Document information

Document ID: 4618
Subject: Changing the location of global repository files
Creation date: 12/14/15 4:35 PM
Last modified on: 9/9/20 11:55 AM


Changing the location of email repository files


As the number of emails grow on your server, you might need to add additional hard drive to your machine and change the directory where Good, Junk and Possible Junk messages are stored.

The following section lays down the steps required to move this repository:

  • Create a file called server.properties in the $XEAMSINSTALLDIR/config folder. It is quite possible that this file already exists on your system.
  • Open the file in any text editor, such as Notepad on Windows or VI on Linux/UNIX.
  • Add the following lines in the file:
    deletedEmailsDir=c:/AFolderOfYourChoice/JunkEmails
possibleEmailsDir=c:/AFolderOfYourChoice/PossibleJunk
goodEmailsDir=c:/AFolderOfYourChoice/GoodEmails
    VERY IMPORTANT: If you are running Xeams on Windows, you should use a slash (/) rather than a back-slash (\) to separate the folders. This is contrary to the convention in Windows but was done by design to stay consistent across other operating systems.
  • Move the contents of older folders to the new location. Failure to move the files will result in "File Not Found" errors.
  • Restart the server


Troubleshooting tips

Tip# 1

If you are using Notepad on Windows, ensure the file name is server.properties and not server.properties.txt. Notepad appends .txt even when you specify a different extension. This problem often gets compounded if your File Explorer is configured to hide extensions for known types.

Tip# 2

One way to ensure Xeams is able to read these settings it to click About under the Tools menu. This will list several parameters. Ensure you see all three parameters (deletedEmailsDir, possibleEmailsDir, and goodEmailsDir) with their correct values. If you do not see them, Xeams is not able to find server.properties file.

Tip# 3

If you're running Xeams on Linux, use a valid path similar to the following lines: 
deletedEmailsDir=/opt/AFolderOfYourChoice/JunkEmails
possibleEmailsDir=/opt/AFolderOfYourChoice/PossibleJunk
goodEmailsDir=/opt/AFolderOfYourChoice/GoodEmails


User comments

Posted by Peter Freimuth on 11/17/13 7:37 PM

Hi again. I have found another server.properties in the DB folder. I added the above info to the end of the files and restarted the server. The admin console now shows drive D: I have removed good , posissble and junk to new location . Theres no emails folders now on drive C: his has now saved over 10GB of space on drive C: I dont know if adding to the other file worked or if re-starting the server serveal times did the trick.

Posted by simon on 8/3/18 10:51 AM

the folders in the example above do not match the actual folder names, at least in my Windows installation. See http://www.xeams.com/messageslocation.htm Also, the largest folder under Xeams is "UserRepository". It is not clear from this article whether this folder can be moved too.

Posted by dcol on 6/13/16 1:58 PM

I would like to add that server.properties file does not exist by default. You have to create it. Do not confuse with service.properties.

Posted by mac on 8/25/21 6:05 PM

How to change the location of UserRepository folder ?

Posted by Chris Owen on 9/9/20 2:21 AM

What would the examples be for Linux systems? I see the lines for Widows systems mentioned but what about on Linux/Ubuntu systems? Drive letters are not used the way windows uses them.


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