How to erase messages from users mailbox

[Eyfi]

Sorry for posting this if this is some easy solution that is listed in the manual but still I have not found a solution.

I need to archive all emails from one user and start with a new empty mailbox. This mailbox has approx 6000 messages so it takes time to do this manually.

Is there any tick to do this thru the CLI?

Exchange has the ExMerge to do this but I have not seen any such tool except maybe some functions in zmmailbox...

Also I would like to empty the trash and spam folders of all users automatically . Is that possible by using some CLI tool and create some cron script for automation?

[soxfan]

You don't say whether you are using the Network or Open Source edition of Zimbra. This is key to answering your question.

With the NE there is the CLI command 'zmbackup' which could help you with archiving the messages. This command is not available with OS edition. With either edition you can probably use the 'zmmailbox' command to clear things out. Look in the Admin guide and search around for more info on this command.

As far as the Trash and Spam folders you can control the retention time of messages in these folders through the Admin console at the "Class of Service" level, or on a user by user basis.

[phoenix]

You could also create a temporary mailbox and use Thunderbird to drag/drop all the mail from one mailbox to another.

[Eyfi]

Thanks Soxfan and Phoenix for your replies. We are using the network edition.

The Timout policy had totally slipped by when I was searching in the Admin console... Does exactly what I was looking for

I found this documentation in the AdminGuide for the zmbackup command http://www.zimbra.com/docs/ne/latest...line.14.5.html
I can't see any command line parameters for how to archive emails? Using Thunderbird will take to much labor work and I'm looking for a way that I can use regularly without to much hassle.

Exchange has a tool called ExMerge that does this and i've used a lot. There must be some simple way to do this in Zimbra as well.

[phoenix]

Just backup the users mailbox and restore it after you're done. Using thunderbird is easy, create another account connect Thunderbird to those two accounts and drag 'n' drop the folder (Inbox or any other folder) from one account to the other. What could be easier? Instant confirmation that the mailbox and email is accessible if you login to the new account. If you really want to archive them offline then zmbackup is your friend.

[soxfan]

I'm an OS edition user myself, so I don't have the zmbackup command at my disposal, and perhaps I don't understand your archive requirements. According to the documentation:

Perform full backup of only user1’s mailbox on server1. Note that hostname does not need full domain if account is used.
zmbackup -f -s server1 -a user1@domain.com

Looks like you can use the '-t' option to specify a location. This should provide you with a backup/archive of the specified user's mailbox. How does this not meet your requirements? I've never administered Exchange so I have no idea what the ExMerge command does.

[Eyfi]

Soxfan... I'm not sure I have been clear enough...

By archiving I need to move all the email from the mailbox or just some emails matching some requirement like email older than x or email containing the text "some text" in the body or subject.

My moving the email I would like to export it to a mailbox file like pst, gz or just raw email folders etc...

I'm not looking for a backup copy of the mailbox...