Needle in a Haystack
Searching Many Mailboxes
If you need to look into more than one mailbox, there are two ways to do it. The easiest way is to copy all of mailboxes manually into a new mailbox with any email client and run the script only on the new folder. The other method is to call the script inside a loop from another script, which could look more or less like this:
for MAILBOX in mailbox1 mailbox2... attach-extractor.sh $MAILBOX $MAILBOX-target
This is also the way to go when, for whatever reason, you need to know the mailbox from which an attachment came.
Searching Just a Few Messages
If you are sure that the attachment(s) you are looking for are somewhere inside a specific thread, or from a specific person, processing a whole mailbox to extract them would be a waste of time. As in the previous case, you can copy only those specific messages into a new mailbox and launch the script on it. Although still overkill, this method works with any email client.
A more efficient solution, instead, is to tag all those messages and tell your email client to find and save all the attachments they contain, all by themselves. A StackExchange post shows you how to write a Mutt macro that does this [4].
Extracting Attachments On Arrival
Sometimes it is useful to have all email attachments extracted and saved to a dedicated folder automatically, the moment each email arrives. This is possible by configuring the procmail tool (explained in detail online [5]).
« Previous 1 2 3 4 Next »
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
TUXEDO Computers Unveils Linux Laptop Featuring AMD Ryzen CPU
This latest release is the first laptop to include the new CPU from Ryzen and Linux preinstalled.
-
XZ Gets the All-Clear
The back door xz vulnerability has been officially reverted for Fedora 40 and versions 38 and 39 were never affected.
-
Canonical Collaborates with Qualcomm on New Venture
This new joint effort is geared toward bringing Ubuntu and Ubuntu Core to Qualcomm-powered devices.
-
Kodi 21.0 Open-Source Entertainment Hub Released
After a year of development, the award-winning Kodi cross-platform, media center software is now available with many new additions and improvements.
-
Linux Usage Increases in Two Key Areas
If market share is your thing, you'll be happy to know that Linux is on the rise in two areas that, if they keep climbing, could have serious meaning for Linux's future.
-
Vulnerability Discovered in xz Libraries
An urgent alert for Fedora 40 has been posted and users should pay attention.
-
Canonical Bumps LTS Support to 12 years
If you're worried that your Ubuntu LTS release won't be supported long enough to last, Canonical has a surprise for you in the form of 12 years of security coverage.
-
Fedora 40 Beta Released Soon
With the official release of Fedora 40 coming in April, it's almost time to download the beta and see what's new.
-
New Pentesting Distribution to Compete with Kali Linux
SnoopGod is now available for your testing needs
-
Juno Computers Launches Another Linux Laptop
If you're looking for a powerhouse laptop that runs Ubuntu, the Juno Computers Neptune 17 v6 should be on your radar.