Imap stands for Internet Message Access Protocol, It is a protocol used by email clients to retrieve email messages from mail servers, It is an application layer protocol in the OSI model. Imap allows us to store our messages on servers so that they can be accessed from multiple devices, whereas POP(Post office Protocol) downloads and then deletes messages from the server. Simply said Imap allows us to access our messages anytime anywhere with ease we can easily organize our messages on the server and it is widely used by many email services such as Gmail, Yahoo mail, Outlook, and many more. Mark Crispin designed Imap in 1986 as a remote access mailbox protocol.
Some features of Imap are:
- Server Side storage- Emails are stored on the Servers and are accessible on multiple devices, unlike POP where messages are deleted.
- Access to Multiple Folders – Imap allows users to organize their emails using different folders such as inbox, sent items, drafts, and other custom folders. They can be accessed from any device.
- Synchronization – Imap keeps all messages synchronized so that even if you are accessing from different devices you are up to date with your messages.
- Search – Imap provides a powerful search function where users can search using different parameters like keywords, sender, date, and many more.
How to Install IMAP on MacOS
To install the IMAP extension for PHP on MacOS, you can follow these steps:
Step 1: Open Terminal on your Mac You can open it by pressing cmd+space and then search terminal.
Step 2: Check if you have PHP installed by typing the following command and pressing enter:
php -v
If PHP is not installed, it gives an error “command is not found”.
Step 3: If PHP is not installed, you can install it by using a package manager like Homebrew. To install Homebrew, type the following command in your Terminal and press enter:
/bin/bash -c “$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)”
If you face an issue as shown above, “connection reset by peer” check your Internet connection.
Step 4: Once you have Homebrew installed, you can install PHP by typing the following command in your Terminal and pressing enter it will take some time depending on your internet connection.
brew install php
Step 5: Next, you need to install the IMAP library. Type the following command in your Terminal and press enter:
brew install imap
Step 6: Now, you need to enable the IMAP extension for PHP. Open the php.ini file by typing the following command in your Terminal and pressing enter:
sudo nano /opt/homebrew/etc/php/8.2/php.ini
Step 7: Scroll down to the “Dynamic Extensions” section of the file and add the next line:
extension=imap
Step 8: Save the changes by pressing Control+X, Y, and Enter.
Here in save modified buffer just press y and then continue.
Now in the file name write select to files option and then enter.
Step 9: Restart your web server by typing the following command in your Terminal and pressing enter.
sudo apachectl restart
Step 10: Verify that the IMAP extension is installed and enabled by creating a PHP file with the following code by opening TextEdit and pasting the following code.
<?php
phpinfo();
?>
Step 11: Save the file as “phpinfo.php” in your web server’s document root directory Libraries/WebServer/Documents.
Step 12: Open your web browser and go to “http://localhost/phpinfo.php”. You should see a page that displays information about your PHP installation.
Step 13: Search for “imap” on the page. If the IMAP extension is installed and enabled, you should see a section with information about it.
That’s it! You have successfully installed and enabled the IMAP extension for PHP on your MacOS machine.