Server Options - Red Hat ENTERPRISE LINUX 5 - DEPLOYMENT Deployment Manual

24.3.3.3. Server Options

Server options must be placed on their own line in .fetchmailrc after a poll or skip action.
• auth <auth-type> — Replace <auth-type> with the type of authentication to be used. By
default, password authentication is used, but some protocols support other types of authentication,
including kerberos_v5, kerberos_v4, and ssh. If the any authentication type is used, Fetchmail
first tries methods that do not require a password, then methods that mask the password, and finally
attempts to send the password unencrypted to authenticate to the server.
• interval <number> — Polls the specified server every <number> of times that it checks for
email on all configured servers. This option is generally used for email servers where the user rarely
receives messages.
• port <port-number> — Replace <port-number> with the port number. This value overrides
the default port number for the specified protocol.
• proto <protocol> — Replace <protocol> with the protocol, such as pop3 or imap, to use
when checking for messages on the server.
• timeout <seconds> — Replace <seconds> with the number of seconds of server inactivity after
which Fetchmail gives up on a connection attempt. If this value is not set, a default of 300 seconds
is assumed.
24.3.3.4. 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 defined options must 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> — Replace <number> with the number of messages to be retrieved
before stopping.
• flush — Deletes all previously viewed messages in the queue before retrieving new messages.
• limit <max-number-bytes> — Replace <max-number-bytes> with the maximum size in
bytes that messages are allowed to be when retrieved by Fetchmail. This option is useful with slow
network links, when a large message takes too long to download.
• password '<password>' — Replace <password> with the user's password.
• preconnect "<command>" — Replace <command> with a command to be executed before
retrieving messages for the user.
• postconnect "<command>" — Replace <command> with a command to be executed after
retrieving messages for the user.
• ssl — Activates SSL encryption.
• user "<username>" — Replace <username> with the username used by Fetchmail to retrieve
messages. This option must precede all other user options.
Fetchmail
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