"$d_sysMaint""email programs/command line emails.txt" www.BillHowell.ca 29Jan2020 initial ********** 31Jan2020 Try again Current ~/.fetchmailrc +-----+ set postmaster mail.lexi.net set bouncemail poll mail.lexi.net protocol POP3 user "daemon@billhowell.ca" there with password "_k]0VDfxknK" is "bill" here; +-----+ Try simple arrangement from given example : poll example.com protocol pop3 username "username" password "XXX" poll mail.lexi.net protocol POP3 username "daemon@billhowell.ca" password "_k]0VDfxknK" $ fetchmail gethostbyname failed for bill_lenovo Name or service not knownCannot find my own host in hosts database to qualify it! Trying to continue with unqualified hostname. DO NOT report broken Received: headers, HELO/EHLO lines or similar problems! DO repair your /etc/hosts, DNS, NIS or LDAP instead. fetchmail: No mail for daemon@billhowell.ca at mail.lexi.net +-----+ Try : poll mail.billhowell.ca protocol POP3 username "daemon@billhowell.ca" password "_k]0VDfxknK" gethostbyname failed for bill_lenovo Name or service not knownCannot find my own host in hosts database to qualify it! Trying to continue with unqualified hostname. DO NOT report broken Received: headers, HELO/EHLO lines or similar problems! DO repair your /etc/hosts, DNS, NIS or LDAP instead. fetchmail: Warning: the connection is insecure, continuing anyways. (Better use --sslcertck!) fetchmail: No mail for daemon@billhowell.ca at mail.billhowell.ca Change /etc/hostnames from : +-----+ localhost bill_lenovo mail.billhowell.ca # The following lines are desirable for IPv6 capable hosts ::1 localhost ip6-localhost ip6-loopback fe00::0 ip6-localnet ff00::0 ip6-mcastprefix ff02::1 ip6-allnodes ff02::2 ip6-allrouters ff02::3 ip6-allhosts +-----+ to : +-----+ localhost # The following lines are desirable for IPv6 capable hosts ::1 localhost ip6-localhost ip6-loopback fe00::0 ip6-localnet ff00::0 ip6-mcastprefix ff02::1 ip6-allnodes ff02::2 ip6-allrouters ff02::3 ip6-allhosts +-----+ >> gave same error Change /etc/hostnames to : +-----+ localhost 198.161.90.1:995 mail.billhowell.ca # The following lines are desirable for IPv6 capable hosts ::1 localhost ip6-localhost ip6-loopback fe00::0 ip6-localnet ff00::0 ip6-mcastprefix ff02::1 ip6-allnodes ff02::2 ip6-allrouters ff02::3 ip6-allhosts +-----+ >> same problems Change /etc/hostnames to : +-----+ localhost # The following lines are desirable for IPv6 capable hosts ::1 localhost ip6-localhost ip6-loopback fe00::0 ip6-localnet ff00::0 ip6-mcastprefix ff02::1 ip6-allnodes ff02::2 ip6-allrouters ff02::3 ip6-allhosts +-----+ >> same problems Maybe it is working, just need to send emails? $ fetchmail gethostbyname failed for bill_lenovo Name or service not knownCannot find my own host in hosts database to qualify it! Trying to continue with unqualified hostname. DO NOT report broken Received: headers, HELO/EHLO lines or similar problems! DO repair your /etc/hosts, DNS, NIS or LDAP instead. fetchmail: Warning: the connection is insecure, continuing anyways. (Better use --sslcertck!) 2 messages for daemon@billhowell.ca at mail.billhowell.ca (7313 octets). fetchmail: Connection errors for this poll: name 0: connection to localhost:smtp [::1/25] failed: Connection refused. fetchmail: SMTP connect to localhost failed fetchmail: SMTP transaction error while fetching from daemon@billhowell.ca@mail.billhowell.ca and delivering to SMTP host localhost reading message daemon@billhowell.ca@mail-c.lexi.net:1 of 2 (3655 octets)fetchmail: Query status=10 (SMTP) >> OK, same as a couple of days ago getaddrinfo(3), getnameinfo(3), and gai_strerror(3) >> Yikes - complicated structure (shit, here we go with moderen crap) I updated, perhaps fetchmail was out of date? Try: +-----+ localhost mail.lexi.net # The following lines are desirable for IPv6 capable hosts ::1 localhost ip6-localhost ip6-loopback fe00::0 ip6-localnet ff00::0 ip6-mcastprefix ff02::1 ip6-allnodes ff02::2 ip6-allrouters ff02::3 ip6-allhosts +-----+ $ fetchmail --sslcertck gethostbyname failed for bill_lenovo Name or service not knownCannot find my own host in hosts database to qualify it! Trying to continue with unqualified hostname. DO NOT report broken Received: headers, HELO/EHLO lines or similar problems! DO repair your /etc/hosts, DNS, NIS or LDAP instead. fetchmail: Server CommonName mismatch: mail.lexi.net != mail.billhowell.ca fetchmail: OpenSSL reported: error:14090086:SSL routines:SSL3_GET_SERVER_CERTIFICATE:certificate verify failed fetchmail: mail.billhowell.ca: upgrade to TLS failed. fetchmail: Unknown login or authentication error on daemon@billhowell.ca@mail-c.lexi.net fetchmail: socket error while fetching from daemon@billhowell.ca@mail.billhowell.ca fetchmail: Query status=2 (SOCKET) >> this is the best yet, but still busted Try: +-----+ localhost mail.lexi.net mail.billhowell.ca # The following lines are desirable for IPv6 capable hosts ::1 localhost ip6-localhost ip6-loopback fe00::0 ip6-localnet ff00::0 ip6-mcastprefix ff02::1 ip6-allnodes ff02::2 ip6-allrouters ff02::3 ip6-allhosts +-----+ $ fetchmail --sslcertck gethostbyname failed for bill_lenovo Name or service not knownCannot find my own host in hosts database to qualify it! Trying to continue with unqualified hostname. DO NOT report broken Received: headers, HELO/EHLO lines or similar problems! DO repair your /etc/hosts, DNS, NIS or LDAP instead. fetchmail: Server CommonName mismatch: mail.lexi.net != mail.billhowell.ca fetchmail: OpenSSL reported: error:14090086:SSL routines:SSL3_GET_SERVER_CERTIFICATE:certificate verify failed fetchmail: mail.billhowell.ca: upgrade to TLS failed. fetchmail: Unknown login or authentication error on daemon@billhowell.ca@mail-c.lexi.net fetchmail: socket error while fetching from daemon@billhowell.ca@mail.billhowell.ca fetchmail: Query status=2 (SOCKET) >> Interesting, but I need to find the certificate Try : +-----+ localhost mail.lexi.net 198.161.90.1:995 mail.billhowell.ca # The following lines are desirable for IPv6 capable hosts ::1 localhost ip6-localhost ip6-loopback fe00::0 ip6-localnet ff00::0 ip6-mcastprefix ff02::1 ip6-allnodes ff02::2 ip6-allrouters ff02::3 ip6-allhosts +-----+ I like this : https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-software-2/fetchmail-script-873234/ repo change your hosts file to Code: 127.0.0.1 localhost Try as user not as root Code: fetchmail -p POP3 -P 995 -S pop.gmail.com -u gmail.com However, if you have the .fetchmailrc file in your homedirectory, running Code: fetchmail as user, will retrieve your mail Kind regards Try : ./fetchmailrc : poll mail.billhowell.ca --protocol POP3 -P 995 username "daemon@billhowell.ca" password "_k]0VDfxknK" /etc/hosts : +-----+ 127.0.0.1 localhost # The following lines are desirable for IPv6 capable hosts ::1 localhost ip6-localhost ip6-loopback fe00::0 ip6-localnet ff00::0 ip6-mcastprefix ff02::1 ip6-allnodes ff02::2 ip6-allrouters ff02::3 ip6-allhosts +-----+ $ fetchmail --sslcertck fetchmail:/home/bill/.fetchmailrc:1: syntax error at -P >> but -P is specified in the man fetchmail >> no -p use --protocol Try : ./fetchmailrc : poll mail.billhowell.ca --protocol POP3 --port 995 --username "daemon@billhowell.ca" password "_k]0VDfxknK" /etc/hosts : +-----+ 127.0.0.1 localhost # The following lines are desirable for IPv6 capable hosts ::1 localhost ip6-localhost ip6-loopback fe00::0 ip6-localnet ff00::0 ip6-mcastprefix ff02::1 ip6-allnodes ff02::2 ip6-allrouters ff02::3 ip6-allhosts +-----+ $ fetchmail --sslcertck fetchmail:/home/bill/.fetchmailrc:1: syntax error at --protocol Try : remove the IPv6? - not yet ./fetchmailrc : poll mail.billhowell.ca protocol POP3 port 995 username "daemon@billhowell.ca" password "_k]0VDfxknK" +-----+ 127.0.0.1 localhost # The following lines are desirable for IPv6 capable hosts ::1 localhost ip6-localhost ip6-loopback fe00::0 ip6-localnet ff00::0 ip6-mcastprefix ff02::1 ip6-allnodes ff02::2 ip6-allrouters ff02::3 ip6-allhosts +-----+ $ fetchmail --sslcertck $ fetchmail --sslcertck gethostbyname failed for bill_lenovo Name or service not knownCannot find my own host in hosts database to qualify it! Trying to continue with unqualified hostname. DO NOT report broken Received: headers, HELO/EHLO lines or similar problems! DO repair your /etc/hosts, DNS, NIS or LDAP instead. >> hangs up here Try : remove the IPv6? - not yet ./fetchmailrc : poll mail.billhowell.ca protocol POP3 port 995 username "daemon@billhowell.ca" password "_k]0VDfxknK" +-----+ 127.0.0.1 localhost 198.161.90.21 mail.lexi.net # The following lines are desirable for IPv6 capable hosts ::1 localhost ip6-localhost ip6-loopback fe00::0 ip6-localnet ff00::0 ip6-mcastprefix ff02::1 ip6-allnodes ff02::2 ip6-allrouters ff02::3 ip6-allhosts +-----+ $ fetchmail --sslcertck gethostbyname failed for bill_lenovo Name or service not knownCannot find my own host in hosts database to qualify it! Trying to continue with unqualified hostname. DO NOT report broken Received: headers, HELO/EHLO lines or similar problems! DO repair your /etc/hosts, DNS, NIS or LDAP instead. >> hangs up here Try : ./fetchmailrc : remove the port poll mail.billhowell.ca protocol POP3 username "daemon@billhowell.ca" password "_k]0VDfxknK" +-----+ 127.0.0.1 localhost 198.161.90.21 mail.lexi.net # The following lines are desirable for IPv6 capable hosts ::1 localhost ip6-localhost ip6-loopback fe00::0 ip6-localnet ff00::0 ip6-mcastprefix ff02::1 ip6-allnodes ff02::2 ip6-allrouters ff02::3 ip6-allhosts +-----+ $ fetchmail --sslcertck gethostbyname failed for bill_lenovo Name or service not knownCannot find my own host in hosts database to qualify it! Trying to continue with unqualified hostname. DO NOT report broken Received: headers, HELO/EHLO lines or similar problems! DO repair your /etc/hosts, DNS, NIS or LDAP instead. fetchmail: Server CommonName mismatch: mail.lexi.net != mail.billhowell.ca fetchmail: OpenSSL reported: error:14090086:SSL routines:SSL3_GET_SERVER_CERTIFICATE:certificate verify failed fetchmail: mail.billhowell.ca: upgrade to TLS failed. fetchmail: Unknown login or authentication error on daemon@billhowell.ca@mail-c.lexi.net fetchmail: socket error while fetching from daemon@billhowell.ca@mail.billhowell.ca fetchmail: Query status=2 (SOCKET) Try : ./fetchmailrc : poll mail.lexi.net protocol POP3 username "daemon@billhowell.ca" password "_k]0VDfxknK" +-----+ 127.0.0.1 localhost 198.161.90.21 mail.lexi.net # The following lines are desirable for IPv6 capable hosts ::1 localhost ip6-localhost ip6-loopback fe00::0 ip6-localnet ff00::0 ip6-mcastprefix ff02::1 ip6-allnodes ff02::2 ip6-allrouters ff02::3 ip6-allhosts +-----+ $ fetchmail --sslcertck gethostbyname failed for bill_lenovo Name or service not knownCannot find my own host in hosts database to qualify it! Trying to continue with unqualified hostname. DO NOT report broken Received: headers, HELO/EHLO lines or similar problems! DO repair your /etc/hosts, DNS, NIS or LDAP instead. 2 messages for daemon@billhowell.ca at mail.lexi.net (7313 octets). fetchmail: Connection errors for this poll: name 0: connection to localhost:smtp [::1/25] failed: Connection refused. name 1: connection to localhost:smtp [127.0.0.1/25] failed: Connection refused. fetchmail: SMTP connect to localhost failed fetchmail: SMTP transaction error while fetching from daemon@billhowell.ca@mail.lexi.net and delivering to SMTP host localhost reading message daemon@billhowell.ca@mail.lexi.net:1 of 2 (3655 octets)fetchmail: Query status=10 (SMTP) >> it's a problem if I can't specify the port!! Try : ./fetchmailrc : poll mail.lexi.net protocol POP3 username "daemon@billhowell.ca" password "_k]0VDfxknK" +-----+ 127.0.0.1 localhost 198.161.90.21:995 mail.lexi.net # The following lines are desirable for IPv6 capable hosts ::1 localhost ip6-localhost ip6-loopback fe00::0 ip6-localnet ff00::0 ip6-mcastprefix ff02::1 ip6-allnodes ff02::2 ip6-allrouters ff02::3 ip6-allhosts +-----+ $ fetchmail --sslcertck gethostbyname failed for bill_lenovo Name or service not knownCannot find my own host in hosts database to qualify it! Trying to continue with unqualified hostname. DO NOT report broken Received: headers, HELO/EHLO lines or similar problems! DO repair your /etc/hosts, DNS, NIS or LDAP instead. 2 messages for daemon@billhowell.ca at mail.lexi.net (7313 octets). fetchmail: Connection errors for this poll: name 0: connection to localhost:smtp [::1/25] failed: Connection refused. name 1: connection to localhost:smtp [127.0.0.1/25] failed: Connection refused. fetchmail: SMTP connect to localhost failed fetchmail: SMTP transaction error while fetching from daemon@billhowell.ca@mail.lexi.net and delivering to SMTP host localhost reading message daemon@billhowell.ca@mail-msa.lexi.net:1 of 2 (3655 octets)fetchmail: Query status=10 (SMTP) Try : ./fetchmailrc put "port 995" back in : poll mail.lexi.net protocol POP3 port 995 username "daemon@billhowell.ca" password "" +-----+ 127.0.0.1 localhost 198.161.90.21 mail.lexi.net 198.161.90.1 mailbillhowell.ca # The following lines are desirable for IPv6 capable hosts ::1 localhost ip6-localhost ip6-loopback fe00::0 ip6-localnet ff00::0 ip6-mcastprefix ff02::1 ip6-allnodes ff02::2 ip6-allrouters ff02::3 ip6-allhosts +-----+ $ fetchmail --sslcertck gethostbyname failed for bill_lenovo Name or service not knownCannot find my own host in hosts database to qualify it! Trying to continue with unqualified hostname. DO NOT report broken Received: headers, HELO/EHLO lines or similar problems! DO repair your /etc/hosts, DNS, NIS or LDAP instead. >> hangs up here - probably port Try : ./fetchmailrc : poll mail.lexi.net protocol POP3 --port 995 username "daemon@billhowell.ca" password "" +-----+ 127.0.0.1 localhost 198.161.90.21 mail.lexi.net 198.161.90.1 mailbillhowell.ca # The following lines are desirable for IPv6 capable hosts ::1 localhost ip6-localhost ip6-loopback fe00::0 ip6-localnet ff00::0 ip6-mcastprefix ff02::1 ip6-allnodes ff02::2 ip6-allrouters ff02::3 ip6-allhosts +-----+ $ fetchmail --sslcertck fetchmail:/home/bill/.fetchmailrc:1: syntax error at --port ********** 29Jan2020 fetchmail My attempts : $ fetchmail File /home/bill/.fetchmailrc must have no more than -rwx------ (0700) permissions. >> oops $ chmod 600 ~/.fetchmailrc >> OK $ fetchmail fetchmail: Warning: the connection is insecure, continuing anyways. (Better use --sslcertck!) fetchmail: Authorization failure on daemon@billhowell.ca.tld@mail-c.lexi.net fetchmail: For help, see http://www.fetchmail.info/fetchmail-FAQ.html#R15 fetchmail: Query status=3 (AUTHFAIL) >> Try --sslcertck $ fetchmail --sslcertck fetchmail: Server CommonName mismatch: mail.lexi.net != mail.billhowell.ca fetchmail: OpenSSL reported: error:14090086:SSL routines:SSL3_GET_SERVER_CERTIFICATE:certificate verify failed fetchmail: mail.billhowell.ca: upgrade to TLS failed. fetchmail: Unknown login or authentication error on daemon@billhowell.ca.tld@mail-c.lexi.net fetchmail: socket error while fetching from daemon@billhowell.ca.tld@mail.billhowell.ca fetchmail: Query status=2 (SOCKET) >> Try ~/.fetchmail +-----+ set postmaster mail.lexi.net set bouncemail poll mail.billhowell.ca protocol POP3 user "mail.billhowell.ca" there with password "" +-----+ $ fetchmail --sslcertck fetchmail: Server CommonName mismatch: mail.lexi.net != mail.billhowell.ca fetchmail: OpenSSL reported: error:14090086:SSL routines:SSL3_GET_SERVER_CERTIFICATE:certificate verify failed fetchmail: mail.billhowell.ca: upgrade to TLS failed. fetchmail: Unknown login or authentication error on mail.billhowell.ca@mail-c.lexi.net fetchmail: socket error while fetching from mail.billhowell.ca@mail.billhowell.ca fetchmail: Query status=2 (SOCKET) >> Try ~/.fetchmail +-----+ set postmaster mail.billhowell.ca set bouncemail poll mail.billhowell.ca protocol POP3 user "mail.billhowell.ca" there with password "" +-----+ $ fetchmail --sslcertck fetchmail: Server CommonName mismatch: mail.lexi.net != mail.billhowell.ca fetchmail: OpenSSL reported: error:14090086:SSL routines:SSL3_GET_SERVER_CERTIFICATE:certificate verify failed fetchmail: mail.billhowell.ca: upgrade to TLS failed. fetchmail: Unknown login or authentication error on mail.billhowell.ca@mail-c.lexi.net fetchmail: socket error while fetching from mail.billhowell.ca@mail.billhowell.ca fetchmail: Query status=2 (SOCKET) >> Try ~/.fetchmail +-----+ set postmaster mail.lexi.net set bouncemail poll mail.billhowell.ca protocol POP3 user "daemon@billhowell.ca" there with password "" +-----+ $ fetchmail --sslcertck fetchmail: Server CommonName mismatch: mail.lexi.net != mail.billhowell.ca fetchmail: OpenSSL reported: error:14090086:SSL routines:SSL3_GET_SERVER_CERTIFICATE:certificate verify failed fetchmail: mail.billhowell.ca: upgrade to TLS failed. fetchmail: Unknown login or authentication error on daemon@billhowell.ca@mail-c.lexi.net fetchmail: socket error while fetching from daemon@billhowell.ca@mail.billhowell.ca fetchmail: Query status=2 (SOCKET) >> Try ~/.fetchmail +-----+ set postmaster mail.lexi.net set bouncemail poll mail.billhowell.ca protocol POP3 user "daemon@billhowell.ca" there with password "" is "bill" here; +-----+ $ fetchmail --sslcertck fetchmail: Server CommonName mismatch: mail.lexi.net != mail.billhowell.ca fetchmail: OpenSSL reported: error:14090086:SSL routines:SSL3_GET_SERVER_CERTIFICATE:certificate verify failed fetchmail: mail.billhowell.ca: upgrade to TLS failed. fetchmail: Unknown login or authentication error on daemon@billhowell.ca@mail-c.lexi.net fetchmail: socket error while fetching from daemon@billhowell.ca@mail.billhowell.ca fetchmail: Query status=2 (SOCKET) It seems that my first configuration (not marked down for ~/.fetchmailrc!!) worked best : $ fetchmail fetchmail: Warning: the connection is insecure, continuing anyways. (Better use --sslcertck!) fetchmail: Authorization failure on daemon@billhowell.ca.tld@mail-c.lexi.net fetchmail: For help, see http://www.fetchmail.info/fetchmail-FAQ.html#R15 fetchmail: Query status=3 (AUTHFAIL) >> to consider : service -P Specify service name (a numeric value is also allowed and consid‐ered a TCP/IP port number). http://www.fetchmail.info/fetchmail-FAQ.html#R15 >> URL not doing anything... as before Why not drop postmaster? >> Try ~/.fetchmail +-----+ set bouncemail poll mail.billhowell.ca protocol POP3 user "daemon@billhowell.ca" there with password "" is "bill" here; +-----+ $ fetchmail --sslcertck service 995 Enter password for bill@service: Enter password for bill@995: fetchmail: couldn't find canonical DNS name of service (service): Name or service not known fetchmail: Query status=11 (DNS) fetchmail: Connection errors for this poll: name 0: connection to 995:imap [0.0.3.227/143] failed: Invalid argument. IMAP connection to 995 failed: Invalid argument fetchmail: Connection errors for this poll: name 0: connection to 995:pop3 [0.0.3.227/110] failed: Invalid argument. POP3 connection to 995 failed: Invalid argument fetchmail: Query status=2 (SOCKET) >> Try ~/.fetchmail +-----+ set bouncemail poll mail.billhowell.ca protocol POP3 user "daemon@billhowell.ca" there with password "" is "bill" here; +-----+ $ fetchmail --sslcertck fetchmail: Server CommonName mismatch: mail.lexi.net != mail.billhowell.ca fetchmail: OpenSSL reported: error:14090086:SSL routines:SSL3_GET_SERVER_CERTIFICATE:certificate verify failed fetchmail: mail.billhowell.ca: upgrade to TLS failed. fetchmail: Unknown login or authentication error on daemon@billhowell.ca@mail-c.lexi.net fetchmail: socket error while fetching from daemon@billhowell.ca@mail.billhowell.ca fetchmail: Query status=2 (SOCKET) >> Try ~/.fetchmail +-----+ set postmaster mail.lexi.net set bouncemail poll mail.lexi.net protocol POP3 user "daemon@billhowell.ca" there with password "" is "bill" here; +-----+ >> OK! ********** 29Jan2020 fetchmail, Procmail, sendmail +-----+ https://www.linode.com/docs/email/clients/using-fetchmail-to-retrieve-email/ Introduction to .fetchmailrc SyntaxPermalink Fetchmail processes configuration options specified on the command line by default. More conventionally, however, administrators store settings in the ~/.fetchmailrc file. Still, any options specified in the command line will override directives set in the configuration file. You can specify a number of different accounts in your ~/.fetchmailrc and even use fetchmail to deliver email to a number of different local users. Let’s consider a number of examples, beginning with a very simple line: .fetchmailrc poll example.com protocol pop3 username "username" password "XXX" This assumes that the username on the remote pop3 server is the same as the local user. In this case, mail will be delivered to the default system mail spool using in an mbox format and located at /var/mail/username. Allow us to consider the following example: .fetchmailrc poll mail.example.com protocol pop3: username "admin" password "dir3cti0n" is "username" here; username "fore" password "0rd3r" is "foreman" here; poll mail.example.org protocol pop3 with option sslproto '': user "betty" password "p1nk" mda "/usr/bin/procmail -d %T": user "betty" password "p1nk" mda "/usr/bin/procmail -d %T" In the first specification, fetchmail is told to check the mail.example.com server, using the POP3 protocol, for the users admin and fore.” Also, the “is "[username]" here; directive is used to clarify the relationship between a remote user (i.e. admin and fore) and users on the local machine (i.e. username and foreman). In the second example, a single account (i.e. betty) is retrieved from the remote server (i.e. mail.dexample.org) and passed to the MDA procmail utility. Additionally, account has the sslproto option is enabled to encrypt this traffic using ssl. Fetchmail requires that the ~/.fetchmailrc file have the access permissions of 600. Permissions of 600 equate to read and writeable by the user account which “owns” the file with no permissions granted to group or other users. To achieve this, issue the following command: chmod 600 ~/.fetchmailrc Global SettingsPermalink In addition to the configuration options described above, fetchmail provides a number of additional “global” configuration options. These allow you to configure the behavior of fetchmail with regards to all of the servers that it polls. These options are included at the beginning of the file and begin with the word set. Here is an example: .fetchmailrc set daemon [seconds] set postmaster "username" set logfile "\~/logs/fetchmail.log" set syslog The following sections will explain the functionality of these settings. +-----+ https://www.linux.com/news/fetching-email-mutt/ To read mail from a POP account using Mutt, you need to have a mail transfer agent such as Sendmail and a mail delivery agent such as Procmail installed, as well as a program that can connect to a POP server and download your emails, such as fetchmail. Most standard *nix systems, have all these programs installed. Configuring fetchmail You can use fetchmail to connect to Gmail’s POP server, log into your account, and retrieve messages. To configure fetchmail, you’ll need to know details about the POP mail server, such as its address and port number. Instructions on enabling POP forwarding in Gmail is available at Google’s help center page. Next, you need to create a .fetchmailrc file in your home directory that contains these lines: poll SERVER with proto PROTOCOL user REMOTE_USER there with password REMOTE_PASSWORD is LOCAL_USER here The words in capital letters need to be replaced with actual values. SERVER is your POP server. PROTOCOL refers to the protocol you want fetchmail to use to connect to the remote servers. REMOTE_USER is your email ID. LOCAL_USER is the user account on your machine. Below is my .fetchmailrc, configured to retrieve mails from my gmail account: poll pop.gmail.com with proto POP3 and options no dns user 'linuxlala@gmail.com' is 'linuxlala' here options ssl You can see I used some additional options. no dns means that a dynamic IP address is allocated to your machine. The second line asks fetchmail to connect to the Gmail server using SSL. To test whether fetchmail works, open a terminal and enter fetchmail -vk . The -v switch enables verbose mode, so you can see what fetchmail is doing. The -k switch ensures that messages are not deleted from the server when they are downloaded. if all goes well, you’re now ready to use Mutt to read email. >> good description enddoc