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DOVEADM-IMPORT(1)                   Dovecot                  DOVEADM-IMPORT(1)
NAME
       doveadm-import - Import messages matching given search query
SYNOPSIS
       doveadm  [GLOBAL OPTIONS] import [-S socket_path] [-U source_user] [-s]
       -A source_mail_driver:source_mail_path
       doveadm [GLOBAL OPTIONS] import [-S socket_path] [-U source_user]  [-s]
       -F file source_mail_driver:source_mail_path
       doveadm  [GLOBAL OPTIONS] import [-S socket_path] [-U source_user] [-s]
       -u user source_mail_driver:source_mail_path
DESCRIPTION
       This command can be used to import  mails  from  another  mail  storage
       specified  by  source_mail_driver, source_mail_path, and other settings
       specified via -p parameters to one or more user's  mailboxes.  All  the
       mailboxes  are imported under the given dest_parent mailbox, or to root
       level if dest_parent is empty (""). The search_query  can  be  used  to
       restrict  which  mailboxes  or  messages  are  imported. By default the
       import is done in destination user's context, you can use -U to  change
       this.
       In the first form, the mails will be imported for all users.
       In  the second form, the mails will be imported for all users listed in
       the given file.
       In the final form, the mails will be imported only for given user (s).
GLOBAL OPTIONS
       Global doveadm(1) options:
       -D
           Enables verbosity and debug messages.
       -O
           Do not read any config file, just use defaults.  The  dovecot_stor-
           age_version  setting  defaults  to  the  latest version, but can be
           overridden with -o.
       -k
           Preserve entire environment for doveadm, not  just  import_environ-
           ment setting.
       -v
           Enables verbosity, including progress counter.
       -i instance-name
           If  using  multiple Dovecot instances, choose the config file based
           on this instance name.
           See instance_name setting for more information.
       -c config-file
           Read configuration from the given config-file. By default it  first
           reads  config  socket,  and  then  falls back to /etc/dovecot/dove-
           cot.conf. You can also point this to config socket of some instance
           running compatible version.
       -o setting=value
           Overrides  the configuration setting from /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf
           and from the userdb with the given value. In order to override mul-
           tiple settings, the -o option may be specified multiple times.
OPTIONS
       -A
           If  the -A option is present, the command will be performed for all
           users. Using this option in  combination  with  system  users  from
           userdb  { driver = passwd } is not recommended, because it contains
           also users with a lower  UID  than  the  one  configured  with  the
           first_valid_uid setting.
           When   the   SQL   userdb  module  is  used,  make  sure  that  the
           userdb_sql_iterate_query setting setting matches your database lay-
           out.
           When using the LDAP userdb module, make sure that the userdb_fields
           setting and userdb_ldap_iterate_fields setting settings match  your
           LDAP  schema.  Otherwise  doveadm(1) will be unable to iterate over
           all users.
       -F file
           Execute the command for all the users in the file. This is  similar
           to the -A option, but instead of getting the list of users from the
           userdb, they are read from the given file. The  file  contains  one
           username per line.
       --no-userdb-lookup
           Do  not perform userdb lookup. Use the USER environment variable to
           specify the username.
       -S socket_path
           The option's argument is either an absolute path to  a  local  UNIX
           domain  socket, or a hostname and port (hostname:port), in order to
           connect a remote host via a TCP socket.
           This allows an administrator to execute  doveadm(1)  mail  commands
           through the given socket.
       -p setting=value
           Overrides the configuration setting for source storage.
       -s
           When  the  -s  option is present, dest_parent and all new mailboxes
           under it will be subscribed to.
       -U username
           When the -U option is present, the source box is opened with  given
           username.
       -u user/mask
           Run  the command only for the given user. It's also possible to use
           '*' and '?' wildcards (e.g. -u *@example.org).
ARGUMENTS
       dest_parent
           The name of the destination mailbox, under which the  mails  should
           be  imported.  doveadm(1) will create the dest_parent mailbox if it
           doesn't exist.
       search_query
           Copy messages  matching  this  search  query.  See  doveadm-search-
           query(7) for details.
       source_mail_driver:source_mail_path
           This  argument specifies the mail_driver and mail_path settings for
           the source location. The -p parameter can  optionally  be  used  to
           specify        additional        settings.       For       example:
           maildir:/backup/20101126/jane.doe/Maildir or -p mail_alt_path=/nfs-
           mount/john.doe/mdbox mdbox:/srv/mail/john.doe/mdbox
EXAMPLE
       This  example  imports  all mails from a backup under a backup-20101026
       mailbox:
         doveadm import -u jane.doe AT example.org \
           mdbox:/backup/20101026/jane.doe/mdbox backup-20101026 all
       Another example that imports only messages  from  <foo AT example.org>  in
       the backup mdbox's INBOX to jane's INBOX:
         doveadm import -u jane.doe AT example.org \
           mdbox:~/mdbox-backup "" mailbox INBOX from foo AT example.org
REPORTING BUGS
       Report  bugs, including doveconf -n output, to the Dovecot Mailing List
       <dovecot AT dovecot.org>. Information about reporting  bugs  is  available
       at: <https://dovecot.org/bugreport.html>;
SEE ALSO
       doveadm(1), doveadm-search-query(7)
e5ac02a                            May 2026                  DOVEADM-IMPORT(1)