>
    Cc  :
    Bcc :
    Subj: "pghmcfc submitted milter-greylist-4.5.12-2.fc21 to testing"

UID: 278787
    Size: 2545
    Sent: Sat Mar  7 12:00:00 2015
    Recv: Sat Mar  7 12:42:52 2015
    Expg: Sun Mar  8 14:37:43 2015
    From: <notifications@fedoraproject.org>
    To  : <john+fedora@example.org>
    Cc  :
    Bcc :
    Subj: "pghmcfc submitted milter-greylist-4.5.12-2.el7 to testing"

UID: 278788
    Size: 2548
    Sent: Sat Mar  7 12:00:00 2015
    Recv: Sat Mar  7 12:42:53 2015
    Expg: Sun Mar  8 14:37:43 2015
    From: <notifications@fedoraproject.org>
    To  : <john+fedora@example.org>
    Cc  :
    Bcc :
    Subj: "pghmcfc submitted milter-greylist-4.5.12-2.fc20 to testing"

unexpunge -u user/john@example.org 278787 278788

Unexpunge two of these messages.

restoring expunged messages in mailbox 'example/org!user/john'
restored 2 expunged messages

Note

The output of the unexpunge command may not match the input terms, in the case above, the mailbox user/john@example.org appears in the output as example/org!user/john.

mbexamine user/john@example.org

Examine the mailbox for the two restored messages.

(...snip...)
000001> UID:00278862   INT_DATE:1425728572 SENTDATE:1425726000 SIZE:2545
    > HDRSIZE:2259   LASTUPD :1425912731 SYSFLAGS:00000014   LINES:6
    > CACHEVER:3  GUID:95349cd5d1cf21b55e6e0930b2ee5754f977ba8c MODSEQ:274250 CID: 0
    > USERFLAGS: 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
Envel>{369}("Sat,  7 Mar 2015 11:42:47 +0000 (UTC)" "pghmcfc submitted milter-greylist-4.5.12-2.el7 to testing" (...snip...)
BdyStr>{76}("TEXT" "PLAIN" ("CHARSET" "us-ascii") NIL NIL "7BIT" 286 6 NIL NIL NIL NIL)
Body>{60}("TEXT" "PLAIN" ("CHARSET" "us-ascii") NIL NIL "7BIT" 286 6)
CacHdr>{98}X-Spam-Score: -6.909
Message-Id: <20150307114247.3829C6087DAC@bastion01.phx2.fedoraproject.org>

From>{33}<notifications@fedoraproject.org>
To>{32}<john+fedora@example.org>
Cc>{0}
Bcc>{0}
Subjct>{59}"pghmcfc submitted milter-greylist-4.5.12-2.el7 to testing"
000001> UID:00278863   INT_DATE:1425728573 SENTDATE:1425726000 SIZE:2548
    > HDRSIZE:2260   LASTUPD :1425912743 SYSFLAGS:00000014   LINES:6
    > CACHEVER:3  GUID:e503646e389f507777fb75eeacc2da0d2156016a MODSEQ:274251 CID: 0
    > USERFLAGS: 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
Envel>{370}("Sat,  7 Mar 2015 11:42:51 +0000 (UTC)" "pghmcfc submitted milter-greylist-4.5.12-2.fc20 to testing" (...snip...)
BdyStr>{76}("TEXT" "PLAIN" ("CHARSET" "us-ascii") NIL NIL "7BIT" 288 6 NIL NIL NIL NIL)
Body>{60}("TEXT" "PLAIN" ("CHARSET" "us-ascii") NIL NIL "7BIT" 288 6)
CacHdr>{98}X-Spam-Score: -6.909
Message-Id: <20150307114251.A0E716087DAC@bastion01.phx2.fedoraproject.org>

From>{33}<notifications@fedoraproject.org>
To>{32}<john+fedora@example.org>
Cc>{0}
Bcc>{0}
Subjct>{60}"pghmcfc submitted milter-greylist-4.5.12-2.fc20 to testing"
(...snip...)

unexpunge -u -d user.johnsmith 46908

Unexpunge a select message based on its UID, clearing the \Deleted flag.

unexpunge -a user.johnsmit.Trash

Unexpunge all messages in a user’s Trash, but leave them flagged \Deleted.

unexpunge -a -f Flagged user.johnsmith.Trash

The same, but setting user flag \Flagged to facilitate later bulk operations.

unexpunge -t 24h -d -f Flagged user.johnsmith

Unexpunge messages matching only a given time period.

unexpunge -t 24h -d -f Flagged user/johnsmith

The same command, supporting the unixhierarchysep: yes option in imapd.conf(5).

Files¶

/etc/imapd.conf

Cyrus IMAP