How Do I Properly Run OfflineIMAP in a Crontab

Question

Installed Fedora.

# cat /etc/redhat_release | awk ' { print F "> " $0; print ""; }'

Fedora release 14 (Laughlin)

Installed offlineimap from yum, cuz I'm lazy these days.

# yum info offlineimap | awk ' { print F "> " $0; print ""; }'

Loaded plugins: langpacks, presto, refresh-packagekit

Adding en_US to language list

Installed Packages

Name : offlineimap

Arch : noarch

Version : 6.2.0

Release : 2.fc14

Size : 611 k

Repo : installed

From repo : fedora

Summary : Powerful IMAP/Maildir synchronization and reader support

URL : http://software.complete.org/offlineimap/

License : GPLv2+

Description : OfflineIMAP is a tool to simplify your e-mail reading. With

        : OfflineIMAP, you can read the same mailbox from multiple

        : computers.  You get a current copy of your messages on each

        : computer, and changes you make one place will be visible on all

        : other systems. For instance, you can delete a message on your home

        : computer, and it will appear deleted on your work computer as

        : well. OfflineIMAP is also useful if you want to use a mail reader

        : that does not have IMAP support, has poor IMAP support, or does

        : not provide disconnected operation.

And, lo and behold, every time I run offlineimap and try to redirect output in a crontab, it does not work. Below is my .offlineimaprc.

[general]

ui = TTY.TTYUI

accounts = Personal, Work

maxsyncaccounts = 3

[Account Personal]

localrepository = Local.Personal

remoterepository = Remote.Personal

[Account Work]

localrepository = Local.Work

remoterepository = Remote.Work

[Repository Local.Personal]

type = Maildir

localfolders = ~/mail/gmail

[Repository Local.Work]

type = Maildir

localfolders = ~/mail/companymail

[Repository Remote.Personal]

type = IMAP

remotehost = imap.gmail.com

remoteuser = username@gmail.com

remotepass = password

ssl = yes

maxconnections = 4

#Otherwise "deleting" a message will just remove any labels and

#retain the message in the All Mail folder.

realdelete = no

[Repository Remote.Work]

type = IMAP

remotehost = server.company.tld

remoteuser = username

remotepass = password

ssl = yes

maxconnections = 4

I have tried TTY.TTYUI, NonInteractive.Quiet and NonInteractive.Basic with different variations. With or without redirection, the crontab entries I try cause problems.

crontab -l | awk ' { print F "> " $0; print ""; }'

*/5 * * * * offlineimap >> ~/mail/logs/offlineimap.log 2>&1

*/5 * * * * offlineimap

I always get the same damn error ERROR: No UIs were found usable!. What am I doing wrong!?

Answer 1

specify the correct UI with the -u switch

offlineimap -u Noninteractive.Quiet # right
offlineimap -u NonInteractive.Quiet # WRONG!

Answer 2

If you use 6.3+ version of offlineimap, specify:

offlineimap -u quiet

I know the OP specified version 6.2, however someone searching ServerFault and encountering the above answer might not be aware the ui flags have changed.