Moving from Amazon WorkMail to Gmail? Here’s how one engineer did it
After years of running Amazon WorkMail and AWS SES, one engineer decided it was time to move his own mailbox—lock, stock, and sentimental inbox—to Google Workspace. With Amazon officially winding down WorkMail and ending support on March 31, 2027, the clock is ticking for anyone still hosting mail on the service. The good news? WorkMail provides a clean exit ramp: the StartMailboxExportJob API, which packages every message into a KMS-encrypted .zip file in an S3 bucket. From there, it’s a matter of speaking IMAP to bring those messages into Gmail.
The two halves of a mailbox migration
The process breaks cleanly into two parts. First, extract the mail out of WorkMail. That means spinning up a KMS key for encryption, creating an IAM role the export service can assume, and designating an S3 bucket for the archive. Second, get the mail into Gmail. Because Gmail supports IMAP and its APPEND command, a small Python script can loop over the exported .eml files and push them straight into the right mailbox folders—Inbox, Sent Items, Deleted Items, and so on. The catch? Calendar items arrive as .ics files alongside the messages, while contacts and tasks must be exported separately from the WorkMail web app. No third-party tools or paid services are required—just AWS APIs on one side and native IMAP on the other.
Locking down the new setup
Once the messages are inside Google Workspace, the final step is making sure they actually arrive. That means configuring SPF, DKIM, and DMARC for the domain so mail servers trust the new setup. The engineer warns that skipping these DNS records can land messages in spam or block them outright. After the DNS changes propagate, the old WorkMail organization can be torn down and the domain locked down for good.
Why it matters
For teams still running WorkMail, the 2027 sunset is less a distant milestone and more an urgent migration deadline. Moving now avoids last-minute scrambles and gives admins time to validate archives, test delivery paths, and fine-tune DNS policies. For individual users, the process is a reminder that even proprietary email platforms eventually fade—planning an exit strategy early keeps inboxes—and calendars—alive and accessible.
Source: DEV Community. AI-assisted editorial synthesis — TechnoExpress.