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How to Migrate Zimbra Mailboxes to a New Server with Zextras Backup or imapsync
How to Migrate Zimbra Mailboxes to a New Server with Zextras Backup or imapsync
For a full Zimbra-to-Zimbra move, use a supported Zextras Backup migration workflow when you need mailbox data beyond email. Use imapsync when both servers expose the accounts over IMAP and your scope is messages, folders, and flags. Zextras says its older Zextras Migration Tool is no longer available. Its Zimbra migration guidance points administrators to Zextras Backup. Imapsync is a separate command-line option for copying IMAP mailboxes; it does not replace a Zimbra-aware migration for calendars, contacts, shares, or account settings.
That distinction determines how much you must provision and test on the new server. Before changing MX records or letting users work on the destination, confirm the source and destination versions, licensing, authentication, storage, and the exact data you must retain.
Documentation checked October 6, 2026. The official imapsync site lists release 2.314. Zextras’s migration article says the legacy Migration Tool is unavailable and describes a Zextras Backup route. Zextras pages and examples are version-dependent; validate them against your installed Zextras and Zimbra releases before a production run.
Choose Zextras Backup when the migration scope includes Zimbra collaboration data; choose imapsync for an IMAP mailbox copy.
1. Choose the route that matches the data you need
Route
Best fit
What to plan for
Zextras Backup
Zimbra-to-Zimbra migration where you need mail plus supported mailbox and domain data
Compatible Zimbra/Zextras releases, product entitlement, backup storage, and a Zimbra administrator comfortable with CLI operations
imapsync
Copying mailboxes between IMAP servers, including Zimbra, one mailbox at a time or in a controlled script
IMAP reachability and credentials on both servers, destination folder mapping, and separate migration of non-mail data
Zextras’s published Zimbra migration guide lists email and folders, contacts, calendars, tasks, shares, preferences, signatures, identities, and some domain or class-of-service data among the items its Backup workflow can migrate. It also says the workflow does not migrate server configuration, LDAP configuration, MTA or proxy configuration, or custom branding. Exact coverage depends on product versions and settings, so treat that list as a scope checklist and verify each required item in the current documentation.
Imapsync works through IMAP. It copies mailbox folders and messages and can synchronize message flags that the destination supports. It does not transfer a Zimbra server’s LDAP directory, account preferences, calendars, address books, shared resources, or server configuration. If any of those matter, plan another supported export/import method or select the Zextras route.
Do not build a new plan around the old Zextras Migration Tool: the Zextras migration guide says it is no longer available. Also avoid copying obsolete IMAP advice from archived Zimbra pages without checking it against the current imapsync Zimbra FAQ; that FAQ specifically warns that an older Zimbra imapsync guide is obsolete.
2. Prepare both servers before copying data
Make an inventory before provisioning the destination: domains, accounts, aliases, quotas, mailbox sizes, user passwords or reset plan, shared folders, calendars, contacts, distribution lists, retention needs, and the server features users depend on. Identify which host receives new mail during each phase. Keep this inventory as your post-migration checklist.
Confirm platform support. Verify the destination is installed, operating, and on a Zimbra/Zextras combination supported for your migration path. For Zextras Backup, the vendor’s Zimbra workflow requires a Zextras Backup destination and a source running Zextras Backup or Zimbra Suite Plus. Confirm entitlement with the vendor before relying on the feature.
Check capacity. Estimate space for the destination’s live mail store, staged source backup or export, and destination backup. The Zextras migration guide warns that the destination can need room for all three; do not size it only from users’ visible mailbox totals.
Back up and test restores. Keep a separate recoverable backup of the source. For a Zextras migration, follow the installed version’s checks and backup procedure. For imapsync, use a test mailbox on the destination first; imapsync’s tutorial emphasizes that the source is read while the destination is modified.
Test connectivity and authentication. Confirm that an administrator or test user can reach both IMAP endpoints using the intended secure connection. Do not enable clear-text authentication merely because an old guide says to; use the supported TLS/SSL and authentication settings for your Zimbra release.
Plan DNS and mail flow. If the MX record will change, lower its TTL in advance if your DNS provider permits it, then retain the old server during the transition so delayed or cached delivery can be monitored and reconciled.
Before a migration run, confirm target accounts, a recoverable source backup, and working IMAP access where imapsync will be used.
3. Use Zextras Backup for a Zimbra-aware migration
เมื่อเซิร์ฟเวอร์ปลายทางพร้อมรับอีเมลแล้ว ให้เปลี่ยน MX และระเบียนเว็บเมลที่เกี่ยวข้องตามการออกแบบ DNS และพร็อกซีของคุณ คงเซิร์ฟเวอร์เก่าไว้และตรวจสอบทั้งสองระบบในระหว่างที่แคช DNS หมดอายุและอีเมลที่ล่าช้ามาถึง ใช้ช่วงเวลาการบำรุงรักษาที่กำหนดไว้และแจ้งให้ผู้ใช้ทราบว่าควรลงชื่อเข้าใช้เซิร์ฟเวอร์เก่าหรือเซิร์ฟเวอร์ใหม่ในช่วงแต่ละขั้นตอน