« back to all changes in this revision
Viewing changes to FAQ
- browse files at revision 7
- compare with another revision
- download diff
- download tarball
- view history from revision 7
- Committer: Bazaar Package Importer
- Author(s): Martin Pitt
- Date: 2006-02-07 12:12:13 UTC
- mfrom: (1.1.2 upstream)
- Revision ID: james.westby@ubuntu.com-20060207121213-onurwfrzdlzlzxnt
Tags: 6.3.2-2ubuntu1
* Resynchronise with Debian. This brings the new upstream version to dapper
since upstream support for 6.2 was dropped.
* Drop debian/patches/CVE-2005-4348.dpatch, upstream now.
since upstream support for 6.2 was dropped.
* Drop debian/patches/CVE-2005-4348.dpatch, upstream now.
added
removed
FAQ
1
(This document was generated from fetchmail-FAQ.html)
1
(This file was generated from ../fetchmail-FAQ.html)
2
2
3
Back to Fetchmail Home Page To Site Map $Date: 2003/10/10 19:10:29 $
4
3
_________________________________________________________________
5
4
6
5
Frequently Asked Questions About Fetchmail
8
7
Before reporting any bug, please read G3 for advice on how to include
9
8
diagnostic information that will get your bug fixed as quickly as possible.
10
9
10
Note that this FAQ is occasionally updated from the SVN repository and
11
speaks in the past tense ("since") about a fetchmail release that is not yet
12
available. Please try a release candidate for that version in case you need
13
the new option.
14
11
15
If you have a question or answer you think ought to be added to this FAQ
12
list, mail it to fetchmail's maintainer, Eric S. Raymond, at
13
esr@thyrsus.com.
14
15
General questions:
16
list, file it to one of the trackers at our BerliOS project site or post to
17
one of the fetchmail mailing lists (see below).
18
19
Contents
20
21
Detailed Contents
22
G. General problems
23
B. Build-time problems
24
F. Fetchmail configuration file grammar questions
25
C. Configuration questions
26
T. How to make fetchmail play nice with various MTAs
27
S. How to make fetchmail work with various servers
28
I. How to fetchmail work with specific ISPs
29
K. How to set up well-known security and authentication
30
R. Runtime fatal errors
31
H. Hangs and lockups
32
D. Disappearing mail
33
M. Multidrop-mode problems
34
X. Mangled mail
35
O. Other problems
36
37
Detailed Contents
38
39
General problems
16
40
17
41
G1. What is fetchmail and why should I bother?
18
42
G2. Where do I find the latest FAQ and fetchmail sources?
31
55
G15. Is there a way in fetchmail to support disconnected IMAP mode?
32
56
G16. How will fetchmail perform under heavy loads?
33
57
34
Build-time problems:
58
Build-time problems
35
59
36
B1. Make coughs and dies when building on FreeBSD.
60
[DEL: B1. Make coughs and dies when building on FreeBSD. :DEL]
37
61
B2. Lex bombs out while building the fetchmail lexer.
38
62
B3. I get link failures when I try to build fetchmail.
39
63
B4. I get build failures in the intl directory.
40
64
41
Fetchmail configuration file grammar questions:
65
Fetchmail configuration file grammar questions
42
66
43
67
F1. Why does my old .fetchmailrc no longer work?
44
68
F2. The .fetchmailrc parser won't accept my all-numeric user name.
45
69
F3. The .fetchmailrc parser won't accept my host or username beginning with
46
`no'.
47
F4. I'm getting a `parse error' message I don't understand.
70
'no'.
71
F4. I'm getting a 'parse error' message I don't understand.
48
72
49
Configuration questions:
73
Configuration questions
50
74
51
75
C1. Why do I need a .fetchmailrc when running as root on my own machine?
52
76
C2. How can I arrange for a fetchmail daemon to get killed when I log out?
56
80
C6. Fetchmail works OK started up manually, but not from an init script.
57
81
C7. How can I forward mail to another host?.
58
82
59
How to make fetchmail play nice with various MTAs:
83
How to make fetchmail play nice with various MTAs
60
84
61
85
T1. How can I use fetchmail with sendmail?
62
86
T2. How can I use fetchmail with qmail?
67
91
T7. How can I use fetchmail with Courier IMAP?
68
92
T8. How can I use fetchmail with vbmailshield?
69
93
70
How to make fetchmail work with various servers:
94
How to make fetchmail work with various servers
71
95
72
96
S1. How can I use fetchmail with qpopper?
73
97
S2. How can I use fetchmail with Microsoft Exchange?
77
101
S6. How can I use fetchmail with MailMax?
78
102
S7. How can I use fetchmail with FTGate?
79
103
80
How to fetchmail work with specific ISPs:
104
How to fetchmail work with specific ISPs
81
105
82
106
I1. How can I use fetchmail with Compuserve RPA?
83
107
I2. How can I use fetchmail with Demon Internet's SDPS?
84
108
I3. How can I use fetchmail with usa.net's servers?
85
109
I4. How can I use fetchmail with geocities POP3 servers?
86
I5. How can I use fetchmail with Hotmail?
110
I5. How can I use fetchmail with Hotmail or Lycos Webmail?
87
111
I6. How can I use fetchmail with MSN?
88
112
I7. How can I use fetchmail with SpryNet?
89
I8. How can I use fetchmail with comcast.net?
113
I8. How can I use fetchmail with comcast.net or other Maillennium servers?
90
114
91
How to set up well-known security and authentication methods:
115
How to set up well-known security and authentication methods
92
116
93
117
K1. How can I use fetchmail with SOCKS?
94
118
K2. How can I use fetchmail with IPv6 and IPsec?
95
119
K3. How can I get fetchmail to work with ssh?
96
120
K4. What do I have to do to use the IMAP-GSS protocol?
97
121
K5. How can I use fetchmail with SSL?
98
99
Runtime fatal errors:
100
101
R1. Fetchmail isn't working, and -v shows `SMTP connect failed' messages.
122
K6. How can I tell fetchmail not to try TLS if the server advertises it?
123
124
Runtime fatal errors
125
126
R1. Fetchmail isn't working, and -v shows 'SMTP connect failed' messages.
102
127
R2. When I try to configure an MDA, fetchmail doesn't work.
103
128
R3. Fetchmail dumps core when given an invalid rc file.
104
129
R4. Fetchmail dumps core in -V mode, but operates normally otherwise.
110
135
R9. Fetchmail is timing out during message fetches
111
136
R10. Fetchmail is dying with SIGPIPE.
112
137
R11. My server is hanging or emitting errors on CAPA.
138
R12. Fetchmail isn't working and reports getaddrinfo errors.
113
139
114
Hangs and lockups:
140
Hangs and lockups
115
141
116
142
H1. Fetchmail hangs when used with pppd.
117
143
H2. Fetchmail hangs during the MAIL FROM exchange.
118
144
H3. Fetchmail hangs while fetching mail.
119
145
120
Disappearing mail:
146
Disappearing mail
121
147
122
148
D1. I think I've set up fetchmail correctly, but I'm not getting any mail.
123
149
D2. All my mail seems to disappear after a dropped connection.
124
150
D3. Mail that was being fetched when I interrupted my fetchmail seems to
125
151
have been vanished.
126
152
127
Multidrop-mode problems:
153
Multidrop-mode problems
128
154
129
155
M1. I've declared local names, but all my multidrop mail is going to root
130
156
anyway.
137
163
as it should.
138
164
M8. Users are getting multiple copies of messages.
139
165
140
Mangled mail:
166
Mangled mail
141
167
142
168
X1. Spurious blank lines are appearing in the headers of fetched mail.
143
169
X2. My mail client can't see a Subject line.
148
174
X7. Some mail attachments are hanging fetchmail.
149
175
X8. A spurious ) is being appended to my messages.
150
176
151
Other problems:
177
Other problems
152
178
153
179
O1. The --logfile option doesn't work if the logfile doesn't exist.
154
180
O2. Every time I get a POP or IMAP message the header is dumped to all my
167
193
O11. I keep getting messages that say "Repoll immediately" in my logs.
168
194
O12. Fetchmail no longer expunges mail on a 451 SMTP response.
169
195
O13. I want timestamp information in my fetchmail logs.
170
171
Answers:
196
O14. Fetchmail no longer deletes oversized mails with --flush.
197
O15. Fetchmail always retains the first message in the mailbox.
198
O16. Why is the Fetchmail FAQ only available in ISO-216 A4 format? How do I
199
get the FAQ in Letter format?
172
200
_________________________________________________________________
173
201
202
General problems
203
174
204
G1. What is fetchmail and why should I bother?
175
205
176
206
Fetchmail is a one-stop solution to the remote mail retrieval problem for
196
226
197
227
If you found this FAQ in the distribution, see the README for fetchmail's
198
228
full feature list.
199
_________________________________________________________________
200
229
201
230
G2. Where do I find the latest FAQ and fetchmail sources?
202
231
203
232
The latest HTML FAQ is available alongside the latest fetchmail sources at
204
the fetchmail home page: http://fetchmail.berlios.de. You can also usually
233
the fetchmail home page: http://fetchmail.berlios.de/. You can also usually
205
234
find both in the POP mail tools directory on Sunsite.
206
235
207
236
A text dump of this FAQ is included in the fetchmail distribution. Because
208
237
it freezes at distribution release time, it may not be completely current.
209
_________________________________________________________________
210
238
211
239
G3. I think I've found a bug. Will you fix it?
212
240
213
Yes I will, provided you include enough diagnostic information for me to go
214
on. Send bugs to fetchmail-users and patches to fetchmail-devel When
215
reporting bugs, please include the following:
241
The first thing you should to is to upgrade to the newest version of
242
fetchmail, and then see if the problem reproduces. So you'll probably save
243
us both time if you upgrade and test with the latest version before sending
244
in a bug report.
245
246
I will fix bugs, provided you include enough diagnostic information for me
247
to go on. Send bugs to fetchmail-users. When reporting bugs, please include
248
the following:
216
249
1. Your operating system.
217
250
2. Your compiler version, if you built from source; otherwise, the name and
218
251
origin of the RPM or other binary package you installed.
226
259
suspicion that the bug was triggered by a particular message, please include
227
260
a copy of the message that triggered the bug.
228
261
229
Often, the first thing I will do when you report a bug is tell you to
230
upgrade to the newest version of fetchmail, and then see if the problem
231
reproduces. So you'll probably save us both time if you upgrade and test
232
with the latest version before sending in a bug report.
233
234
262
If your bug is something that used to work but stopped working when you
235
263
upgraded, then you can help pin the bug down by trying intermediate versions
236
264
of fetchmail until you identify the revision that broke your feature. The
290
318
way, fetchmail is well enough tested that the easy bugs have long since been
291
319
found). So if you want your bug fixed rapidly, it is not just sufficient but
292
320
nearly necessary that you give me a way to reproduce it.
293
_________________________________________________________________
294
321
295
322
G4. I have this idea for a neat feature. Will you add it?
296
323
297
Probably not. Most of the feature suggestions I get are for ways to set
298
various kinds of administrative policy or add more spam filtering (the most
299
common one, which I used to get about four million times a week and got
300
really tired of, is for tin-like kill files).
324
If it's reasonable for fetchmail and cannot be solved with reasonable effort
325
outside of fetchmail, perhaps.
301
326
302
327
You can do spam filtering better with procmail or maildrop on the server
303
328
side and (if you're the server sysadmin) sendmail.cf domain exclusions. If
304
you really want fetchmail to do it from the client side, yse a preconnect
329
you really want fetchmail to do it from the client side, use a preconnect
305
330
command to call mailfilter.
306
331
307
332
You can do other policy things better with the mda option and script
308
333
wrappers around fetchmail. If it's a prime-time-vs.-non-prime-time issue,
309
334
ask yourself whether a wrapper script called from crontab would do the job.
310
335
311
I'm not going to do these; fetchmail's job is transport, not policy, and I
312
refuse to change it from doing one thing well to attempting many things
313
badly. One of my objectives is to keep fetchmail simple so it stays
314
reliable.
336
fetchmail's first job is transport though, and it should do this well. If a
337
feature would cause fetchmail to deteriorate in other respects, the feature
338
will probably not be added.
315
339
316
340
For reasons fetchmail doesn't have other commonly-requested features (such
317
341
as password encryption, or multiple concurrent polls from the same instance
318
of fetchmail) see the design notes.
319
320
Fetchmail is a mature project, no longer in constant active development. It
321
is no longer my top project, and I am going to be quite reluctant to add
322
features that might either jeopardize its stability or involve me in large
323
amounts of coding.
324
325
All that said, if you have a feature idea that really is about a transport
326
problem that can't be handled anywhere but fetchmail, lay it on me. I'm very
327
accommodating about good ideas.
328
_________________________________________________________________
342
of fetchmail) see ESR's design notes. Note that this document is partially
343
obsoleted by the updated design notes.
329
344
330
345
G5. I want to make fetchmail behave like Outlook Express.
331
346
334
349
days, typically to be used with the keep option as a sort of poor man's
335
350
newsgroup facility. Microsoft's Outlook Express supports this.
336
351
337
This feature won't be added either. Repeat after me: fetchmail's job is
338
transport, not policy. If you want this, write a Perl or Python script, to
339
be run from a cron job, that deletes old messages off your maildrop. Send it
340
to me and I'll put it in the contrib directory.
341
_________________________________________________________________
352
This feature is not yet implemented. It may be at a future date, spare time
353
of developers permitting.
342
354
343
355
G6. Is there a mailing list for exchanging tips?
344
356
345
There is a fetchmail-users list (fetchmail-users@lists.berlios.de) for
357
There is a fetchmail-users list (fetchmail-users@lists.berlios.de) for bug
358
reports and people who want to discuss configuration issues of fetchmail.
359
It's a Mailman list, see
360
http://lists.berlios.de/mailman/listinfo/fetchmail-users.
361
362
There is a fetchmail-devel list (fetchmail-devel@lists.berlios.de) for
346
363
people who want to discuss fixes and improvements in fetchmail and help
347
co-develop it. It's a MailMan list, which you can sign up for at
348
http://lists.berlios.de/mailman/listinfo/fetchmail-users. There is also an
364
co-develop it. It's a Mailman list, which you can sign up for at
365
http://lists.berlios.de/mailman/listinfo/fetchmail-devel. There is also an
349
366
announcements-only list, fetchmail-announce@lists.berlios.de, which you can
350
367
sign up for at http://lists.berlios.de/mailman/listinfo/fetchmail-announce.
351
_________________________________________________________________
352
368
353
369
G7. So, what's this I hear about a fetchmail paper?
354
370
366
382
367
383
If you're reading a non-HTML dump of this FAQ, you can find the paper on the
368
384
Web with a search for that title.
369
_________________________________________________________________
370
385
371
386
G8. What is the best server to use with fetchmail?
372
387
383
398
Most modern Unixes (and effectively all Linux/*BSD systems) come with POP3
384
399
support preconfigured (but beware of the horribly broken POP3 server
385
400
mentioned in D2). An increasing minority also feature IMAP (you can detect
386
IMAP support by running fetchmail in AUTO mode, or by using the `Probe for
401
IMAP support by running fetchmail in AUTO mode, or by using the 'Probe for
387
402
supported protocols' function in the fetchmailconf utility).
388
403
389
404
If you have the option, we recommend using or installing an IMAP4rev1
390
server; it has the best facilities for tracking message `seen' states. It
405
server; it has the best facilities for tracking message 'seen' states. It
391
406
also recovers from interrupted connections more gracefully than POP3, and
392
407
enables some significant performance optimizations. The new IMAP 2000 is
393
408
particularly nice, as it supports CRAM-MD5 so you don't have to ship your
404
419
the Eudora FTP site. Don't use 2.5, which has a rather restrictive license.
405
420
The 2.5.2 version appears to restore the open-source license of previous
406
421
versions.
407
_________________________________________________________________
408
422
409
423
G9. What is the best mail program to use with fetchmail?
410
424
420
434
ancestor elm, but its excellent handling of MIME and PGP put it in a class
421
435
by itself. You won't need its built-in POP3 support, though; most of the
422
436
mutt developers will cheerfully admit that fetchmail's is better :-).
423
_________________________________________________________________
424
437
425
438
G10. How can I avoid sending my password en clair?
426
439
500
513
be sent en clair.
501
514
502
515
You can get both POP3 and IMAP OTP patches from Craig Metz at
503
http://www.inner.net/pub/.
516
http://www.inner.net/opie.
504
517
505
518
These patches use a SASL authentication method named "X-OTP" because there
506
519
is not currently a standard way to do this; fetchmail also uses this method,
509
522
510
523
Finally, you can use SSL for complete end-to-end encryption if you have an
511
524
SSL-enabled mailserver.
512
_________________________________________________________________
513
525
514
526
G11. Is any special configuration needed to use a dynamic IP address?
515
527
530
542
could up forwarding your mail to the wrong machine!
531
543
532
544
Use the smtpaddress option to force the appended hostname to one with a
533
(fixed) IP address of 127.0.0.1 in your /etc/hosts. (The name `localhost'
545
(fixed) IP address of 127.0.0.1 in your /etc/hosts. (The name 'localhost'
534
546
will usually work; or you can use the IP address itself).
535
547
536
548
Only one fetchmail option interacts directly with your IP address,
537
`interface'. This option can be used to set the gateway device and restrict
549
'interface'. This option can be used to set the gateway device and restrict
538
550
the IP address range fetchmail will use. Such a restriction is sometimes
539
551
useful for security reasons, especially on multihomed sites. See C3.
540
552
569
581
in the m4 configuration and do a reconfigure. (In both cases, replace
570
582
smarthost.here with the actual name of your mailhost.) See the sendmail FAQ
571
583
for more details.
572
_________________________________________________________________
573
584
574
585
G12. Is any special configuration needed to use firewalls?
575
586
579
590
site.
580
591
581
592
The specific recipe for using fetchmail with a firewall is at K1
582
_________________________________________________________________
583
593
584
594
G13. Is any special configuration needed to send mail?
585
595
597
607
you have set up something like pppd to automatically dial out when your
598
608
kernel is called to open a TCP/IP connection, this will ensure that the mail
599
609
gets out.
600
_________________________________________________________________
601
610
602
611
G14. Is fetchmail Y2K-compliant?
603
612
607
616
roll over in 2038, but I doubt it. Timestamps aren't used for anything but
608
617
log entry generation. Anyway, if you aren't running on a 64-bit machine by
609
618
then, you'll deserve to lose.
610
_________________________________________________________________
611
619
612
620
G15. Is there a way in fetchmail to support disconnected IMAP mode?
613
621
614
622
No. Fetchmail is a mail transport agent, best understood as a protocol
615
623
gateway between POP3/IMAP servers and SMTP. Disconnected operation requires
616
624
an elaborate interactive client. It's a very different problem.
617
_________________________________________________________________
618
625
619
626
G16. How will fetchmail perform under heavy loads?
620
627
635
642
(which tends to improve bandwidth but not necessarily latency).
636
643
_________________________________________________________________
637
644
638
B1. Make coughs and dies when building on FreeBSD.
639
640
The vendor-supplied make on FreeBSD systems can only be used within
641
FreeBSD's "scope", e.g. the ports collection. Type "gmake" to run GNU make
642
and better things will happen.
643
_________________________________________________________________
645
Build-time problems
646
647
[DEL: B1. Make coughs and dies when building on FreeBSD. :DEL]
648
649
As of release 6.3.0, fetchmail's Makefile[.in] should work flawlessly with
650
BSD's portable make used on FreeBSD. With older releases, use GNU make
651
(usually installed as gmake).
644
652
645
653
B2. Lex bombs out while building the fetchmail lexer.
646
654
647
In the immortal words of Alan Cox the last time this came up: ``Take the
648
Solaris lex and stick it up the backside of a passing Sun salesman, then
649
install flex and use that. All will be happier.''
650
651
I couldn't have put it better myself, and ain't going to try now.
652
653
(The same problem has been reported under HP-UX v10.20 and IRIX)
654
_________________________________________________________________
655
fetchmail 6.3.0 and newer ship with the lexer and parser in .c formats, so
656
you do not need to use lex unless you hacked the .l or .y files.
657
658
fetchmail's lexer has been developed with GNU flex, and the lex tools
659
shipped by some UNIX vendors (HP, SGI, Sun) are known to be incapable of
660
compiling fetchmail's lexer.
655
661
656
662
B3. I get link failures when I try to build fetchmail.
657
663
658
If you get errors resembling these
659
mxget.o(.text+0x35): undefined referenceto `__res_search'
660
mxget.o(.text+0x99): undefined reference to`__dn_skipname'
661
mxget.o(.text+0x11c): undefined reference to`__dn_expand'
662
mxget.o(.text+0x187): undefined reference to`__dn_expand'
664
If you get errors resembling these:
665
mxget.o(.text+0x35): undefined referenceto '__res_search'
666
mxget.o(.text+0x99): undefined reference to '__dn_skipname'
667
mxget.o(.text+0x11c): undefined reference to '__dn_expand'
668
mxget.o(.text+0x187): undefined reference to '__dn_expand'
663
669
make: *** [fetchmail] Error 1
664
670
665
671
then you must add "-lresolv" to the LOADLIBS line in your Makefile once you
666
have installed the `bind' package.
667
668
If you get link errors involving dcgettext, like this:
669
rcfile_y.o: In function `yyparse':
670
rcfile_y.o(.text+0x3aa): undefined reference to `dcgettext__'
671
rcfile_y.o(.text+0x4f2): undefined reference to `dcgettext__'
672
rcfile_y.o(.text+0x5ee): undefined reference to `dcgettext__'
673
rcfile_y.o: In function `yyerror':
674
rcfile_y.o(.text+0xc7c): undefined reference to `dcgettext__'
675
rcfile_y.o(.text+0xcc8): undefined reference to `dcgettext__'
676
rcfile_y.o(.text+0xdf9): more undefined references to `dcgettext__' follow
677
678
reconfigure with configure --with-included-gettext. This is due to some
679
brain-damage in the GNU internationalization libraries.
680
_________________________________________________________________
672
have installed the 'bind' package.
673
674
If you get link errors involving dcgettext, like these:
675
rcfile_y.o: In function 'yyparse':
676
rcfile_y.o(.text+0x3aa): undefined reference to 'dcgettext__'
677
rcfile_y.o(.text+0x4f2): undefined reference to 'dcgettext__'
678
rcfile_y.o(.text+0x5ee): undefined reference to 'dcgettext__'
679
rcfile_y.o: In function 'yyerror':
680
rcfile_y.o(.text+0xc7c): undefined reference to 'dcgettext__'
681
rcfile_y.o(.text+0xcc8): undefined reference to 'dcgettext__'
682
rcfile_y.o(.text+0xdf9): more undefined references to 'dcgettext__' follow
683
684
install an up to date version of GNU gettext, reconfigure and rebuild
685
fetchmail. If that does not help, reconfigure with '--disable-nls' added to
686
the "./configure" command and rebuild.
681
687
682
688
B4. I get build failures in the intl directory.
683
689
684
690
Reconfigure with --disable-nls and recompile.
685
686
GNU gettext is an overengineered, fragile pile of crap. I have teetered on
687
the brink of removing support for it entirely several times.
688
691
_________________________________________________________________
689
692
693
Fetchmail configuration file grammar questions
694
690
695
F1. Why does my old .fetchmailrc file no longer work?
691
696
692
697
If your file predates 5.8.9
696
701
697
702
If your file predates 5.8.3
698
703
699
The `via localhost' special case for use with ssh tunnelling is gone. Use
704
The 'via localhost' special case for use with ssh tunnelling is gone. Use
700
705
the %h feature of plugin instead.
701
706
702
707
If your file predates 5.6.8
717
722
only if it the server doesn't support any of those will it ship your
718
723
password en clair.
719
724
720
Setting the preauth option to any value other than `password' will prevent
725
Setting the preauth option to any value other than 'password' will prevent
721
726
from looking for a password in your .netrc file or querying for it at
722
727
startup time.
723
728
735
740
736
741
If your file predates 4.0.6:
737
742
738
Just after the `via' option was introduced, I realized that the interactions
739
between the `via', `aka', and `localdomains' options were out of control.
743
Just after the 'via' option was introduced, I realized that the interactions
744
between the 'via', 'aka', and 'localdomains' options were out of control.
740
745
Their behavior had become complex and confusing, so much so that I was no
741
746
longer sure I understood it myself. Users were being unpleasantly surprised.
742
747
744
749
redesign simplified the code and made the options more orthogonal, but may
745
750
have broken some complex multidrop configurations.
746
751
747
Any multidrop configurations that depended on the name just after the `poll'
748
or `skip' keyword being still interpreted as a DNS name for address-matching
749
purposes, even in the presence of a `via' option, will break.
752
Any multidrop configurations that depended on the name just after the 'poll'
753
or 'skip' keyword being still interpreted as a DNS name for address-matching
754
purposes, even in the presence of a 'via' option, will break.
750
755
751
756
It is theoretically possible that other unusual configurations (such as
752
757
those using a non-FQDN poll name to generate Kerberos IV tickets) might also
755
760
756
761
If your file predates 3.9.5:
757
762
758
The `remote' keyword has been changed to `folder'. If you try to use the old
763
The 'remote' keyword has been changed to 'folder'. If you try to use the old
759
764
keyword, the parser will utter a warning.
760
765
761
766
If your file predates 3.9:
762
767
763
768
It could be because you're using a .fetchmailrc that's written in the old
764
popclient syntax without an explicit `username' keyword leading the first
769
popclient syntax without an explicit 'username' keyword leading the first
765
770
user entry attached to a server entry.
766
771
767
This error can be triggered by having a user option such as `keep' or
768
`fetchall' before the first explicit username. For example, if you write
772
This error can be triggered by having a user option such as 'keep' or
773
'fetchall' before the first explicit username. For example, if you write
769
774
poll openmail protocol pop3
770
775
keep user "Hal DeVore" there is hdevore here
771
776
772
the `keep' option will generate an entire user entry with the default
777
the 'keep' option will generate an entire user entry with the default
773
778
username (the name of fetchmail's invoking user).
774
779
775
780
The popclient compatibility syntax was removed in 4.0. It complicated the
777
782
778
783
If your file predates 2.8:
779
784
780
The `interface', `monitor' and `batchlimit' options changed after 2.8.
785
The 'interface', 'monitor' and 'batchlimit' options changed after 2.8.
781
786
782
They used to be global options with `set' syntax like the batchlimit and
783
logfile options. Now they're per-server options, like `protocol'.
787
They used to be global options with 'set' syntax like the batchlimit and
788
logfile options. Now they're per-server options, like 'protocol'.
784
789
785
790
If you had something like
786
791
set interface = "sl0/10.0.2.15"
787
792
788
in your .fetchmailrc file, simply delete that line and insert `interface
789
sl0/10.0.2.15' in the server options part of your `defaults' declaration.
793
in your .fetchmailrc file, simply delete that line and insert 'interface
794
sl0/10.0.2.15' in the server options part of your 'defaults' declaration.
790
795
791
Do similarly for any `monitor' or `batchlimit' options.
792
_________________________________________________________________
796
Do similarly for any 'monitor' or 'batchlimit' options.
793
797
794
798
F2. The .fetchmailrc parser won't accept my all-numeric user name.
795
799
801
805
802
806
The lexical analyzer in 5.0.6 and beyond is smarter and assumes any token
803
807
following "username" or "password" is a string.
804
_________________________________________________________________
805
808
806
809
F3. The .fetchmailrc parser won't accept my host or username beginning with
807
`no'.
810
'no'.
808
811
809
812
See F2. You're caught in an unfortunate crack between the newer-style syntax
810
for negated options (`no keep', `no rewrite' etc.) and the older style
811
run-on syntax (`nokeep', `norewrite' etc.).
813
for negated options ('no keep', 'no rewrite' etc.) and the older style
814
run-on syntax ('nokeep', 'norewrite' etc.).
812
815
813
816
Upgrade to a 5.0.6 or later fetchmail, or put string quotes around your
814
817
token.
815
_________________________________________________________________
816
818
817
F4. I'm getting a `parse error' message I don't understand.
819
F4. I'm getting a 'parse error' message I don't understand.
818
820
819
821
The most common cause of mysterious parse errors is putting a server option
820
822
after a user option. Check the manual page; you'll probably find that by
821
moving one or more options closer to the `poll' keyword you can eliminate
823
moving one or more options closer to the 'poll' keyword you can eliminate
822
824
the problem.
823
825
824
826
Yes, I know these ordering restrictions are hard to understand.
825
Unfortunately, they're necessary in order to allow the `defaults' feature to
827
Unfortunately, they're necessary in order to allow the 'defaults' feature to
826
828
work.
827
829
_________________________________________________________________
828
830
831
Configuration questions
832
829
833
C1. Why do I need a .fetchmailrc when running as root on my own machine?
830
834
831
835
Ian T. Zimmerman <itz@rahul.net> asked:
843
847
844
848
It won't work if the second line is just "user itz". This is silly.
845
849
846
It seems fetchmail decides to RECP the `default local user' (i.e. the uid
847
running fetchmail) unless there are local aliases, and the `default' aliases
850
It seems fetchmail decides to RECP the 'default local user' (i.e. the uid
851
running fetchmail) unless there are local aliases, and the 'default' aliases
848
852
(itz->itz) don't count. They should.
849
853
850
854
Answer:
851
855
852
856
No they shouldn't. I thought about this for a while, and I don't much like
853
857
the conclusion I reached, but it's unavoidable. The problem is that
854
fetchmail has no way to know, in general, that a local user `itz' actually
858
fetchmail has no way to know, in general, that a local user 'itz' actually
855
859
exists.
856
860
857
861
"Ah!" you say, "Why doesn't it check the password file to see if the remote
869
873
to tinker with the mapping rules, you'll quickly find that all the
870
874
alternatives to the present default are worse or unacceptably more
871
875
complicated or both.
872
_________________________________________________________________
873
876
874
877
C2. How can I arrange for a fetchmail daemon to get killed when I log out?
875
878
876
879
The easiest way to dispatch fetchmail on logout (which will work reliably
877
880
only if you have just one login going at any time) is to arrange for the
878
command `fetchmail -q' to be called on logout. Under bash, you can arrange
879
this by putting `fetchmail -q' in the file `~/.bash_logout'. Most csh
880
variants execute `~/.logout' on logout. For other shells, consult your shell
881
command 'fetchmail -q' to be called on logout. Under bash, you can arrange
882
this by putting 'fetchmail -q' in the file '~/.bash_logout'. Most csh
883
variants execute '~/.logout' on logout. For other shells, consult your shell
881
884
manual page.
882
885
883
886
Automatic startup/shutdown of fetchmail is a little harder to arrange if you
888
891
889
892
Some people start up and shut down fetchmail using the ppp-up and ppp-down
890
893
scripts of pppd.
891
_________________________________________________________________
892
894
893
895
C3. How do I know what interface and address to use with --interface?
894
896
916
918
1. If you're using a SLIP link, the correct device is probably sl0.
917
919
2. If you're using a PPP link, the correct device is probably ppp0.
918
920
3. If you're using a direct connection over a local network such as an
919
ethernet, use the command `netstat -r' to look at your routing table.
921
ethernet, use the command 'netstat -r' to look at your routing table.
920
922
Try to match your mailserver name to a destination entry; if you don't
921
see it in the first column, use the `default' entry. The device name
923
see it in the first column, use the 'default' entry. The device name
922
924
will be in the rightmost column.
923
925
924
926
To determine the address and netmask:
925
927
1. If you're talking to slirp, the correct address is probably 10.0.2.15,
926
928
with no netmask specified. (It's possible to configure slirp to present
927
929
other addresses, but that's the default.)
928
2. If you have a static IP address, run `ifconfig <device>', where <device>
930
2. If you have a static IP address, run 'ifconfig <device>', where <device>
929
931
is whichever one you've determined. Use the IP address given after "inet
930
932
addr:". That is the IP address for your end of the link, and is what you
931
933
need. You won't need to specify a netmask.
943
945
would work. To range over any value of the last two octets (65536 addresses)
944
946
you would use
945
947
interface "sl0/205.164.0.0/255.255.0.0"
946
_________________________________________________________________
947
948
948
949
C4. How can I set up support for sendmail's anti-spam features?
949
950
978
979
979
980
Under no circumstances put your mailhost or any host you accept mail from
980
981
using fetchmail into your reject file. You will lose mail if you do this!!!
981
_________________________________________________________________
982
982
983
983
C5. How can I poll some of my mailboxes more/less often than others?
984
984
991
991
Then secondary.example.com will be polled every 6th time that
992
992
mainsite.example.com is polled, which with a polling interval of every 5
993
993
minutes means that secondary.example.com will be polled every 30 minutes.
994
_________________________________________________________________
995
994
996
995
Fetchmail works OK started up manually, but not from an init script.
997
996
1003
1002
1004
1003
Pick a location (such as /etc/fetchmailrc) and use fetchmail's -f option to
1005
1004
point fetchmail at it. That should solve the problem.
1006
_________________________________________________________________
1007
1005
1008
1006
C7. How can I forward mail to another host?
1009
1007
1011
1009
use the smtphost or smtpname option. See the manual page for details.
1012
1010
_________________________________________________________________
1013
1011
1012
How to make fetchmail play nice with various MTAs
1013
1014
1014
T1. How can I use fetchmail with sendmail?
1015
1015
1016
1016
For most sendmails, no special configuration is required. Eric Allman tells
1017
1017
me that if FEATURE(always_add_domain) is included in sendmail's
1018
1018
configuration, you can leave the rewrite option off.
1019
1019
1020
If your sendmail complains ``sendmail does not relay'', make sure your
1021
sendmail.cf file says Cwlocalhost so that sendmail recognizes `localhost' as
1020
If your sendmail complains "sendmail does not relay", make sure your
1021
sendmail.cf file says Cwlocalhost so that sendmail recognizes 'localhost' as
1022
1022
a name of its host.
1023
1023
1024
1024
If you're mailing from another machine on your local network, also ensure
1026
1026
/etc/mail/)
1027
1027
1028
1028
If you find that your sendmail doesn't like the address
1029
`FETCHMAIL-DAEMON@localhost' (which is used in the bouncemail that fetchmail
1029
'FETCHMAIL-DAEMON@localhost' (which is used in the bouncemail that fetchmail
1030
1030
generates), you may have to set FEATURE(accept_unqualified_senders).
1031
1031
1032
1032
Günther Leber reports that Digital Unix sendmails won't work with fetchmail.
1057
1057
T=DNS/RFC822/X-Unix,
1058
1058
A=procmail -Y -a $u -d $h
1059
1059
1060
For both hacks, you have to declare `envelope "Delivered-To:"' on the
1061
fetchmail side, to put the virtual domain (e.g. `domain.com') with RELAY
1062
permission into your access file and to add a line reading `domain.com
1063
local:local-pop-user' for the first and `domain.com mdrop:local-pop-user'
1060
For both hacks, you have to declare 'envelope "Delivered-To:"' on the
1061
fetchmail side, to put the virtual domain (e.g. 'domain.com') with RELAY
1062
permission into your access file and to add a line reading 'domain.com
1063
local:local-pop-user' for the first and 'domain.com mdrop:local-pop-user'
1064
1064
for the second hack to your mailertable.
1065
1065
1066
1066
You will notice that if the mail already has a Delivered-To header, sendmail
1067
1067
will not add another. Further, editing sendmail.cf directly is not very
1068
comfortable. Solutions for both problems can be found in Peter `Rattacresh'
1069
Backes' `hybrid' patch against sendmail. Have a look at it, you can find it
1068
comfortable. Solutions for both problems can be found in Peter 'Rattacresh'
1069
Backes' 'hybrid' patch against sendmail. Have a look at it, you can find it
1070
1070
in the contrib subdirectory.
1071
1071
1072
1072
Feel free to try Martijn Lievaart's detailed recipe in the contrib
1078
1078
Otherwise you will occasionally get mysterious delivery failures with a
1079
1079
SIGPIPE as the sendmail instance dies. The problem is messages with a single
1080
1080
dot at start of a text line.
1081
_________________________________________________________________
1082
1081
1083
1082
T2. How can I use fetchmail with qmail?
1084
1083
1092
1091
using qmail, it is possible to set up one fetchmail link to be reliably
1093
1092
collect the mail for an entire domain.
1094
1093
1095
One of the basic features of qmail is the `Delivered-To:' message header.
1094
One of the basic features of qmail is the 'Delivered-To:' message header.
1096
1095
Whenever qmail delivers a message to a local mailbox it puts the username
1097
1096
and hostname of the envelope recipient on this line. The major reason for
1098
1097
this is to prevent mail loops.
1099
1098
1100
1099
To set up qmail to batch mail for a disconnected site the ISP-mailhost will
1101
have normally put that site in its `virtualhosts' control file so it will
1100
have normally put that site in its 'virtualhosts' control file so it will
1102
1101
add a prefix to all mail addresses for this site. This results in mail sent
1103
1102
to 'username@userhost.userdom.dom.com' having a 'Delivered-To:' line of the
1104
1103
form:
1111
1110
string matching the user host name is likely.
1112
1111
1113
1112
To use this line you must:
1114
1. Ensure the option `envelope Delivered-To:' is in the fetchmail config
1113
1. Ensure the option 'envelope Delivered-To:' is in the fetchmail config
1115
1114
file.
1116
1115
2. Ensure you have a localdomains containing 'userdom.dom.com' or
1117
`userhost.dom.com' respectively.
1116
'userhost.dom.com' respectively.
1118
1117
1119
1118
So far this reliably delivers messages to the correct machine of the local
1120
1119
network, to deliver to the correct user the 'mbox-userstr-' prefix must be
1128
1127
1129
1128
Peter Wilson adds:
1130
1129
1131
``My ISP uses "alias-unzzippedcom-" as the prefix, which means that I need
1132
to name my file ".qmail-unzzippedcom-default". This is due to qmail's
1130
"My ISP uses "alias-unzzippedcom-" as the prefix, which means that I need to
1131
name my file ".qmail-unzzippedcom-default". This is due to qmail's
1133
1132
assumption that a message sent to user-xyz is handled by the file
1134
~user/.qmail-xyz (or ~user/.qmail-default).''
1133
~user/.qmail-xyz (or ~user/.qmail-default)."
1135
1134
1136
1135
Luca Olivetti adds:
1137
1136
1138
1137
If you aren't using qmail locally, or you don't want to set up the alias
1139
mechanism described above, you can use the option `qvirtual "mbox-userstr-"'
1138
mechanism described above, you can use the option 'qvirtual "mbox-userstr-"'
1140
1139
in your fetchmail config file to strip the prefix from the local user name.
1141
_________________________________________________________________
1142
1140
1143
1141
T3. How can I use fetchmail with exim?
1144
1142
1147
1145
There is an RFC1123 requirement that MAIL FROM and RCPT TO addresses you
1148
1146
pass to it have to be canonical (e.g. with a fully qualified hostname part).
1149
1147
Therefore fetchmail tries to pass fully qualified RCPT TO addresses. But
1150
exim does not by default accept `localhost' as a fully qualified domain.
1148
exim does not by default accept 'localhost' as a fully qualified domain.
1151
1149
This can be fixed.
1152
1150
1153
In exim.conf, add `localhost' to your local_domains declaration if it's not
1151
In exim.conf, add 'localhost' to your local_domains declaration if it's not
1154
1152
already present. For example, the author's site at thyrsus.com would have a
1155
1153
line reading:
1156
1154
local_domains = thyrsus.com:localhost
1177
1175
result in such messages having an incorrect domain name attached to their
1178
1176
return address (your SMTP listener's hostname rather than that of the remote
1179
1177
mail server).
1180
_________________________________________________________________
1181
1178
1182
1179
T4. How can I use fetchmail with smail?
1183
1180
1188
1185
fetchmail session, smail sometimes delivers them in an order other than
1189
1186
received-date order. This can be annoying because it scrambles
1190
1187
conversational threads. This is not fetchmail's problem, it is an smail
1191
`feature' and has been reported to the maintainers as a bug.
1188
'feature' and has been reported to the maintainers as a bug.
1192
1189
1193
1190
Very recent smail versions require an -smtp_hello_verify option in the smail
1194
1191
config file. This overrides smail's check to see that the HELO address is
1200
1197
You may also need to say -smtp_hello_broken_allow=127.0.0.1 in order for
1201
1198
smail to accept the "localhost" that fetchmail normally appends to recipient
1202
1199
addresses.
1203
_________________________________________________________________
1204
1200
1205
1201
T5. How can I use fetchmail with SCO's MMDF?
1206
1202
1207
1203
MMDF itself is difficult to configure, but it turns out that connecting
1208
1204
fetchmail to MMDF's SMTP channel isn't that hard. You can read an MMDF
1209
1205
recipe that describes replacing a UUCP link with fetchmail feeding MMDF.
1210
_________________________________________________________________
1211
1206
1212
1207
T6. How can I use fetchmail with Lotus Notes?
1213
1208
1214
1209
The Lotus Notes SMTP gateway tries to deduce when it should convert \n to
1215
1210
\r\n, but its rules are not the intuitive and correct-for-RFC822 ones. Use
1216
`forcecr'.
1217
_________________________________________________________________
1211
'forcecr'.
1218
1212
1219
1213
T7. How can I use fetchmail with Courier IMAP?
1220
1214
1221
1215
The courier mta doesn't like RCPT addresses that look like
1222
1216
someone@localhost. Work around this with an smtphost or smtpaddress.
1223
_________________________________________________________________
1224
1217
1225
1218
T8. How can I use fetchmail with vbmailshield?
1226
1219
1229
1222
As a workaround, you can set batchlimit to 1 so RSET is never used.
1230
1223
_________________________________________________________________
1231
1224
1225
How to make fetchmail work with various servers
1226
1232
1227
S1. How can I use fetchmail with qpopper?
1233
1228
1234
1229
Qualcomm's qpopper is probably the best-of-breed among POP3 servers, and is
1254
1249
Versions of fetchmail from 4.4.2 through 4.4.7 had a bad interaction with
1255
1250
Eudora qpopper versions 2.3 and later. See X5 for details. The solution is
1256
1251
to upgrade your fetchmail.
1257
_________________________________________________________________
1258
1252
1259
1253
S2. How can I use fetchmail with Microsoft Exchange?
1260
1254
1272
1266
Fetchmail using IMAP supports the proprietary NTLM mode used with M$
1273
1267
Exchange servers. To enable this, configure fetchmail with the --enable-NTLM
1274
1268
option and recompile it. Specify a user option value that looks like
1275
`user@domain': the part to the left of the @ will be passed as the username
1269
'user@domain': the part to the left of the @ will be passed as the username
1276
1270
and the part to the right as the NTLM domain.
1277
1271
1278
1272
M$ Exchange violates the POP3 and IMAP RFCs. Its LIST command does not
1356
1350
But, the best option involves a tactical nuclear weapon (an old ASROC will
1357
1351
do), pissing off a lot people who live downwind from Redmond, and your
1358
1352
choice of any Linux, NetBSD, FreeBSD, or Solaris CD-ROM.
1359
_________________________________________________________________
1360
1353
1361
1354
S3. How can I use fetchmail with HP OpenMail?
1362
1355
1373
1366
We've had a more recent report (December 2001) that the TOP command fails,
1374
1367
returning only one line regrardless of its argument, on something
1375
1368
identifying itself as "OpenMail POP3 interface".
1376
_________________________________________________________________
1377
1369
1378
1370
S4. How can I use fetchmail with Novell GroupWise?
1379
1371
1385
1377
your dollars for a server that isn't brain-dead. If you stick with code as
1386
1378
shoddy as GroupWise seems to be, you will probably pay for it with other
1387
1379
problems.
1388
_________________________________________________________________
1389
1380
1390
1381
S5. How can I use fetchmail with InterChange?
1391
1382
1396
1387
On Jan 9 2001, the people at InfiniteMail sent me mail informing me that
1397
1388
their new 3.61.08 release of InterChange fixes this problem. I don't have
1398
1389
any reports one way or the other yet.
1399
_________________________________________________________________
1400
1390
1401
1391
S6. How can I use fetchmail with MailMax?
1402
1392
1408
1398
even when enough lines have been specified. The MailMax developers have
1409
1399
acknowledged this bug as of 4 May 2000, but there is no fix yet. If you must
1410
1400
use this server, force RETR with the fetchall option.
1411
_________________________________________________________________
1412
1401
1413
1402
S7. How can I use fetchmail with FTGate?
1414
1403
1417
1406
of RETR and work around this bug.
1418
1407
_________________________________________________________________
1419
1408
1409
How to fetchmail work with specific ISPs
1410
1420
1411
I1. How can I use fetchmail with CompuServe RPA?
1421
1412
1422
1413
First, make sure your fetchmail has the RPA support compiled in. Stock
1427
1418
directions).
1428
1419
1429
1420
Give your CompuServe pass-phrase in lower case as your password. Add
1430
`@compuserve.com' to your user ID so that it looks like `user
1421
'@compuserve.com' to your user ID so that it looks like 'user
1431
1422
<UserID>@compuserve.com', where <UserID> can be either your numerical userID
1432
1423
or your E-mail nickname. An RPA-enabled fetchmail will automatically check
1433
1424
for csi.com in the POP server's greeting line. If that's found, and your
1434
user ID ends with `@compuserve.com', it will query the server to see if it
1425
user ID ends with '@compuserve.com', it will query the server to see if it
1435
1426
is RPA-capable, and if so do an RPA transaction rather than a plain-text
1436
1427
password handshake.
1437
1428
1449
1440
poll non-rpa.csi.com via "pop.site1.csi.com" with proto POP3 and options no dns
1450
1441
user "CSERVE_USER" there with password "CSERVE_POP3_PASSWORD"
1451
1442
is LOCAL_USER here options fetchall stripcr
1452
_________________________________________________________________
1453
1443
1454
1444
I2. How can I use fetchmail with Demon Internet's SDPS?
1455
1445
1504
1494
The autodetection works by looking at the hostname in the POP3 greeting
1505
1495
line; if you're accessing Demon Internet through a proxy it may fail. To
1506
1496
force SDPS mode, pick "sdps" as your protocol.
1507
_________________________________________________________________
1508
1497
1509
1498
I3. How can I use fetchmail with usa.net's servers?
1510
1499
1511
Enable `fetchall'. A user reports that the 2.2 version of USA.NET's POP
1512
server reports that you must use the `fetchall' option to make sure that all
1500
Enable 'fetchall'. A user reports that the 2.2 version of USA.NET's POP
1501
server reports that you must use the 'fetchall' option to make sure that all
1513
1502
of the mail is retrieved, otherwise some may be left on the server. This is
1514
1503
almost certainly a server bug.
1515
1504
1517
1506
the TOP command properly, either. Regardless of the argument you give it,
1518
1507
they retrieve only about 10 lines of the message. Fetchmail normally uses
1519
1508
TOP for message retrieval in order to avoid marking messages seen, but
1520
`fetchall' forces it to use RETR instead.
1509
'fetchall' forces it to use RETR instead.
1521
1510
1522
1511
Also, we're told USA.NET adds a ton of hops to your messages. You may need
1523
1512
to raise the MaxHopCount parameter in your sendmail.cf to avoid having
1525
1514
1526
1515
(Note: Other failure modes have been reported on usa.net's servers. They
1527
1516
seem to be chronically flaky. We recommend finding another provider.)
1528
_________________________________________________________________
1529
1517
1530
1518
I4. How can I use fetchmail with geocities POP3 servers?
1531
1519
1534
1522
This can solve problems if your MUA interprets Received continuations as
1535
1523
body lines and doesn't parse any of the following headers.
1536
1524
1537
Workaround is to use "mda" keyword or "-mda" switch:
1525
Workaround is to use "mda" keyword or "--mda" switch:
1538
1526
mda "sed -e '1s/^\t/Received: /' | formail | /usr/bin/procmail -d <user>"
1539
1527
1540
1528
Replace \t with exactly one tabulation character.
1544
1532
1545
1533
Fix: Get an email provider that doesn't suck. The pop-up ads on Geocities
1546
1534
are lame, you should boycott them anyway.
1547
_________________________________________________________________
1548
1549
I5. How can I use fetchmail with Hotmail?
1550
1551
You can't, yet. But gotmail or HotWayDaemon might be what you need.
1552
_________________________________________________________________
1535
1536
I5. How can I use fetchmail with Hotmail or Lycos Webmail?
1537
1538
You can't directly. But you can use fetchmail with hotmail or lycos webmail
1539
with the help of the HotWayDaemon daemon. You don't even need to install
1540
hotwayd as a daemon in inetd.conf but can use it as a plugin. Your
1541
configuration should look like this:
1542
poll localhost protocol pop3 tracepolls
1543
plugin "/usr/local/sbin/hotwayd -l 0 -p yourproxy:yourproxyport"
1544
username "youremail@hotmail.com" password "yourpassword"
1545
fetchall
1546
1547
As a second option you may consider using gotmail.
1553
1548
1554
1549
I6. How can I use fetchmail with MSN?
1555
1550
1563
1558
As of 5.0.8, we have support for the client side of NTLM authentication.
1564
1559
It's possible this may enable fetchmail to talk to MSN; if so, somebody
1565
1560
should report it so this FAQ can be corrected.
1566
_________________________________________________________________
1567
1561
1568
1562
I7. How can I use fetchmail with SpryNet?
1569
1563
1571
1565
that if your connection drops in mid-message, it may end up invisibly stuck
1572
1566
on your mail spool. Use the fetchall flag to ensure that it's recovered on
1573
1567
the next cycle.
1574
_________________________________________________________________
1575
1576
I8. How can I use fetchmail with comcast.net?
1577
1578
Stock fetchmail will work with a comcast.net server...but the Maillennium
1579
POP3 server comcat uses seems to have an 80K limit on the length of
1580
downloaded messages if you use POP3 TOP to retrieve. Anything larger is
1581
silently truncated. Don't mistake this for a fetchmail bug. (Reported July
1582
2003.)
1583
1584
Workaround: use the fetchall option.
1585
_________________________________________________________________
1568
1569
I8. How can I use fetchmail with comcast.net or other Maillennium servers?
1570
1571
Stock fetchmail will work with a Maillennium POP3/PROXY server... but this
1572
server will truncate "TOP" responses after 64&dots;82 kB (we have varying
1573
reports), in violation of Internet Standard #53 aka. RFC-1939 (POP3). Don't
1574
mistake this for a fetchmail bug. (Reported July 2003.) Comcast documented
1575
they haven't understood what this is about in two messages from April 2004.
1576
1577
Beginning with version 6.3.2, fetchmail will fall back to the RETR command
1578
if the greeting string contains "Maillennium POP3/PROXY server", and print a
1579
warning message. This means however that fetchmail has no means to prevent
1580
the "seen" flag from being set on the server (Note that officially, POP3 has
1581
no notion of seen tracking, but it works for some sites.)
1582
1583
Workaround for older versions: use the fetchall option.
1584
_________________________________________________________________
1585
1586
How to set up well-known security and authentication methods
1586
1587
1587
1588
K1. How can I use fetchmail with SOCKS?
1588
1589
1589
1590
Giuseppe Guerini added a --with-socks option that supports linking with
1590
socks library. If you specify the value of this option as ``yes'', the
1591
socks library. If you specify the value of this option as "yes", the
1591
1592
configure script will try to find the Rconnect library and set the makefile
1592
1593
up to link it. You can also specify a directory containing the Rconnect
1593
1594
library.
1594
1595
1595
1596
Alan Schmitt has added a similar --with-socks5 option that may work better
1596
1597
if you have a recent version of the SOCKS library.
1597
_________________________________________________________________
1598
1598
1599
1599
K2. How can I use fetchmail with IPv6 and IPsec?
1600
1600
1601
1601
To use fetchmail with IPv6, you need a system that supports IPv6, the "Basic
1602
Socket Interface Extensions for IPv6" (RFC 2133). This currently means that
1603
you need to have a BSD/OS or NetBSD system with the NRL IPv6+IPsec software
1604
distribution or a Linux system with a 2.2 or later kernel and net-tools. It
1605
should not be hard to build fetchmail on other IPv6 implementations if you
1606
can port the inet6-apps kit.
1607
1608
To use fetchmail with networking security (read: IPsec), you need a system
1609
that supports IPsec, the API described in the "Network Security API for
1610
Sockets" (draft-metz-net-security-api-01.txt), and the inet6-apps kit. This
1611
currently means that you need to have a BSD/OS or NetBSD system with the NRL
1612
IPv6+IPsec software distribution. A Linux IPsec implementation supporting
1613
this API will probably appear in the coming months.
1602
Socket Interface Extensions for IPv6" (RFC 2133).
1614
1603
1615
1604
The NRL IPv6+IPsec software distribution can be obtained from:
1616
1605
http://web.mit.edu/network/isakmp
1617
1606
1618
The inet6-apps kit can be obtained from
1619
http://ftp.ps.pl/pub/linux/IPv6/inet6-apps/.
1620
1621
1607
More information on using IPv6 with Linux can be obtained from:
1622
1608
* http://www.bieringer.de/linux/IPv6/IPv6-HOWTO/IPv6-HOWTO.html
1623
* http://www.ipv6.inner.net/ipv6 (via IPv6)
1624
* http://www.inner.net/ipv6 (via IPv4)
1625
_________________________________________________________________
1626
1609
1627
1610
K3. How can I get fetchmail to work with ssh?
1628
1611
1641
1624
preauthenticated in this mode, so you'll actually have to ship your
1642
1625
password. It will be under ssh encryption, though, so that shouldn't be a
1643
1626
problem.
1644
_________________________________________________________________
1645
1627
1646
1628
K4. What do I have to do to use the IMAP-GSS protocol?
1647
1629
1672
1654
1673
1655
Now you don't have to worry about your password appearing in cleartext in
1674
1656
your .fetchmailrc, or across the network.
1675
_________________________________________________________________
1676
1657
1677
1658
K5. How can I use fetchmail with SSL?
1678
1659
1707
1688
toolkit, something like this may work:
1708
1689
poll MYSERVER port 993 plugin "openssl s_client -connect %h:%p"
1709
1690
protocol imap username MYUSERNAME password MYPASSWORD
1691
1692
You should note that SSL is only secure against a "man-in-the-middle" attack
1693
if the client is able to verify that the peer's public key is the correct
1694
one, and has not been substituted by an attacker. fetchmail can do this in
1695
one of two ways: by verifying the SSL certificate, or by checking the
1696
fingerprint of the peer's public key.
1697
1698
There are three parts to SSL certificate verification: checking that the
1699
domain name in the certificate matches the hostname you asked to connect to;
1700
checking that the certificate expiry date has not passed; and checking that
1701
the certificate has been signed by a known Certificate Authority (CA). This
1702
last step takes some preparation, as you need to install the root
1703
certificates of all the CA's which you might come across.
1704
1705
The easiest way to do this is using the root CA keys supplied in the OpenSSL
1706
distribution, which means you need to download and unpack the source tarball
1707
from www.openssl.org. Once you have done that:
1708
1. mkdir /etc/ssl/certs
1709
2. in the openssl-x.x.x/certs directory: cp *.pem /etc/ssl/certs/
1710
3. in the openssl-x.x.x/tools directory: edit c_rehash and set
1711
$dir="/etc/ssl"
1712
4. run "perl c_rehash". This generates a number of symlinks within the
1713
/etc/ssl/certs/ directory
1714
1715
Now in .fetchmailrc, set option sslcertpath to point to this directory:
1716
poll pop3.example.com proto pop3 uidl no dns
1717
user foobar@example.com password xyzzy is foobar ssl sslcertpath /etc/ssl/cer
1718
ts
1719
1720
If the server certificate has not been signed by a known CA (e.g. it is a
1721
self-signed certificate), then this certificate validation will always fail.
1722
1723
Certificate verification is always attempted. If it fails, by default a
1724
warning is printed but the connection carries on (which means you are not
1725
protected against attack). If your server's certificate has been properly
1726
set up and verifies correctly, then add the "sslcertck" option to enforce
1727
validation. If your server doesn't have a valid certificate though (e.g. it
1728
has a self-signed certificate) then it will never verify, and the only way
1729
you can protect yourself is by checking the fingerprint.
1730
1731
To check the peer fingerprint: first use fetchmail -v once to connect to the
1732
host, at a time when you are pretty sure that there is no attack in progress
1733
(e.g. you are not traversing any untrusted network to reach the server).
1734
Make a note of the fingerprint shown. Now embed this in your .fetchmailrc
1735
using the sslfingerprint option: e.g.
1736
poll pop3.example.com proto pop3 uidl no dns
1737
user foobar@example.com password xyzzy is foobar
1738
ssl sslfingerprint "67:3E:02:94:D3:5B:C3:16:86:71:37:01:B1:3B:BC:E2"
1739
1740
When you next connect, the public key presented by the server will be
1741
verified against the fingerprint given. If it's different, it may mean that
1742
a man-in-the-middle attack is in progress - or it might just mean that the
1743
server changed its key. It's up to you to determine which has happened.
1744
1745
K6. How can I tell fetchmail not to use TLS if the server advertises it?
1746
1747
Some servers advertise STLS (POP3) or STARTTLS (IMAP), and fetchmail will
1748
automatically attempt TLS negotiation if SSL was enabled at compile time.
1749
This can however cause problems if the upstream didn't configure his
1750
certificates properly.
1751
1752
In order to prevent fetchmail from trying TLS (STLS, STARTTLS) negotiation,
1753
add this option:
1754
sslproto ssl23
1755
1756
This restricts fetchmail's SSL/TLS protocol choice from the default "SSLv2,
1757
SSLv3, TLSv1" to the two SSL variants, disabling TLSv1. Note however that
1758
this causes the connection to be unencrypted unless an encrypting "plugin"
1759
is used or SSL is requested explicitly.
1710
1760
_________________________________________________________________
1711
1761
1712
R1. Fetchmail isn't working, and -v shows `SMTP connect failed' messages.
1762
Runtime fatal errors
1763
1764
R1. Fetchmail isn't working, and -v shows 'SMTP connect failed' messages.
1713
1765
1714
1766
Fetchmail itself is probably working, but your SMTP port 25 listener is down
1715
1767
or inaccessible.
1716
1768
1717
1769
The first thing to check is if you can telnet to port 25 on your smtp host
1718
(which is normally `localhost' unless you've specified an smtp option in
1770
(which is normally 'localhost' unless you've specified an smtp option in
1719
1771
your .fetchmailrc or on the command line) and get a greeting line from the
1720
1772
listener. If the SMTP host is inaccessible or the listener is down, fix that
1721
1773
first.
1728
1780
and typical problem is that the listener had a momentary seizure due to
1729
1781
resource exhaustion while fetchmail was polling it -- process table full or
1730
1782
some other problem that stopped the listener process from forking. If your
1731
SMTP host is not `localhost' or something else in /etc/hosts, the fetchmail
1783
SMTP host is not 'localhost' or something else in /etc/hosts, the fetchmail
1732
1784
glitch could also have been caused by transient nameserver failure.
1733
1785
1734
1786
Try running fetchmail -v again; if it succeeds, you had one of these kinds
1772
1824
As of 2.2, the configure script has been hacked so the bind library is
1773
1825
linked only if it is actually needed. So under Linux it won't be, and this
1774
1826
particular cause should go away.
1775
_________________________________________________________________
1776
1827
1777
1828
R2. When I try to configure an MDA, fetchmail doesn't work.
1778
1829
1780
1831
X1.)
1781
1832
1782
1833
Try sending yourself test mail and retrieving it using the command-line
1783
options `-k -m cat'. This will dump exactly what fetchmail retrieves to
1834
options '-k -m cat'. This will dump exactly what fetchmail retrieves to
1784
1835
standard output (plus the Received line fetchmail itself adds to the
1785
1836
headers).
1786
1837
1787
1838
If the dump doesn't match what shows up in your mailbox when you configure
1788
1839
an MDA, your MDA is mangling the message. If it doesn't match what you sent,
1789
1840
then fetchmail or something on the server is broken.
1790
_________________________________________________________________
1791
1841
1792
1842
R3. Fetchmail dumps core when given an invalid rc file.
1793
1843
1799
1849
1800
1850
Fix: build and install the latest version of flex from the Free Software
1801
1851
Foundation. An FSF mirror site will help you get it faster.
1802
_________________________________________________________________
1803
1852
1804
1853
R4. Fetchmail dumps core in -V mode, but operates normally otherwise.
1805
1854
1814
1863
doing gdb traces that whatever free() calls producing the problem are being
1815
1864
made by the C library itself, not the fetchmail code (they're all from
1816
1865
within fclose, and not an fclose called directly by fetchmail, either).
1817
_________________________________________________________________
1818
1866
1819
1867
R5. Running fetchmail in daemon mode doesn't work.
1820
1868
1837
1885
immediately, detaching fetchmail and making it child of PID 1). This is
1838
1886
important when you start fetchmail interactively and than quit interactive
1839
1887
shell. The line above makes sure fetchmail lives after that!
1840
_________________________________________________________________
1841
1888
1842
1889
R6. Fetchmail randomly dies with socket errors.
1843
1890
1852
1899
servers, so you get different IP addresses on different poll cycles. To work
1853
1900
around this, change the poll name either to the real name of one of the
1854
1901
servers in the ring or to a corresponding IP address.
1855
_________________________________________________________________
1856
1902
1857
1903
R7. Fetchmail running as root stopped working after an OS upgrade
1858
1904
1860
1906
/root to / as the result of a change in init. Move your .fetchmailrc or use
1861
1907
a -f option to explicitly point at the file. (Oddly, a similar problem has
1862
1908
been reported from Debian systems.)
1863
_________________________________________________________________
1864
1909
1865
1910
R8. Fetchmail is timing out after fetching certain messages but before deleting
1866
1911
them
1882
1927
1883
1928
I'm still unclear about the details of why this is happening. At least
1884
1929
[now] I am now getting good performance and no queue blocking.
1885
_________________________________________________________________
1886
1930
1887
1931
R9. Fetchmail is timing out during message fetches
1888
1932
1890
1934
cause the server to start sending large amounts of data, which means large
1891
1935
packets. If your networking layer has a packet-fragmentation problem, that's
1892
1936
where you'll see it.
1893
_________________________________________________________________
1894
1937
1895
1938
R10. Fetchmail is dying with SIGPIPE.
1896
1939
1903
1946
Otherwise you will occasionally get mysterious delivery failures with a
1904
1947
SIGPIPE as the sendmail instance dies. The problem is messages with a single
1905
1948
dot at start of a text line.
1906
_________________________________________________________________
1907
1949
1908
1950
R11. My server is hanging or emitting errors on CAPA.
1909
1951
1910
1952
Your POP3 server is broken. You can work around this with the declaration
1911
1953
auth password in your .fetchmailrc.
1954
1955
R12. Fetchmail isn't working and reports getaddrinfo errors.
1956
1957
1. Make sure you haven't mistyped the host name or address, and that your
1958
DNS is working. If you cannot fix DNS, give the numeric host literal,
1959
for instance, 192.168.0.1
1960
2. Make sure your /etc/services file (or other services database) contains
1961
the necessary service entries. If you cannot fix the services database,
1962
use the --service option and give the numeric port address. Common port
1963
addresses are:
1964
1965
service port
1966
IMAP 143
1967
IMAP+SSL 993
1968
POP3 110
1969
POP3+SSL 995
1912
1970
_________________________________________________________________
1913
1971
1972
Hangs and lockups
1973
1914
1974
H1. Fetchmail hangs when used with pppd.
1915
1975
1916
Your problem may be with pppd's `demand' option. We have a report that
1917
fetchmail doesn't play well with it, but works with pppd if `demand' is
1976
Your problem may be with pppd's 'demand' option. We have a report that
1977
fetchmail doesn't play well with it, but works with pppd if 'demand' is
1918
1978
turned off. We have no idea why this is.
1919
_________________________________________________________________
1920
1979
1921
1980
H2. Fetchmail hangs during the MAIL FROM exchange.
1922
1981
1939
1998
5. Restart sendmail.
1940
1999
1941
2000
For more details consult the file /usr/share/sendmail-cf/README.
1942
_________________________________________________________________
1943
2001
1944
2002
H3. Fetchmail hangs while fetching mail.
1945
2003
1957
2015
Adding 'sendmail : 127.0.0.1' to /etc/hosts.allow could solve this problem.
1958
2016
_________________________________________________________________
1959
2017
2018
Disappearing mail
2019
1960
2020
D1. I think I've set up fetchmail correctly, but I'm not getting any mail.
1961
2021
1962
2022
Maybe you have a .forward or alias set up that you've forgotten about. You
1973
2033
user 'remoteuser' there with password '*' is 'localuser' here
1974
2034
1975
2035
make sure that 'localuser' does exist and can receive mail.
1976
_________________________________________________________________
1977
2036
1978
2037
D2. All my mail seems to disappear after a dropped connection.
1979
2038
1999
2058
good idea in a world of flaky phone lines). Then it will re-queue any
2000
2059
message that was being downloaded at hangup time. Still, qpopper may require
2001
2060
a noticeable amount of time to do deletions and clean up its queue.
2002
(Fetchmail waits a bit before retrying in order to avoid a `lock busy'
2061
(Fetchmail waits a bit before retrying in order to avoid a 'lock busy'
2003
2062
error.)
2004
_________________________________________________________________
2005
2063
2006
2064
D3. Mail that was being fetched when I interrupted my fetchmail seems to have
2007
2065
been vanished.
2012
2070
option) from the listener. No interrupt can cause it to lose mail.
2013
2071
2014
2072
However, IMAP2bis has a design problem in that its normal fetch command
2015
marks a message `seen' as soon as the fetch command to get it is sent down.
2073
marks a message 'seen' as soon as the fetch command to get it is sent down.
2016
2074
If for some reason the message isn't actually delivered (you take a line hit
2017
2075
during the download, or your port 25 listener can't find enough free disk
2018
space, or you interrupt the delivery in mid-message) that `seen' message can
2076
space, or you interrupt the delivery in mid-message) that 'seen' message can
2019
2077
lurk invisibly in your server mailbox forever.
2020
2078
2021
Workaround: add the `fetchall' keyword to your fetch options.
2079
Workaround: add the 'fetchall' keyword to your fetch options.
2022
2080
2023
2081
Solution: switch to an IMAP4 server.
2024
2082
_________________________________________________________________
2025
2083
2084
Multidrop-mode problems
2085
2026
2086
M1. I've declared local names, but all my multidrop mail is going to root
2027
2087
anyway.
2028
2088
2029
2089
Somehow your fetchmail is never recognizing the hostname part of recipient
2030
2090
names it parses out of To/Cc/envelope-header lines as matching the name of
2031
2091
the mailserver machine. To check this, run fetchmail in foreground with -v
2032
-v on. You will probably see a lot of messages with the format ``line
2033
rejected, %s is not an alias of the mailserver'' or ``no address matches;
2034
forwarding to %s.''
2092
-v on. You will probably see a lot of messages with the format "line
2093
rejected, %s is not an alias of the mailserver" or "no address matches;
2094
forwarding to %s."
2035
2095
2036
2096
These errors usually indicate some kind of DNS configuration problem either
2037
2097
on the server or your client machine.
2038
2098
2039
The easiest workaround is to add a `via' option (if necessary) and add
2099
The easiest workaround is to add a 'via' option (if necessary) and add
2040
2100
enough aka declarations to cover all of your mailserver's aliases, then say
2041
`no dns'. This will take DNS out of the picture (though it means mail may be
2101
'no dns'. This will take DNS out of the picture (though it means mail may be
2042
2102
uncollected if it's sent to an alias of the mailserver that you don't have
2043
2103
listed).
2044
2104
2048
2108
2049
2109
Occasionally these errors indicate the sort of header-parsing problem
2050
2110
described in M7.
2051
_________________________________________________________________
2052
2111
2053
2112
M2. I can't seem to get fetchmail to route to a local domain properly.
2054
2113
2065
2124
If neither of these alternatives is available, multidrop mode may do (though
2066
2125
you are going to get hurt by some mailing list software; see the caveats
2067
2126
under THE USE AND ABUSE OF MULTIDROP MAILBOXES on the man page). If you want
2068
to try it, the way to do it is with the `localdomains' option.
2127
to try it, the way to do it is with the 'localdomains' option.
2069
2128
2070
2129
In general, if you use localdomains you need to make sure of two other
2071
2130
things:
2072
2131
2073
2132
1. You've actually set up your .fetchmailrc entry to invoke multidrop mode.
2074
2133
2075
Many people set a `localdomains' list and then forget that fetchmail wants
2076
to see more than one name (or the wildcard `*') in a `here' list before it
2134
Many people set a 'localdomains' list and then forget that fetchmail wants
2135
to see more than one name (or the wildcard '*') in a 'here' list before it
2077
2136
will do multidrop routing.
2078
2137
2079
2. You may have to set `no envelope'.
2138
2. You may have to set 'no envelope'.
2080
2139
2081
2140
Normally, multidrop mode tries to deduce an envelope address from a message
2082
2141
before parsing the To/Cc/Bcc lines (this enables it to avoid losing to
2084
2143
2085
2144
Some ways of accumulating a whole domain's messages in a single server
2086
2145
mailbox mean it all ends up with a single envelope address that is useless
2087
for rerouting purposes. You may have to set `no envelope' to prevent
2146
for rerouting purposes. You may have to set 'no envelope' to prevent
2088
2147
fetchmail from being bamboozled by this.
2089
2148
2090
2149
Check also answer T1 on a reliable way to do multidrop delivery if your ISP
2091
2150
(or your mail redirection provider) is using qmail.
2092
_________________________________________________________________
2093
2151
2094
2152
M3. I tried to run a mailing list using multidrop, and I have a mail loop!
2095
2153
2099
2157
local addresses in the list.
2100
2158
2101
2159
If you use sendmail, you can check the list expansion with sendmail -bv.
2102
_________________________________________________________________
2103
2160
2104
2161
M4. My multidrop fetchmail seems to be having DNS problems.
2105
2162
2111
2168
As of 2.2, the configure script has been hacked so the bind library is
2112
2169
linked only if it is actually needed. So under Linux it won't be, and this
2113
2170
problem should go away.
2114
_________________________________________________________________
2115
2171
2116
2172
M5. I'm seeing long DNS delays before each message is processed.
2117
2173
2118
Use the `aka' option to pre-declare as many of your mailserver's DNS names
2174
Use the 'aka' option to pre-declare as many of your mailserver's DNS names
2119
2175
as you can. When an address's host part matches an aka name, no DNS lookup
2120
2176
needs to be done to check it.
2121
2177
2122
2178
If you're sure you've pre-declared all of your mailserver's DNS names, you
2123
can use the `no dns' option to prevent other hostname parts from being
2179
can use the 'no dns' option to prevent other hostname parts from being
2124
2180
looked up at all.
2125
2181
2126
2182
Sometimes delays are unavoidable. Some SMTP listeners try to call DNS on the
2127
2183
From-address hostname as a way of checking that the address is valid.
2128
_________________________________________________________________
2129
2184
2130
2185
M6. How do I get multidrop mode to work with majordomo?
2131
2186
2168
2223
I use this scheme with 2 virtual domains and the default ISP user+domain
2169
2224
and service about 30 mail accounts + majordomo on my inside pop3 server
2170
2225
with fetchmail and sendmail 8.83
2171
_________________________________________________________________
2172
2226
2173
2227
M7. Multidrop mode isn't parsing envelope addresses from my Received headers as
2174
2228
it should.
2186
2240
2187
2241
Some (unusual) mailserver configurations will generate extra Received lines
2188
2242
which you need to skip. To arrange this, use the optional skip prefix
2189
argument of the `envelope' option; you may need to say something like
2190
`envelope 1 Received' or `envelope 2 Received'.
2243
argument of the 'envelope' option; you may need to say something like
2244
'envelope 1 Received' or 'envelope 2 Received'.
2191
2245
2192
The `by' clause doesn't contain a mailserver alias:
2246
The 'by' clause doesn't contain a mailserver alias:
2193
2247
2194
2248
When fetchmail parses a Received line that looks like
2195
2249
Received: from send103.yahoomail.com (send103.yahoomail.com [205.180.60.92])
2196
2250
by iserv.ttns.net (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id RAA10088
2197
2251
for <ksturgeon@fbceg.org>; Wed, 9 Sep 1998 17:01:59 -0700
2198
2252
2199
it checks to see if `iserv.ttns.net' is a DNS alias of your mailserver
2200
before accepting `ksturgeon@fbceg.org' as an envelope address. This check
2201
might fail if your DNS were misconfigured, or if you were using `no dns' and
2253
it checks to see if 'iserv.ttns.net' is a DNS alias of your mailserver
2254
before accepting 'ksturgeon@fbceg.org' as an envelope address. This check
2255
might fail if your DNS were misconfigured, or if you were using 'no dns' and
2202
2256
had failed to declare iserv.ttns.net as an alias of your server.
2203
_________________________________________________________________
2204
2257
2205
2258
M8. Users are getting multiple copies of messages.
2206
2259
2222
2275
slow down the retrieval of large mail batches.
2223
2276
_________________________________________________________________
2224
2277
2278
Mangled mail
2279
2225
2280
X1. Spurious blank lines are appearing in the headers of fetched mail.
2226
2281
2227
2282
What's probably happening is that the POP/IMAP daemon on your mailserver is
2234
2289
current version of deliver. If this doesn't work, try to figure out which
2235
2290
other program in your mail path is inserting the blank line and replace
2236
2291
that. If you can't do either of these things, pick a different MDA (such as
2237
procmail) and declare it with the `mda' option.
2238
_________________________________________________________________
2292
maildrop) and declare it with the 'mda' option.
2239
2293
2240
2294
X2. My mail client can't see a Subject line.
2241
2295
2246
2300
The O'Reilly sendmail book does warn that IDA sendmail doesn't process X-
2247
2301
headers correctly. If this is your problem, all I can suggest is replacing
2248
2302
IDA sendmail, because it's broken and not RFC822 conformant.
2249
_________________________________________________________________
2250
2303
2251
2304
X3. Messages containing "From" at start of line are being split.
2252
2305
2258
2311
From lines. We have one report that the 2.1 version of the BSD popper
2259
2312
program (as distributed on Solaris 2.5 and elsewhere) is broken this way.
2260
2313
2261
You can test this. Declare an mda of `cat' and send yourself one piece of
2314
You can test this. Declare an mda of 'cat' and send yourself one piece of
2262
2315
mail containing "From" at start of a line. If you see a split message, your
2263
2316
POP/IMAP server is at fault. Upgrade to a more recent version.
2264
2317
2274
2327
file. There will likely be a line something like
2275
2328
Mlocal, P=/usr/bin/procmail, F=lsDFMShP, S=10, R=20/40, A=procmail -Y -d $u
2276
2329
2277
describing your local delivery agent. Try inserting the `E' option in the
2330
describing your local delivery agent. Try inserting the 'E' option in the
2278
2331
flags part (the F= string). This will make sendmail turn each dangerous
2279
2332
start-of-line From into a >From, preventing programs further downstream from
2280
2333
acting up.
2281
_________________________________________________________________
2282
2334
2283
X4.My mail is being mangled in a new and different way
2335
X4. My mail is being mangled in a new and different way
2284
2336
2285
2337
The first thing you need to do is pin down what program is doing the
2286
2338
mangling. We don't like getting bug reports about fetchmail that are
2347
2399
rare thing these days. Complain to us and we'll fix it. Please include the
2348
2400
session transcript of your manual fetchmail simulation along with the other
2349
2401
things described in the FAQ entry on reporting bugs.
2350
_________________________________________________________________
2351
2402
2352
2403
X5. Using POP3, retrievals seems to be fetching too much!
2353
2404
2365
2416
2366
2417
Workaround: set the fetchall option. Under POP3 this has the side effect of
2367
2418
forcing RETR use.
2368
_________________________________________________________________
2369
2419
2370
2420
X6. My mail attachments are being dropped or mangled.
2371
2421
2472
2522
most of the world doesn't understand its attachments, so it really shouldn't
2473
2523
be used at all), and make sure dtmail is set to use MIME rather than
2474
2524
mailtool's format.
2475
_________________________________________________________________
2476
2525
2477
2526
X7. Some mail attachments are hanging fetchmail.
2478
2527
2493
2542
also be caused by malfunctioning path-MTU discovery on the mailserver. Or,
2494
2543
if there's a modem in the link, it may be because the attachment contains
2495
2544
the Hayes mode escape "+++".
2496
_________________________________________________________________
2497
2545
2498
2546
X8. A spurious ) is being appended to my messages.
2499
2547
2536
2584
the time.
2537
2585
_________________________________________________________________
2538
2586
2587
Other problems
2588
2539
2589
O1. The --logfile option doesn't work if the logfile doesn't exist.
2540
2590
2541
2591
This is a feature, not a bug. It's in line with normal practice for system
2543
2593
hacking potentially fragile startup scripts. To get around it, just touch(1)
2544
2594
the logfile before you run fetchmail (this will have no effect on the
2545
2595
contents of the logfile if it already exists).
2546
_________________________________________________________________
2547
2596
2548
2597
O2. Every time I get a POP or IMAP message the header is dumped to all my
2549
2598
terminal sessions.
2550
2599
2551
2600
Fetchmail uses the local sendmail to perform final delivery, which Netscape
2552
2601
and other clients doesn't do; the announcement of new messages is done by a
2553
daemon that sendmail pokes. There should be a ``biff'' command to control
2602
daemon that sendmail pokes. There should be a "biff" command to control
2554
2603
this. Type
2555
2604
biff n
2556
2605
2557
2606
to turn it off. If this doesn't work, try the command
2558
chmod -x `tty`
2607
chmod -x $(tty)
2559
2608
2560
2609
which is essentially what biff -n will do. If this doesn't work, comment out
2561
any reference to ``comsat'' in your /etc/inetd.conf file and restart inetd.
2610
any reference to "comsat" in your /etc/inetd.conf file and restart inetd.
2562
2611
2563
2612
In Slackware Linux distributions, the last line in /etc/profile is
2564
2613
biff y
2567
2616
biff n
2568
2617
2569
2618
to solve the problem system-wide.
2570
_________________________________________________________________
2571
2619
2572
2620
O3. Does fetchmail reread its rc file every poll cycle?
2573
2621
2574
2622
No, but versions 5.2.2 and later will notice when you modify your rc file
2575
2623
and restart, reading it.
2576
_________________________________________________________________
2577
2624
2578
2625
O4. Why do deleted messages show up again when I take a line hit while
2579
2626
downloading?
2599
2646
delete and the expunge. If you've set a longer expunge interval, the window
2600
2647
gets wider. This problem should correct itself the next time you complete a
2601
2648
successful query.
2602
_________________________________________________________________
2603
2649
2604
2650
O5. Why is fetched mail being logged with my name, not the real From address?
2605
2651
2619
2665
Versions 2.1 and up try the header From address first and fall back to the
2620
2666
calling-user ID. So if your SMTP listener isn't picky, the log will look
2621
2667
right.
2622
_________________________________________________________________
2623
2668
2624
2669
O6. I'm seeing long sendmail delays or hangs near the start of each poll cycle.
2625
2670
2638
2683
Configuring your bind library to cache DNS lookups locally may help, and is
2639
2684
a good idea for speeding up other services as well. Switching to a faster
2640
2685
MTA like qmail or exim might help.
2641
_________________________________________________________________
2642
2686
2643
2687
O7. Why doesn't fetchmail deliver mail in date-sorted order?
2644
2688
2655
2699
protocols it uses.
2656
2700
2657
2701
Re-ordering messages is a user-agent function, anyway.
2658
_________________________________________________________________
2659
2702
2660
2703
O8. I'm using pppd. Why isn't my monitor option working?
2661
2704
2666
2709
counters that fetchmail relies upon, triggering fetchmail into polling after
2667
2710
its own delay interval and thus preventing the pppd link from ever reaching
2668
2711
its inactivity timeout.
2669
_________________________________________________________________
2670
2712
2671
2713
O9. Why does fetchmail keep retrieving the same messages over and over?
2672
2714
2717
2759
Unfortunately, this is exactly the way POP3 servers are supposed to behave
2718
2760
on a line drop, according to the RFCs. I recommend switching to IMAP and
2719
2761
using a short expunge interval.
2720
_________________________________________________________________
2721
2762
2722
2763
O10. Why is the received date on all my messages the same?
2723
2764
2724
2765
This is a design choice in your MTA, not fetchmail. It's taking the received
2725
2766
date from the last Received header.
2726
_________________________________________________________________
2727
2767
2728
2768
O11. I keep getting messages that say "Repoll immediately" in my logs.
2729
2769
2730
2770
This is your server barfing on the CAPA probe that fetchmail sends.
2771
2731
2772
If you run fetchmail in daemon mode (say "set daemon 600"), you will get the
2732
2773
message only once per run.
2733
2774
2734
2775
If you set an authentication method explicitly (say, with auth password),
2735
2776
you will never get the message.
2736
_________________________________________________________________
2737
2777
2738
2778
O12. Fetchmail no longer expunges mail on a 451 SMTP response.
2739
2779
2750
2790
keen on checking the sender addresses. This problem typically occurs if your
2751
2791
mail server is not checking the sender addresses, but your local server is.
2752
2792
2753
Or you could declare antispam 451
2793
Or you could declare antispam 451.
2754
2794
2755
2795
Or, you could check your nameserver configuration and query logs for dns
2756
2796
errors.
2757
2797
2758
2798
All these issues are not related to fetchmail directly.
2759
_________________________________________________________________
2760
2799
2761
2800
O13. I want timestamp information in my fetchmail logs.
2762
2801
2763
2802
Write a preconnect command in your configuration file that does something
2764
2803
like "date >> $HOME/Procmail/fetchmail.log".
2804
2805
O14. Fetchmail no longer deletes oversized mails with --flush.
2806
2807
Use --limitflush (available since release 6.3.0) to delete oversized mails
2808
along with the --limit option. If you are already having flush in your
2809
rcfile to delete oversized mails, replace it with limitflush to avoid losing
2810
mails unintentionally.
2811
2812
The --flush option is primarily designed to delete mails which have been
2813
read/downloaded but not deleted yet. This option cannot be overloaded to
2814
delete oversized mails as it cannot be guessed whether the user wants to
2815
delete only read/downloaded mails or only oversized mails or both when a
2816
user specifies both --limit and --flush. Hence, a separate --limitflush has
2817
been added to resolve the ambiguity.
2818
2819
O15. Fetchmail always retains the first message in the mailbox.
2820
2821
This happens when fetchmail sees an "X-IMAP:" header in the very first
2822
message in your mailbox. This usually stems from a message like the one
2823
shown below, which is automatically created on your server. This message
2824
shows up if the University of Washington IMAP or PINE software is used on
2825
the server together with a POP2 or POP3 daemon that is not aware of these
2826
messages, such as some versions of Qualcomm Popper (QPOP):
2827
2828
From MAILER-DAEMON Wed Nov 23 11:38:42 2005
2829
Date: 23 Nov 2005 11:38:42 +0100
2830
From: Mail System Internal Data <MAILER-DAEMON@imap.example.org>
2831
Subject: DON'T DELETE THIS MESSAGE -- FOLDER INTERNAL DATA
2832
Message-ID: <1132742322@imap.example.org>
2833
X-IMAP: 1132742306 0000000001
2834
Status: RO
2835
2836
This text is part of the internal format of your mail folder, and is not
2837
a real message. It is created automatically by the mail system software.
2838
If deleted, important folder data will be lost, and it will be re-created
2839
with the data reset to initial values.
2840
2841
As this message does not contain useful information, fetchmail is not
2842
retrieving it. And deleting it might slow down the server if you are keeping
2843
messages on the server, and the server would recreate it anyways, that's why
2844
fetchmail does not bother to delete it either.
2845
2846
O16. Why is the Fetchmail FAQ only available in ISO-216 A4 format? How do I get
2847
the FAQ in Letter format?
2848
2849
All the world uses ISO-216:1975 "A4" paper except for North America. Using
2850
A4 format reaches far more people than (formerly known as DIN A4, from
2851
DIN 476) format. Besides that, A4 paper is available in North America. For
2852
further information on the Letter-vs-A4 story, see:
2853
* Markus Kuhn: "International standard paper sizes"
2854
* Brian Forte: "A4 vs US Letter"
2855
2856
Offering the document formatted for two different paper sizes would bloat
2857
the package beyond reason, and formatting in a way that fits A4 and Letter
2858
paper formats would be a waste of paper in most parts of the world. For that
2859
reason, fetchmail only ships with an A4 formatted PDF document.
2860
2861
To create a letter-sized PDF, install HTMLDOC, edit fetchmail-FAQ.book in
2862
the source directory with your favorite text editor, replace --size A4 by
2863
--size letter, and type:
2864
make fetchmail-FAQ.pdf
2765
2865
_________________________________________________________________
2766
2866
2767
Back to Fetchmail Home Page To Site Map $Date: 2003/10/10 19:10:29 $
2768
2769
2867
2770
2868
Eric S. Raymond <esr@thyrsus.com>
2869
Matthias Andree
Loggerhead is a web-based interface for Breezy
Version: 2.0.1