Move local Thunderbird mail to CorvidTypically, by the fall of 2007, all SCS users have accounts on the Corvid e-mail system. Some, however, may still have locally-stored messages, perhaps remaining from a previous configuration using the POP protocol.
Once you've configured Thunderbird to access the SCS mail system, you can move any local mail to your account on the Corvid server. This arrangement will exploit Corvid's real power. Storing all your email both read and unread on the Corvid server provides the following advantages:
- SCS Computing Facilities maintains and backs up the Corvid server, regularly monitoring the system for errors.
- Your mail is accessible even if your desktop system is unavailable, crashed, or down for repair
- You can access your mail from a laptop or home computer in the same way you do from your office
- Messages on Corvid are available through the SCS webmail interface: http://webmail.cs.cmu.edu [offsite link, opens a new window]
ProcedureMoving mail from a local Thunderbird folder to the Corvid server is simple, although potentially tedious. While the interface may vary slightly with platform, the common theme is that you will see two different folder trees, one under your Corvid account and one on your local host. If Harry Bovik names his Corvid account "Corvid_Bovik," for example, he will have a folder tree rooted at that name and another descending from "Local Folders."
To copy a folder, say, "Foo" from his local machine to the Corvid server, Harry can select the source folder and drag it to the destination, somehwere in his "Corvid_Bovik," tree. In good Windows fashion, Thunderbird will copy the source files (cross-device) to the destination. When he's satisfied that the process succeeded, Harry can delete the source "Foo" folder. This procedure will handle up to 250M of content Rule of Thumb: < 500 messages.
Alternately, for larger folders or for individual messages, create the destination folder under your Corvid account first, then:
- Select the files to copy. "SHIFT-mouse_left" will select multiple messages, and "Ctrl-a" will select select all messages in a folder.
- Go to "Messages" > "Copy"
- Navigate to and select the destination folder. SCS Help recommends "copy" over "move" to enable verifying success before removing the local folder.