7 ms·

Command-Line Utility to Backup Google Mail, Calendar and Contacts to Files

113 points by weejewel 2y ago

xnx 2y ago
What benefit does this have vs Google Takeout?
- racked 2y ago
  Scriptable, presumably incremental.
  - ekovarski 2y ago
    There is also vdirsyncer for contacts and calendar, also allows you to keep it in sync between services - it's great if you want to store a copy locally on a caldav / carddav server.
- AyyEye 2y ago
  My Google takeout doesn't work because it requires a 2FA from Google authenticator which I no longer have.
  - hypeatei 2y ago
    So when your cookie expires you're done for?
    - AyyEye 2y ago
      I can log in using phone as 2fa just fine. But takeout only accepts Authenticator.
      - ranguna 2y ago
        Is it not possible to use the phone 2fa to reset the authenticator 2fa?
        AyyEye 2y ago
        Nope. I can find no official way to export my own data.
  - judge2020 2y ago
    You could attempt to get that 2fa removed by trying to sign in from a new device and following the steps to recover your account.
    - ramon156 2y ago
      Good luck recovering when you're nowhere logged in
      - deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]
      - ranger_danger 2y ago
        We don't know if they're logged in or not, they did not specify
        AyyEye 2y ago
        You replied to my comment about logging in just fine.
      - judge2020 2y ago
        Back in 2018 I was able to recover a long-lost account by answering questions about when i created it and confirming an old phone number attached to it.
    - AyyEye 2y ago
      The issue isn't 2fa it's Google authenticator. When I log in from a new device lets me log in using my phone as 2fa but that is not an option for takeout -- only authenticator. I can find no way to remove it.
      - ranger_danger 2y ago
        Google authenticator is a type of 2FA. They are saying that if you can figure out a way to remove 2FA from your account, then you can re-add it with the current authenticator app you have, which will allow you to use Takeout.
ranger_danger 2y ago
Looks handy, although it only grabbed like the first 2 years of gmail for me, out of 20. Re-running the docker image did not help.
- _kst_ 2y ago
  I had a similar problem. I've submitted an issue. https://github.com/WeeJeWel/node-google-backup/issues/1 https://github.com/WeeJeWel/node-google-backup/issues/1
- weejewel 2y ago
  That’s now fixed!
philipwhiuk 2y ago
Does the .eml file preserve Gmail labels? Does it handle the 'labels apply to messages not threads' problem?
adrinavarro 2y ago
got-your-back uses Gmail's API instead of IMAP with an insecure app password, which is a discouraged way of accessing Gmail and will eventually be phased out in favor of OAuth access tokens over IMAP (in fact, I thought it already had been). As for other services beyond Gmail, there's not a great ecosystem for exporting. For one-off exports, Google Takeout is decent enough, although there's a lacking ecosystem to import the big .mbox files back to an email provider.
- DaiPlusPlus 2y ago
  > insecure app password [...] and will eventually be phased out in favor of OAuth access tokens over IMAP What's so "insecure" about "per-app passwords"? I ask, because I've lost the past 5 years of my life to building and running an internet-facing OAuth2+OIDC IAM system and I'm (still) an active contributor back to the open-source OIDC framework it's built-on. I grok the grants and flows and I've got the blood-pressure to show for it (and developed a healthy opposition to SAML); but despite all of that, I appreciate simple solutions to problems where there's a very real risk of over-engineering - and especially when a simpler system (like per-app passwords) can make a system overall more secure because there will be less mistakes being made, even if some clinicaly-dry technical assessment mathematically proves the complex solution is more "secure" by some measure. /// > although there's a lacking ecosystem to import the big .mbox files back to an email provider. Everyone I know (okay, just a handful of ("normal") people) who has done this ended-up converting the .mbox to a PST for Outlook and copied it over to any other machines they have; it's an archive mailbox after-all, so just put it in read-only mode and don't worry about data-synchronization issues. Kinda ironic that Gmail's credibility was/is built on ex-Outlook users looking for something better, only for Outlook to be the refuge (and last resting place?) for hundred-gigabyte-sized e-mail archives.
  - DaiPlusPlus 2y ago
    I need to supply a correction: apparently Outlook does not support opening PST files[1] that are protected as read-only by the filesystem (which is both disappointing and alarming...). [1] https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook_com/forum/all/read-only-access-for-pst-file/e65ff8d5-360e-4d04-b374-aa9a6e8efa73 https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook_com/forum/all/re...
dengolius 2y ago
I prefer an executable file to node.js garbage even if I have a Docker. Does anybody have a ready-to-use alternative that is not written on JS?
- eterps 2y ago
  What's the difference if you have Docker anyway?
  - krageon 2y ago
    It's preferring something that doesn't come from a diseased and unhinged ecosystem that not only involves a consistent tragedy of the commons, but also has tooling that is quite honestly just horrific.
- EricE 2y ago
  sounds like you have an itch that needs scratching - go for it!
kkfx 2y ago
Nice but... Backup is nothing without restore and actually "restore" for third party services on a closed proprietary infra it's not possible... My way for mails is simply having local maildirs using mails via notmuch and serving the maildir if needed via local dovecot/with an eventual MailPile/Rainloop etc webmails, for contacts Davis (like Radicale or Baikal) with DavX⁵ on Android etc, IOW the sole way I fond is being able to use someone else service if I need it (for instance not to end up in spam on all web giants mails) but still owning my infra. Just having data I can't really use it's not enough unfortunately...

113 points by weejewel 2y ago

xnx 2y ago

What benefit does this have vs Google Takeout?

racked 2y ago
Scriptable, presumably incremental.
- ekovarski 2y ago
  There is also vdirsyncer for contacts and calendar, also allows you to keep it in sync between services - it's great if you want to store a copy locally on a caldav / carddav server.
AyyEye 2y ago
My Google takeout doesn't work because it requires a 2FA from Google authenticator which I no longer have.
- hypeatei 2y ago
  So when your cookie expires you're done for?
  - AyyEye 2y ago
    I can log in using phone as 2fa just fine. But takeout only accepts Authenticator.
    - ranguna 2y ago
      Is it not possible to use the phone 2fa to reset the authenticator 2fa?
      - AyyEye 2y ago
        Nope. I can find no official way to export my own data.
- judge2020 2y ago
  You could attempt to get that 2fa removed by trying to sign in from a new device and following the steps to recover your account.
  - ramon156 2y ago
    Good luck recovering when you're nowhere logged in
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
    - ranger_danger 2y ago
      We don't know if they're logged in or not, they did not specify
      - AyyEye 2y ago
        You replied to my comment about logging in just fine.
    - judge2020 2y ago
      Back in 2018 I was able to recover a long-lost account by answering questions about when i created it and confirming an old phone number attached to it.
  - AyyEye 2y ago
    The issue isn't 2fa it's Google authenticator. When I log in from a new device lets me log in using my phone as 2fa but that is not an option for takeout -- only authenticator. I can find no way to remove it.
    - ranger_danger 2y ago
      Google authenticator is a type of 2FA. They are saying that if you can figure out a way to remove 2FA from your account, then you can re-add it with the current authenticator app you have, which will allow you to use Takeout.

ranger_danger 2y ago

Looks handy, although it only grabbed like the first 2 years of gmail for me, out of 20. Re-running the docker image did not help.

_kst_ 2y ago
I had a similar problem. I've submitted an issue. https://github.com/WeeJeWel/node-google-backup/issues/1 https://github.com/WeeJeWel/node-google-backup/issues/1
weejewel 2y ago
That’s now fixed!

philipwhiuk 2y ago

Does the .eml file preserve Gmail labels? Does it handle the 'labels apply to messages not threads' problem?

adrinavarro 2y ago

got-your-back uses Gmail's API instead of IMAP with an insecure app password, which is a discouraged way of accessing Gmail and will eventually be phased out in favor of OAuth access tokens over IMAP (in fact, I thought it already had been). As for other services beyond Gmail, there's not a great ecosystem for exporting. For one-off exports, Google Takeout is decent enough, although there's a lacking ecosystem to import the big .mbox files back to an email provider.

DaiPlusPlus 2y ago
> insecure app password [...] and will eventually be phased out in favor of OAuth access tokens over IMAP What's so "insecure" about "per-app passwords"? I ask, because I've lost the past 5 years of my life to building and running an internet-facing OAuth2+OIDC IAM system and I'm (still) an active contributor back to the open-source OIDC framework it's built-on. I grok the grants and flows and I've got the blood-pressure to show for it (and developed a healthy opposition to SAML); but despite all of that, I appreciate simple solutions to problems where there's a very real risk of over-engineering - and especially when a simpler system (like per-app passwords) can make a system overall more secure because there will be less mistakes being made, even if some clinicaly-dry technical assessment mathematically proves the complex solution is more "secure" by some measure. /// > although there's a lacking ecosystem to import the big .mbox files back to an email provider. Everyone I know (okay, just a handful of ("normal") people) who has done this ended-up converting the .mbox to a PST for Outlook and copied it over to any other machines they have; it's an archive mailbox after-all, so just put it in read-only mode and don't worry about data-synchronization issues. Kinda ironic that Gmail's credibility was/is built on ex-Outlook users looking for something better, only for Outlook to be the refuge (and last resting place?) for hundred-gigabyte-sized e-mail archives.
- DaiPlusPlus 2y ago
  I need to supply a correction: apparently Outlook does not support opening PST files[1] that are protected as read-only by the filesystem (which is both disappointing and alarming...). [1] https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook_com/forum/all/read-only-access-for-pst-file/e65ff8d5-360e-4d04-b374-aa9a6e8efa73 https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook_com/forum/all/re...

dengolius 2y ago

I prefer an executable file to node.js garbage even if I have a Docker. Does anybody have a ready-to-use alternative that is not written on JS?

eterps 2y ago
What's the difference if you have Docker anyway?
- krageon 2y ago
  It's preferring something that doesn't come from a diseased and unhinged ecosystem that not only involves a consistent tragedy of the commons, but also has tooling that is quite honestly just horrific.
EricE 2y ago
sounds like you have an itch that needs scratching - go for it!

kkfx 2y ago

Nice but... Backup is nothing without restore and actually "restore" for third party services on a closed proprietary infra it's not possible... My way for mails is simply having local maildirs using mails via notmuch and serving the maildir if needed via local dovecot/with an eventual MailPile/Rainloop etc webmails, for contacts Davis (like Radicale or Baikal) with DavX⁵ on Android etc, IOW the sole way I fond is being able to use someone else service if I need it (for instance not to end up in spam on all web giants mails) but still owning my infra. Just having data I can't really use it's not enough unfortunately...