====== Howto Backup Gmail ======

  * [[getmail]]
  * [[http://mxcl.github.io/homebrew/|Homebrew]]
  * [[http://pyropus.ca/software/getmail/|getmail 4]]
  * [[https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/185833|Google application-specific passwords]]

Getmail is a small script written in Python that downloads a copy of your mailbox contents.  Each email is stored in an individual file, and it is an excellent way to make a backup of your Gmail contents.

To set it up, you will need to install getmail through brew, create a specific password for getmail to access GMail, make some changes to your GMail settings, and finally configure getmail itself.  We will also be setting up a cron job so getmail will run in the background and continue to download updates regularly. 

=== Install Homebrew ===

First, install the Homebrew package manager, which we will then use to install getmail.

Open your Terminal application and run this command:

<code>
ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.github.com/mxcl/homebrew/go)"
</code>

Next, verify that Homebrew has permissions to install applications on your computer.  Depending on your OS X setup, it may request your password to continue.

<code>
brew doctor
</code>

Finally, install the getmail application.  We'll be configuring it later.

<code>
brew install getmail
</code>