How WholeClear converts and migrates email on customer-controlled Windows systems—what stays local, when the network is used, and how credentials, licenses, and audit artifacts are handled.
WholeClear is an email conversion and migration product for Windows. For typical file-based jobs (PST, OST, EML, MSG, MBOX, Thunderbird, TGZ, contacts, PDF/HTML exports, and similar), message content is read from paths the customer supplies and written to paths the customer chooses. Processing runs in the local WholeClear engine process on that machine—not as a mandatory upload to a WholeClear-hosted mailbox vault.
Local conversion does not require sending mailbox files to a WholeClear cloud for conversion. Cloud or IMAP endpoints are contacted only when the operator deliberately runs a migration or cloud destination job.
Enterprises can run WholeClear CLI headless on Windows workstations or servers via scripts and schedulers, keep credentials out of config files using environment variables, and retain HTML/CSV/JSON job reports under customer-controlled folders.
| Category | Examples | Network required? |
|---|---|---|
| Mailbox files | PST, OST, EML, EMLX, MSG, MBOX, Thunderbird, TGZ | No (disk I/O only) |
| Contacts | VCF, CSV, Excel → VCF tools | No |
| Rendering | PDF via bundled local wkhtmltopdf helper; HTML/MHTML | No for rendering itself |
| Notes NSF | Windows x86 build + installed HCL/IBM Notes | Local Notes COM; not Mac/Linux |
| Cloud / IMAP jobs | IMAP download/upload, Microsoft 365 Graph routes | Yes — to customer-chosen providers only |
Customer Windows host ├── WholeClear CLI / Desktop (same engine family) │ ├── Job request (convert | batch | migrate | assess | validate) │ ├── License gate (local licW.db) │ └── Conversion engine │ ├── Read source (disk path or IMAP/Graph API) │ ├── Transform (format pipeline) │ └── Write target + WholeClear-Reports └── Optional: Task Scheduler / scripts / CI calling wholeclear.exeBatch jobs can persist checkpoints in a customer-specified SQLite database so interrupted runs resume without re-uploading archives to a vendor cloud. Recent job metadata for the interactive CLI may be stored under the user’s AppData profile on that machine.
WholeClear remains offline for pure file conversion. Network use is intentional for IMAP and Microsoft 365 (Graph) migrations and uploads.
| Scenario | Destination of traffic | Data involved |
|---|---|---|
| Local convert / batch / extract / assess / validate | None required for conversion | Stays on disk paths you specify |
| IMAP download or IMAP→IMAP / brand IMAP presets | Customer IMAP hosts (e.g. Gmail, Yahoo, Microsoft IMAP) | Messages the job selects; auth via App Password / IMAP credentials |
| Microsoft 365 Graph routes | Microsoft Graph endpoints | Mailbox content authorized by customer-supplied tokens |
| PDF helper | Local process only | HTML intermediate → PDF on disk |
WholeClear does not substitute a vendor-operated “upload your PST to our portal for conversion” step for standard file jobs. Providers contacted during migrate jobs are the ones configured in the migration JSON or interactive IMAP wizard.
imapPasswordEnv, graphAccessTokenEnv, and related *Env fields) so secrets are not stored in plaintext project files.wholeclear with -o json for automation without embedding keys in repositories.Treat migration JSON samples as templates. Copy them to a private folder, replace placeholders, and keep production credentials in a secrets store or environment—never in public docs or source control.
| Artifact | Typical location | Contents |
|---|---|---|
| Conversion output | Operator --target / output folder | Converted mail, extracts, PDFs, etc. |
| Job reports | <output>\WholeClear-Reports\ (HTML / related) | Job summaries for IT review |
| Batch checkpoint | Path set by --checkpoint-db | Resume state for incomplete batches |
| License database | %AppData%\_checkdb\licW.db | Encrypted activation state; shared with WholeClear Desktop GUI on the same Windows profile |
| CLI recent jobs (menu) | %AppData%\_checkdb\cli-recent-jobs.json | Local recent-job index for interactive use |
Sharing licW.db with the GUI means one activation on a PC can satisfy both Desktop and Full CLI for that Windows user profile—it is a local license store, not a mailbox content database.
convert, batch, migrate, jobs) can run without the interactive menu—suitable for Task Scheduler, RMM, or script wrappers on production Windows Server hosts.*Env secret references; rotate App Passwords and Graph tokens on a schedule.%AppData%\_checkdb\ and project folders for the service account running jobs.No. Standard file conversion runs on the local engine against paths you provide. Outputs stay on the target you choose.
When you run IMAP or Microsoft 365 Graph migration/upload jobs, content is exchanged with those providers under your credentials—not as a hidden side channel for local PST→EML style jobs.
Yes. WholeClear CLI accepts direct commands and JSON-friendly output (-o json) for automation from PowerShell, Python, or other runners on Windows.
The shipping WholeClear CLI installers documented for customers are Windows-oriented. NSF is Windows-only (Notes). Do not assume feature parity on Mac/Linux unless your contract explicitly includes those builds.
Encrypted under %AppData%\_checkdb\licW.db, shared with WholeClear Desktop GUI for the same Windows user when both products use that store.
This whitepaper describes the WholeClear 11.0 local-processing and privacy architecture for enterprise evaluation. It is not a certification (SOC 2, ISO 27001, etc.), legal advice, or a substitute for your own threat model. Feature availability depends on edition (Demo vs Full), platform build (x64 vs x86 for NSF), and the converters enabled in your license. Always validate against the version you deploy and your organizational security policies.