Move off the traditional mail stack, smoothly
Mailez ships a built-in migrate tool that moves existing Postfix + Dovecot mail data into Mailezine engine storage one way — preserving folder hierarchy, message order, seen/flagged marks, IMAP keywords and internal dates. Invisible to users, auditable for management.
What migration preserves
Message order & internal dates
Mail moves in IMAP UID order, so ordering and timestamps in every client stay intact — search, sorting and cleanup rules keep working.
Flags & keywords
Seen/unseen, starred/flagged, draft and replied/forwarded marks plus custom IMAP keywords all carry over — webmail and clients see the same state.
Folder hierarchy
Maildir directories map to the IMAP folder tree with the same structure and names; existing Sieve filter scripts keep running.
Domains & accounts
Domains, accounts, aliases and quotas are created once in the admin console; passwords are reset or self-served at cutover time.
A four-step migration path
① Assess
Inventory domains, accounts, storage and special configuration (relays, aliases, groups). Bring the community edition up and create the matching domains and accounts in the admin console.
② Trial migration
Run migrate against a non-critical domain or department and verify message counts, flags and search results. The old stack keeps running; re-run any time.
③ Cutover
Switch MX and client endpoints (IMAP/SMTP ports stay the same — clients only change the server address). The old stack stays online as a rollback point, and the buffer window allows incremental re-syncs.
④ Decommission
After the buffer window, archive and retire the old stack. Config export plus engine snapshots form a complete backup for both rollback and disaster recovery.
FAQ
Will mail be lost or service interrupted during migration?
No interruption. migrate reads the old stack's Maildir/IMAP data and writes it into engine storage while the old stack keeps delivering. MX switching has TTL buffering; the few messages that land on the old stack during the window stay safely there — keep it online until the increment stops. To fold them in, wipe the target and re-run a full migrate (the tool is a full copy today, not incremental).
Can we go back after migrating?
Yes. The old stack stays online during the buffer window; config export and engine snapshots give both sides a complete backup. We recommend keeping at least one full mail-cycle rollback window.
Is there support for enterprise-scale migrations?
Yes. Enterprise year-one service includes launch assistance: migration plan review, accompanied trial runs and on-call cover during cutover windows. Contact sales with your mailbox scale for an assessment of your current architecture.