--- name: "cyrus-cyr_expire" section: "8" platform: "linux" package: "cyrus-common" version: "3.10.2-1+deb13u2" release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)" platforms: ["linux"] url: "https://new.carta.tech/cyrus-cyr_expire" --- # cyrus-cyr\_expire(8) Cyrus IMAP documentation Expire messages and duplicate delivery database entries ## NAME cyr\_expire - Cyrus IMAP documentation Expire messages and duplicate delivery database entries ## SYNOPSIS ``` cyr_expire [ -C config-file ] [ -A archive-duration ] [ -D delete-duration ] [ -E expire-duration ] [ -X expunge-duration ] [ -p mailbox-pre‐fix ] [ -u username ] [ -t ] [ -v ] [ -a ] [ -c ] [ -x ] ``` ## DESCRIPTION **cyr\_expire is used to run a number of regular maintenance tasks** **on Cyrus databases, specifically:** - • **expire messages from mailboxes, and** - • **expire entries from the duplicate delivery database, and** - • **cleanse mailboxes of partially expunged messages (when using the "delayed" expunge mode), and** - • **remove deleted mailboxes (when using the "delayed" delete mode), and** - • **expire entries from conversations databases, and** - • **archive messages from mailbox.** **There are various annotations that cyr\_expire respects:** - • **/vendor/cmu/cyrus-imapd/expire which controls the expirations of** **messages** - • **/vendor/cmu/cyrus-imapd/archive which controls the archival of** **messages** - • **/vendor/cmu/cyrus-imapd/delete which controls the deletion of** **messages** - • **/vendor/cmu/cyrus-imapd/noexpire\_until which disables the expire** **and delete operations per user** **The first three mailbox annotations specify the age of messages in the** **given mailbox that should be expired/archived/deleted. The** **age is specified as a duration, the default unit are days.** **The duration format is defined in** *[imapd.conf(5)](/imapd.conf/5.md)***.** **The last mailbox annotation specifies the UNIX epoch time in seconds** **until which expiring messages or removing deleted mailboxes is blocked.** **The zero epoch time represents infinity. This annotation has precedence** **over any of the other annotations or command line flags. It must only** **be set on the user inbox and applies to all mailboxes of that user.** **The value of the /vendor/cmu/cyrus-imapd/expire annotation is** **inherited by all children of the mailbox on which it is set, so an** **entire mailbox tree can be configured by setting a single annotation on** **the root of that tree. If a mailbox does not have a** **/vendor/cmu/cyrus-imapd/expire annotation set on it (or does not** **inherit one), then no messages are expired from the mailbox.** **The annotation can be examined using the info command of** *cyradm(8)***, and modified using the mboxconfig and** **setinfo commands of** *cyradm(8)***.** **Expiration of duplicate delivery database entries for a given mailbox** **is also controlled by the /vendor/cmu/cyrus-imapd/expire annotation** **which applies to that mailbox. A value of 0 on the annotation means** **that no expiration is to be performed on that mailbox. Unlike message expiration, if no** **annotation applies to the mailbox then duplicate database entries are** **expired using the value given to the -E option.** **Expiration of conversations database entries occurs if the** **conversations option is present in** *[imapd.conf(5)](/imapd.conf/5.md)***.** **Expiration can be disabled using the -c option. The period used to** **expire entries is controlled by the conversations\_expire\_days** **option in** *[imapd.conf(5)](/imapd.conf/5.md)***.** **cyr\_expire reads its configuration options out of the** *[imapd.conf(5)](/imapd.conf/5.md)* **file unless specified otherwise by -C.** **cyr\_expire requires at least one of -A -D -E -X or -t to be** **supplied.** ## OPTIONS - **-C config-file** **Use the specified configuration file** *config-file* **rather than the default** *[imapd.conf(5)](/imapd.conf/5.md)***.** - **-A archive-duration, --archive-duration=archive-duration** **Archive non-flagged messages older than** *archive-duration* **to the** **archive partition, allowing mailbox messages to be split between fast** **storage and slow large storage. Only does anything if** **archivepartition-\* has been set in your config.** **This value is only used for entries which do not have a** **corresponding /vendonr/cmu/cyrus-imapd/archive mailbox annotation.** **The duration format is defined in** *[imapd.conf(5)](/imapd.conf/5.md)***. The default** **unit are days.** **This feature was introduced in version 3.0.** - **-D delete-duration, --delete-duration=delete-duration** **Remove previously deleted mailboxes older than** *delete-duration* **(when using the "delayed" delete mode).** **This value is only used for entries which do not have a** **corresponding /verdor/cmu/cyrus-imapd/delete mailbox annotation.** **The duration format is defined in** *[imapd.conf(5)](/imapd.conf/5.md)***. The default** **unit are days.** - **-E expire-duration, --expire-duration=expire-duration** **Prune the duplicate database of entries older than** *expire-duration***.** **This value is only used for entries which do not have a corresponding** **/vendor/cmu/cyrus-imapd/expire mailbox annotation.** **The duration format is defined in** *[imapd.conf(5)](/imapd.conf/5.md)***. The default** **unit are days.** - **-X expunge-duration, --expunge-duration=expunge-duration** **Expunge previously deleted messages older than** *expunge-duration* **(when using the "delayed" expunge mode).** **The duration format is defined in** *[imapd.conf(5)](/imapd.conf/5.md)***. The default** **unit are days.** - **-c, --no-conversations** **Do not expire conversation database entries, even if the conversations** **feature is enabled.** **This feature was introduced in version 3.0.** - **-x, --no-expunge** **Do not expunge messages even if using delayed expunge mode. This** **reduces IO traffic considerably, allowing cyr\_expire to be run** **frequently to clean up the duplicate database without overloading** **the machine.** - **-p mailbox-prefix, --prefix=mailbox-prefix** **Only find mailboxes starting with this prefix, e.g.** **"user.justgotspammedlots".** - **-u userid, --userid=userid** **Only find mailboxes belonging to this user, e.g.** **"***justgotspammedlots@example.com***".** - **-t, --prune-userflags** **Remove any user flags which are not used by remaining (not expunged)** **messages.** - **-v, --verbose** **Enable verbose output.** - **-a, --ignore-annotations** **Skip the annotation lookup, so all /vendor/cmu/cyrus-imapd/expire** **annotations are ignored entirely. It behaves as if they were not** **set, so only** *expire-days* **is considered for all mailboxes.** ## EXAMPLES ``` cyr_expire -E 3 -D 60 -X 60 ``` *Purge duplicates database of all entries older than 3 days, remove* *deleted mailboxes older than 60 days and deleted messages older than* *60 days.* ``` cyr_expire -x -c -A 7d ``` *Perform migration of message older than 7 days to Archive* *partition whilst not altering conversation database nor* *expunging messages.* ## HISTORY *Archive partition and conversation support was first introduced in Cyrus* *version 3.0.* ## FILES */etc/imapd.conf* ## SEE ALSO *[imapd.conf(5)](/imapd.conf/5.md), [master(8)](/master/8.md), cyradm(8)* ## AUTHOR *The Cyrus Team, Nic Bernstein (Onlight), Jeroen van Meeuwen (Kolab Systems)* ## COPYRIGHT *1993–2025, The Cyrus Team*