Ubuntu Tricks: Extract Attachments from Gmail

This is a repost from lovinglinux.

After a lot of research I finally figure out a simple way of doing this using IMAP and a shell script.

1. Install offlineimap and mpack
sudo apt-get install offlineimap mpack

2. Create a folder ~/mail for storing the Gmail messages

3. Create a text file and save it as ~/.offlineimaprc

This is the configuration file for offlineimap which will sync your Gmail with local maildir files, using IMAP. Add the following code to it:

[general]
accounts = GMail

ui = Noninteractive.Basic

[Account GMail]
localrepository = GMailLocalMaildirRepository
remoterepository = GMailServerRepository

[Repository GMailLocalMaildirRepository]
type = Maildir
localfolders = ~/mail/

[Repository GMailServerRepository]
type = IMAP
remotehost = imap.gmail.com
remoteuser = yourgmailaccount@gmail.com
remotepass = yourgmailpassword
ssl = yes

Then run the following command on a terminal:

offlineimap && munpack /home/yourusername/mail/LABEL/new/*

The offlineimap command will sync Gmail with local files and munpack will extract any new messages and attachments in the "LABEL" folder, where each folder (label) correspond to Gmail labels.