control a bash script with variables from an external file

With shell scripts, this is normally accomplished using the source function, which executes the file as a shell script as if it was inlined into the script you're running -- which means that any variables you set in the file are exported into your script.

The downside is that (a) your config file is executed, so it's a security risk if unprivileged users can edit privileged config files. And (b) your config file syntax is restricted to valid bash syntax. Still, it's REALLY convenient.

config.conf

USER=joe
PASS=hello
SERVER=127.0.0.2

script.sh

#!/bin/bash

# Set defaults   
USER=`whoami`

# Load config values
source config.conf

foobar2000 --user=$USER --pass=$PASS --HOST=$HOST

source can be abbreviated with a single . -- so the following two are equivalent:

 source file.sh
 . file.sh

Something like this. The important bit is using read to grab a line as an array.

#!/bin/bash
configfile=/pathtocontrolfile
cat $configfile | while read -a HR ; do

  [[ -z ${HR[0]} ]] && continue  # skip empty lines

  USER1=${HR[0]}
  HOST1=${HR[1]}
  PW1=${HR[2]}
  USER2=${HR[3]}
  HOST2=${HR[4]}
  PW2=${HR[5]}

  imapsync \
  --buffersize 8192000 --nosyncacls --subscribe --syncinternaldates --IgnoreSizeErrors \
  --host1 $HOST1 --user1 $USER1 --password1 $PW1 --ssl1 --port1 993 --noauthmd5 \
  --host2 $HOST2 --user2 $USER2 --password2 $PW2 --ssl2 --port2 993 --noauthmd5 --allowsizemismatch

done