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IMAP Server

IMAP stores all email  and folders on the server, which is perfect for accessing messages with a desktop client (say, Outlook on a laptop) from multiple locations, and having centralized backup. Mailtraq's IMAP implementation provides a powerful email solution and with Push-email support giving 'instant' delivery of email to mobile devices it is ideal for roaming users.

Each IMAP mailbox may have any number of sub-folders within it, and users can configure these using a standard IMAP client.

Using
All mainstream email client provide IMAP as an option. We provide configuration advice on the most popular clients here...

Sharing
Mailtraq's implementation also supports shared 'public folders' and mailbox sharing in Outlook, Thunderbird etc., allowing either read-only or read-write access.
Read about Mailbox sharing here...

 


Mailtraq's IMAP ServiceInstalling

IMAP is available in Mailtraq Professional editions and can easily be added to the basic services that Mailtraq provides at start up.


Adding the service
In the Mailtraq Console go to
Services (see how),
and then select
 Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP)

Modifying the service
In the Mailtraq Console go to 
Services (see how) in the Console left-column tree
and then right-click  -  Properties for
 Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP)

It is important to remember that IMAP runs on the standard TCP/IP Port 143, so you must set your router or firewall accordingly. Set the number of simultaneous connections to be at least as many as your number of users.

Upgrading users:
We recommend using Mailtraq's AFX Database for IMAP and webmail - read more here

Mailtraq 2.14 and above provide  SSL/TLS support for IMAP.

Push-email Support

Mailtraq's IMAP service supports IDLE (IMAP-IDLE) and so will provide immediate delivery of messages to suitable clients. This is particularly of interest to users of mobile devices with push-enabled clients (eg Android K-9 client). Set the number of Simultaneous Connections to be at least as many as your number of users. IMAP-IDLE is connection efficient and does not cause appreciable power consumption on mobile devices.

IMAP-IDLE gives push-email to all email clients that support it, including Outlook, Thunderbird, Evolution, Entourage, and many more...
 

You can read more about Mailtraq's support of the IDLE command here.

Email Retention

Keep in mind that if you leave all your messages on the server then over time the mailbox will become very  large. You should configure the Mailbox Archive rules for your users when using IMAP so that Mailtraq will manage your message store correctly.


New to mail servers?  Read our Beginners Guide here.

 

Consider using Mailtraq's webmail system

Unless you have a particular requirement for IMAP, many users find Mailtraq's EWA webmail system an equally convenient way to have centralized access to their mail from anywhere; share mail boxes; share calendars; share and access multiple address books and generally be more productive. Webmail is a powerful email client and is included with your Mailtraq Professional purchase - no additional license costs.

Read about the Group Ware features included with Mailtraq Professional:

 

 

 


Configuring IMAP Email Clients

 

Mailtraq's IMAP service is standards-compliant to IMAP4, so all the popular IMAP clients such as Outlook Express, MS Outlook, and Mozilla Thunderbird can be used. Smartphone users, such as the Treo 600 and 650 can easily use SnapperMail's IMAP4 client with Mailtraq.

Getting started is a simple as creating a new email account and setting it to be IMAP. You then tell the email client that the IMAP server and the SMTP server are at the IP address of the Mailtraq machine. Your login information is the Username and Password for your Mailtraq mailbox.

Thunderbird

Working with subfolders

You need to be aware that many versions of Thunderbird do not recognize subfolders, so you may need to be using at least Thunderbird 2.0.0.12 (and, even there, you may need to adjust Server Settings | Advanced). 

If you are using an older version:
Try clicking on the account in question (that is -  one level up from your Inbox), then click 'Manage Folder Subscriptions' - then find the folders, and check the boxes.

Thunderbird may not check sub-folders for mail by default.

Open up the Preferences dialog (either Tools | Preferences or Edit | Preferences),
then click Advanced | General | Config Editor.

In the filter box start typing 'mail.check' and then double-click on mail.check_all_imap_folders_for_new

It also may depend on the operating system - even the latest Linux based Thunderbird clients may not have access to sub-folders.

BlackBerry devices

See www.mailtraq.com/blackberry for more information

Using Outlook with IMAP

Read about using Outlook with IMAP here

New users should be aware that there are differences in message handling in, say Outlook, between POP3 and IMAP. Two of the most common are deleting messages and filing copies of sent items.

Deleting Messages

Message deletion is typically a two step process. First the message marked for deletion has a line drawn through it, but it is not actually removed until a separate Purge action is taken. You must Purge from time to time to prevent your mailbox filling up with unwanted emails.    Microsoft provide the following Purging advice for Outlook 2003 and for Outlook 2007

For example: Outlook | Edit | Purge deleted messages

Outlook offers you a couple of additional settings:

To hide messages already marked for deletion in Outlook:
Select View | Current View | Hide Messages Marked for Deletion from the menu.

  • In Outlook 2003, select View | Arrange By | Current View | Hide Messages Marked for Deletion.
  • Select View | Reading Pane | <desired setting> to re-enable the preview pane.

Purge Deleted Messages Automatically in Outlook when you leave a folder:

  • Select a Folder.
  • Select Edit | Purge | Purge Options... from the menu.
  • Make sure Purge items when switching folders while online is checked.
  • Click OK.

WARNING: When you change folders, all the deleted items in the folder you left will be purged.
You will not be able to recover or 'undelete' purged messages.

 

Filing Copies of Sent Items (Outlook 2003 and earlier)

Outlook does not automatically save a copy of 'sent items' on the server - it only saves them locally. You can use the Tools | Rules & Alerts object in Outlook to create a custom rule to do this (like this: for O98-O2003). Remember that there needs to be a User Profile created in Windows - Control Panel - Mail to access this object within Outlook.

How to reduce IMAP 'time-out' errors in Outlook 2003
By changing this setting, you can reduce instances of the error message.

 1. From the Outlook - Tools menu, select E-mail Accounts...
 2. Select View or change existing e-mail accounts and click Next.
 3. Select the e-mail account you want to modify and click Change.
 4. To bring up the Internet E-Mail Settings window, click More Settings...
 5. Select the Advanced tab.
 6. Left click on the slide-point and drag to the far right side (10 minutes). 
 7. Click Apply and then OK

Microsoft say that there are significant improvements to Outlook's IMAP performance in Outlook 2007, which supports the direct ability to store Sent items on the server, and also performs tasks in the 'background'.

Outlook problems: There are a number of known issues with Outlook and IMAP (some of which depend on the edition of Outlook you are using), for example: Outlook cannot handle sub-folders of the Inbox. If you are experiencing problems using IMAP with Outlook we suggest you set up a test IMAP account using Outlook Express to check your configuration.


Microsoft provide this guide to using Outlook with IMAP and there are many other guides available

 


 

Configuration Tips:

 

Reduced Event Logging
IMAP event logging is verbose and produces many lines of entries per event. This option allows you to reduce the logging to Errors Only to simplify the Event Log and make it more readable.

Detailed Logging
Full IMAP logging produces very large amounts of log entries. Mailtraq logs the main transaction details into the Event Log. If you need fully detailed logging this KB article explains socket level logging.

Migrating from another IMAP server

Small scale
If you need to migrate from another mail server to Mailtraq and keep your existing mail and folders - use IMAP to make an IMAP connection to Mailtraq and to your old server, then use the client to 'drag' folders from one to the other.

Larger Installations
If you need to migrate a larger number of users from another IMAP server, follow this Knowledgebase article.

Automatically clearing Junk and Deleted folders
Administrators should guard against allowing excessive build up of junk or deleted mail in Users mailboxes. Effective spam filtering can divert many thousands of messages to Junk - and this build up of messages can slow the overall performance of the mailserver - particularly the responsiveness of webmail. 

Use Mail Group Maintenance to automatically purge aged items - read more here

 

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Mailtraq Highlights...
 SMTP Server     Mailtraq SMTP email server video IMAP Server     Mailtraq IMAP email Server video
 POP3 Server     Mailtraq POP3 email server video Proxy Server     Mailtraq proxy email server video
 Webmail Server     Mailtraq webmail email server video Mailing-list Server     Mailing list email server video
 Groupware Services     Mailtraq groupware email services video Spam and Virus control     Spam and virus control email server video

 

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