stalwart-migrator/README.md

# stalwart-migrator

[![Latest release](https://img.shields.io/github/v/release/Coffey-Labs/stalwart-migrator?sort=date)](https://github.com/Coffey-Labs/stalwart-migrator/releases/latest)
[![License: GPL-3.0-or-later](https://img.shields.io/badge/license-GPL--3.0--or--later-blue)](LICENSE)
[![Docs: docs.ihasmail.org](https://img.shields.io/badge/docs-docs.ihasmail.org-0ea5e9)](https://docs.ihasmail.org/install/stalwart-migrator/)

In-place upgrade tool for Stalwart Mail Server, 0.15.5 → 0.16: no data loss, a
checkpoint at every step so an interrupted run resumes instead of restarting,
and automated validation that the server still works afterwards. Go, standard
library only.

A companion to [**ihasmail**](https://github.com/Coffey-Labs/ihasmail), a
JMAP-first webmail client for Stalwart. That one is what you read your mail in;
this one gets the server underneath it onto a version that speaks the protocol
it needs.

> [!CAUTION]
> **A migration cannot be undone, and this tool does not undo one.** Recovery
> from a failed migration is your own snapshot or backup, taken beforehand and
> checked. `run` will not start until you confirm you have one. See
> [Recovery](docs/recovery.md).

## Documentation

| | |
| --- | --- |
| 📘 **[Upgrade guide](https://docs.ihasmail.org/install/stalwart-migrator/)** | **Start here.** The whole upgrade, step by step, on docs.ihasmail.org: what to fix first, rehearsing, running it, and what to check afterwards |
| 🧪 **[Rehearsing](docs/rehearsal.md)** | Running preflight safely, what `rehearse` reports, rehearsing on a clone |
| 🐳 **[Docker](docs/docker.md)** | Container deployments: flags, what cutover carries and refuses, where the config goes |
| ⚠️ **[Known Stalwart problems](docs/known-stalwart-problems.md)** | Tenants, the admin account, dropped ACME, certificates on mail ports, the extra recovery boot |
| 🛟 **[Recovery](docs/recovery.md)** | Why recovery is your snapshot, what the tool keeps, never booting recovery mode again |
| 📊 **[Status](docs/status.md)** | Command and package state, validation, field reports |
| ⚙️ **[Architecture](ARCHITECTURE.md)** | The design: phases, checkpoints, and the reasoning behind them |
| 🔧 **[Contributing](CONTRIBUTING.md)** | Building, testing, releases, and where the design is written down |

## Requirements

- Linux (amd64 or arm64) with Stalwart **0.15.5**, as a systemd service or a
  single Docker container
- root on the mail server
- `python3`, for Stalwart's own `migrate_v016.py`
- `stalwart-cli` **1.0.2 or later**, a separate download from the server
- an administrator account **in Stalwart's directory** — not the
  `fallback-admin` from `config.toml`, which does not survive the migration

## Fix these on the server first

Both stop a migration, and `preflight` refuses on both:

1. **Tenants that share a domain.** v0.16 requires an account in a tenant to
   use only that tenant's domains. `stalwart-migrate tenants` shows who owns
   what.
2. **A config-file admin.** Migrate as a directory account with the admin role,
   whose local part is unique and whose rights don't come only from
   `tenant-admin`.

Details: [Known Stalwart problems](docs/known-stalwart-problems.md).

## Install

```sh
ARCH=amd64   # or arm64
curl -fsSLO https://github.com/Coffey-Labs/stalwart-migrator/releases/latest/download/stalwart-migrate-linux-$ARCH.tar.gz
curl -fsSLO https://github.com/Coffey-Labs/stalwart-migrator/releases/latest/download/SHA256SUMS
sha256sum --ignore-missing -c SHA256SUMS
tar -xzf stalwart-migrate-linux-$ARCH.tar.gz
sudo install -m 0755 stalwart-migrate /usr/local/bin/
stalwart-migrate version
```

Or build from source with Go 1.26.8 or newer:
`go build -o stalwart-migrate ./cmd/stalwart-migrate`.

## Use

Give the admin password with `--admin-password` or
`STALWART_MIGRATE_ADMIN_PASSWORD`.

```sh
# 1. Read-only checks and a migration plan
sudo stalwart-migrate preflight --admin-url https://mail.example.com --admin-user [email protected]

# 2. Read-only: convert your settings and report what won't carry over
sudo stalwart-migrate rehearse --admin-url https://mail.example.com --admin-user [email protected]

# 3. Rehearse the real migration on a clone of the server (strongly recommended)

# 4. Migrate, once you have a snapshot you have checked you can restore
sudo stalwart-migrate run --admin-url https://mail.example.com --admin-user [email protected] \
    --recovery-point-confirmed --yes

# Afterwards
sudo stalwart-migrate status <run-id>     # which steps completed
sudo stalwart-migrate report <run-id>     # what validation found
```

A Docker container also needs `--container-path-unproven` and `--target-image`;
see [Docker deployments](docs/docker.md). After the migration, check the
certificate on ports 993 and 465, and recreate your ACME provider — Stalwart's
converter drops it without saying so.

## Status

Every command works: `preflight`, `rehearse`, `run`, `tenants`, `status` and
`report`. It has migrated a production server (0.15.5 → 0.16.19, 8 seconds of
downtime) and, in another operator's hands, three more. Two things are still
open: some store migrations need one more recovery-mode boot, which is a manual
step, and the Docker path has never completed a migration against a real
Stalwart image. Details and field reports: [Status](docs/status.md).

## License

Copyright (C) 2026 Coffey Labs. GPL-3.0-or-later: free software, with no
warranty. The full text is in [`LICENSE`](LICENSE).

No third-party code is vendored — the tool is standard library only, and the
`migrate_v016.py` it downloads at runtime is Stalwart's own script, fetched
rather than redistributed.