Best practices for Zimbra migration

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Before migrating email to Zimbra, it's extremely important to have backups of your user's locally stored POBOX Classic email data. In most cases, access to locally stored email data should be available, even after minimal reconfiguration of the email client for Zimbra, although it's always better to be safe with the email data backup. Follow the instructions below to create email data backups for various supported email clients.

Contents

Backing up Thunderbird

  1. Make sure that the client's email is fully synced with the POBOX Classic server and that the current folders are up to date.
  2. Make a full backup of the Thunderbird folder.
    • The path to this folder is usually %AppData%\Thunderbird\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default\, where xxxxxxxx is a random string of 8 characters. Just browse to C:\Documents and Settings\[User Name]\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\ on Windows XP or C:\users\[User Name]\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\ on Windows Vista.
    • %AppData% is a shorthand for the Application Data path on Windows XP/Vista. To use it, click Start > Run... (use Start > Accessories > Run on Windows Vista), enter %AppData% and press Enter. You will be taken to the "real" folder, which is normally C:\Documents and Settings\[User Name]\Application Data on Windows XP, or C:\users\[User Name]\AppData\Roaming on Windows Vista.
  3. Optionally compact the mail in local folders in Thunderbird with (File > Compact Folders).
  4. Quit Thunderbird.

Backing up Outlook

Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2003 allow you to back up your email account. Outlook archive files have a .pst extension.

Outlook 2007

  1. Select Import and Export... from the File menu. The Import and Export Wizard dialog will appear.
  2. Select the Export to a file choice and click the Next button. The Export to a File dialog will appear.
  3. Select the Personal Folder File (.pst) choice and click the Next button. The Export Personal Folders dialog will appear.
  4. For a full back up, select the top level (Mailbox) folder and enable the Include subfolders checkbox. To back up only one folder, select the relevant folder. (Note: The Filter... button in this dialog allows access to an extremely powerful series of dialogs which allow you to filter the items you are backing up by many different sets of criteria, including from, to, date ranges, flagged items, etc.)
  5. Click the Next button. A second Export Personal Folders dialog will appear with two separate areas.
  6. Under Save Exported File As:, choose an appropriate name and destination for the archive file.
  7. Under Options, select how you want to handle duplicates within the file.
  8. Click the Finish button. A Create Personal Folders dialog will appear.
  9. Type a name for the file and a password, if desired.
  10. Click the OK button. Outlook 2007 will begin the archive process.
  11. When the Exporting status bar disappears, you have finished the backup process.

Outlook 2003

  1. Select Import and Export... from the File menu. The Import and Export Wizard dialog will appear.
  2. Select the Export to a file choice and click the Next button. The Export to a File dialog will appear.
  3. Select the Personal Folder File (.pst) choice and click the Next button. The Export Personal Folders dialog will appear.
  4. For a full back up, select the top level (Mailbox) folder and enable the Include subfolders checkbox. To back up only one folder, select the relevant folder. (Note: The Filter... button in this dialog allows access to an extremely powerful series of dialogs which allow you to filter the items you are backing up by many different sets of criteria, including from, to, date ranges, flagged items, etc.)
  5. Click the Next button. A second Export Personal Folders dialog will appear with two separate areas.
  6. Under Save Exported File As:, choose an appropriate name and destination for the archive file.
  7. Under Options, select how you want to handle duplicates within the file.
  8. Click the Finish button. A Create Personal Folders dialog will appear.
  9. Type a name for the file and a password, if desired.
  10. Click the OK button. Outlook 2003 will begin the archive process.
  11. When the Exporting status bar disappears, you have finished the backup process.

Backing up Entourage

Entourage 2004 and Entourage 2008 allow you to back up your email account. Entourage archive files have a .rge extension.

  1. Select Export... from the File menu. The Export window will appear.
  2. Click the Items to an Entourage archive radio button.
  3. For a full back up, click the All items radio button. Otherwise click either the Items that are in a project: or the Items that are in a category: radio buttons (note that these buttons will not be available if you have not created Projects and/or Categories in Entourage). If you choose the either the Items that are in a project: or the Items that are in a category: radio buttons, you will need to select the specific Project or Category you wish to back up from the relevant drop-down menu.
  4. Select the item types you wish backed up from Mail, Local Contacts, Local Calendar Events, Tasks, and Notes.
  5. Click the right arrow. Entourage will query if you want to keep the items you have chosen to archive.
  6. Choose the appropriate radio button and click the right arrow. The Save dialog box will appear.
  7. Choose an appropriate name and destination for the archive file and click the Save button. Entourage will begin the archive process.
  8. When the process has completed, a dialog box will inform you that Entourage has finished exporting the data.
  9. Click the Done button. You have finished the backup process.

Backing up Apple Mail

  1. Make sure that the client's email is fully synced with the POBOX Classic server and that the current folders are up to date.
  2. Make a full backup of Apple's Mail folder.
    • The path to this folder is usually /Users/username/Library/Mail, where username is the username of the Mac OS account.
  3. While most users will be able to access their mail on the Zimbra server after migration with minimal configuration, and will be able to access their locally stored Mail folders after the migration, it never hurts to have a backup of this Mail folder.
  4. Quit Mail.
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