.\" For license terms, see the file COPYING in this directory.
.TH fetchmail 1
.SH NAME
-fetchmail \- fetch mail from a POP, IMAP, or ETRN-capable server
+fetchmail \- fetch mail from a POP, IMAP, ETRN, or ODMR-capable server
.SH SYNOPSIS
\fBfetchmail\fR [\fIoption...\fR] [\fImailserver...\fR]
The
.I fetchmail
program can gather mail from servers supporting any of the common
-mail-retrieval protocols: POP2, POP3, IMAP2bis, IMAP4, and IMAPrev1.
+mail-retrieval protocols: POP2, POP3, IMAP2bis, IMAP4, and IMAP4rev1.
It can also use the ESMTP ETRN extension and ODMR. (The RFCs describing all
these protocols are listed at the end of this manual page.)
.PP
agent for sites which refuse for security reasons to permit
(sender-initiated) SMTP transactions with sendmail.
.PP
+If
+.I fetchmail
+is used with a POP or an IMAP server, it has two fundamental modes of
+operation for each user account from which it retrieves mail:
+\fIsingledrop\fR- and \fImultidrop\fR-mode. In singledrop-mode,
+.I fetchmail
+assumes that all messages in the user's account are intended for a single
+recipient. An individual mail message will not be inspected for recipient
+information, rather, the identity of the recipient will either default to
+the local user currently executing \fIfetchmail\fR,
+or else will need to be explicitly specified in the configuration file.
+Singledrop-mode is used when the fetchmailrc configuration contains at
+most a single local user specification for a given server account.
+.PP
+With multidrop-mode,
+.I fetchmail
+is not able to assume that there is only a single recipient, but rather
+that the mail server account actually contains mail intended for any
+number of different recipients. Therefore,
+.I fetchmail
+must attempt to deduce the proper "envelope recipient" from the mail
+headers of each message. In this mode of operation
+.I fetchmail
+almost resembles an MTA, however it is important to note that neither
+the POP nor IMAP protocols were intended for use in this fashion, and
+hence envelope information is not directly available. Instead,
+.I fetchmail
+must resort to a process of informed guess-work in an attempt to
+discover the true envelope recipient of a message. Even if this
+information is present in the headers, the process can
+be error-prone and is dependent upon the specific mail server used
+for mail retrieval. Multidrop-mode is used when more than one local
+user is specified for a particular server account in the configuration
+file. Note that the forgoing discussion of singledrop- and
+multidrop-modes does not apply to the ESMTP ETRN or ODMR retrieval
+methods, since they are based upon the SMTP protocol which
+specifically provides the envelope recipient to \fIfetchmail\fR.
+.PP
As each message is retrieved \fIfetchmail\fR normally delivers it via SMTP to
port 25 on the machine it is running on (localhost), just as though it
-were being passed in over a normal TCP/IP link. The mail will then be
+were being passed in over a normal TCP/IP link. \fIfetchmail\fR provides
+the SMTP server with an envelope recipient derived in the manner described
+previously. The mail will then be
delivered locally via your system's MDA (Mail Delivery Agent, usually
\fIsendmail\fR(8) but your system may use a different one such
-as \fIsmail\fR, \fImmdf\fR, \fIexim\fR, or \fIqmail\fR). All the
+as \fIsmail\fR, \fImmdf\fR, \fIexim\fR, \fIpostfix\fR, or \fIqmail\fR). All the
delivery-control mechanisms (such as \fI.forward\fR files) normally
available through your system MDA and local delivery agents will
-therefore work.
+therefore work automatically.
.PP
-If no port 25 listener is available, but your fetchmail compilation
-detected or was told about a reliable local MDA, it will use that MDA
-for local delivery instead. At build time, fetchmail normally looks
-for executable
-.IR procmail (1)
-and
-.IR sendmail (1)
-binaries.
+If no port 25 listener is available, but your fetchmail configuration
+was told about a reliable local MDA, it will use that MDA for local
+delivery instead.
.PP
If the program
.I fetchmailconf
is available, it will assist you in setting up and editing a
-fetchmailrc configuration. It runs under X and requires that the
-language Python and the Tk toolkit be present on your system. If
-you are first setting up fetchmail for single-user mode, it is
-recommended that you use Novice mode. Expert mode provides
-complete control of fetchmail configuration, including the
-multidrop features. In either case, the `Autoprobe' button
-will tell you the most capable protocol a given mailserver
-supports, and warn you of potential problems with that server.
+fetchmailrc configuration. It runs under the X window system and
+requires that the language Python and the Tk toolkit be present on your
+system. If you are first setting up fetchmail for single-user mode, it
+is recommended that you use Novice mode. Expert mode provides complete
+control of fetchmail configuration, including the multidrop features.
+In either case, the `Autoprobe' button will tell you the most capable
+protocol a given mailserver supports, and warn you of potential problems
+with that server.
.SH GENERAL OPERATION
The behavior of
.PP
Almost all options have a corresponding keyword which can be used to
declare them in a
-.I fetchmailrc
+.I .fetchmailrc
file.
.PP
Some special options are not covered here, but are documented instead
in sections on AUTHENTICATION and DAEMON MODE which follow.
.SS General Options
.TP
-.B \-V, --version
+.B \-V | \-\-version
Displays the version information for your copy of
-.I fetchmail.
+.IR fetchmail .
No mail fetch is performed.
Instead, for each server specified, all the option information
that would be computed if
escape sequences. This option is useful for verifying that your
options are set the way you want them.
.TP
-.B \-c, --check
+.B \-c | \-\-check
Return a status code to indicate whether there is mail waiting,
without actually fetching or deleting mail (see EXIT CODES below).
This option turns off daemon mode (in which it would be useless). It
tell kept messages from new ones. This means it will work with IMAP,
not work with POP2, and may occasionally flake out under POP3.
.TP
-.B \-s, --silent
+.B \-s | \-\-silent
Silent mode. Suppresses all progress/status messages that are
-normally echoed to standard error during a fetch (but does not
+normally echoed to standard output during a fetch (but does not
suppress actual error messages). The --verbose option overrides this.
.TP
-.B \-v, --verbose
+.B \-v | \-\-verbose
Verbose mode. All control messages passed between
.I fetchmail
-and the mailserver are echoed to stderr. Overrides --silent.
+and the mailserver are echoed to stdout. Overrides --silent.
Doubling this option (-v -v) causes extra diagnostic information
to be printed.
.SS Disposal Options
.TP
-.B \-a, --all
+.B \-a | \-\-all
(Keyword: fetchall)
Retrieve both old (seen) and new messages from the mailserver. The
default is to fetch only messages the server has not marked seen.
RETRIEVAL FAILURE MODES below) and this option does not work with ETRN
or ODMR.
.TP
-.B \-k, --keep
+.B \-k | \-\-keep
(Keyword: keep)
Keep retrieved messages on the remote mailserver. Normally, messages
are deleted from the folder on the mailserver after they have been retrieved.
option causes retrieved messages to remain in your folder on the
mailserver. This option does not work with ETRN or ODMR.
.TP
-.B \-K, --nokeep
+.B \-K | \-\-nokeep
(Keyword: nokeep)
Delete retrieved messages from the remote mailserver. This
option forces retrieved mail to be deleted. It may be useful if
you have specified a default of \fBkeep\fR in your
\&\fI.fetchmailrc\fR. This option is forced on with ETRN and ODMR.
.TP
-.B \-F, --flush
-POP3/IMAP only. Delete old (previously retrieved) messages from the mailserver
-before retrieving new messages. This option does not work with ETRN or
-ODMR.
-Warning: if your local MTA hangs and fetchmail is aborted, the next
-time you run fetchmail, it will delete mail that was never delivered to you.
-What you probably want is the default setting: if you don't specify `-k', then
-fetchmail will automatically delete messages after successful delivery.
+.B \-F | \-\-flush
+POP3/IMAP only. Delete old (previously retrieved) messages from the
+mailserver before retrieving new messages. This option does not work
+with ETRN or ODMR. Warning: if your local MTA hangs and fetchmail is
+aborted, the next time you run fetchmail, it will delete mail that was
+never delivered to you. What you probably want is the default
+setting: if you don't specify `-k', then fetchmail will automatically
+delete messages after successful delivery.
.SS Protocol and Query Options
.TP
-.B \-p
, \--protocol <proto>
+.B \-p
<proto> | \-\-protocol <proto>
(Keyword: proto[col])
Specify the protocol to use when communicating with the remote
mailserver. If no protocol is specified, the default is AUTO.
ETRN, except that it does not require the client machine to have
a static DNS.
.TP
-.B \-U, --uidl
+.B \-U | \-\-uidl
(Keyword: uidl)
Force UIDL use (effective only with POP3). Force client-side tracking
of `newness' of messages (UIDL stands for ``unique ID listing'' and is
-described in RFC1725). Use with `keep' to use a mailbox as a baby
-news drop for a group of users.
+described in RFC1939). Use with `keep' to use a mailbox as a baby
+news drop for a group of users. The fact that seen messages are skipped
+is logged, unless error logging is done through syslog while running in
+daemon mode. Note that fetchmail may automatically enable this option
+depending on upstream server capabilities. Note also that this option
+may be removed and forced enabled in a future fetchmail version.
+
.TP
-.B \-P
, --port <portnumber>
+.B \-P
<portnumber> | \-\-port <portnumber>
(Keyword: port)
The port option permits you to specify a TCP/IP port to connect on.
This option will seldom be necessary as all the supported protocols have
well-established default port numbers.
.TP
-.B \--principal <principal>
+.B \-
\-principal <principal>
(Keyword: principal)
The principal option permits you to specify a service principal for
mutual authentication. This is applicable to POP3 or IMAP with Kerberos
authentication.
.TP
-.B \-t, --timeout <seconds>
+.B \-t <seconds> | -\-timeout <seconds>
(Keyword: timeout)
The timeout option allows you to set a server-nonresponse
timeout in seconds. If a mailserver does not send a greeting message
running in background. There is a default timeout which fetchmail -V
will report. If a given connection receives too many timeouts in
succession, fetchmail will consider it wedged and stop retrying,
-the calkling user will be notified by email if this happens.
+the calling user will be notified by email if this happens.
.TP
-.B \--plugin <command>
+.B \-\-plugin <command>
(Keyword: plugin) The plugin option allows you to use an external
program to establish the TCP connection. This is useful if you want
to use socks, SSL, ssh, or need some special firewalling setup. The
program will be looked up in $PATH and can optionally be passed the
hostname and port as arguments using "%h" and "%p" respectively (note
-that the interpolation logic is rather promitive, and these token must
+that the interpolation logic is rather primitive, and these token must
be bounded by whitespace or beginning of string or end of string).
Fetchmail will write to the plugin's stdin and read from the plugin's
stdout.
.TP
-.B \--plugout <command>
+.B \-\-plugout <command>
(Keyword: plugout)
Identical to the plugin option above, but this one is used for the SMTP
connections (which will probably not need it, so it has been separated
from plugin).
.TP
-.B \-r <name>, --folder <name>
+.B \-r <name> | \-\-folder <name>
(Keyword: folder[s])
Causes a specified non-default mail folder on the mailserver (or
comma-separated list of folders) to be retrieved. The syntax of the
folder name is server-dependent. This option is not available under
POP3, ETRN, or ODMR.
.TP
-.B \--ssl
+.B \-\-tracepolls
+(Keyword: tracepolls)
+Tell fetchmail to poll trace information in the form `polling %s
+account %s' to the Received line it generates, where the %s parts are
+replaced by the user's remote name and the poll label (the Received
+header also normally includes the server's true name). This can be
+used to facilitate mail filtering based on the account it is being
+received from.
+.TP
+.B \-\-ssl
(Keyword: ssl)
Causes the connection to the mail server to be encrypted via SSL. Connect
to the server using the specified base protocol over a connection secured
port used by the base protocol. For IMAP, this is port 143 for the clear
protocol and port 993 for the SSL secured protocol.
.TP
-.B \--sslcert <name>
+.B \-\-sslcert <name>
(Keyword: sslcert)
Specifies the file name of the client side public SSL certificate. Some
SSL encrypted servers may require client side keys and certificates for
as the private key (combined key and certificate file) but this is not
recommended.
.TP
-.B \--sslkey <name>
+.B \-\-sslkey <name>
(Keyword: sslkey)
Specifies the file name of the client side private SSL key. Some SSL
encrypted servers may require client side keys and certificates for
prompted for at the time just prior to establishing the session to the
server. This can cause some complications in daemon mode.
.TP
-.B \--sslproto <name>
+.B \-\-sslproto <name>
(Keyword: sslproto)
-Forces an ssl protocol. Possible values are \&`\fBssl2\fR', `\fBssl3\fR' and
+Forces an SSL protocol. Possible values are \&`\fBssl2\fR', `\fBssl3\fR' and
`\fBtls1\fR'. Try this if the default handshake does not work for your server.
+.TP
+.B \-\-sslcertck
+(Keyword: sslcertck)
+Causes fetchmail to strictly check the server certificate against a set of
+local trusted certificates (see the \fBsslcertpath\fR option). If the server
+certificate is not signed by one of the trusted ones (directly or indirectly),
+the SSL connection will fail. This checking should prevent man-in-the-middle
+attacks against the SSL connection. Note that CRLs are seemingly not currently
+supported by OpenSSL in certificate verification! Your system clock should
+be reasonably accurate when using this option!
+.TP
+.B \-\-sslcertpath <directory>
+(Keyword: sslcertpath)
+Sets the directory fetchmail uses to look up local certificates. The default
+is your OpenSSL default one. The directory must be hashed as OpenSSL expects
+it - every time you add or modify a certificate in the directory, you need
+to use the \fBc_rehash\fR tool (which comes with OpenSSL in the tools/
+subdirectory).
+.TP
+.B \-\-sslfingerprint <fingerprint>
+(Keyword: sslfingerprint)
+Specify the fingerprint of the server key (an MD5 hash of the key) in
+hexadecimal notation with colons separating groups of two digits. The letter
+hex digits must be in upper case. This is the default format OpenSSL uses,
+and the one fetchmail uses to report the fingerprint when an SSL connection
+is established. When this is specified, fetchmail will compare the server key
+fingerprint with the given one, and the connection will fail if they do not
+match. This can be used to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks.
.SS Delivery Control Options
.TP
-.B \-S <hosts>, --smtphost <hosts>
+.B \-S <hosts> | \-\-smtphost <hosts>
(Keyword: smtp[host])
Specify a hunt list of hosts to forward mail to (one or more
-hostnames, comma-separated). In ETRN mode, set the host that the
-mailserver is asked to ship mail to. Hosts are tried in list order;
-the first one that is up becomes the forwarding target for the current
-run. Normally, `localhost' is added to the end of the list as an
-invisible default. However, when using ETRN or ODMR mode or Kerberos
-authentication, the FQDN of the machine running fetchmail is added to
-the end of the list as an invisible default. Each hostname may have a
-port number following the host name. The port number is separated
-from the host name by a slash; the default port is 25 (or ``smtp''
-under IPv6). If you specify an absolute pathname (beginning with a
-/), it will be interpreted as the name of a UNIX socket accepting LMTP
-connections (such as is supported by the Cyrus IMAP daemon) Example:
-
+hostnames, comma-separated). Hosts are tried in list order; the first
+one that is up becomes the forwarding target for the current run.
+Normally, `localhost' is added to the end of the list as an invisible
+default. However, when using Kerberos authentication, the FQDN of the
+machine running fetchmail is added to the end of the list as an
+invisible default. Each hostname may have a port number following the
+host name. The port number is separated from the host name by a
+slash; the default port is 25 (or ``smtp'' under IPv6). If you
+specify an absolute path name (beginning with a /), it will be
+interpreted as the name of a UNIX socket accepting LMTP connections
+(such as is supported by the Cyrus IMAP daemon) Example:
+.sp
+.nf
--smtphost server1,server2/2525,server3,/var/imap/socket/lmtp
-
-In ODMR mode, this option specifies the list of domains the ODMR
-server should ship mail for once the connection is turned around.
+.fi
+.sp
+This option can be used with ODMR, and will make fetchmail a relay
+between the ODMR server and SMTP or LMTP receiver.
+.TP
+.B \-\-fetchdomains <hosts>
+(Keyword: fetchdomains)
+In ETRN or ODMR mode, this option specifies the list of domains the
+server should ship mail for once the connection is turned around. The
+default is the FQDN of the machine running
+.IR fetchmail .
.TP
-.B \-D <domain>, --smtpaddress <domain>
-(Keyword: smtpaddress)
-Specify the domain to be put in RCPT TO lines shipped to SMTP. The
-name of the SMTP server (as specified by --smtphost, or defaulted to
-"localhost") is used when this is not specified.
+.B \-D <domain> | \-\-smtpaddress <domain>
+(Keyword: smtpaddress) Specify the domain to be appended to addresses
+in RCPT TO lines shipped to SMTP. The name of the SMTP server (as
+specified by --smtphost, or defaulted to "localhost") is used when
+this is not specified.
.TP
-.B --smtpname <user@domain>
+.B \-\-smtpname <user@domain>
(Keyword: smtpname)
Specify the domain and user to be put in RCPT TO lines shipped to SMTP.
The default user is the current local user.
.TP
-.B \-Z <nnn>, --antispam <nnn[, nnn]...>
+.B \-Z <nnn> | \-\-antispam <nnn[, nnn]...>
(Keyword: antispam)
Specifies the list of numeric SMTP errors that are to be interpreted
as a spam-block response from the listener. A value of -1 disables
this option. For the command-line option, the list values should
be comma-separated.
.TP
-.B \-m <command>, \--mda <command>
-(Keyword: mda)
-You can force mail to be passed to an MDA directly (rather than
-forwarded to port 25) with the -mda or -m option. To avoid losing
-mail, use this option only with MDAs like procmail or sendmail that
-return a nonzero status on disk-full and other resource-exhaustion
-errors; the nonzero status tells fetchmail that delivery failed and
-prevents the message from being deleted off the server. If
-\fIfetchmail\fR is running as root, it sets its userid to that of the
-target user while delivering mail through an MDA. Some possible MDAs
-are "/usr/sbin/sendmail -oem -f %F %T", "/usr/bin/deliver" and
-"/usr/bin/procmail -d %T" (but the latter is usually redundant as it's
-what SMTP listeners normally forward to). Local delivery addresses
-will be inserted into the MDA command wherever you place a %T; the
-mail message's From address will be inserted where you place an %F.
-Do \fInot\fR use an MDA invocation like "sendmail -oem -t" that
-dispatches on the contents of To/Cc/Bcc, it will create mail loops and
-bring the just wrath of many postmasters down upon your head.
+.B \-m <command> | \-\-mda <command>
+(Keyword: mda) You can force mail to be passed to an MDA directly
+(rather than forwarded to port 25) with the --mda or -m option. To
+avoid losing mail, use this option only with MDAs like maildrop, procmail or
+sendmail that return a nonzero status on disk-full and other
+resource-exhaustion errors; the nonzero status tells fetchmail that
+delivery failed and prevents the message from being deleted off the
+server. If \fIfetchmail\fR is running as root, it sets its user id to
+that of the target user while delivering mail through an MDA. Some
+possible MDAs are "/usr/sbin/sendmail -i -f %F %T", "/usr/bin/deliver"
+and "/usr/bin/procmail -d %T" (but the latter is usually redundant as
+it's what SMTP listeners normally forward to). Local delivery
+addresses will be inserted into the MDA command wherever you place a
+%T; the mail message's From address will be inserted where you place
+an %F. \fBDO NOT ENCLOSE THE %F OR %T STRING IN SINGLE QUOTES!\fR For
+both %T and %F, fetchmail encloses the addresses in single quotes ('),
+after removing any single quotes they may contain, before the MDA
+command is passed to the shell. Do \fINOT\fR use an MDA invocation
+like "sendmail -i -t" that dispatches on the contents of To/Cc/Bcc, it
+will create mail loops and bring the just wrath of many postmasters
+down upon your head. Also, do \fInot\fR try to combine multidrop
+mode with an MDA such as procmail that can only accept one address;
+you will lose mail.
.TP
-.B \--lmtp
+.B \-\-lmtp
(Keyword: lmtp)
Cause delivery via LMTP (Local Mail Transfer Protocol). A service
port \fImust\fR be explicitly specified (with a slash suffix) on each
host in the smtphost hunt list if this option is selected; the
default port 25 will (in accordance with RFC 2033) not be accepted.
.TP
-.B \--bsmtp <filename>
+.B \-\-bsmtp <filename>
(keyword: bsmtp)
Append fetched mail to a BSMTP file. This simply contains the SMTP
commands that would normally be generated by fetchmail when passing
MAILBOXES below apply.
.SS Resource Limit Control Options
.TP
-.B \-l <maxbytes>, --limit <maxbytes>
-(Keyword: limit)
-Takes a maximum octet size argument. Messages larger than this size
-will not be fetched and will be left on the server (in foreground
-sessions, the progress messages will note that they are "oversized").
-If the fetch protocol permits (in particular, under IMAP or POP3
-without the fetchall option) the message will not be marked seen An
-explicit --limit of 0 overrides any limits set in your run control
-file. This option is intended for those needing to strictly control
-fetch time due to expensive and variable phone rates. In daemon mode,
-oversize notifications are mailed to the calling user (see the
---warnings option). This option does not work with ETRN or ODMR.
+.B \-l <maxbytes> | \-\-limit <maxbytes>
+(Keyword: limit) Takes a maximum octet size argument. Messages larger
+than this size will not be fetched and will be left on the server (in
+foreground sessions, the progress messages will note that they are
+"oversized"). If the fetch protocol permits (in particular, under
+IMAP or POP3 without the fetchall option) the message will not be
+marked seen. An explicit --limit of 0 overrides any limits set in your
+run control file. This option is intended for those needing to
+strictly control fetch time due to expensive and variable phone rates.
+Combined with --flush, it can be used to delete oversized messages
+waiting on a server UNLESS in daemon mode. In daemon mode, oversize
+notifications are mailed to the calling user (see the --warnings
+option) and the messages remain on the server.
+This option does not work with ETRN or ODMR.
.TP
-.B \-w <interval>, --warnings <interval>
+.B \-w <interval> | \-\-warnings <interval>
(Keyword: warnings)
Takes an interval in seconds. When you call
.I fetchmail
suppressed until after the warning interval elapses (it will take
place at the end of the first following poll).
.TP
-.B -b <count>, --batchlimit <count>
+.B \-b <count> | \-\-batchlimit <count>
(Keyword: batchlimit)
Specify the maximum number of messages that will be shipped to an SMTP
listener before the connection is deliberately torn down and rebuilt
overrides any limits set in your run control file. While
\fBsendmail\fR(8) normally initiates delivery of a message immediately
after receiving the message terminator, some SMTP listeners are not so
-prompt. MTAs like \fIqmail\fR(8) and \fIsmail\fR(8) may wait till the
+prompt. MTAs like \fIsmail\fR(8) may wait till the
delivery socket is shut down to deliver. This may produce annoying
delays when \fIfetchmail\fR is processing very large batches. Setting
the batch limit to some nonzero size will prevent these delays. This
option does not work with ETRN or ODMR.
.TP
-.B -B <number>, --fetchlimit <number>
+.B \-B <number> | \-\-fetchlimit <number>
(Keyword: fetchlimit)
Limit the number of messages accepted from a given server in a single
poll. By default there is no limit. An explicit --fetchlimit of 0
overrides any limits set in your run control file.
This option does not work with ETRN or ODMR.
.TP
-.B -e <count>, --expunge <count>
+.B \-\-fetchsizelimit <number>
+(Keyword: fetchsizelimit)
+Limit the number of sizes of messages accepted from a given server in
+a single transaction. This option is useful in reducing the delay in
+downloading the first mail when there are too many mails in the
+mailbox. By default, the limit is 100. If set to 0, sizes of all
+messages are downloaded at the start.
+This option does not work with ETRN or ODMR. For POP3, the only valid
+non-zero value is 1.
+.TP
+.B \-\-fastuidl <number>
+(Keyword: fastuidl)
+Do a binary instead of linear search for the first unseen UID. Binary
+search avoids downloading the UIDs of all mails. This saves time
+(especially in daemon mode) where downloading the same set of UIDs in
+each poll is a waste of bandwidth. The number `n' indicates how rarely
+a linear search should be done. In daemon mode, linear search is used
+once followed by binary searches in `n-1' polls if `n' is greater than
+1; binary search is always used if `n' is 1; linear search is always
+used if `n' is 0. In non-daemon mode, binary search is used if `n' is
+1; otherwise linear search is used.
+This option works with POP3 only.
+.TP
+.B \-e <count> | \-\-expunge <count>
(keyword: expunge)
Arrange for deletions to be made final after a given number of
messages. Under POP2 or POP3, fetchmail cannot make deletions final
without sending QUIT and ending the session -- with this option on,
fetchmail will break a long mail retrieval session into multiple
-subsessions, sending QUIT after each sub-session. This is a good
+sub-sessions, sending QUIT after each sub-session. This is a good
defense against line drops on POP3 servers that do not do the
equivalent of a QUIT on hangup. Under IMAP,
.I fetchmail
resending duplicate mail after a line hit. However, on large
mailboxes the overhead of re-indexing after every message can slam the
server pretty hard, so if your connection is reliable it is good to do
-expunges less frequently. If you specify this option to an integer N,
+expunges less frequently. Also note that some servers enforce a delay
+of a few seconds after each quit, so fetchmail may not be able to get
+back in immediately after an expunge -- you may see "lock busy" errors
+if this happens. If you specify this option to an integer N,
it tells
.I fetchmail
to only issue expunges on every Nth delete. An argument of zero
the end of run). This option does not work with ETRN or ODMR.
.SS Authentication Options
.TP
-.B \-u <name>, --username <name>
+.B \-u <name> | \-\-username <name>
(Keyword: user[name])
Specifies the user identification to be used when logging in to the mailserver.
The appropriate user identification is both server and user-dependent.
The default is your login name on the client machine that is running
-.I fetchmail.
+.IR fetchmail .
See USER AUTHENTICATION below for a complete description.
.TP
-.B \-I <specification>, --interface <specification>
+.B \-I <specification> | \-\-interface <specification>
(Keyword: interface)
Require that a specific interface device be up and have a specific local
or remote IP address (or range) before polling. Frequently
the specified link is not up or is not connected to a matching IP
address, polling will be skipped. The format is:
.sp
+.nf
interface/iii.iii.iii.iii/mmm.mmm.mmm.mmm
+.fi
.sp
The field before the first slash is the interface name (i.e. sl0, ppp0
etc.). The field before the second slash is the acceptable IP address.
.B monitor
section for below for FreeBSD specific information.
.TP
-.B \-M <interface>, --monitor <interface>
+.B \-M <interface> | --monitor <interface>
(Keyword: monitor)
Daemon mode can cause transient links which are automatically taken down
after a period of inactivity (e.g. PPP links) to remain up
.I only
when interface data is being collected.
.TP
-.B --auth <type>
+.B \-\-auth <type>
(Keyword: auth[enticate])
This option permits you to specify an authentication type (see USER
AUTHENTICATION below for details). The possible values are \fBany\fR,
an end-to-end secure connection such as an ssh tunnel; specify
\fRgssapi\fR or \fBkerberos_v4\fR if you are using a protocol variant
that employs GSSAPI or K4. Choosing KPOP protocol automatically
-selects Kerberos authentication. This option does not work with ETRN
-or ODMR.
+selects Kerberos authentication. This option does not work with ETRN.
.SS Miscellaneous Options
.TP
-.B \-f <pathname>
, --fetchmailrc <pathname>
+.B \-f <pathname>
| \-\-fetchmailrc <pathname>
Specify a non-default name for the
-.I .fetchmailrc
+.I ~/.fetchmailrc
run control file. The pathname argument must be either "-" (a single
dash, meaning to read the configuration from standard input) or a
filename. Unless the --version option is also on, a named file
argument must have permissions no more open than 0600 (u=rw,g=,o=) or
else be /dev/null.
.TP
-.B \-i <pathname>
, --idfile <pathname>
+.B \-i <pathname>
| \-\-idfile <pathname>
(Keyword: idfile)
Specify an alternate name for the .fetchids file used to save POP3
UIDs.
.TP
-.B \-n, --norewrite
+.B \-n | \-\-norewrite
(Keyword: no rewrite)
Normally,
.I fetchmail
not a good idea to actually turn off rewrite.)
When using ETRN or ODMR, the rewrite option is ineffective.
.TP
-.B -E <line>, --envelope <line>
-(Keyword: envelope)
+.B \-E <line> | \-\-envelope <line>
+(Keyword: envelope; Multidrop only)
This option changes the header
.I fetchmail
assumes will carry a copy of the mail's envelope address. Normally
unless you have globally disabled Received parsing with `no envelope'
in the \fI.fetchmailrc\fR file.
.TP
-.B
-Q <prefix>, --qvirtual <prefix>
-(Keyword: qvirtual)
+.B
\-Q <prefix> | \-\-qvirtual <prefix>
+(Keyword: qvirtual; Multidrop only)
The string prefix assigned to this option will be removed from the user
name found in the header specified with the \fIenvelope\fR option
(\fIbefore\fR doing multidrop name mapping or localdomain checking,
written in Python.
.SH USER AUTHENTICATION AND ENCRYPTION
-All modes except ETRN and ODMR requires authentication of the client.
+All modes except ETRN require authentication of the client to the server.
Normal user authentication in
.I fetchmail
is very much like the authentication mechanism of
.PP
If the mailserver is a Unix machine on which you have an ordinary user
account, your regular login name and password are used with
-.I fetchmail.
+.IR fetchmail .
If you use the same login name on both the server and the client machines,
you needn't worry about specifying a user-id with the
.B \-u
-option \-\-
-the default behavior is to use your login name on the client machine as the
-user-id on the server machine. If you use a different login name
-on the server machine, specify that login name with the
+option \-\- the default behavior is to use your login name on the
+client machine as the user-id on the server machine. If you use a
+different login name on the server machine, specify that login name
+with the
.B \-u
option. e.g. if your login name is 'jsmith' on a machine named 'mailgrunt',
you would start
If you do not specify a password, and
.I fetchmail
cannot extract one from your
-.I .fetchmailrc
+.I ~/.fetchmailrc
file, it will look for a
-.I .netrc
+.I ~/.netrc
file in your home directory before requesting one interactively; if an
entry matching the mailserver is found in that file, the password will
be used. Fetchmail first looks for a match on poll name; if it finds none,
it checks for a match on via name. See the
.IR ftp (1)
man page for details of the syntax of the
-.I .netrc
+.I ~/.netrc
file. (This feature may allow you to avoid duplicating password
information in more than one file.)
.PP
you register an APOP password on your server host (the program
to do this with on the server is probably called \fIpopauth\fR(8)). You
put the same password in your
-.I .fetchmailrc
+.I ~/.fetchmailrc
file. Each time
.I fetchmail
logs in, it sends a cryptographically secure hash of your password and
Kerberos authentication (either with --auth or the \fI.fetchmailrc\fR
option \fBauthenticate kerberos_v4\fR) it will try to get a Kerberos
ticket from the mailserver at the start of each query. Note: if
-either the pollnane or via name is `hesiod', fetchmail will try to use
+either the pollname or via name is `hesiod', fetchmail will try to use
Hesiod to look up the mailserver.
.PP
If you use POP3 or IMAP with GSSAPI authentication, \fIfetchmail\fR will
authentication instead of sending over the password en clair if it
detects "@compuserve.com" in the hostname.
.PP
-Microsoft's NTLM authentication (used by Microsoft Exchange) is
-supported. If you compile in the support, \fIfetchmail\fR will try to
-perform an NTLM authentication (instead of sending over the
+If you are using IMAP, Microsoft's NTLM authentication (used by Microsoft
+Exchange) is supported. If you compile in the support, \fIfetchmail\fR
+will try to perform an NTLM authentication (instead of sending over the
password en clair) whenever the server returns AUTH=NTLM in its
-capability response. Note: if you specify a user option value
-that looks like `user@domain', the part to the left of the @ will
-be passed as the username and the part to the right as the NTLM domain.
-.PP
-If you are using IPsec, the -T (--netsec) option can be used to pass
-an IP security request to be used when outgoing IP connections are
-initialized. You can also do this using the `netsec' server option
-in the .fetchmailrc file. In either case, the option value is a
-string in the format accepted by the net_security_strtorequest()
-function of the inet6_apps library.
+capability response. Specify a user option value that looks like
+`user@domain': the part to the left of the @ will be passed as the
+username and the part to the right as the NTLM domain.
.PP
You can access SSL encrypted services by specifying the --ssl option.
You can also do this using the "ssl" server option in the .fetchmailrc
the certificate files is that required by the underlying SSL libraries
(OpenSSL in the general case).
.PP
-Finally, a word of care about the use of SSL: While above mentioned
+A word of care about the use of SSL: While above mentioned
setup with self-signed server certificates retrieved over the wires
can protect you from a passive eavesdropper it doesn't help against an
active attacker. It's clearly an improvement over sending the
http://www.monkey.org/~dugsong/dsniff/). Use of an ssh tunnel (see
below for some examples) is preferable if you care seriously about the
security of your mailbox.
+.PP
+.B fetchmail
+also supports authentication to the ESMTP server on the client side
+according to RFC 2554. You can specify a name/password pair to be
+used with the keywords `esmtpname' and `esmtppassword'; the former
+defaults to the username of the calling user.
.SH DAEMON MODE
The
-.B --daemon <interval>
+.B \-\-daemon <interval>
or
-.B -d <interval>
+.B \-d <interval>
option runs
.I fetchmail
in daemon mode. You must specify a numeric argument which is a
makes a per-user lockfile to guarantee this.
.PP
Normally, calling fetchmail with a daemon in the background sends a
-wakeup signal to the daemon, forcing it to poll mailservers
-immediately. (The wakeup signal is SIGHUP if fetchmail is running as
-root, SIGUSR1 otherwise.) The wakeup action also clears any `wedged'
+wake-up signal to the daemon, forcing it to poll mailservers
+immediately. (The wake-up signal is SIGHUP if fetchmail is running as
+root, SIGUSR1 otherwise.) The wake-up action also clears any `wedged'
flags indicating that connections have wedged due to failed
authentication or multiple timeouts.
.PP
.PP
The quit option may also be mixed with other command-line options; its
effect is to kill any running daemon before doing what the other
-options specify in combination with the rc file.
+options specify in combination with the fetchmailrc file.
.PP
The
-.B -L <filename>
+.B \-L <filename>
or
-.B --logfile <filename>
+.B \-\-logfile <filename>
option (keyword: set logfile) allows you to redirect status messages
emitted while detached into a specified logfile (follow the
option with the logfile name). The logfile is opened for append, so
debugging configurations.
.PP
The
-.B --syslog
+.B \-\-syslog
option (keyword: set syslog) allows you to redirect status and error
messages emitted to the
.IR syslog (3)
Error messages for command line options and parsing the \fI.fetchmailrc\fR
file are still written to stderr, or to the specified log file.
The
-.B --nosyslog
+.B \-\-nosyslog
option turns off use of
.IR syslog (3),
assuming it's turned on in the
-.I .fetchmailrc
+.I ~/.fetchmailrc
file, or that the
-.B -L
+.B \-L
or
-.B --logfile <file>
+.B \-\-logfile <file>
option was used.
.PP
The
.B \-N
or --nodetach option suppresses backgrounding and detachment of the
-daemon process from its control terminal. This is primarily useful
-for debugging. Note that this also causes the logfile option to be
+daemon process from its control terminal. This is useful
+for debugging or when fetchmail runs as the child of a supervisor
+process such as
+.IR init (8)
+or Gerrit Pape's
+.I runit.
+Note that this also causes the logfile option to be
ignored (though perhaps it shouldn't).
.PP
Note that while running in daemon mode polling a POP2 or IMAP2bis server,
they're delivered, so this problem does not arise.)
.PP
If you touch or change the
-.I .fetchmailrc
+.I ~/.fetchmailrc
file while fetchmail is running in daemon mode, this will be detected
at the beginning of the next poll cycle. When a changed
-.I .fetchmailrc
+.I ~/.fetchmailrc
is detected, fetchmail rereads it and restarts from scratch (using
exec(2); no state information is retained in the new instance). Note also
that if you break the
-.I .fetchmailrc
+.I ~/.fetchmailrc
file's syntax, the new instance will softly and silently vanish away
on startup.
.SH ADMINISTRATIVE OPTIONS
.PP
The
-.B --postmaster <name>
+.B \-\-postmaster <name>
option (keyword: set postmaster) specifies the last-resort username to
which multidrop mail is to be forwarded if no matching local recipient
-can be found. Normally this is just the user who invoked fetchmail.
+can be found. Normally this is just the user who invoked
+.IR fetchmail .
If the invoking user is root, then the default of this option is
-the user `postmaster'.
+the user `postmaster'. Setting postmaster to the empty string causes
+such mail to be discarded.
.PP
The
-.B --nobounce
+.B \-\-nobounce
option suppresses the normal action of bouncing errors back to the
sender in an RFC1894-conformant error message. If nobounce is on, the
message will go to the postmaster instead.
.PP
The
-.B --invisible
+.B \-\-invisible
option (keyword: set invisible) tries to make fetchmail invisible.
Normally, fetchmail behaves like any other MTA would -- it generates a
Received header into each message describing its place in the chain of
mailserver host.
.PP
The
-.B --showdots
+.B \-\-showdots
option (keyword: set showdots) forces fetchmail to show progress dots
even if the current tty is not stdout (for example logfiles).
Starting with fetchmail version 5.3.0,
progress dots are only shown on stdout by default.
+.PP
+By specifying the
+.B \-\-tracepolls
+option, you can ask fetchmail to add information to the Received
+header on the form "polling {label} account {user}", where {label} is
+the account label (from the specified rcfile, normally ~/.fetchmailrc)
+and {user} is the username which is used to log on to the mail
+server. This header can be used to make filtering email where no
+useful header information is available and you want mail from
+different accounts sorted into different mailboxes (this could, for
+example, occur if you have an account on the same server running a
+mailing list, and are subscribed to the list using that account). The
+default is not adding any such header. In
+.IR .fetchmailrc ,
+this is called `tracepolls'.
.SH RETRIEVAL FAILURE MODES
The protocols \fIfetchmail\fR uses to talk to mailservers are next to
must treat all messages as new all the time. But POP2 is obsolete, so
this is unlikely.
.PP
-Under POP3, blame RFC1725. That version of the POP3 protocol
-specification removed the LAST command, and some POP servers follow it
-(you can verify this by invoking \fIfetchmail -v\fR to the mailserver
-and watching the response to LAST early in the query). The
-\fIfetchmail\fR code tries to compensate by using POP3's UID feature,
-storing the identifiers of messages seen in each session until the
-next session, in the \fI.fetchids\fR file. But this doesn't track
-messages seen with other clients, or read directly with a mailer on
-the host but not deleted afterward. A better solution would be to
-switch to IMAP.
-.PP
-Another potential POP3 problem might be servers that insert messages
+A potential POP3 problem might be servers that insert messages
in the middle of mailboxes (some VMS implementations of mail are
rumored to do this). The \fIfetchmail\fR code assumes that new
messages are appended to the end of the mailbox; when this is not true
-it may treat some old messages as new and vice versa. The only
-real fix for this problem is to switch to IMAP.
+it may treat some old messages as new and vice versa. Using UIDL might
+fix this, otherwise, consider switching to IMAP.
.PP
Yet another POP3 problem is that if they can't make tempfiles in the
user's home directory, some POP3 servers will hand back an
mail".
.PP
The IMAP code uses the presence or absence of the server flag \eSeen
-to decide whether or not a message is new. Under Unix, it counts on
-your IMAP server to notice the BSD-style Status flags set by mail user
-agents and set the \eSeen flag from them when appropriate. All Unix
-IMAP servers we know of do this, though it's not specified by the IMAP
-RFCs. If you ever trip over a server that doesn't, the symptom will
-be that messages you have already read on your host will look new to
-the server. In this (unlikely) case, only messages you fetched with
-\fIfetchmail --keep\fR will be both undeleted and marked old.
+to decide whether or not a message is new. This isn't the right thing
+to do, fetchmail should check the UIDVALIDITY and use UID, but it
+doesn't do that yet. Under Unix, it counts on your IMAP server to notice
+the BSD-style Status flags set by mail user agents and set the \eSeen
+flag from them when appropriate. All Unix IMAP servers we know of do
+this, though it's not specified by the IMAP RFCs. If you ever trip over
+a server that doesn't, the symptom will be that messages you have
+already read on your host will look new to the server. In this
+(unlikely) case, only messages you fetched with \fIfetchmail --keep\fR
+will be both undeleted and marked old.
.PP
In ETRN and ODMR modes, \fIfetchmail\fR does not actually retrieve messages;
instead, it asks the server's SMTP listener to start a queue flush
.PP
Newer versions of
.I sendmail
-return an error code of 571. This return value
-is blessed by RFC1893 as "Delivery not authorized, message refused".
+return an error code of 571.
.PP
-According to current drafts of the replacement for RFC821, the correct
-thing to return in this situation is 550 "Requested action not taken:
-mailbox unavailable" (the draft adds "[E.g., mailbox not found, no
-access, or command rejected for policy reasons].").
+According to RFC2821, the correct thing to return in this situation is
+550 "Requested action not taken: mailbox unavailable" (the draft adds
+"[E.g., mailbox not found, no access, or command rejected for policy
+reasons].").
.PP
-The
+Older versions of the
.I exim
-MTA returns 501 "Syntax error in parameters or arguments", but will
-move to 550 soon.
+MTA return 501 "Syntax error in parameters or arguments".
.PP
The
.I postfix
MTA runs 554 as an antispam response.
.PP
-The
+.I Zmailer
+may reject code with a 500 response (followed by an enhanced status
+code that contains more information).
+.PP
+Return codes which
.I fetchmail
-code recognizes and discards the message on any of a list of responses
-that defaults to [571, 550, 501, 554] but can be set with the `antispam'
-option. This is one of the
+treats as antispam responses and discards
+the message can be set with the `antispam' option. This is one of the
.I only
three circumstance under which fetchmail ever discards mail (the others
are the 552 and 553 errors described below, and the suppression of
without reading the message body. Thus, you won't pay for downloading
spam message bodies.
.PP
+By default, the list of antispam responses is empty.
+.PP
If the \fIspambounce\fR option is on, mail that is spam-blocked
triggers an RFC1892 bounce message informing the originator that we do
not accept mail from it.
Leave the message in the server mailbox for later retrieval.
.TP 5
552 (message exceeds fixed maximum message size)
-Delete the message from the server. Send bounce-mail to the originator.
+Delete the message from the server. Send bounce-mail to the
+originator.
.TP 5
553 (invalid sending domain)
-Delete the message from the server. Send bounce-mail to the originator.
+Delete the message from the server. Don't even try to send
+bounce-mail to the originator.
.PP
Other errors trigger bounce mail back to the originator.
When there is a conflict between the command-line arguments and the
arguments in this file, the command-line arguments take precedence.
.PP
-To protect the security of your passwords, when --version is not on
-your \fI~/.fetchmailrc\fR may not have more than 0600 (u=rw,g=,o=) permissions;
+To protect the security of your passwords,
+your \fI~/.fetchmailrc\fR may not normally have more than 0600 (u=rw,g=,o=) permissions;
.I fetchmail
-will complain and exit otherwise.
+will complain and exit otherwise (this check is suppressed when
+--version is on).
.PP
You may read the \fI.fetchmailrc\fR file as a list of commands to
be executed when
Here are the legal options. Keyword suffixes enclosed in
square brackets are optional. Those corresponding to command-line
options are followed by `-' and the appropriate option letter.
+If option is only relevant to a single mode of operation, it is noted
+as `s' or `m' for singledrop- or multidrop-mode, respectively.
Here are the legal global options:
.TS
-l l lw34.
-Keyword Opt Function
+l l l lw34.
+Keyword Opt Mode Function
_
-set daemon \& T{
+set daemon \& \& T{
Set a background poll interval in seconds
T}
-set postmaster \& T{
+set postmaster \& \& T{
Give the name of the last-resort mail recipient
T}
-set no bouncemail \& T{
+set no bouncemail \& \& T{
Direct error mail to postmaster rather than sender
T}
-set no spambounce \& T{
+set no spambounce \& \& T{
Send spam bounces
T}
-set logfile \& T{
+set logfile \& \& T{
Name of a file to dump error and status messages to
T}
-set idfile \& T{
+set idfile \& \& T{
Name of the file to store UID lists in
T}
-set syslog \& T{
+set syslog \& \& T{
Do error logging through syslog(3).
T}
-set nosyslog \& T{
+set no syslog \& \& T{
Turn off error logging through syslog(3).
T}
-set properties \& T{
+set properties \& \& T{
String value is ignored by fetchmail (may be used by extension scripts)
T}
.TE
Here are the legal server options:
.TS
-l l lw34.
-Keyword Opt Function
+l l l lw34.
+Keyword Opt Mode Function
_
-via \& T{
+via \& \& T{
Specify DNS name of mailserver, overriding poll name
T}
-proto[col] -p T{
+proto[col] -p \& T{
Specify protocol (case insensitive):
POP2, POP3, IMAP, APOP, KPOP
T}
-local[domains] \& T{
+local[domains] \& m T{
Specify domain(s) to be regarded as local
T}
-port -P T{
+port -P \& T{
Specify TCP/IP service port
T}
-auth[enticate] -A T{
-Set authentication type (default `password')
+auth[enticate] \& \& T{
+Set authentication type (default `any')
T}
-timeout -t T{
+timeout -t \& T{
Server inactivity timeout in seconds (default 300)
T}
-envelope -E T{
+envelope -E m T{
Specify envelope-address header name
T}
-no envelope \& T{
+no envelope \& m T{
Disable looking for envelope address
T}
-qvirtual -Q T{
+qvirtual -Q m T{
Qmail virtual domain prefix to remove from user name
T}
-aka \& T{
+aka \& m T{
Specify alternate DNS names of mailserver
T}
-interface -I T{
+interface -I \& T{
specify IP interface(s) that must be up for server poll to take place
T}
-monitor -M T{
+monitor -M \& T{
Specify IP address to monitor for activity
T}
-plugin \& T{
+plugin \& \& T{
Specify command through which to make server connections.
T}
-plugout \& T{
+plugout \& \& T{
Specify command through which to make listener connections.
T}
-dns \& T{
+dns \& m T{
Enable DNS lookup for multidrop (default)
T}
-no dns \& T{
+no dns \& m T{
Disable DNS lookup for multidrop
T}
-checkalias \& T{
+checkalias \& m T{
Do comparison by IP address for multidrop
T}
-no checkalias \& T{
+no checkalias \& m T{
Do comparison by name for multidrop (default)
T}
-uidl -U T{
+uidl -U \& T{
Force POP3 to use client-side UIDLs
T}
-no uidl \& T{
+no uidl \& \& T{
Turn off POP3 use of client-side UIDLs (default)
T}
-interval \& T{
+interval \& \& T{
Only check this site every N poll cycles; N is a numeric argument.
T}
-netsec \& T{
-Pass in IPsec security option request.
+tracepolls \& \& T{
+Add poll tracing information to the Received header
T}
-principal \& T{
+principal \& \& T{
Set Kerberos principal (only useful with imap and kerberos)
T}
+esmtpname \& \& T{
+Set name for RFC2554 authentication to the ESMTP server.
+T}
+esmtppassword \& \& T{
+Set password for RFC2554 authentication to the ESMTP server.
+T}
.TE
Here are the legal user options:
.TS
-l l lw34.
-Keyword Opt Function
+l l l lw34.
+Keyword Opt Mode Function
_
-user[name] -u T{
+user[name] -u \& T{
Set remote user name
(local user name if name followed by `here')
T}
-is \& T{
+is \& \& T{
Connect local and remote user names
T}
-to \& T{
+to \& \& T{
Connect local and remote user names
T}
-pass[word] \& T{
+pass[word] \& \& T{
Specify remote account password
T}
-ssl T{
+ssl \& \& T{
Connect to server over the specified base protocol using SSL encryption
T}
-sslcert T{
+sslcert \& \& T{
Specify file for client side public SSL certificate
T}
-sslkey T{
+sslkey \& \& T{
Specify file for client side private SSL key
T}
-sslproto T{
+sslproto \& \& T{
Force ssl protocol for connection
T}
-folder -r T{
+folder -r \& T{
Specify remote folder to query
T}
-smtphost -S T{
+smtphost -S \& T{
Specify smtp host(s) to forward to
T}
-smtpaddress -D T{
+fetchdomains \& m T{
+Specify domains for which mail should be fetched
+T}
+smtpaddress -D \& T{
Specify the domain to be put in RCPT TO lines
T}
-smtpname T{
+smtpname \& \& T{
Specify the user and domain to be put in RCPT TO lines
T}
-antispam -Z T{
+antispam -Z \& T{
Specify what SMTP returns are interpreted as spam-policy blocks
T}
-mda -m T{
+mda -m \& T{
Specify MDA for local delivery
T}
-bsmtp -o T{
+bsmtp -o \& T{
Specify BSMTP batch file to append to
T}
-preconnect \& T{
+preconnect \& \& T{
Command to be executed before each connection
T}
-postconnect \& T{
+postconnect \& \& T{
Command to be executed after each connection
T}
-keep -k T{
+keep -k \& T{
Don't delete seen messages from server
T}
-flush -F T{
+flush -F \& T{
Flush all seen messages before querying
T}
-fetchall -a T{
+fetchall -a \& T{
Fetch all messages whether seen or not
T}
-rewrite \& T{
+rewrite \& \& T{
Rewrite destination addresses for reply (default)
T}
-stripcr \& T{
+stripcr \& \& T{
Strip carriage returns from ends of lines
T}
-forcecr \& T{
+forcecr \& \& T{
Force carriage returns at ends of lines
T}
-pass8bits \& T{
+pass8bits \& \& T{
Force BODY=8BITMIME to ESMTP listener
T}
-dropstatus \& T{
+dropstatus \& \& T{
Strip Status and X-Mozilla-Status lines out of incoming mail
T}
-dropdelivered \& T{
+dropdelivered \& \& T{
Strip Delivered-To lines out of incoming mail
T}
-mimedecode \& T{
+mimedecode \& \& T{
Convert quoted-printable to 8-bit in MIME messages
T}
-idle \& T{
+idle \& \& T{
Idle waiting for new messages after each poll (IMAP only)
T}
-no keep -K T{
+no keep -K \& T{
Delete seen messages from server (default)
T}
-no flush \& T{
+no flush \& \& T{
Don't flush all seen messages before querying (default)
T}
-no fetchall \& T{
+no fetchall \& \& T{
Retrieve only new messages (default)
T}
-no rewrite \& T{
+no rewrite \& \& T{
Don't rewrite headers
T}
-no stripcr \& T{
+no stripcr \& \& T{
Don't strip carriage returns (default)
T}
-no forcecr \& T{
+no forcecr \& \& T{
Don't force carriage returns at EOL (default)
T}
-no pass8bits \& T{
+no pass8bits \& \& T{
Don't force BODY=8BITMIME to ESMTP listener (default)
T}
-no dropstatus \& T{
+no dropstatus \& \& T{
Don't drop Status headers (default)
T}
-no dropdelivered \& T{
+no dropdelivered \& \& T{
Don't drop Delivered-To headers (default)
T}
-no mimedecode \& T{
+no mimedecode \& \& T{
Don't convert quoted-printable to 8-bit in MIME messages (default)
T}
-no idle \& T{
+no idle \& \& T{
Don't idle waiting for new messages after each poll (IMAP only)
T}
-limit -l T{
+limit -l \& T{
Set message size limit
T}
-warnings -w T{
+warnings -w \& T{
Set message size warning interval
T}
-batchlimit -b T{
+batchlimit -b \& T{
Max # messages to forward in single connect
T}
-fetchlimit -B T{
+fetchlimit -B \& T{
Max # messages to fetch in single connect
T}
-expunge -e T{
+fetchsizelimit \& \& T{
+Max # message sizes to fetch in single transaction
+T}
+fastuidl \& \& T{
+Use binary search for first unseen message (POP3 only)
+T}
+expunge -e \& T{
Perform an expunge on every #th message (IMAP and POP3 only)
T}
-properties \& T{
+properties \& \& T{
String value is ignored by fetchmail (may be used by extension scripts)
T}
.TE
`dropdelivered/no dropdelivered', `mimedecode/no mimedecode', `idle/no
idle', and `no envelope'.
.PP
-The `via' option is for use with ssh, or if you want to have more
+The `via' option is for if you want to have more
than one configuration pointing at the same site. If it is present,
the string argument will be taken as the actual DNS name of the
mailserver host to query.
This will override the argument of poll, which can then simply be a
distinct label for the configuration (e.g. what you would give on the
command line to explicitly query this host).
-If the `via' name is `localhost', the poll name will also still be
-used as a possible match in multidrop mode; otherwise the `via' name
-will be used instead and the poll name will be purely a label.
.PP
The `interval' option (which takes a numeric argument) allows you to poll a
server less frequently than the basic poll interval. If you say
looking for names of the mailserver, pre-declaring common ones can
save it from having to do DNS lookups. Note: the names you give
as arguments to `aka' are matched as suffixes -- if you specify
-(say) `aka netaxs.com', this will match not just a hostnamed
+(say) `aka netaxs.com', this will match not just a hostname
netaxs.com, but any hostname that ends with `.netaxs.com'; such as
(say) pop3.netaxs.com and mail.netaxs.com.
.PP
Status line in it has been seen. (Note: the empty Status lines
inserted by some buggy POP servers are unconditionally discarded.)
.PP
-The `dropdelivered' option controls wether Delivered-To headers will
+The `dropdelivered' option controls whether Delivered-To headers will
be kept in fetched mail (the default) or discarded. These headers are
added by Qmail and Postfix mailservers in order to avoid mail loops but
may get in your way if you try to "mirror" a mailserver within the same
character-set information and can lead to bad results if the encoding
of the headers differs from the body encoding.
.PP
-The `idle' option is usable only with IMAP servers supporting the
-RFC2177 IDLE command extension. If it is enabled, and fetchmail
-detects that IDLE is supported, an IDLE will be issued at the end
-of each poll. This will tell the IMAP server to hold the connection
-open and notify the client when new mail is available. If you need to
-poll a link frequently, IDLE can save bandwidth by eliminating TCP/IP
-connects and LOGIN/LOGOUT sequences. On the other hand, an IDLE
-connection will eat almost akll of your fetchmail's time, because it
-will never drop the connection and allow other pools to occur unless
-the server times out the IDLE.
+The `idle' option is intended to be used with IMAP servers supporting
+the RFC2177 IDLE command extension, but does not strictly require it.
+If it is enabled, and fetchmail detects that IDLE is supported, an
+IDLE will be issued at the end of each poll. This will tell the IMAP
+server to hold the connection open and notify the client when new mail
+is available. If IDLE is not supported, fetchmail will simulate it by
+periodically issuing NOOP. If you need to poll a link frequently, IDLE
+can save bandwidth by eliminating TCP/IP connects and LOGIN/LOGOUT
+sequences. On the other hand, an IDLE connection will eat almost all
+of your fetchmail's time, because it will never drop the connection
+and allow other pools to occur unless the server times out the IDLE.
+It also doesn't work with multiple folders; only the first folder will
+ever be polled.
+
.PP
The `properties' option is an extension mechanism. It takes a string
argument, which is ignored by fetchmail itself. The string argument may be
or reverse it by saying `user esr here is eric there'
.PP
Legal protocol identifiers for use with the `protocol' keyword are:
-
+.sp
+.nf
auto (or AUTO)
pop2 (or POP2)
pop3 (or POP3)
imap (or IMAP)
apop (or APOP)
kpop (or KPOP)
-
+.fi
+.sp
.PP
-Legal authentication types are `password', `kerberos', and `gssapi'.
+Legal authentication types are `any', `password', `kerberos', 'kerberos_v5'
+and `gssapi', `cram-md5', `otp', `ntlm', `ssh`.
The `password' type specifies authentication by normal transmission of a
-password (the password may be plaintext or subject to
+password (the password may be plain text or subject to
protocol-specific encryption as in APOP); `kerberos' tells
\fIfetchmail\fR to try to get a Kerberos ticket at the start of each
query instead, and send an arbitrary string as the password; and
-`gssapi' tells fetchmail to use GSSAPI authentication.
+`gssapi' tells fetchmail to use GSSAPI authentication. See the description
+of the `auth' keyword for more.
.PP
Specifying `kpop' sets POP3 protocol over port 1109 with Kerberos V4
authentication. These defaults may be overridden by later options.
.SH INTERACTION WITH RFC 822
When trying to determine the originating address of a message,
fetchmail looks through headers in the following order:
-
+.sp
+.nf
Return-Path:
- Resent-Sender:
- Sender:
+ Resent-Sender: (ignored if it doesn't contain an @ or !)
+ Sender: (ignored if it doesn't contain an @ or !)
Resent-From:
From:
Reply-To:
Apparently-From:
-
+.fi
+.sp
The originating address is used for logging, and to set the MAIL FROM
address when forwarding to SMTP. This order is intended to cope
gracefully with receiving mailing list messages in multidrop mode. The
the Received line won't contain any information regarding recipient addresses.
Then fetchmail looks for the Resent-To:, Resent-Cc:, and Resent-Bcc:
-lines. If they exists, they should contain the final recipients and
+lines. If they exist, they should contain the final recipients and
have precedence over their To:/Cc:/Bcc: counterparts. If the Resent-*
-lines doesn't exist, the To:, Cc:, Bcc: and Apparently-To: lines are
+lines don't exist, the To:, Cc:, Bcc: and Apparently-To: lines are
looked for. (The presence of a Resent-To: is taken to imply that the
person referred by the To: address has already received the original
-copy of the mail).
+copy of the mail.)
.SH CONFIGURATION EXAMPLES
Note that although there are password declarations in a good many
.nf
poll pop.provider.net proto pop3 port 3111
user "jsmith" with pass "secret1" is "smith" here
- user jones with pass "secret2" is "jjones" here
+ user jones with pass "secret2" is "jjones" here keep
.fi
This associates the local username `smith' with the pop.provider.net
username `jsmith' and the local username `jjones' with the
-pop.provider.net username `jones'.
+pop.provider.net username `jones'. Mail for `jones' is kept on the
+server after download.
.PP
Here's what a simple retrieval configuration for a multi-drop mailbox
looks like:
.nf
poll pop.provider.net localdomains loonytoons.org toons.org:
- user maildrop with pass secret1 to 'esr' * here
+ user maildrop with pass secret1 to * here
.fi
This also says that the mailbox of account `maildrop' on the server is
a multi-drop box. It tells fetchmail that any address in the
-loonytoons.org or toons.org domains (including subdomain addresses like
+loonytoons.org or toons.org domains (including sub-domain addresses like
`joe@daffy.loonytoons.org') should be passed through to the local SMTP
listener without modification. Be careful of mail loops if you do this!
.PP
-Here's an example configuration using ssh. The queries go through an
-ssh connecting local port 1234 to port 110 on mailhost.net; the
-preconnect command sets up the ssh.
-
-.nf
-poll mailhost.net via localhost port 1234 with proto pop3:
- preconnect "ssh -f -L 1234:mailhost.net:110
- mailhost.net sleep 20 </dev/null >/dev/null";
- user esr is esr here
-.fi
-
-.PP
-Here's an example configuration using ssh and the plugin option (this
-method is better, as it doesn't require the IMAP port to be open on
-the server). The queries are made directly on the stdin and stdout of
-imapd via ssh. Note that in this setup, IMAP authentication can be
-skipped.
+Here's an example configuration using ssh and the plugin option. The
+queries are made directly on the stdin and stdout of imapd via ssh.
+Note that in this setup, IMAP authentication can be skipped.
.nf
poll mailhost.net with proto imap:
Some sort of fatal protocol error was detected.
.IP 5
There was a syntax error in the arguments to
-.I fetchmail.
+.IR fetchmail .
.IP 6
The run control file had bad permissions.
.IP 7
Poll terminated by a fetch limit (see the --fetchlimit option).
.IP 14
Server busy indication.
+.IP 15
+Server timed out during an IMAP IDLE.
.IP 23
Internal error. You should see a message on standard error with
details.
.TP 5
~/.fetchids
default location of file associating hosts with last message IDs seen
-(used only with newer RFC1725-compliant POP3 servers supporting the
+(used only with newer RFC1939-compliant POP3 servers supporting the
UIDL command).
.TP 5
~/.fetchmail.pid
If the environment variable FETCHMAILHOME is set to a valid and
existing directory name, the .fetchmailrc and .fetchids and
\&.fetchmail.pid files are put there instead of in the invoking user's
-home directory (and lose the leading dots on theirt names). The
+home directory (and lose the leading dots on their names). The
\&.netrc file is looked for in the the invoking user's home directory
regardless of FETCHMAILHOME's setting.
+If the HOME_ETC variable is set, file $HOME_ETC/.fetchmailrc is used
+instead of ~/.fetchmailrc.
+
.SH SIGNALS
If a
.I fetchmail
whichever of these is appropriate to wake it up.
.SH BUGS AND KNOWN PROBLEMS
+The mda and plugin options interact badly. In order to collect error
+status from the MDA, fetchmail has to change its normal signal
+handling so that dead plugin processes don't get reaped until the end
+of the poll cycle. This can cause resource starvation if too many
+zombies accumulate. So either don't deliver to a MDA using plugins or
+risk being overrun by an army of undead.
+.PP
The RFC822 address parser used in multidrop mode chokes on some
@-addresses that are technically legal but bizarre. Strange uses of
quoting and embedded comments are likely to confuse it.
MDA. For maximum safety, however, don't use an mda command containing
%F or %T when fetchmail is run from the root account itself.
.PP
-Fetchmail's method of sending bouncemail and spambounce requires that
+Fetchmail's method of sending bouncemail and spam bounces requires that
port 25 of localhost be available for sending mail via SMTP.
.PP
If you modify a
-.I .fetchmailrc
+.I ~/.fetchmailrc
while a background instance is running and break the syntax, the
background instance will die silently. Unfortunately, it can't
die noisily because we don't yet know whether syslog should be enabled.
+On some systems, fetchmail dies quietly even if there is no syntax
+error; this seems to have something to do with buggy terminal ioctl
+code in the kernel.
.PP
-The RFC 2177 IDLE support is flaky. It sort of works, but may generate
-spurious socket error messages or silently hang in the presence of
-various network or server errors.
-.PP
-The combination of using a remote name with embedded spaces and POP3
-UIDs will not work; the UIDL-handling code will core-dump while trying
-to read in what it sees as malformed .fetchids lines, typically
-on the second poll after startup.
-.PP
-The UIDL code is generally flaky and tends to lose its state on errors
-and line drops (so that old messages are re-seen). If this happens to
-you, switch to IMAP4.
-.PP
-ODMR is very new. The ODMR code is untested.
+The -f - option (reading a configuration from stdin) is incompatible
+with the plugin option.
.PP
The `principal' option only handles Kerberos IV, not V.
.PP
Send comments, bug reports, gripes, and the like to the
-fetchmail-friends list <fetchmail-friends@lists.ccil.org>. An HTML FAQ is
+fetchmail-devel list <fetchmail-devel@lists.berlios.de>. An HTML FAQ is
available at the fetchmail home page; surf to
-http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/fetchmail or do a WWW search for pages with
+http://fetchmail.berlios.de/ or do a WWW search for pages with
`fetchmail' in their titles.
.SH AUTHOR
by Carl Harris <ceharris@mal.com>; the internals have become quite different,
but some of its interface design is directly traceable to that
ancestral program.
+.PP
+This manual page has been improved by R.\ Hannes Beinert.
+.PP
+Fetchmail is currently maintained by Matthias Andree and Rob Funk.
.SH SEE ALSO
mutt(1), elm(1), mail(1), sendmail(8), popd(8), imapd(8), netrc(5)
.SH APPLICABLE STANDARDS
.TP 5
SMTP/ESMTP:
-RFC 821, RFC 1869, RFC 1652, RFC 1870, RFC1983, RFC 1985
+RFC 821, RFC2821, RFC 1869, RFC 1652, RFC 1870, RFC 1983, RFC 1985,
+RFC 2554.
.TP 5
mail:
-RFC 822, RFC 1123, RFC 1892, RFC 1894
+RFC 822, RFC2822, RFC 1123, RFC 1892, RFC 1894.
.TP 5
POP2:
RFC 937
.TP 5
POP3:
RFC 1081, RFC 1225, RFC 1460, RFC 1725, RFC1734, RFC 1939, RFC 1957,
-RFC2195, RFC 2449
+RFC2195, RFC 2449.
.TP 5
APOP:
-RFC 1460, RFC 1725, RFC 1939
+RFC 1460, RFC 1725, RFC 1939.
.TP 5
RPOP:
-RFC 1081, RFC 1225
+RFC 1081, RFC 1225.
.TP 5
IMAP2/IMAP2BIS:
-RFC 1176, RFC 1732
+RFC 1176, RFC 1732.
.TP 5
IMAP4/IMAP4rev1:
RFC 1730, RFC 1731, RFC 1732, RFC 2060, RFC 2061, RFC 2195, RFC 2177,
-RFC 2683
+RFC 2683.
.TP 5
ETRN:
-RFC 1985
+RFC 1985.
.TP 5
ODMR/ATRN:
-RFC 2645
+RFC 2645.
.TP 5
OTP:
-RFC 1938
+RFC 1938.
.TP 5
LMTP:
-RFC 2033
+RFC 2033.
.TP 5
GSSAPI:
-RFC 1508
-
+RFC 1508.
+.TP 5
+TLS:
+RFC 2595.
projects / ~andy / fetchmail / blobdiff