From dad755272d17f345f7b9fb2cca5ed1481a3046c6 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Matthias Andree Date: Sun, 27 Nov 2005 19:27:57 +0000 Subject: Remove excess

spam. Remove some rude answers. Update some answers to questions where ESR said 'no'. Revise header nesting. svn path=/trunk/; revision=4483 --- fetchmail-FAQ.html | 253 ++++++++++++++++++----------------------------------- 1 file changed, 83 insertions(+), 170 deletions(-) (limited to 'fetchmail-FAQ.html') diff --git a/fetchmail-FAQ.html b/fetchmail-FAQ.html index 8565fc14..e10d7715 100644 --- a/fetchmail-FAQ.html +++ b/fetchmail-FAQ.html @@ -1,6 +1,17 @@ + The Fetchmail FAQ @@ -35,7 +46,9 @@ this FAQ list, file it to one of the trackers at or post to one of the fetchmail mailing lists (see below).

General questions:

+ +

General problems

G1. What is fetchmail and why should I bother?
G2. Where do I find the latest FAQ and fetchmail sources?
@@ -55,21 +68,21 @@ below).

G16. How will fetchmail perform under heavy loads?
-

Build-time problems:

Build-time problems

-B1. Make coughs and dies when building on FreeBSD.
+~~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:

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.
-

Configuration questions:

Configuration questions

C1. Why do I need a .fetchmailrc when running as root on my own machine?
@@ -87,7 +100,7 @@ from an init script.
host?.
-

How to make fetchmail play nice with various MTAs:

How to make fetchmail play nice with various MTAs

T1. How can I use fetchmail with sendmail?
T2. How can I use fetchmail with qmail?
@@ -98,7 +111,7 @@ host?.
T7. How can I use fetchmail with Courier IMAP?
T8. How can I use fetchmail with vbmailshield?
-

How to make fetchmail work with various servers:

How to make fetchmail work with various servers

S1. How can I use fetchmail with qpopper?
S2. How can I use fetchmail with Microsoft Exchange?
@@ -108,7 +121,7 @@ host?.
S6. How can I use fetchmail with MailMax?
S7. How can I use fetchmail with FTGate?
-

How to fetchmail work with specific ISPs:

How to fetchmail work with specific ISPs

I1. How can I use fetchmail with Compuserve RPA?
I2. How can I use fetchmail with Demon Internet's SDPS?
@@ -119,8 +132,8 @@ host?.
I7. How can I use fetchmail with SpryNet?
I8. How can I use fetchmail with comcast.net?
-

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

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

K1. How can I use fetchmail with SOCKS?
K2. How can I use fetchmail with IPv6 and IPsec?
@@ -130,7 +143,7 @@ methods: K6. How can I tell fetchmail not to try TLS if the server advertises it?
-

Runtime fatal errors:

Runtime fatal errors

R1. Fetchmail isn't working, and -v shows 'SMTP connect failed' messages.
@@ -152,7 +165,8 @@ messages but before deleting them
R11. My server is hanging or emitting errors on CAPA.
R12. Fetchmail isn't working and reports getaddrinfo errors. -

Hangs and lockups:

+ +

Hangs and lockups

H1. Fetchmail hangs when used with pppd.
H2. Fetchmail hangs during the MAIL FROM @@ -160,7 +174,7 @@ exchange.
H3. Fetchmail hangs while fetching mail.
-

Disappearing mail:

Disappearing mail

D1. I think I've set up fetchmail correctly, but I'm not getting any mail.
@@ -170,7 +184,7 @@ connection.
fetchmail seems to have been vanished.
-

Multidrop-mode problems:

Multidrop-mode problems

M1. I've declared local names, but all my multidrop mail is going to root anyway.
@@ -190,7 +204,7 @@ from my Received headers as it should.
messages.
-

Mangled mail:

Mangled mail

X1. Spurious blank lines are appearing in the headers of fetched mail.
@@ -209,7 +223,7 @@ fetchmail.
X8. A spurious ) is being appended to my messages.
-

G1. What is fetchmail and why should I bother?

@@ -274,7 +288,6 @@ 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?

@@ -289,11 +302,15 @@ 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?

Yes I will, provided you include enough diagnostic information +

The first thing you should to is to upgrade to the newest version of +fetchmail, and then see if the problem reproduces. So you'll probably +save us both time if you upgrade and test with the latest + version before sending in a bug report.

+ +

I will fix bugs, provided you include enough diagnostic information for me to go on. Send bugs to fetchmail-users. When reporting bugs, please include the following:

@@ -320,12 +337,6 @@ command-line options you used. any suspicion that the bug was triggered by a particular message, please include a copy of the message that triggered the bug.

Often, the first thing I will do when you report a bug is tell -you to upgrade to the newest version of fetchmail, and then see if -the problem reproduces. So you'll probably save us both time if you -upgrade and test with the latest version before sending in -a bug report.

If your bug is something that used to work but stopped working when you upgraded, then you can help pin the bug down by trying intermediate versions @@ -400,15 +411,11 @@ 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?

Probably not. Most of the feature suggestions I get are for ways -to set various kinds of administrative policy or add more spam -filtering (the most common one, which I used to get about four -million times a week and got really tired of, is for -tin-like kill files).

If it's reasonable for fetchmail and cannot be solved with reasonable +effort outside of fetchmail, perhaps.

You can do spam filtering better with procmail or maildrop on the server side and (if you're the server sysadmin) sendmail.cf @@ -421,10 +428,9 @@ client side, use a preconnect command to call it's a prime-time-vs.-non-prime-time issue, ask yourself whether a wrapper script called from crontab would do the job.

I'm not going to do these; fetchmail's job is transport, not -policy, and I refuse to change it from doing one thing well to -attempting many things badly. One of my objectives is to keep -fetchmail simple so it stays reliable.

fetchmail's first job is transport though, and it should do this +well. If a feature would cause fetchmail to deteriorate in other +respects, the feature will probably not be added.

For reasons fetchmail doesn't have other commonly-requested features (such as password encryption, or multiple concurrent polls @@ -433,16 +439,6 @@ href="esrs-design-notes.html">ESR's design notes. Note that this document is partially obsoleted by the updated design notes.

Fetchmail is a mature project, no longer in constant active -development. It is no longer my top project, and I am going to be -quite reluctant to add features that might either jeopardize its -stability or involve me in large amounts of coding.

- -

All that said, if you have a feature idea that really is about a -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.

@@ -452,13 +448,9 @@ from a maildrop after N days, typically to be used with the keep option as a sort of poor man's newsgroup facility. Microsoft's Outlook Express supports this.

This feature won't be added either. Repeat after me: fetchmail's -job is transport, not policy. If you want this, write a Perl or -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.

This feature is not yet implemented. It may be at a future date, +spare time of developers permitting.

G6. Is there a mailing list for exchanging tips?

@@ -475,7 +467,6 @@ There is also an announcements-only list, fetchmail-announce@lists.berlios.de, which you can sign up for at http://lists.berlios.de/mailman/listinfo/fetchmail-announce.

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

@@ -497,7 +488,6 @@ 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?

@@ -546,7 +536,6 @@ 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?

@@ -570,7 +559,6 @@ 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?

@@ -674,7 +662,6 @@ 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?

@@ -752,7 +739,6 @@ mailhost.) See the sendmail FAQ for more details.

G12. Is any special configuration needed to use firewalls?

@@ -765,7 +751,6 @@ site.

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

G13. Is any special configuration needed to send mail?

@@ -784,7 +769,6 @@ 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?

@@ -796,7 +780,6 @@ 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?

@@ -805,7 +788,6 @@ 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?

@@ -827,34 +809,30 @@ by buying more TCP/IP capacity (which tends to improve bandwidth but not necessarily latency).

B1. Make coughs and dies when building on -FreeBSD.

Build-time problems

B1. Make coughs and dies when building on +FreeBSD.

The vendor-supplied make on FreeBSD systems can only be used -within FreeBSD's "scope", e.g. the ports collection. Type "gmake" -to run GNU make and better things will happen.

As of release 6.3.0, fetchmail's +Makefile[.in] should work flawlessly with BSD's portable make used on +FreeBSD. With older releases, use GNU make (usually installed as +gmake).

B2. Lex bombs out while building the fetchmail lexer.

In the immortal words of Alan Cox the last time this came up: -"Take the Solaris lex and stick it up the backside of a passing -Sun salesman, then install flex and use that. -All will be happier."

- -

I couldn't have put it better myself, and ain't going to try -now.

fetchmail 6.3.0 and newer ship with the lexer and parser in .c +formats, so you do not need to use lex unless you hacked the .l or .y +files.

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

fetchmail's lexer has been developed with GNU flex, and the lex tools +shipped by some UNIX vendors (HP, SGI, Sun) are known to be incapable of +compiling fetchmail's lexer.

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

If you get errors resembling these

If you get errors resembling these:

 mxget.o(.text+0x35): undefined referenceto '__res_search'
@@ -868,7 +846,7 @@ make: *** [fetchmail] Error 1
 Makefile once you have installed the 'bind' package.
 
 If you get link errors involving dcgettext, like
-this:
+these:
 
  rcfile_y.o: In function 'yyparse':
@@ -881,21 +859,17 @@ rcfile_y.o(.text+0xcc8): undefined reference to 'dcgettext__'
 rcfile_y.o(.text+0xdf9): more undefined references to 'dcgettext__' follow
 
 
-reconfigure with configure --with-included-gettext.
-This is due to some brain-damage in the GNU internationalization
-libraries.
+install an up to date version of GNU gettext, reconfigure and rebuild
+fetchmail. If that does not help, reconfigure with '--disable-nls' added
+to the "./configure" command and rebuild.
 
-
 B4. I get build failures in the intl
 directory.
 
 Reconfigure with --disable-nls and recompile.
 
-GNU gettext is an overengineered, fragile pile of crap. I have
-teetered on the brink of removing support for it entirely several
-times.
-
 
+Fetchmail configuration file grammar questions
 F1. Why does my old .fetchmailrc file no
 longer work?
 
@@ -1023,7 +997,6 @@ options, like 'protocol'.
 Do similarly for any 'monitor' or
 'batchlimit' options.
 
-
 F2. The .fetchmailrc parser won't accept
 my all-numeric user name.
 
@@ -1038,7 +1011,6 @@ 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'.
 
@@ -1050,7 +1022,6 @@ 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.
 
@@ -1064,6 +1035,7 @@ Unfortunately, they're necessary in order to allow the 'defaults'
 feature to work.
 
 
+Configuration questions
 C1. Why do I need a .fetchmailrc when
 running as root on my own machine?
 
@@ -1121,7 +1093,6 @@ 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?
 
@@ -1142,7 +1113,6 @@ 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?
 
@@ -1221,7 +1191,6 @@ 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?

@@ -1269,7 +1238,6 @@ 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?

@@ -1288,7 +1256,6 @@ 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.

@@ -1302,7 +1269,6 @@ 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?

@@ -1311,6 +1277,7 @@ fetchmail on, use the smtphost or smtpname option. See the manual page for details.

How to make fetchmail play nice with various MTAs

T1. How can I use fetchmail with sendmail?

@@ -1397,7 +1364,6 @@ 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?

@@ -1479,7 +1445,6 @@ 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?

@@ -1528,7 +1493,6 @@ 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?

@@ -1555,7 +1519,6 @@ 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?

@@ -1566,7 +1529,6 @@ 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?

@@ -1574,7 +1536,6 @@ Notes? convert \n to \r\n, but its rules are not the intuitive and correct-for-RFC822 ones. Use 'forcecr'.

T7. How can I use fetchmail with Courier IMAP?

@@ -1582,7 +1543,6 @@ 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.

@@ -1590,6 +1550,7 @@ IMAP?

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

How to make fetchmail work with various servers

S1. How can I use fetchmail with qpopper?

@@ -1623,7 +1584,6 @@ 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?

@@ -1758,7 +1718,6 @@ ASROC will do), pissing off a lot people who live downwind from Redmond, and your choice of any Linux, NetBSD, FreeBSD, or Solaris CD-ROM.

S3. How can I use fetchmail with HP OpenMail?

@@ -1778,7 +1737,6 @@ 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".

S4. How can I use fetchmail with Novell GroupWise?

The Novell GroupWise IMAP server would be better named @@ -1791,7 +1749,6 @@ 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.

S5. How can I use fetchmail with InterChange?

@@ -1804,7 +1761,6 @@ them on TOP or RETR.

me that their new 3.61.08 release of InterChange fixes this problem. I don't have any reports one way or the other yet.

S6. How can I use fetchmail with MailMax?

You can't. At least not if you want to be able to see @@ -1817,7 +1773,6 @@ 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.

S7. How can I use fetchmail with FTGate?

The FTGate V2 server (and possibly older versions as well) has a @@ -1826,6 +1781,7 @@ weird bug. It answers OK twice to a TOP request! Use the this bug.

Workaround is to use "mda" keyword or "--mda" switch:

 mda "sed -e '1s/^\t/Received: /' | formail | /usr/bin/procmail -d <user>"
@@ -1987,7 +1940,6 @@ 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.
 
-
 I5. How can I use fetchmail with Hotmail or Lycos Webmail?
 
 You can't directly. But you can use fetchmail with hotmail or lycos
@@ -2007,7 +1959,6 @@ poll localhost protocol pop3 tracepolls
 
As a second option you may consider using gotmail.
 
-
 I6. How can I use fetchmail with MSN?
 
 You can't. MSN uses something that looks like POP3, except the
@@ -2022,7 +1973,6 @@ authentication. It's possible this may enable fetchmail to talk to
 MSN; if so, somebody should report it so this FAQ can be
 corrected.
 
-
 I7. How can I use fetchmail with SpryNet?
 
 The SpryNet POP3 servers mark a message queried with TOP as
@@ -2031,7 +1981,6 @@ may end up invisibly stuck on your mail spool. Use the
 fetchall flag to ensure that it's recovered on the
 next cycle.
 
-
 I8. How can I use fetchmail with comcast.net?
 
 Stock fetchmail will work with a comcast.net server...but
@@ -2043,6 +1992,8 @@ fetchmail bug. (Reported July 2003.)
 Workaround: use the fetchall option.
 
 
+How to set up well-known security and authentication
+methods
 K1. How can I use fetchmail with SOCKS?
 
 Giuseppe Guerini added a --with-socks option that supports
@@ -2054,7 +2005,6 @@ 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?
 
@@ -2075,7 +2025,6 @@ href="http://www.bieringer.de/linux/IPv6/IPv6-HOWTO/IPv6-HOWTO.html">
 http://www.bieringer.de/linux/IPv6/IPv6-HOWTO/IPv6-HOWTO.html
 
 
-
 K3. How can I get fetchmail to work with
 ssh?
 
@@ -2100,7 +2049,6 @@ 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?
 
@@ -2140,7 +2088,6 @@ 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?
 
@@ -2237,7 +2184,8 @@ server). Make a note of the fingerprint shown. Now embed this in your
 
  poll pop3.example.com proto pop3 uidl no dns
-  user foobar@example.com password xyzzy is foobar ssl sslfingerprint "67:3E:02:94:D3:5B:C3:16:86:71:37:01:B1:3B:BC:E2"
+  user foobar@example.com password xyzzy is foobar
+  ssl sslfingerprint "67:3E:02:94:D3:5B:C3:16:86:71:37:01:B1:3B:BC:E2"
 
 
 When you next connect, the public key presented by the server will be
@@ -2245,7 +2193,6 @@ verified against the fingerprint given. If it's different, it may mean that
 a man-in-the-middle attack is in progress - or it might just mean that the
 server changed its key. It's up to you to determine which has happened.
 
-
 K6. How can I tell fetchmail not to use TLS
 	if the server advertises it?
 
@@ -2265,6 +2212,7 @@ however that this causes the connection to be unencrypted unless an
 encrypting "plugin" is used or SSL is requested explicitly.
 
 
+Runtime fatal errors
 R1. Fetchmail isn't working, and -v shows
 'SMTP connect failed' messages.
 
@@ -2343,7 +2291,6 @@ 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.
 
@@ -2360,7 +2307,6 @@ 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.
 
@@ -2377,7 +2323,6 @@ Software Foundation. An FSF mirror site
 will help you get it faster.
 
-
 R4. Fetchmail dumps core in -V mode, but
 operates normally otherwise.
 
@@ -2396,7 +2341,6 @@ 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.

 
@@ -2426,7 +2370,6 @@ 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!
 
-
 R6. Fetchmail randomly dies with socket
 errors.
 
@@ -2447,7 +2390,6 @@ different poll cycles. To work around this, change the poll name
 either to the real name of one of the servers in the ring or to a
 corresponding IP address.
 
-
 R7. Fetchmail running as root stopped
 working after an OS upgrade
 
@@ -2457,7 +2399,6 @@ your .fetchmailrc or use a -f option to explicitly point at the
 file. (Oddly, a similar problem has been reported from Debian
 systems.)
 
-
 R8. Fetchmail is timing out after fetching
 certain messages but before deleting them
 
@@ -2485,7 +2426,6 @@ least [now] I am now getting good performance and no queue
 blocking.
 
 
-
 R9. Fetchmail is timing out during message
 fetches
 
@@ -2494,7 +2434,6 @@ command will cause the server to start sending large amounts of
 data, which means large packets. If your networking layer has a
 packet-fragmentation problem, that's where you'll see it.
 
-
 R10. Fetchmail is dying with
 SIGPIPE.
 
@@ -2510,14 +2449,12 @@ 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.
 
-
 R11. My server is hanging or emitting
 errors on CAPA.
 
 Your POP3 server is broken. You can work around this with the
 declaration auth password in your .fetchmailrc.
 
-
 R12. Fetchmail isn't working and reports
 	getaddrinfo errors.
 Make sure you haven't mistyped the host name or address, and that
@@ -2526,14 +2463,18 @@ declaration auth password in your .fetchmailrc.
     
Make sure your /etc/services file (or other
     services database) contains the necessary service entries. If you
     cannot fix the services database, use the --service option and give the
-    numeric port address. Common port addresses are:
+    numeric port address. Common port addresses are:

 	service port
 	IMAP 143
 	IMAP+SSL 993
 	POP3 110
 	POP3+SSL 995
 
+
 
+Hangs and lockups
 H1. Fetchmail hangs when used with
 pppd.
 
@@ -2541,7 +2482,6 @@ pppd.
 report that fetchmail doesn't play well with it, but works with
 pppd if 'demand' is turned off. We have no idea why this is.
 
-
 H2. Fetchmail hangs during the MAIL FROM
 exchange.
 
@@ -2585,7 +2525,6 @@ configuration of sendmail. You must enable the 'nodns' and
 For more details consult the file
 /usr/share/sendmail-cf/README.
 
-
 H3. Fetchmail hangs while fetching
 mail.
 
@@ -2608,6 +2547,7 @@ TCP wrappers.
 this problem.
 
 
+Disappearing mail
 D1. I think I've set up fetchmail
 correctly, but I'm not getting any mail.
 
@@ -2630,7 +2570,6 @@ following line
 
 make sure that 'localuser' does exist and can receive mail.
 
-
 D2. All my mail seems to disappear after a
 dropped connection.
 
@@ -2661,7 +2600,6 @@ amount of time to do deletions and clean up its queue. (Fetchmail
 waits a bit before retrying in order to avoid a 'lock busy'
 error.)
 
-
 D3. Mail that was being fetched when I
 interrupted my fetchmail seems to have been vanished.
 
@@ -2686,6 +2624,7 @@ fetch options.
 server.
 
 
+Multidrop-mode problems
 M1. I've declared local names, but all my
 multidrop mail is going to root anyway.
 
@@ -2714,7 +2653,6 @@ net.
 Occasionally these errors indicate the sort of header-parsing
 problem described in M7.
 
-
 M2. I can't seem to get fetchmail to route
 to a local domain properly.
 
@@ -2764,7 +2702,6 @@ bamboozled by this.
 multidrop delivery if your ISP (or your mail redirection provider)
 is using qmail.
 
-
 M3. I tried to run a mailing list using
 multidrop, and I have a mail loop!
 
@@ -2776,7 +2713,6 @@ chop the host part off any local addresses in the list.
 If you use sendmail, you can check the list expansion with
 sendmail -bv.
 
-
 M4. My multidrop fetchmail seems to be
 having DNS problems.
 
@@ -2790,7 +2726,6 @@ works better.
 library is linked only if it is actually needed. So under Linux it
 won't be, and this problem should go away.
 
-
 M5. I'm seeing long DNS delays before each
 message is processed.
 
@@ -2807,7 +2742,6 @@ other hostname parts from being looked up at all.
 call DNS on the From-address hostname as a way of checking that the
 address is valid.
 
-
 M6. How do I get multidrop mode to work
 with majordomo?
 
@@ -2859,7 +2793,6 @@ default ISP user+domain and service about 30 mail accounts +
 majordomo on my inside pop3 server with fetchmail and sendmail
 8.83
 
-
 M7. Multidrop mode isn't parsing envelope
 addresses from my Received headers as it should.
 
@@ -2897,7 +2830,6 @@ address. This check might fail if your DNS were misconfigured, or
 if you were using 'no dns' and had failed to declare iserv.ttns.net
 as an alias of your server.
 
-
 M8. Users are getting multiple copies of
 messages.
 
@@ -2922,6 +2854,7 @@ operation that might significantly slow down the retrieval of large
 mail batches.
 
 
+Mangled mail
 X1. Spurious blank lines are appearing in
 the headers of fetched mail.
 
@@ -2935,10 +2868,9 @@ delivery) is failing to recognize it as a header.
 installing a current version of deliver. If this doesn't
 work, try to figure out which other program in your mail path is
 inserting the blank line and replace that. If you can't do either
-of these things, pick a different MDA (such as procmail) and
+of these things, pick a different MDA (such as maildrop) and
 declare it with the 'mda' option.
 
-
 X2. My mail client can't see a Subject
 line.
 
@@ -2952,7 +2884,6 @@ process X- headers correctly. If this is your problem, all I can
 suggest is replacing IDA sendmail, because it's broken and not
 RFC822 conformant.
 
-
 X3. Messages containing "From" at start of
 line are being split.
 
@@ -2992,7 +2923,6 @@ option in the flags part (the F= string). This will make sendmail
 turn each dangerous start-of-line From into a >From, preventing
 programs further downstream from acting up.
 
-
 X4. My mail is being mangled in a new and
 different way
@@ -3081,7 +3011,6 @@ Please include the session transcript of your manual fetchmail
 simulation along with the other things described in the FAQ entry
 on reporting bugs.
 
-
 X5. Using POP3, retrievals seems to be
 fetching too much!
 
@@ -3101,7 +3030,6 @@ argument. Decrementing the TOP argument in 4.4.7 fixed this.
 Workaround: set the fetchall option. Under POP3
 this has the side effect of forcing RETR use.
 
-
 X6. My mail attachments are being dropped
 or mangled.
 
@@ -3237,7 +3165,6 @@ world doesn't understand its attachments, so it really shouldn't be
 used at all), and make sure dtmail is set to use MIME rather than
 mailtool's format.
 
-
 X7. Some mail attachments are hanging
 fetchmail.
 
@@ -3261,7 +3188,6 @@ malfunctioning path-MTU discovery on the mailserver. Or, if there's
 a modem in the link, it may be because the attachment contains the
 Hayes mode escape "+++".
 
-
 X8. A spurious ) is being appended to my
 messages.
 
@@ -3312,6 +3238,7 @@ on, you'll get a message about actual != expected.
 href="#S2">S2 looks more tempting all the time.
 
 
+Other problems
 O1. The --logfile option doesn't work if
 the logfile doesn't exist.
 
@@ -3322,7 +3249,6 @@ get around it, just touch(1) the logfile before you run fetchmail
 (this will have no effect on the contents of the logfile if it
 already exists).
 
-
 O2. Every time I get a POP or IMAP message
 the header is dumped to all my terminal sessions.
 
@@ -3360,14 +3286,12 @@ biff n
 
 to solve the problem system-wide.
 
-
 O3. Does fetchmail reread its rc file
 every poll cycle?
 
 No, but versions 5.2.2 and later will notice when you modify
 your rc file and restart, reading it.
 
-
 O4. Why do deleted messages show up again
 when I take a line hit while downloading?
 
@@ -3394,7 +3318,6 @@ between the delete and the expunge. If you've set a longer expunge
 interval, the window gets wider. This problem should correct itself
 the next time you complete a successful query.
 
-
 O5. Why is fetched mail being logged with
 my name, not the real From address?
 
@@ -3416,7 +3339,6 @@ on any MAIL FROM address fetchmail hands them with an @ in it!
 back to the calling-user ID. So if your SMTP listener isn't picky,
 the log will look right.
 
-
 O6. I'm seeing long sendmail delays or
 hangs near the start of each poll cycle.
 
@@ -3437,7 +3359,6 @@ reconfiguring with FEATURE(nodns).
 help, and is a good idea for speeding up other services as well.
 Switching to a faster MTA like qmail or exim might help.
 
-
 O7. Why doesn't fetchmail deliver mail in
 date-sorted order?
 
@@ -3457,7 +3378,6 @@ it uses.
 
 Re-ordering messages is a user-agent function, anyway.
 
-
 O8. I'm using pppd. Why isn't my monitor
 option working?
 
@@ -3470,7 +3390,6 @@ fetchmail relies upon, triggering fetchmail into polling after its
 own delay interval and thus preventing the pppd link from ever
 reaching its inactivity timeout.
 
-
 O9. Why does fetchmail keep retrieving the
 same messages over and over?
 
@@ -3527,14 +3446,12 @@ connection is terminated correctly.
 to behave on a line drop, according to the RFCs. I recommend
 switching to IMAP and using a short expunge interval.
 
-
 O10. Why is the received date on all my
 messages the same?
 
 This is a design choice in your MTA, not fetchmail. It's taking
 the received date from the last Received header.
 
-
 O11. I keep getting messages that say "Repoll
 immediately" in my logs.
 
@@ -3546,7 +3463,6 @@ get the message only once per run.
 If you set an authentication method explicitly (say, with
 auth password), you will never get the message.
 
-
 O12. Fetchmail no longer expunges mail on a 451 SMTP response.
 
 This is a feature, not a bug.
@@ -3570,13 +3486,11 @@ dns errors.
 
 All these issues are not related to fetchmail directly.
 
-
 O13. I want timestamp information in my fetchmail logs.
 
 Write a preconnect command in your configuration file that
 does something like "date >> $HOME/Procmail/fetchmail.log".
 
-
 O14. Fetchmail no longer deletes oversized mails with
 --flush.
 
@@ -3594,7 +3508,6 @@ oversized mails or both when a user specifies both
 --limit and --flush. Hence, a separate
 --limitflush has been added to resolve the ambiguity.
 
-
 O15. Fetchmail always retains the first message in the
     mailbox.
 
-- 
cgit v1.2.3

General questions:

Contents

General problems

Build-time problems:

Build-time problems

Fetchmail configuration file grammar questions:

Fetchmail configuration file grammar questions

Configuration questions:

Configuration questions

How to make fetchmail play nice with various MTAs:

How to make fetchmail play nice with various MTAs

How to make fetchmail work with various servers:

How to make fetchmail work with various servers

How to fetchmail work with specific ISPs:

How to fetchmail work with specific ISPs

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

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

Runtime fatal errors:

Runtime fatal errors

Hangs and lockups:

Hangs and lockups

Disappearing mail:

Disappearing mail

Multidrop-mode problems:

Multidrop-mode problems

Mangled mail:

Mangled mail

Other problems:

Other problems

Answers:

General problems

Build-time problems

Fetchmail configuration file grammar questions

Configuration questions

How to make fetchmail play nice with various MTAs

How to make fetchmail work with various servers

How to fetchmail work with specific ISPs

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

Runtime fatal errors

Hangs and lockups

Disappearing mail

Multidrop-mode problems

Mangled mail

Other problems