Installation guide

218 Chapter 15. Email
While you can set up your .fetchmailrc file manually, it is much easier to let the included fetch-
mailconf program do it for you. However, when testing new configurations, it is usually easier to
edit the .fetchmailrc file directly.
As expected with a program that services such a mature network service as email and uses so many
protocols, Fetchmail contains many different global, server, and local options. Many of these options
are rarely used or only apply to very specific situations. The fetchmail man page explains each of
these options in detail, but the most common ones are listed here.
15.4.1.1. Global Options
Each global option should be placed on a single line after a set action.
• daemon seconds — Tells Fetchmail to automatically use daemon-mode, where it will stay in
the background and poll for mail at the interval specified.
• postmaster — Gives Fetchmail a local user to send mail to in case of delivery problems.
• syslog — Tells Fetchmail to start logging error and status messages in the system’s log file. By
default, this is /var/log/maillog.
15.4.1.2. Server Options
Place server options on their own line in .fetchmailrc after a poll or skip action.
• auth
auth-type — Specifies the type of authentication to be used. By default, password
authentication is used, but some protocols support other types of authentication, including ker-
beros_v5, kerberos_v4, and ssh. If the any authentication type is used, Fetchmail will first try
methods that do not require a password, then methods that mask your password, and finally attempt
to send your password in the clear to authenticate to the server.
• interval
number — Tells Fetchmail to only poll this server every number of times that
it checks for email on all configured servers. This option might be used with email servers where
you rarely receive messages.
• port port-number — Overrides the default port number for a specified protocol.
• proto protocol — Tells Fetchmail to use a specific protocol, such as pop3 or imap, to check
for messages on this server.
• timeout
seconds — Configures Fetchmail to give up after a certain interval of server inac-
tivity. If this value is not set, a default of 300 seconds is assumed.
15.4.1.3. User Options
User options may be placed on their own lines beneath a server option or on the same line as the server
option. In either case, the user options follow the user option (defined below).
• fetchall — Orders Fetchmail to download all messages in the queue, including messages that
have already been viewed. By default, Fetchmail only pulls down new messages.
• fetchlimit
number — Only allows a certain number of messages to be retrieved before
stopping.
• flush — Tells Fetchmail to delete all previously viewed messages in the queue before retrieving
new messages.