Ubuntu Manpage: sieve-filter - Pigeonhole's Sieve mailbox filter tool

Provided by: dovecot-sieve_2.4.1+dfsg1-5ubuntu1_amd64

NAME

       sieve-filter - Pigeonhole's Sieve mailbox filter tool

       This  tool  is still experimental. Read this manual carefully, and backup any important mail before using
       this tool. Also note that some of the features documented here are not actually implemented yet; this  is
       clearly indicated where applicable.

SYNOPSIS

       sieve-filter [options] script-file source-mailbox [discard-action]

DESCRIPTION

command is part of Pigeonhole (pigeonhole(7)), which adds Sieve (RFC 5228) and ManageSieve (RFC 5804)
support to Dovecot (dovecot(1)).

The Sieve language was originally meant for filtering messages upon delivery. However, there are
occasions when it is desirable to filter messages that are already stored in a mailbox, for instance when
a bug in a Sieve script caused many messages to be delivered incorrectly. Using the sieve-filter tool it
is possible to apply a Sieve script on all messages in a particular source-mailbox, making it possible to
delete messages, to store them in a different mailbox, to change their content, and to change the
assigned IMAP flags and keywords. Attempts to send messages to the outside world are ignored by default
for obvious reasons, but, using the proper command line options, it is possible to capture and handle
outgoing mail as well.

If no options are specified, the sieve-filter command runs in a simulation mode in which it only prints
what would be performed, without actually doing anything. Use the -e option to activate true script
execution. Also, the source-mailbox is opened read-only by default, meaning that it normally always
remains unchanged. Use the -W option to allow changes in the source-mailbox.

Even with the -W option enabled, messages in the source-mailbox are only potentially modified or moved to
a different folder. Messages are never lost unless a discard-action argument other than keep (the
default) is specified. If the Sieve filter decides to store the message in the source-mailbox, where it
obviously already exists, it is never duplicated there. In that case, the IMAP flags of the original
message can be modified by the Sieve interpreter using the imap4flags extension, provided that -W is
specified. If the message itself is modified by the Sieve interpreter (e.g. using the editheader
extension), a new message is stored and the old one is expunged. However, if -W is omitted, the original
message is left untouched and the modifications are discarded.

CAUTION

       Although this is a very useful tool, it can also be very destructive when used improperly. A small bug in
       your Sieve script in combination with the wrong command line options could cause it to discard the  wrong
       e-mails.  And,  even  if  the  source-mailbox is opened in read-only mode to prevent such mishaps, it can
       still litter other mailboxes with spurious copies of your e-mails if your Sieve script decides to do  so.
       Therefore,  users are advised to read this manual carefully and to use the simulation mode first to check
       what the script will do. And, of course:

       MAKING A BACKUP IS IMPERATIVE FOR ANY IMPORTANT MAIL!

OPTIONS

-c config-file

Alternative Dovecot configuration file path.

-C

and its modification time is more recent than the script file, it is used and the script is not
compiled again. This option forces the script to be compiled, thus ignoring any present binary. Refer
to sievec(1) for more information about Sieve compilation.

-d dump-file

Causes a dump of the generated code to be written to the specified file. This is identical to the
dump produced by sieve-dump(1). Using '-' as filename causes the dump to be written to

-D

Enable Sieve debugging.

-e

Turns on execution mode. By default, the sieve-filter command runs in simulation mode in which it
changes nothing, meaning that no mailbox is altered in any way and no actions are performed. It only
prints what would be done. Using this option, the sieve-filter command becomes active and performs
the requested actions.

-m default-mailbox

The mailbox where the (implicit) keep Sieve action stores messages. This is equal to the source-
mailbox by default. Specifying a different folder will have the effect of moving (or copying if -W is
omitted) all kept messages to the indicated folder, instead of just leaving them in the source-
mailbox. Refer to the explanation of the source-mailbox argument for more information on mailbox
naming.

-o setting=value

Overrides the configuration setting from /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf and from the userdb with the given
value. In order to override multiple settings, the -o option may be specified multiple times.

-q output-mailbox [not implemented yet]

Store outgoing e-mail into the indicated output-mailbox. By default, the sieve-filter command ignores
Sieve actions such as redirect, reject, vacation and notify, but using this option outgoing messages
can be appended to the indicated mailbox. This option has no effect in simulation mode. Flags of
redirected messages are not preserved.

-Q mail-command [not implemented yet]

Send outgoing e-mail (e.g. as produced by redirect, reject and vacation) through the specified
program. By default, the sieve-filter command ignores Sieve actions such as redirect, reject,
vacation and notify, but using this option outgoing messages can be fed to the stdin of an external
shell command. This option has no effect in simulation mode. Unless you really know what you are
doing, DO NOT USE THIS TO FEED MAIL TO SENDMAIL!.

-s script-file [not implemented yet]

Specify additional scripts to be executed before the main script. Multiple -s arguments are allowed
and the specified scripts are executed sequentially in the order specified at the command line.

-u user/mask

Run the command only for the given user. It's also possible to use '*' and '?' wildcards (e.g. -u
*@example.org).

-v

Produce verbose output during filtering.

-W

Enables write access to the source-mailbox. This allows (re)moving the messages from the source-
mailbox, changing their contents, and changing the assigned IMAP flags and keywords.

-x auth_info

auth_info specifies additional conditions for the user command. The auth_info option string has to be
given as name = value pair. For multiple conditions the -x option could be supplied multiple times.

Possible names for the auth_info are:

service

The service for which the userdb lookup should be tested. The value may be the name of a service,
commonly used with Dovecot. For example: imap, pop3 or smtp.

session

Session identifier.

lip

The local IP address (server) for the test.

rip

The remote IP address (client) for the test.

lport

The local port, e.g. 143

rport

The remote port, e.g. 24567

real_lip

The local IP to which the client connected on this host.

real_rip

The remote IP where client connected from to this host.

real_lport

The local port to which client connected to to this host.

real_rport

The remote port from where the client connected from to this host.

forward_<field>

Field to forward as %{forward:field} to auth process.

ARGUMENTS

script-file

Specifies the Sieve script to (compile and) execute.

Note that this tool looks for a pre-compiled binary file with a .svbin extension and with basename
and path identical to the specified script. Use the -C option to disable this behavior by forcing the
script to be compiled into a new binary.

source-mailbox

Specifies the source mailbox containing the messages that the Sieve filter will act upon.

This is the name of a mailbox, as visible to IMAP clients, except in UTF-8 format. The hierarchy
separator between a parent and child mailbox is commonly '/' or '.', but this depends on your
selected mailbox storage format and namespace configuration. The mailbox names may also require a
namespace prefix.

This mailbox is not modified unless the -W option is specified.

discard-action

Specifies what is done with messages in the source-mailbox that where not kept or otherwise stored by
the Sieve script; i.e. those messages that would normally be discarded if the Sieve script were
executed at delivery. The discard-action parameter accepts one of

the following values:

keep (default) : Keep discarded messages in source mailbox.

move mailbox : Move discarded messages to the indicated mailbox. This is for instance useful to move
messages to a Trash mailbox. Refer to the explanation of the source-mailbox argument for more
information on mailbox naming.

delete : Flag discarded messages as \DELETED.

expunge : Expunge discarded messages, meaning that these are removed irreversibly when the tool
finishes filtering.

When the -W option is not specified, the source-mailbox is immutable and the specified discard-action has
no effect. This means that messages are at most copied to a new location. In contrast, when the -W is
specified, messages that are successfully stored somewhere else by the Sieve script are always expunged
from the source-mailbox, with the effect that these are thus moved to the new location. This happens
irrespective of the specified discard-action. Remember: only discarded messages are affected by the
specified discard-action.

EXIT STATUS

       sieve-filter will exit with one of the following values:

       0

           Sieve filter applied successfully. (EX_OK, EXIT_SUCCESS)

       64

           Command line usage error.

       65

           Data format error or operation is not possible.

       67

           User does not exist.

       68

           Input file, address or other resource does not exist.

       73

           Cannot create output file.

       75

           There was some temporary error, check logs.

       76

           Protocol error during remote host connection.

       77

           Permission error.

       78

           Configuration error.

       127

           Unknown error.

FILES

       /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf

           Dovecot's main configuration file.

       /etc/dovecot/conf.d/90-sieve.conf

           Sieve interpreter settings (included from Dovecot's main configuration file)

REPORTING BUGS

       Report bugs, including doveconf -n output, to the Dovecot Mailing List ⟨dovecot@dovecot.org⟩. Information
       about reporting bugs is available at: https://dovecot.org/bugreport.html