this is a follow up regarding NeoMail removed from latest Cpanel build.

as posted in our Server Updates, on 14th Oct 2005 at midnight, we switched from uw-imap mail server to courier-imap server and updated Cpanel to version 10.8.0-RELEASE_65 because a security hole was discovered in uw-imap mail server. Cpanel changed support for mailbox format from mbox to maildir in latest build.

as a result, NeoMail webmail is no longer supported by Cpanel and has been removed from latest Cpanel build. NeoMail supports mbox format only.

althoough many users are rather used to NeoMail already, however it is in fact a good step to remove NeoMail:

1)NeoMail supports mbox format only. maildir format works in such a way that each email is saved in one file by itself in a folder and whereby mbox format is “all emails are saved in one file”. so in terms of efficient, of course maildir format is better besides chances for corrupted mailbox will be much lower.

2)NeoMail is no longer in development and has not been since 2002. this means that any bugs or security issues are no longer being fixed by the developers. this has become a serious issue.

3)the current version of Perl does not work well with NeoMail. when a user reaches their full disk quota and accesses NeoMail, user’s browser just time outs most of the time.

maybe these are too technical to attract some clients’ attention. nevermind, what i would like clients to know is, removal of features provided to our client base is not a decision we take lightly. we did consider to remove NeoMail before but did not make the move as we noticed many were using it.

this time, Cpanel/we are forced to, because of the newly found security hole.

for those who used NeoMail before and store emails and address book in NeoMail, the emails and folders can be accessed via Horde, the other webmail application you can see once login to webmail.

the NeoMail address book can not be imported to other webmail but can be downloaded in plain text format: FTP into your hosting account, go to .neomail-emailuser/cpaneluser directory, there is a file called addressbook, download it into your computer, and open by any text editor.

so far we have not received any report of lost email or folder. however according to Cpanel, the mbox-maildir conversion process is not error-free, some users may not be able to find email/folders (that were accessed or created in NeoMail before) via Horde. if you encounter the problem, as suggested by Cpanel, please try: login to Horde, go to “Folders” icon > ” Show Unsubscribed” > click on each folder especially sent-mail folder to check whether any mails are there.

if it does not work, please open support ticket.

last, but not least, pls do NOT use webmail as primary method for email access. it’s always advisable to use email client software to access email. webmail is meant for emergency use only, for instance while travelling.

i do not see any reason or benifit to use webmail when you’re back home/office where you can download all emails to your own computer. it can only hurt.

thank you for your kind understanding and support.