From e588fb0f217d4ab7d1bfe8a1d292b8f556cefcb8 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: "Eric S. Raymond" Date: Wed, 4 Sep 2002 13:58:24 +0000 Subject: vbmailshirld info. svn path=/trunk/; revision=3691 --- fetchmail-FAQ.html | 468 +++++++++++++++++++++++++---------------------------- 1 file changed, 222 insertions(+), 246 deletions(-) diff --git a/fetchmail-FAQ.html b/fetchmail-FAQ.html index c8ccd63e..24fd5077 100644 --- a/fetchmail-FAQ.html +++ b/fetchmail-FAQ.html @@ -4,13 +4,12 @@ +content="HTML Tidy for Linux/x86 (vers 1st February 2002), see www.w3.org"/> The Fetchmail FAQ - + - +content="Frequently asked questions about fetchmail."/> + @@ -19,11 +18,11 @@ content="fetchmail, POP, POP2, POP3, IMAP, remote mail" /> Page - +

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$Date: 2002/07/30 13:26:48 $

$Date: 2002/09/04 13:58:24 $

Frequently Asked Questions About Fetchmail

Before reporting any bug, please read G3 for @@ -36,245 +35,217 @@ at esr@thyrsus.com.

General questions:

-G1. What is fetchmail and why should I -bother?
-G2. Where do I find the latest FAQ and fetchmail -sources?
-G3. I think I've found a bug. Will you fix -it?
-G4. I have this idea for a neat feature. Will you add -it?
-G5. I want to make fetchmail behave like Outlook -Express.
-G6. Is there a mailing list for exchanging -tips?
-G7. So, what's this I hear about a fetchmail -paper?
-G8. What is the best server to use with -fetchmail?
-G9. What is the best mail program to use with -fetchmail?
-G10. How can I avoid sending my password en -clair?
-G11. Is any special configuration needed to use a -dynamic IP address?
-G12. Is any special configuration needed to use -firewalls?
-G13. Is any special configuration needed to -send mail?
-G14. Is fetchmail Y2K-compliant?
-G15. Is there a way in fetchmail to support -disconnected IMAP mode?
-G16. How will fetchmail perform under heavy -loads?
+G1. What is fetchmail and why should I bother?
+G2. Where do I find the latest FAQ and fetchmail sources?
+G3. I think I've found a bug. Will you fix it?
+G4. I have this idea for a neat feature. Will you add it?
+G5. I want to make fetchmail behave like Outlook Express.
+G6. Is there a mailing list for exchanging tips?
+G7. So, what's this I hear about a fetchmail paper?
+G8. What is the best server to use with fetchmail?
+G9. What is the best mail program to use with fetchmail?
+G10. How can I avoid sending my password en clair?
+G11. Is any special configuration needed to use a dynamic IP address?
+G12. Is any special configuration needed to use firewalls?
+G13. Is any special configuration needed to send mail?
+G14. Is fetchmail Y2K-compliant?
+G15. Is there a way in fetchmail to support disconnected IMAP mode?
+G16. How will fetchmail perform under heavy loads?

Build-time problems:

-B1. Make coughs and dies when building on -FreeBSD.
-B2. Lex bombs out while building the fetchmail -lexer.
-B3. I get link failures when I try to build -fetchmail.
-B4. I get build failures in the intl -directory.
+B1. Make coughs and dies when building on FreeBSD.
+B2. Lex bombs out while building the fetchmail lexer.
+B3. I get link failures when I try to build fetchmail.
+B4. I get build failures in the intl directory.
-

Fetchmail configuration file grammar questions:

-F1. Why does my old .fetchmailrc no longer -work?
-F2. The .fetchmailrc parser won't accept my -all-numeric user name.
-F3. The .fetchmailrc parser won't accept my host or -username beginning with `no'.
-F4. I'm getting a `parse error' message I don't -understand.
- +F1. Why does my old .fetchmailrc no longer work?
+F2. The .fetchmailrc parser won't accept my all-numeric user name.
+F3. The .fetchmailrc parser won't accept my host or username beginning with `no'.
+F4. I'm getting a `parse error' message I don't understand.

Configuration questions:

C1. Why do I need a .fetchmailrc when running as root -on my own machine?
+on my own machine?
C2. How can I arrange for a fetchmail daemon to get -killed when I log out?
+killed when I log out?
C3. How do I know what interface and address to use -with --interface?
+with --interface?
C4. How can I set up support for sendmail's anti-spam -features?
+features?
C5. How can I poll some of my mailboxes more/less -often than others?
+often than others?
C6. Fetchmail works OK started up manually, but not -from an init script.
+from an init script.
C7. How can I forward mail to another -host?.
+host?.

How to make fetchmail play nice with various MTAs:

How to make fetchmail work with various servers:

How to set up well-known security and authentication methods:

-K1. How can I use fetchmail with SOCKS?
+K1. How can I use fetchmail with SOCKS?
K2. How can I use fetchmail with IPv6 and -IPsec?
+IPsec?
K3. How can I get fetchmail to work with -ssh?
+ssh?
K4. What do I have to do to use the IMAP-GSS -protocol?
-K5. How can I use fetchmail with SSL?
+protocol?
+K5. How can I use fetchmail with SSL?

Runtime fatal errors:

R1. Fetchmail isn't working, and -v shows `SMTP -connect failed' messages.
+connect failed' messages.
R2. When I try to configure an MDA, fetchmail doesn't -work.
+work.
R3. Fetchmail dumps core when given an invalid rc -file.
+file.
R4. Fetchmail dumps core in -V mode, but operates -normally otherwise.
+normally otherwise.
R5. Running fetchmail in daemon mode doesn't -work.
+work.
R6. Fetchmail randomly dies with socket -errors.
+errors.
R7. Fetchmail running as root stopped working after -an OS upgrade
+an OS upgrade
R8. Fetchmail is timing out after fetching certain -messages but before deleting them
+messages but before deleting them
R9. Fetchmail is timing out during message -fetches
-R10. Fetchmail is dying with SIGPIPE.
+fetches
+R10. Fetchmail is dying with SIGPIPE.
R11. My server is hanging up or emitting errors on -CAPA.
+CAPA.

Hangs and lockups:

-H1. Fetchmail hangs when used with pppd.
+H1. Fetchmail hangs when used with pppd.
H2. Fetchmail hangs during the MAIL FROM -exchange.
-H3. Fetchmail hangs while fetching mail.
+exchange.
+H3. Fetchmail hangs while fetching mail.

Disappearing mail:

D1. I think I've set up fetchmail correctly, but I'm -not getting any mail.
+not getting any mail.
D2. All my mail seems to disappear after a dropped -connection.
+connection.
D3. Mail that was being fetched when I interrupted my -fetchmail seems to have been vanished.
+fetchmail seems to have been vanished.

Multidrop-mode problems:

M1. I've declared local names, but all my multidrop -mail is going to root anyway.
+mail is going to root anyway.
M2. I can't seem to get fetchmail to route to a local -domain properly.
+domain properly.
M3. I tried to run a mailing list using multidrop, -and I have a mail loop!
+and I have a mail loop!
M4. My multidrop fetchmail seems to be having DNS -problems.
+problems.
M5. I'm seeing long DNS delays before each message is -processed.
+processed.
M6. How do I get multidrop mode to work with -majordomo?
+majordomo?
M7. Multidrop mode isn't parsing envelope addresses -from my Received headers as it should.
+from my Received headers as it should.
M8. Users are getting multiple copies of -messages.
+messages.

Mangled mail:

X1. Spurious blank lines are appearing in the headers -of fetched mail.
+of fetched mail.
X2. My mail client can't see a Subject -line.
+line.
X3. Messages containing "From" at start of line are -being split.
+being split.
X4. My mail is being mangled in a new and different -way.
+way.
X5. Using POP3, retrievals seems to be fetching too -much!
+much!
X6. My mail attachments are being dropped or -mangled.
+mangled.
X7. Some mail attachments are hanging -fetchmail.
+fetchmail.
X8. A spurious ) is being appended to my -messages.
+messages.

Answers:

G1. What is fetchmail and why should I bother?

@@ -306,7 +277,7 @@ License.

If you found this FAQ in the distribution, see the README for fetchmail's full feature list.

G2. Where do I find the latest FAQ and fetchmail sources?

@@ -321,7 +292,7 @@ POP mail tools directory on Sunsite.

distribution. Because it freezes at distribution release time, it may not be completely current.

G3. I think I've found a bug. Will you fix it?

@@ -432,7 +403,7 @@ tested that the easy bugs have long since been found). So if you want your bug fixed rapidly, it is not just sufficient but nearly necessary that you give me a way to reproduce it.

G4. I have this idea for a neat feature. Will you add it?

@@ -469,7 +440,7 @@ stability or involve me in large amounts of coding.

transport problem that can't be handled anywhere but fetchmail, lay it on me. I'm very accommodating about good ideas.

G5. I want to make fetchmail behave like Outlook Express.

@@ -485,7 +456,7 @@ Python script, to be run from a cron job, that deletes old messages off your maildrop. Send it to me and I'll put it in the contrib directory.

G6. Is there a mailing list for exchanging tips?

@@ -498,7 +469,7 @@ There is also an announcements-only list, fetchmail-announce@lists.ccil.org, which you can sign up for at http://lists.ccil.org/mailman/listinfo/fetchmail-announce.

G7. So, what's this I hear about a fetchmail paper?

@@ -520,7 +491,7 @@ away the source for Netscape Communicator.

If you're reading a non-HTML dump of this FAQ, you can find the paper on the Web with a search for that title.

G8. What is the best server to use with fetchmail?

@@ -569,7 +540,7 @@ FTP site. Don't use 2.5, which has a rather restrictive license. The 2.5.2 version appears to restore the open-source license of previous versions.

G9. What is the best mail program to use with fetchmail?

@@ -593,7 +564,7 @@ by itself. You won't need its built-in POP3 support, though; most of the mutt developers will cheerfully admit that fetchmail's is better :-).

G10. How can I avoid sending my password en clair?

@@ -697,7 +668,7 @@ better, because this is how Craig gets his mail ;-)

Finally, you can use SSL for complete end-to-end encryption if you have an SSL-enabled mailserver.

G11. Is any special configuration needed to use a dynamic IP address?

@@ -775,7 +746,7 @@ mailhost.) See the sendmail FAQ for more details.

G12. Is any special configuration needed to use firewalls?

@@ -788,7 +759,7 @@ site.

The specific recipe for using fetchmail with a firewall is at K1

G13. Is any special configuration needed to send mail?

@@ -807,7 +778,7 @@ the outgoing queue. If you have set up something like pppd to automatically dial out when your kernel is called to open a TCP/IP connection, this will ensure that the mail gets out.

G14. Is fetchmail Y2K-compliant?

@@ -819,7 +790,7 @@ aren't used for anything but log entry generation. Anyway, if you aren't running on a 64-bit machine by then, you'll deserve to lose.

G15. Is there a way in fetchmail to support disconnected IMAP mode?

@@ -828,7 +799,7 @@ protocol gateway between POP3/IMAP servers and SMTP. Disconnected operation requires an elaborate interactive client. It's a very different problem.

G16. How will fetchmail perform under heavy loads?

@@ -849,7 +820,7 @@ This is not a problem readily solved by tuning fetchmail, or even by buying more TCP/IP capacity (which tends to improve bandwidth but not necessarily latency).

B1. Make coughs and dies when building on FreeBSD.

@@ -857,7 +828,7 @@ FreeBSD. within FreeBSD's "scope", e.g. the ports collection. Type "gmake" to run GNU make and better things will happen.

B2. Lex bombs out while building the fetchmail lexer.

@@ -873,7 +844,7 @@ now.

(The same problem has been reported under HP-UX v10.20 and IRIX)

B3. I get link failures when I try to build fetchmail.

@@ -908,7 +879,7 @@ rcfile_y.o(.text+0xdf9): more undefined references to `dcgettext__' follow This is due to some brain-damage in the GNU internationalization libraries.

B4. I get build failures in the intl directory.

@@ -918,7 +889,7 @@ directory. teetered on the brink of removing support for it entirely several times.

F1. Why does my old .fetchmailrc file no longer work?

@@ -1046,7 +1017,7 @@ options, like `protocol'.

Do similarly for any `monitor' or `batchlimit' options.

F2. The .fetchmailrc parser won't accept my all-numeric user name.

@@ -1061,7 +1032,7 @@ class.

The lexical analyzer in 5.0.6 and beyond is smarter and assumes any token following "username" or "password" is a string.

F3. The .fetchmailrc parser won't accept my host or username beginning with `no'.

@@ -1073,7 +1044,7 @@ rewrite' etc.) and the older style run-on syntax (`nokeep',

Upgrade to a 5.0.6 or later fetchmail, or put string quotes around your token.

F4. I'm getting a `parse error' message I don't understand.

@@ -1086,7 +1057,7 @@ probably find that by moving one or more options closer to the Unfortunately, they're necessary in order to allow the `defaults' feature to work.

C1. Why do I need a .fetchmailrc when running as root on my own machine?

@@ -1144,7 +1115,7 @@ about ways to tinker with the mapping rules, you'll quickly find that all the alternatives to the present default are worse or unacceptably more complicated or both.

C2. How can I arrange for a fetchmail daemon to get killed when I log out?

@@ -1165,7 +1136,7 @@ profiles that will accomplish this. Thank James Laferriere

Some people start up and shut down fetchmail using the ppp-up and ppp-down scripts of pppd.

C3. How do I know what interface and address to use with --interface?

@@ -1244,7 +1215,7 @@ dynamic address pool is 255 addresses ranging from 205.164.136.1 to interface "sl0/205.164.0.0/255.255.0.0" -

C4. How can I set up support for sendmail's anti-spam features?

@@ -1292,7 +1263,7 @@ fetchmail will flush and delete it.

your reject file. You will lose mail if you do this!!!

C5. How can I poll some of my mailboxes more/less often than others?

@@ -1311,7 +1282,7 @@ mainsite.example.com is polled, which with a polling interval of every 5 minutes means that secondary.example.com will be polled every 30 minutes.

Fetchmail works OK started up manually, but not from an init script.

@@ -1325,7 +1296,7 @@ fetchmail at startup can't find the .fetchmailrc.

-f option to point fetchmail at it. That should solve the problem.

C7. How can I forward mail to another host?

@@ -1333,7 +1304,7 @@ host? fetchmail on, use the smtphost or smtpname option. See the manual page for details.

T1. How can I use fetchmail with sendmail?

@@ -1420,7 +1391,7 @@ occasionally get mysterious delivery failures with a SIGPIPE as the sendmail instance dies. The problem is messages with a single dot at start of a text line.

T2. How can I use fetchmail with qmail?

@@ -1502,7 +1473,7 @@ the alias mechanism described above, you can use the option `qvirtual "mbox-userstr-"' in your fetchmail config file to strip the prefix from the local user name.

T3. How can I use fetchmail with exim?

@@ -1551,7 +1522,7 @@ this will result in such messages having an incorrect domain name attached to their return address (your SMTP listener's hostname rather than that of the remote mail server).

T4. How can I use fetchmail with smail?

@@ -1578,7 +1549,7 @@ listener must allow this mismatch, so smail's new behavior to accept the "localhost" that fetchmail normally appends to recipient addresses.

T5. How can I use fetchmail with SCO's MMDF?

@@ -1589,7 +1560,7 @@ href="http://www.aplawrence.com/Unixart/uucptofetch.html">MMDF recipe that describes replacing a UUCP link with fetchmail feeding MMDF.

T6. How can I use fetchmail with Lotus Notes?

@@ -1604,7 +1575,14 @@ IMAP? someone@localhost. Work around this with an smtphost or smtpaddress.

T8. How can I use fetchmail with vbmailshield?

+ +

vbmailshield's SMTP interpreter is broken. It doesn't understand RSET.

+ +

As a workaround, you can set batchlimit to 1 so RSET is never used.

+ +

S1. How can I use fetchmail with qpopper?

@@ -1638,7 +1616,7 @@ interaction with Eudora qpopper versions 2.3 and later. See X5 for details. The solution is to upgrade your fetchmail.

S2. How can I use fetchmail with Microsoft Exchange?

@@ -1773,7 +1751,7 @@ CD.

I'll provide the CD.

S3. How can I use fetchmail with CompuServe RPA?

@@ -1813,7 +1791,7 @@ poll non-rpa.csi.com via "pop.site1.csi.com" with proto POP3 and options no dns is LOCAL_USER here options fetchall stripcr -

S4. How can I use fetchmail with Demon Internet's SDPS?

@@ -1886,7 +1864,7 @@ address.

greeting line; if you're accessing Demon Internet through a proxy it may fail. To force SDPS mode, pick "sdps" as your protocol.

S5. How can I use fetchmail with usa.net's servers?

@@ -1911,7 +1889,7 @@ to avoid having fetched mail rejected.

servers. They seem to be chronically flaky. We recommend finding another provider.)

S6. How can I use fetchmail with HP OpenMail?

@@ -1931,7 +1909,7 @@ OpenMail's project manager claims these bugs have been fixed in command fails, returning only one line regrardless of its argument, on something identifying itself as "OpenMail POP3 interface".

S7. How can I use fetchmail with geocities POP3 servers?

@@ -1956,17 +1934,15 @@ already been read.

Fix: Get an email provider that doesn't suck. The pop-up ads on Geocities are lame, you should boycott them anyway.

S8. How can I use fetchmail with -Hotmail?

S8. How can I use fetchmail with Hotmail?

You can't, yet. But gotmail might be what -you need.

+href="http://linux.cudeso.be/linuxdoc/gotmail.php">gotmail might +be what you need.

S9. How can I use fetchmail with -MSN?

S9. How can I use fetchmail with MSN?

You can't. MSN uses something that looks like POP3, except the authentication part is nonstandard. And of course they don't @@ -1980,7 +1956,7 @@ authentication. It's possible this may enable fetchmail to talk to MSN; if so, somebody should report it so this FAQ can be corrected.

S10. How can I use fetchmail with SpryNet?

@@ -1990,7 +1966,7 @@ may end up invisibly stuck on your mail spool. Use the fetchall flag to ensure that it's recovered on the next cycle.

S11. How can I use fetchmail with FTGate?

@@ -1999,7 +1975,7 @@ weird bug. It answers OK twice to a TOP request! Use the fetchall option to force use of RETR and work around this bug.

S12. How can I use fetchmail with MailMax?

@@ -2013,7 +1989,7 @@ developers have acknowledged this bug as of 4 May 2000, but there is no fix yet. If you must use this server, force RETR with the fetchall option.

S13. How can I use fetchmail with Novell GroupWise?

@@ -2027,7 +2003,7 @@ voting with your dollars for a server that isn't brain-dead. If you stick with code as shoddy as GroupWise seems to be, you will probably pay for it with other problems.

S14. How can I use fetchmail with InterChange?

@@ -2048,7 +2024,7 @@ authentication failures, sending back a non-conformant error message (missing an -ERR tag) that confuses fetchmail.

K1. How can I use fetchmail with SOCKS?

@@ -2061,7 +2037,7 @@ directory containing the Rconnect library.

Alan Schmitt has added a similar --with-socks5 option that may work better if you have a recent version of the SOCKS library.

K2. How can I use fetchmail with IPv6 and IPsec?

@@ -2106,7 +2082,7 @@ href="http://www.inner.net/ipv6">http://www.inner.net/ipv6 (via IPv4) -

K3. How can I get fetchmail to work with ssh?

@@ -2131,7 +2107,7 @@ preauthenticated in this mode, so you'll actually have to ship your password. It will be under ssh encryption, though, so that shouldn't be a problem.

K4. What do I have to do to use the IMAP-GSS protocol?

@@ -2171,7 +2147,7 @@ Kerberos principal.

Now you don't have to worry about your password appearing in cleartext in your .fetchmailrc, or across the network.

K5. How can I use fetchmail with SSL?

@@ -2214,7 +2190,7 @@ poll MYSERVER port 993 plugin "openssl s_client -connect %h:%p" protocol imap username MYUSERNAME password MYPASSWORD -

R1. Fetchmail isn't working, and -v shows `SMTP connect failed' messages.

@@ -2293,7 +2269,7 @@ Linux distributions the libc bind library version works better.

library is linked only if it is actually needed. So under Linux it won't be, and this particular cause should go away.

R2. When I try to configure an MDA, fetchmail doesn't work.

@@ -2310,7 +2286,7 @@ configure an MDA, your MDA is mangling the message. If it doesn't match what you sent, then fetchmail or something on the server is broken.

R3. Fetchmail dumps core when given an invalid rc file.

@@ -2327,7 +2303,7 @@ Software Foundation. An FSF mirror site will help you get it faster.

R4. Fetchmail dumps core in -V mode, but operates normally otherwise.

@@ -2346,9 +2322,9 @@ calls producing the problem are being made by the C library itself, not the fetchmail code (they're all from within fclose, and not an fclose called directly by fetchmail, either).

R5. Running fetchmail in daemon mode -doesn't work.
+doesn't work.

We have one report from a SunOS 4.1.4 user that trying to run @@ -2376,7 +2352,7 @@ child of PID 1). This is important when you start fetchmail interactively and than quit interactive shell. The line above makes sure fetchmail lives after that!

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