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<section id="mailbox-namespaces">
<span id="id1"></span><h1>Mailbox Namespaces<a class="headerlink" href="#mailbox-namespaces" title="Permalink to this heading"></a></h1>
<section id="namespace-basics">
<h2>Namespace Basics<a class="headerlink" href="#namespace-basics" title="Permalink to this heading"></a></h2>
<p><strong>What is a namespace?</strong> A namespace is a hierarchical list of mailboxes a user has access to, named to maintain uniqueness and provide access control.</p>
<p>There are four different uses of the term "namespace" within Cyrus:</p>
<ol class="arabic">
<li><p><strong>IMAP NAMESPACE command</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<div><p>This is the set of mailboxes a user has access to and is the namespace as defined by <span class="target" id="index-0"></span><a class="rfc reference external" href="https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc2342.html"><strong>RFC 2342</strong></a> in response to the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">IMAP</span> <span class="pre">NAMESPACE</span></code> command.</p>
<p>A user can have access to three different kinds of mailboxes: their own (known as <em>personal</em>), other people's mailboxes that they have shared access to (known as <em>other users</em>) and any mailboxes that have more than one owner (known as <em>shared</em>).</p>
<p>More info at <a class="reference internal" href="#imap-admin-namespaces-user-access"><span class="std std-ref">User Access Namespaces</span></a>.</p>
</div></blockquote>
</li>
<li><p><strong>User namespace mode: altnamespace</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<div><p>Cyrus's user namespace mode controls how it responds to the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">IMAP</span> <span class="pre">NAMESPACE</span></code> command and what the hierarchy of mailboxes looks like in response to an <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">IMAP</span> <span class="pre">LIST</span></code> command for a user. The config setting <em>altnamespace</em>: on or off in <a class="reference internal" href="../../reference/manpages/configs/imapd.conf.html#std-cyrusman-imapd.conf-5">imapd.conf(5)</a> manages the mode. It is also affected by the hierarchy separator, which can be "/" (default: on) or "." (off) controlled by <em>unixhierarchysep</em> in <a class="reference internal" href="../../reference/manpages/configs/imapd.conf.html#std-cyrusman-imapd.conf-5">imapd.conf(5)</a>.</p>
<ol class="arabic">
<li><p>altnamespace: on (default)</p>
<blockquote>
<div><ul class="simple">
<li><p>personal: "" (empty string)</p></li>
<li><p>other users: "Other Users" (The string can be changed in <a class="reference internal" href="../../reference/manpages/configs/imapd.conf.html#std-cyrusman-imapd.conf-5">imapd.conf(5)</a> with <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">userprefix</span></code>)</p></li>
<li><p>shared: "Shared Folders" (The string can be changed in <a class="reference internal" href="../../reference/manpages/configs/imapd.conf.html#std-cyrusman-imapd.conf-5">imapd.conf(5)</a> with <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sharedprefix</span></code>)</p></li>
</ul>
</div></blockquote>
</li>
<li><p>altnamespace: off (was known as standard or regular)</p>
<blockquote>
<div><ul class="simple">
<li><p>personal: INBOX</p></li>
<li><p>other users: user</p></li>
<li><p>shared: "" (empty string)</p></li>
</ul>
</div></blockquote>
</li>
</ol>
<div class="admonition note">
<p class="admonition-title">Note</p>
<p>altnamespace mode is valid only for the <em>user</em> namespace: it doesn't affect the <a class="reference internal" href="#imap-admin-namespaces-administrator"><span class="std std-ref">administrator's view</span></a>.</p>
</div>
<p>Consider a user "uhura". Uhura can see all the folders from user "spock", some folders from users "kirk", as well as the shared folder "commandcrew".</p>
<p>Under altnamespace:off mode with a <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.</span></code> separator, she sees her folders as:</p>
<blockquote>
<div><ul class="simple">
<li><p>INBOX</p></li>
<li><p>INBOX.folder-1</p></li>
<li><p>INBOX.folder-2 (etc)</p></li>
<li><p>user.spock (this is INBOX for "spock")</p></li>
<li><p>user.spock.folder-x</p></li>
<li><p>user.kirk.folder-y ("kirk" hasn't shared their INBOX)</p></li>
<li><p>commandcrew</p></li>
</ul>
</div></blockquote>
<p>Under altnamespace:on mode with a <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">/</span></code> separator, she sees her folders as:</p>
<blockquote>
<div><ul class="simple">
<li><p>INBOX (INBOX is special in IMAP and is always the users Inbox)</p></li>
<li><p>folder-1</p></li>
<li><p>folder-2 (etc)</p></li>
<li><p>Other Users/spock</p></li>
<li><p>Other Users/spock/folder-x</p></li>
<li><p>Other Users/kirk/folder-y</p></li>
<li><p>Shared Folders/commandcrew</p></li>
</ul>
</div></blockquote>
<div class="admonition warning">
<p class="admonition-title">Warning</p>
<p>When using a <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.</span></code> separator (unixhierarchysep: off), user names and folder names
internally swap the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.</span></code> with <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">^</span></code>. This is because dots mark a subfolder if
you're not using unixhierarchy separators. Some IMAP clients do not cope well with the ^ character, which is why
unixhierarchysep: on is now the default as it allows dots in usernames and folder names.</p>
</div>
<p>More info at <a class="reference internal" href="#imap-admin-namespaces-mode"><span class="std std-ref">User Namespace Mode</span></a>.</p>
</div></blockquote>
</li>
<li><p><strong>Administrator namespace</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<div><p>While a user has their three kinds of mailboxes they have access to, an administrator can see all mailboxes (optionally restricted to the administrator's own domain). As a result, the response to <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">LIST</span></code> commands is different for administrators.</p>
<p>In the administrator namespace, all user mailboxes are presented as <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">user/<username>/<folder></span></code> (with unixhierarchysep: on) and with <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">@<domain></span></code> appended in virtual domain mode. Shared folders appear at the top level. The user namespace mode (altnamespace on/off) does NOT affect administrator mode; only the hierarchy separator affects display.</p>
<p>For unixhierarchy separators:</p>
<blockquote>
<div><ul class="simple">
<li><p>shared/commandcrew</p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="mailto:user/uhura%40example.com">user/uhura<span>@</span>example<span>.</span>com</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="mailto:user/uhura/folder-1%40example.com">user/uhura/folder-1<span>@</span>example<span>.</span>com</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="mailto:user/spock%40example.com">user/spock<span>@</span>example<span>.</span>com</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="mailto:user/spock/folder-x%40example.com">user/spock/folder-x<span>@</span>example<span>.</span>com</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="mailto:user/kirk%40example.com">user/kirk<span>@</span>example<span>.</span>com</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="mailto:user/mc.coy%40example.com">user/mc<span>.</span>coy<span>@</span>example<span>.</span>com</a></p></li>
</ul>
</div></blockquote>
<p>More info at <a class="reference internal" href="#imap-admin-namespaces-administrator"><span class="std std-ref">Administrator Namespaces</span></a>.</p>
</div></blockquote>
</li>
<li><p><strong>Internal namespace</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<div><p>Developer reference only. This is how each mailbox is uniquely stored inside <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">mailboxes.db</span></code>. Each mailbox name has a unique representation that is the "key" in the mailboxes.db key-value database.</p>
<blockquote>
<div><ul class="simple">
<li><p>commandcrew (??)</p></li>
<li><p>example.com!user.uhura</p></li>
<li><p>example.com!user.uhura.folder-1</p></li>
<li><p>example.com!user.spock</p></li>
<li><p>example.com!user.spock.folder-x</p></li>
<li><p>example.com!user.kirk</p></li>
<li><p>example.com|user.mc^coy</p></li>
</ul>
</div></blockquote>
<p>More info at <a class="reference internal" href="../../developer/namespaces.html#imap-developer-namespaces"><span class="std std-ref">Namespaces: a developer view</span></a>.</p>
</div></blockquote>
</li>
</ol>
</section>
<section id="user-access-namespaces">
<span id="imap-admin-namespaces-user-access"></span><h2>User Access Namespaces<a class="headerlink" href="#user-access-namespaces" title="Permalink to this heading"></a></h2>
<section id="personal-namespace">
<span id="imap-features-namespaces-personal"></span><h3>Personal Namespace<a class="headerlink" href="#personal-namespace" title="Permalink to this heading"></a></h3>
<p>The personal namespace refers to the hierarchy of mailboxes that a
Cyrus IMAP user owns, such as user <em>Nyota Uhura <nyota.uhura@example.com></em>
being the owner of the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">user/nyota.uhura@example.com</span></code> hierarchy.</p>
<p>Mailboxes in the personal namespace start with the literal string <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">user</span></code>.</p>
<p>Uhura will typically view her personal namespace such that sub-folders of
her INBOX may not have a distinguished prefix -- other than perhaps
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">INBOX</span></code> if <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">altnamespace</span></code> is disabled:</p>
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="n">INBOX</span>
<span class="n">Drafts</span>
<span class="n">Sent</span> <span class="n">Items</span>
<span class="n">Spam</span>
<span class="n">Trash</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
</section>
<section id="other-users-namespace">
<span id="imap-features-namespaces-other-users"></span><h3>Other Users Namespace<a class="headerlink" href="#other-users-namespace" title="Permalink to this heading"></a></h3>
<p>The Other Users namespace is a namespace that is reserved for mailboxes
in other user's personal namespaces, that have been shared with the
current user.</p>
<p>With <em>Spock</em> and <em>Kirk</em> in the same environment, who are also sharing
their personal mailboxes with <em>Uhura</em>, the
<a class="reference internal" href="#imap-features-namespaces-other-users"><span class="std std-ref">Other Users Namespace</span></a> namespace kicks in when
these mailboxes are viewed.</p>
<p>For <em>Nyota Uhura <nyota.uhura@example.org></em>, with
<em>James Kirk <james.kirk@example.org></em> sharing a selection of his mailboxes, Uhura's mailbox list looks like:</p>
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="n">INBOX</span>
<span class="n">Drafts</span>
<span class="n">Sent</span> <span class="n">Items</span>
<span class="n">Spam</span>
<span class="n">Trash</span>
<span class="n">Other</span> <span class="n">Users</span><span class="o">/</span><span class="n">james</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">kirk</span>
<span class="n">Other</span> <span class="n">Users</span><span class="o">/</span><span class="n">james</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">kirk</span><span class="o">/</span><span class="n">Subfolder</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>Note that the prefix used here is "Other Users" to show the mailbox
in question is part of another user's personal namespace.</p>
<p>The other users namespace can be suppressed in LIST commands by setting
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">disable_user_namespace</span></code> to <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">1</span></code> in <a class="reference internal" href="../../reference/manpages/configs/imapd.conf.html#std-cyrusman-imapd.conf-5">imapd.conf(5)</a>. This
is useful in larger environments because of the nature of the
<a class="reference internal" href="../../reference/admin/access-control.html#imap-admin-access-control-lists-discretionary"><span class="std std-ref">Discretionary Access Control</span></a> Cyrus IMAP
entertains by default.</p>
</section>
<section id="shared-namespaces">
<span id="imap-features-namespaces-shared"></span><h3>Shared Namespaces<a class="headerlink" href="#shared-namespaces" title="Permalink to this heading"></a></h3>
<p>Shared namespaces contain mailboxes
that are not owned by any one user, though one or more actual
users have administrative rights on the folders.</p>
<p>More than one shared namespaces can be created (aside from those named
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">user</span></code> as this hierarchy is reserved for the
<a class="reference internal" href="#imap-features-namespaces-personal"><span class="std std-ref">Personal Namespace</span></a> of each user).</p>
<p>Examples of shared folders could include:</p>
<p class="rubric">Shared mail folders for mailing list traffic</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">lists/cyrus.imap/announce@example.org</span></code></p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">lists/cyrus.imap/devel@example.org</span></code></p></li>
</ul>
<p class="rubric">Shared mail folders for common email addresses</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">shared/contact@example.org</span></code></p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">shared/hostmaster@example.org</span></code></p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">shared/info@example.org</span></code></p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">shared/postmaster@example.org</span></code></p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">shared/root@example.org</span></code></p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">shared/webmaster@example.org</span></code></p></li>
</ul>
<p>The shared namespace can be suppressed in LIST commands by setting
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">disable_shared_namespace</span></code> to <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">1</span></code> in <a class="reference internal" href="../../reference/manpages/configs/imapd.conf.html#std-cyrusman-imapd.conf-5">imapd.conf(5)</a>. This
is useful in larger environments that want to avoid all LIST
operations which can result in large, long lists of folders.</p>
</section>
</section>
<section id="user-namespace-mode">
<span id="imap-admin-namespaces-mode"></span><h2>User Namespace Mode<a class="headerlink" href="#user-namespace-mode" title="Permalink to this heading"></a></h2>
<section id="altnamespace-on-or-off">
<h3>altnamespace: on or off<a class="headerlink" href="#altnamespace-on-or-off" title="Permalink to this heading"></a></h3>
<div class="admonition note">
<p class="admonition-title">Note</p>
<p>If you are upgrading an existing server which uses <a class="reference internal" href="../../reference/manpages/systemcommands/timsieved.html#std-cyrusman-timsieved-8">timsieved(8)</a> to manage Sieve scripts and choose to swap namespace modes, you should run the script <a class="reference internal" href="../../reference/manpages/systemcommands/translatesieve.html#std-cyrusman-translatesieve-8">translatesieve(8)</a> after configuring the namespace option(s). This script will translate the folder names in fileinto actions.</p>
</div>
<p>By default Cyrus IMAP uses <em>altnamespace: on</em> , and unixhierarchysep: on "/" (slash) character for the
hierarchy separator.</p>
<p>The following limits also apply:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p>Mailbox names are case-sensitive,</p></li>
<li><p>A mailbox name may not start with a <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.</span></code> (dot) character,</p></li>
<li><p>A mailbox name may not contain two <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.</span></code> (dot) characters in a row,</p></li>
<li><p>Non-ASCII characters and shell meta-characters are not permitted in
mailbox names.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>While these limits apply under all circumstances, use of the unix hierarchy separator can also affect the display.</p>
<p>When using the altnamespace:off namespace mode, a user's
shorthand qualifier (e.g. <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">john</span></code> for <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">john@example.org</span></code>) MAY NOT
contain a <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.</span></code> (dot) character, as the character is being used as a
hierarchy separator in mailbox names, and would thus create a personal
mailbox rather then a user's INBOX. Using <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">john.doe</span></code> for
the INBOX name for user <em>John Doe <john.doe@example.org></em> does not work,
as it would create a sub-folder <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">doe</span></code> for the INBOX <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">user.john</span></code>.</p>
<p>The same limitation goes for the use of virtual domains. Since a mailbox
in a virtual domain typically uses a fully qualified user identifier
(e.g. <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">john@example.org</span></code>, thus including a valid (sub-)domain name),
the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.</span></code> (dot) character is inherited from the Domain Name System
naming convention. This poses a problem without the use of the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.</span></code>
(dot) character as a mailbox hierarchy separator.</p>
</section>
<section id="example">
<h3>Example<a class="headerlink" href="#example" title="Permalink to this heading"></a></h3>
<p>In a default situation using the altnamespace:on namespace
mode, a user <em>John Doe <john@example.org></em> would start out with a
mailbox <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">INBOX</span></code>, and will want to create sub-folders such as
for drafted and sent messages.</p>
<p>These mailboxes will be presented to John's client as follows (assuming dot separator):</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">INBOX</span></code></p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Drafts</span></code></p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Sent</span> <span class="pre">Items</span></code></p></li>
</ul>
<p>Where altnamespace is set to off, this looks like:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">INBOX</span></code></p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">INBOX.Drafts</span></code></p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">INBOX.Sent</span> <span class="pre">Items</span></code></p></li>
</ul>
<div class="admonition warning">
<p class="admonition-title">Warning</p>
<p>Changing <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">altnamespace</span></code> in an active operating environment will
cause all IMAP clients to need to resync the entire hierarchy.</p>
</div>
<hr class="docutils" />
</section>
</section>
<section id="administrator-namespaces">
<span id="imap-admin-namespaces-administrator"></span><h2>Administrator Namespaces<a class="headerlink" href="#administrator-namespaces" title="Permalink to this heading"></a></h2>
<p>An administrator -- a user for which the username is included in the
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">admins</span></code> setting in <a class="reference internal" href="../../reference/manpages/configs/imapd.conf.html#std-cyrusman-imapd.conf-5">imapd.conf(5)</a> -- has a different
perspective when using the IMAP protocol to perform administrative
tasks.</p>
<div class="admonition note">
<p class="admonition-title">Note</p>
<p>The administrator namespace is not affected by the user namespace mode (altnamespace: on/off)</p>
</div>
<p>With the UNIX hierarchy separator enabled, the list would look as
follows:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">user/jane</span></code></p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">user/jane/Drafts</span></code></p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">user/jane/Sent</span> <span class="pre">Items</span></code></p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">user/john</span></code></p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">user/john/Drafts</span></code></p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">user/john/Sent</span> <span class="pre">Items</span></code></p></li>
</ul>
<p>Continuing with the UNIX hierarchy separator enabled, should virtual
domains be in use, the list may appear to the administrator user
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">cyrus</span></code> as follows:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">user/jane@example.org</span></code></p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">user/jane/Drafts@example.org</span></code></p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">user/jane/Sent</span> <span class="pre">Items@example.org</span></code></p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">user/john@example.org</span></code></p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">user/john/Drafts@example.org</span></code></p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">user/john/Sent</span> <span class="pre">Items@example.org</span></code></p></li>
</ul>
<p>But the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">admins</span></code> setting in <a class="reference internal" href="../../reference/manpages/configs/imapd.conf.html#std-cyrusman-imapd.conf-5">imapd.conf(5)</a> allows for a
username of <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">admin@example.org</span></code> to be specified as an administrator as
well. Should <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">admin@example.org</span></code> take a peek, then the following list
would appear:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">user/jane</span></code></p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">user/jane/Drafts</span></code></p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">user/jane/Sent</span> <span class="pre">Items</span></code></p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">user/john</span></code></p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">user/john/Drafts</span></code></p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">user/john/Sent</span> <span class="pre">Items</span></code></p></li>
</ul>
<div class="admonition important">
<p class="admonition-title">Important</p>
<p>In multi-domain or multi-tenant environments, the following
mailboxes may exist:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">user/john</span></code></p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">user/john@example.com</span></code></p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">user/john@example.org</span></code></p></li>
</ul>
<p>Be aware that an unrealmed <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">cyrus</span></code> administrator user
can administrator mailboxes in each of the three realms (null for
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">user/john</span></code>, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">example.com</span></code> for <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">user/john@example.com</span></code> and
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">example.org</span></code> for <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">user/john@example.org</span></code>), but a realmed
administrator <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">admin@example.org</span></code> will be able to see and administer
mailboxes restricted to the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">example.org</span></code> authorization realm.
In this case they will see <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">john@example.com</span></code>
being presented as <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">user/john</span></code> -- not to be confused with the
actually unrealmed <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">user/john</span></code> mailbox that exists on the system
as well.</p>
</div>
</section>
</section>
</div>
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