CYR_BACKUP(8)

📦
version 3.10.4 · 8 versions
, in fedora 43

💖 CYR_BACKUP 💖

okay bestie, so this is the manual for cyr_backup, which lives in the Cyrus IMAP docs. It's a lil tool that lets you peek inside your Cyrus backups. That's it. That's the job. 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

cyr_backup — Cyrus IMAP documentation (yes the docs really do just say "Cyrus IMAP documentation", iconic)

Inspect contents of Cyrus backups. 👀

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

cyr_backup [OPTIONS] [MODE] backup list chunks
cyr_backup [OPTIONS] [MODE] backup list mailboxes
cyr_backup [OPTIONS] [MODE] backup list messages
cyr_backup [OPTIONS] [MODE] backup list all
cyr_backup [OPTIONS] [MODE] backup show mailboxes [ mboxname | uniqueid ]...
cyr_backup [OPTIONS] [MODE] backup show messages guid...
cyr_backup [OPTIONS] [MODE] backup dump chunk id
cyr_backup [OPTIONS] [MODE] backup dump message guid
cyr_backup [OPTIONS] [MODE] backup json chunks
cyr_backup [OPTIONS] [MODE] backup json mailboxes
cyr_backup [OPTIONS] [MODE] backup json messages
cyr_backup [OPTIONS] [MODE] backup json headers guid...

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

NOTE: Cyrus Backups are experimental, incomplete, and deprecated as of 3.10.

Like. bestie. I need you to read that again. Experimental. Incomplete. Deprecated. It's giving "we made it, we kinda left it, it's still here." She's still slaying but she's also, uh, not getting new outfits. 💀

cyr_backup is a tool for inspecting the contents of a Cyrus backup. Just looking! 👁️✨

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

In all invocations, backup is interpreted according to the specified MODE. See Modes below. (Yes that's a real section, go read it, I'll wait 🫶)

cyr_backup provides the following sub-commands:

📋 list

cyr_backup [OPTIONS] [MODE] backup list chunks
cyr_backup [OPTIONS] [MODE] backup list mailboxes
cyr_backup [OPTIONS] [MODE] backup list messages
cyr_backup [OPTIONS] [MODE] backup list all

List chunks, mailboxes, or messages contained in backup. Boom, that's the whole vibe. 💅

🔍 show

cyr_backup [OPTIONS] [MODE] backup show mailboxes [ mboxname | uniqueid ]...
cyr_backup [OPTIONS] [MODE] backup show messages guid...

show mailboxes shows the contents (i.e. the contained messages) of mailboxes matching each given mboxname or uniqueid in the named backup. The uid, expunged time, and guid of each message are shown. It's giving ✨receipts✨.

show messages shows details of messages matching each given guid in the named backup. The guid, containing mailboxes, and MIME headers of each message are shown. So much lore. 🍓

🗑️ dump

cyr_backup [OPTIONS] [MODE] backup dump chunk id
cyr_backup [OPTIONS] [MODE] backup dump message guid

Dump the contents of the specified chunk or message contained in the named backup to standard out. Chunks are output as uncompressed backup data format (which is a replication protocol stream). Messages are output in their on-disk format (typically MIME).

dump chunk is mainly useful for diagnostic purposes. 🔬 (like, a lil checkup, ngl)

dump message may be useful as part of a manual message restoration process, when the restoration destination does not support the restore(8) command. DIY era fr fr. 🛠️

🧾 json

cyr_backup [OPTIONS] [MODE] backup json chunks
cyr_backup [OPTIONS] [MODE] backup json mailboxes
cyr_backup [OPTIONS] [MODE] backup json messages
cyr_backup [OPTIONS] [MODE] backup json headers guid...

Dump information about the chunks, mailboxes or messages contained in the named backup to standard out, in JSON format. Machine-readable queen. 👑

💅 OPTIONS 💅

  • -C config-file — Use the specified configuration file config-file rather than the default imapd.conf(5). Custom config, custom life. ✨
  • -v, --verbose — Increase the verbosity. Can be specified multiple times. Say it again. And again. Louder bestie 🗣️🔥

🌈 MODES 🌈

  • -f, --filename — backup is interpreted as a filename. The named file does not need to be known about in the backups database. She's off the grid, no records, mysterious main character energy. 🕵️♀️
  • -m, --mailbox — backup is interpreted as a mailbox name. There must be a known backup for the user whose mailbox this is. Known backups are recorded in the database specified by the backup_db and backup_db_path configuration options. So like, the system has to already know her. 🫶
  • -u, --userid — backup is interpreted as a userid. There must be a known backup for the specified user. This is the default if no mode is specified. ⭐ (so if you don't pick, this is the one that picks you)

🎀 EXAMPLES 🎀

nothing here bestie. the original page left this one empty. we respect the silence. 🙈

📜 HISTORY 📜

also empty. she's a woman of mystery. 💜

📁 FILES 📁

empty too!! three for three. no cap. 😭

👀 SEE ALSO 👀

👑 AUTHOR 👑

The Cyrus Team

1993–2026, The Cyrus Team

and that's the whole page!! thanks for reading bestie, you ate 🫶✨

Cyrus IMAP, version 3.10.4, dated Sep 09, 2026 — that's the source, the version, and the date all wrapped up in a lil bow for you 🎀💖 bye!!

📦 where this page comes from