CTL_CONVERSATIONSDB(8)

📦
version 3.12.4 · 11 versions
, in fedora 44

👑 ctl_conversationsdb — the Cyrus IMAP glow-up page 💖

okay bestie, welcome to ctl_conversationsdb(8), a manual page from the Cyrus IMAP docs. she does operations on the conversations databases. yes, plural, she's busy. 💅

✨ NAME ✨

ctl_conversationsdb — perform operations on the conversations databases

like. that's the whole job. she's a conversations-database girlie and she's slaying at it. 🎀

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

ctl_conversationsdb [ -C config-file ] -d userid > text
ctl_conversationsdb [ -C config-file ] -u userid < text
ctl_conversationsdb [ -C config-file ] [ -v ] [ -z | -b | -R ] userid
ctl_conversationsdb [ -C config-file ] [ -v ] [ -z | -b | -R ] -r

four whole moods. pick your fighter. 🦋

💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

so ctl_conversationsdb is the tool you use to do all kinds of admin operations on a conversations database and the associated info hanging out in cyrus.index files. it's giving backstage-pass energy. 🫶

she reads her config options out of the imapd.conf(5) file, unless you tell her otherwise with -C. she's flexible like that.

the configdirectory option in imapd.conf(5) is what decides the default location of the conversations database. that's where she looks first, no cap.

okay so the first synopsis: the -d option dumps the contents of a conversations database to standard output in an ASCII format. the second synopsis: you feed that resulting file right back in using the -u option to "undump" from standard input. these two together are lowkey iconic for disaster recovery, or for changing the backend used to store the conversations database. glow-up via export/import, we love to see it. ✨

the third synopsis rebuilds conversations info in various ways for one specific user. the fourth does it for all users. head down to OPTIONS for the deets. 👇

oh and — this command was introduced in version 3.0. she's a classic. a legacy, even. periodt. 💀

💅 OPTIONS 💅

  • -C config-file — use the config file config-file instead of the default imapd.conf(5). your file, your rules.
  • -d, --dump — dump the conversations database that corresponds to the user userid to standard output in an ASCII format. the resulting file can then recreate a database using the -u option. it's giving backup baddie. 💾
  • -u, --undump — "undumps" the conversations database for the user userid, i.e. it replaces all the entries with data from ASCII records parsed from standard input. the output from the -d option works as the input here. round trip, bestie. 🎀
  • -v, --verbose — be more verbose when running. she will simply say more. 🗣️
  • -r, --recursive — be recursive; apply the main operation to every user.
⚠️ Warning: do not combine with -u, it will not do what you expect. seriously. don't. 💀
  • -z, --clear — remove all conversation information from the conversations database for user userid, and from all the user's mailboxes. good news: all of that info can be recalculated (eventually) from message headers using the -b option. so it's a clear, not a goodbye. 🧚
  • -Z, --clearcids cid,... — remove all conversation information from the conversations database for user userid, and from all the user's mailboxes, but only for conversations matching the comma separated list of *cid*s in hex format. can be specified more than once, bc of course she can. 👑

the info can all be recalculated (eventually) from message headers, using the -b option. same energy as -z, just surgical.

  • -M, --clearmodseq — reset the modseqs for all messages and conversation highwatermarks for user userid, and from the user's counters file. fresh start, no receipts. 🧼
  • -b, --rebuild — rebuild all conversation information in the conversations database for user userid, and in all the user's mailboxes, from the header information in messages. does not affect messages which already have conversation information.

this is basically the bulk-mode version of what happens to each message when it arrives. use it to add missing conversation info for past messages — e.g. after using -z, or after upgrading Cyrus from older versions. also: this operation uses information from cyrus.cache files, so it does not need to read every single message file. efficiency queen. 🔥

  • -R, --update-counts — recalculate counts of messages stored in existing conversations in the conversations database for user userid. this is a limited subset of -b; in particular it does not create conversations or assign messages to conversations. she counts, she does not matchmake. 🙈
  • -S, --split — if given with -b, allows splitting of conversations during the rewrite. only do this if you're changing the maximum conversation size and you need to split those existing conversations. 🪓

🍓 EXAMPLES 🍓

[NB: Examples needed]

(the original literally says this. we're all waiting. bestie, if you got examples, drop them. 😭)

🌈 HISTORY 🌈

this command was introduced in version 3.0. iconic since day one. ⭐

📁 FILES 📁

  • /etc/imapd.conf
  • <configurationdir>/conversations.db

👀 SEE ALSO 👀

🫶 AUTHOR 🫶

The Cyrus Team, Nic Bernstein (Onlight) — legends, genuinely. 💖

1993–2026, The Cyrus Team

okay that's the whole page, you ate that. 💅✨

this was Cyrus IMAP docs, version 3.12.4, dated Sep 09, 2026 — love you, bye, go rebuild your conversations database responsibly. 🎀🦋💜

📦 where this page comes from