installsieve Command in Linux

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The installsieve command in Linux is used to manage the sieve scripts kept on the server. Sieve scripts are a way to define email filtering rules on a mail server such as Cyrus IMAP or Postfix. They are part of the Sieve language, which is designed to manage and manipulate email delivery. Sieve allows the creation of scripts that can automatically sort, discard, forward, or perform other actions on incoming emails based on specified criteria.

Table of Contents

Here is a comprehensive guide to the options available with the installsieve command −

• Syntax of installsieve Command
• installsieve Command Options
• Examples of installsieve Command in Linux
• Using the sieveshell: Alternative to installsieve Command

Note − This command is deprecated, use the sieveshell command instead.

Syntax of installsieve Command

The syntax of the Linux installsieve command is as follows −

installsieve [options] [script]

The [options] field is used to specify the options to modify the command’s behavior. The [script] field is used to specify the Sieve script name that needs to be managed.

installsieve Command Options

The options for the installsieve command are listed below −

Examples of installsieve Command in Linux

This section demonstrates the usage of the installsieve command in Linux with examples −

1. Viewing the Specified Script

To view a specific script on the server, use the -v option with the script name. For example, to view the script name spamFilter.sieve script, use the installsieve command in the following way −

installsieve -v spamFilter.sieve

2. Listing all Scripts

To list all the scripts on the server, use the -l option −

installsieve -l

3. Installing a Script

To install the script to the mail server, use the -i option −

installsieve -i workMail.sieve

The above command uploads the script from the local storage to the mail server.

4. Deleting a Script

To delete a script from the mail server, use the -d option −

installsieve -d workMail.sieve

5. Setting a Script as Active

To activate a script on the mail server, use the -a option followed by the script name −

installsieve -a spamFilter.sieve

6. Downloading a Script

To download a specific script to the local disk, use the -g option −

installsieve -g spamFilter.sieve

Using the sieveshell: Alternative to installsieve Command

The installsieve command has been deprecated due to security vulnerabilities and technology modernization. It is largely replaced with the sieveshell command. The sieveshell command provides the same functionality that installsieve offers but with slight differences.

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Before using the sieveshell command, ensure the sieveshell command is installed on Linux −

which sieveshell

The above command will display the sieveshell command binary path if it is installed. If the above command does not show any binary, then install and configure the Cyrus mail server.

To use the sieveshell command, first enter the interactive session, using the following syntax −

sieveshell -u [username] <server>

Replace the [username] with the authorization name to request. After executing the above command, an interactive session will begin where the following subcommands can be used to manage the Sieve scripts on the server −

To display the help related to the sieveshell command, use −

sieveshell --help

Conclusion

The installsieve command in Linux is used to manage Sieve scripts on mail servers like Cyrus IMAP and Postfix, enabling users to create email filtering rules. However, this command has been deprecated due to security concerns and the evolution of technology. It is recommended to use the sieveshell command instead, which offers similar functionality in a more secure and modern format.

In this tutorial, we explained the installsieve command, its syntax, options, usage in Linux, and its alternative, sieveshell.