After getting my new server up and running, and setting up new email accounts, I realized all my old emails where still on the old server. So on the chance someone might run into a similar situation decided to write up the recipe I used to transfer old emails.

Assumptions:

1) You’re using an imap mailserver (if you’re not you really should), i.e. all your emails are stored in ~/Maildir on the server, not in a pop file on your local machine.
2) You have network accessible samba shares on both old and new server, and they’re both connected to the same network and accessible from a network client.

Procedure for transferring emails between servers:

1) Log on to old server (console, telnet, or ssh) and go into your old home directory
2) Compress mail directory into a single file with ‘tar cvf Maildir.tgz Maildir’
3) Copy the tar file to a samba share on old server ‘cp Maildir.tgz /(samba share path)’
4) Copy tar file from old server samba share to new server samba share. I used windows explorer which had both the old server samba share and the new server samba share mapped. The file was about 600 meg.
5) Create a temporary user on new server, like oldjohn (john being the current user on new server and the original user on old server), with a full account (mail, home directory, etc). Webmin works great for doing that.
6) Log on to the new server, and copy the Maildir.tgz file from the samba share to oldjohn’s home directory
7) Go into oldjohn’s home directory and extract directories and files with ‘tar -xvf Maildir.tgz’
8) Important step here. Make sure you change ownership of extracted Maildir and contents to oldjohn (you were john on old server, so extracted files are still owned by john, not oldjohn) with ‘chown chgrp -R oldjohn Maildir’ .
9) On your desktop machine which you use to get your emails, which presumably has your current email account, set up a new account on the new server for user oldjohn . My favorite email client is Thunderbird.
10) Connect to your oldjohn email account and voila, there they are. If you want to you can drag and drop your oldjohn emails and folders to your john account. To avoid inbox confusion, I created an ‘Oldinbox’ folder and dropped all the inbox emails in oldjohn’s inbox into it, then moved the Oldinbox over to john’s account. Also moved all the folders from oldjohn to john. Final step delete oldjohn’s email account from your mail client.

This HDR image was taken a while back at an abandoned factory. I do believe the device behind the blue box with some type of logo on it is a dynamometer, used for testing engines. Looks like a few hundred horsepower capacity.

Well seems everyone’s had a go at this, so here’s my version. I went there with Vlad, we were scouting the building for a potential model shoot. Unlike previous visits to the place, it is now posted with many No Trespassing signs. Also some of the previously locked doors had been broken into. We went in anyway. Didn’t take long and we heard someone holler inside the building. Ever seen the Blair Witch Project? The disappeared guy calling from somewhere in the woods? Creepy. We were out of there in a hurry. Conclusion not suited for model shoot. If we’re not comfortable you can’t possible expect a model to be. To bad, it could have made for some interesting shots.

On a walk with Rob, Dan, and Mike, found these windows down a dead end alley.

Another graffiti photo. Wonder about the implications of having multiple posts with the same title. Maybe I should number them, like Xavier? BTW, Xavier will be at the Uptown Art Festival this year again. Stop by at his booth if you happen to be there.

This shot was taken underneath a bridge across the Mississippi. That whole area was fairly tricky to walk around on, mini valleys and canyons, unstable soil. That’s one of the reasons I like to wear solid leather boats on photo shoots like this. They protect your feet and ankles, and give good ankle support. Unfortunately that doesn’t work during summer. Leather boots and shorts, now that would be a sight.

While I was taking photos, I heard this odd rumble behind me. Turned around a watched a section of the hill about the size of a refrigerator break loose and tumble down. Glad I wasn’t standing there :)

These loading docks obviously are no longer in use. I found these riding around on my bike looking for a good view of the Cirque du Soleil which was performing this weekend. Couldn’t find one. I did go up to the front gate and walked into the fenced in area, and being a good citizen photographer asked an employee/guard if it was OK to take photos, just of the tents. He told me I needed a press pass because I had a ‘big camera’, which I could pick up at the main (employee) gate. I did point out to him there where other people with ‘big cameras’ but for some reason he couldn’t see them. On a whim I biked over to the employee gate, knowing that wasn’t going anywhere, and was met by a couple of Asia Security guards. Lets just say they looked like they hadn’t slept for a while, and weren’t in a friendly mood. I told them ‘good job’ and moved on :)

I drive past this abandoned rail road track every day and have stopped several times to take some photos. I’m still looking for a particular rendition of this setting, which this is not. But I like this one for the time being, using a flash to accentuate the stop sign and underexpose the surroundings.

Taken a few months along Washington Avenue, this building is gone by now. Guess it was well overdue. Doubtful though it will sprout anything pretty as it’s located in an industrial area.

On another note, several new photobloggers have sprouted in the Twin Cities area. Nice to see. Their sites can be found on my local links. Mitchster, Dusty, and I are getting together at the Duplex Restaurant & Wine Bar at Hennepin and 25th this Friday at around 4:00, hang out on the porch and watch Friday madness on Hennepin. Bloggers and photobloggers swing on by if up for it. We’re easy to spot with all the camera gear.

On the way back from the farmers market this morning, I drove past this ’store front’ on Lyndale Avenue, and just had to turn around to get a photo of it.