[Users] claws mail question [solved] Sharing Claws-mail data between OS's

[Jerry]

On Sun, 10 Jan 2016 16:09:02 -0700, work at mykot.com stated:


>Thanks to all for the help.  Thanks particularly to Abhay for the
>specifics.  Below is my contribution back to the community on this topic
>of sharing Claws-mail data between dual boot OS's (Windows and Linux).
>
>+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>How to share mail data and settings in Claws-mail on a dual boot
>Windows/Linux system
>
>1 - starting in Windows, You need to locate two Claws-mail folders:
>    a.  Claws-mail  -  is your config directory
>        typically in C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\
>    b.  Mail  -  is your mailbox folder.  (It may have multiple
>mailboxes)
>        typically in C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\ as well
>
>Note: If you have multiple accounts set up, you may have other folders
>in that file, such as, “dad”, “mom”, etc.
>
>2 - We need a path that can be used by both Windows and Linux.  The best
>option is a FAT32 partition.  This folder will be R/W to both systems. 
>It will most likely be the D: drive in Windows.  In Linux mount it as
>whatever you want.
>
>3 - Move "Mail" (and any other mailbox folders) to D: at the root level.
> Do not place them within any other folder. 
>
>You can do it in C: if you want to use a single partition in Windows
>(bad idea BTW).  Pro tip: On Windows, try to keep all your personal
>files in a separate partition than the primary Windows system (C:).  If
>possible, better still, a completely different drive.
>
>4 - Now open up folderlist.xml and edit your mailbox path (line 3). It
>should look like this:
>     <folder type="mh" path="C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Mail"
>
>Change it to:  <folder type="mh" path="D:\Mail"
>
>If you have additional mailboxes, there will be additional lines futher
>down in this file.  You need to do this for each of them. 
>
>Do a find/replace of "\" with "/". Replace all.
> 
>Linux requires “/”.  Windows will read either “\” or “/”.
>
>Save
>
>5 – Exit Windows and launch Linux.  
>
>6 - Verify that you have both Windows C: and D: drives (partitions)
>mounted (i.e. C: as windows-C,  and D: as windows-D).  Make note of the
>mount path for each.
>
>7 – Assuming you have installed Claws-mail and started a simple mail
>account, enter your /home/%user% folder.  You will need to set up two
>symlinks, one for the Claws-mail profile and one for Mail folder(s).    
>     < ln (link)   -s (symbolic)   mount path    target >
>
> a.   ln  -s /mnt/windows-C/Users/%username%/AppData/Roaming/Claws-Mail
>.claws-mail
>Makes the Linux Claws-mail settings read the Windows settings
>
> b.   ln -s /mnt/windows-D D: 
>Makes the mailbox path of D:\Mail accessible to Claws-Mail in Linux. You
>should probably verify that the mount is writable and in your home
>folder you can do "cd D:\Mail" and see your mailbox folders.
>
>That's it. Fire up Claws-mail in Linux and enjoy.
>
>8 – Other changes that might be needed:
>a.  If you have actions defined, copy "actionswinrc" to "actionsrc".
>Edit out any actions that are Windows specific, for example, those that
>fire a Windows command.
>b.  Review your Accounts, especially if you had signatures configured.
>The windows paths won't work here.  You may want to move those to the
>shared drive and use the same logic.
>c.  You'll have to load-up all the plug-ins again. 
>d.  Review the fonts defined in Preferences->Display->Fonts
>e.  If you use gpg, you'll have to symlink path to your gnupg data
>folder to .gnupg in your home folder as well.
>f.  If you create any folders in Windows, you'll have to open up
>folderlist.xml and do a find/replace of "\" with "/".
>
>You can switch back-and-forth any time and your mail will be current in
>either OS.
>
>Solution provided by: "Abhay S. Kushwaha"
><kushwaha at netsolutionsindia.com> on users-request at lists.claws-mail.org

First of I, I firmly believe in the "KISS" principal. I also share several
directories between Windows and Linux. After a through investigation, I found
the use of BitTorrent Sync Pro to be the most advantageous way to keep
multiple file directories in sync. I use it with multiple applications and it
works perfectly.

Just my 2¢.

-- 
Jerry