Top (GNU Mailutils Manual)

GNU Mailutils

This edition of the GNU Mailutils Manual, last updated on 8 June 2017, documents GNU Mailutils Version 3.4.

• Introduction:		Preliminary Information.
• Mailbox:		Mailboxes and URLs.
• Programs:		Mailutils Programs.
• Libraries:		Mailutils Libraries.
• Sieve Language:		The Sieve Language.
• Reporting Bugs:		How to Report a Bug.
• News:		Getting News About GNU Mailutils.
• Acknowledgement:		Thanks and Credits.
Appendices
• References:		References.
• Date Input Formats:
• Usage Vars:		Configuring Help Summary
• GNU FDL:		This manual is under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Indices
• Function Index:		All Mailutils Functions.
• Variable Index:		All Mailutils Variables.
• Keyword Index:		Index of Keywords.
• Program Index:		All Mailutils Programs.
• Concept Index:		Index of Concepts.

— The Detailed Node Listing — Introduction
• Book Contents:		What this Book Contains
• History:		A bit of History
Mailbox
• Local Mailboxes:		Mailboxes stored on the local file system.
• Remote Mailboxes:		Mailboxes stored on remote hosts.
• SMTP Mailboxes:		Mailboxes that send mail.
• Program Mailboxes:
Mailutils Programs
• command line:		Command Line Syntax.
• configuration:		Common Configuration File.
• debugging:

• frm and from:		List Headers from a Mailbox.
• mail:		Send and Receive Mail.
• messages:		Count the Number of Messages in a Mailbox.
• movemail:		Moves Mail from the User Maildrop to the Local File.
• readmsg:		Extract Messages from a Folder.

• sieve:		Mail Filtering Utility.
• guimb:		Mailbox Scanning and Processing Language.

• maidag:		General-purpose Mail Delivery Agent.

• mimeview:		Universal File Viewer.

• pop3d:		POP3 Daemon.
• imap4d:		IMAP4 Daemon.
• comsatd:		Comsat Daemon.

• mh:		The MH Message Handling System.

• mailutils:		The Mailutils Multi-Purpose Tool.
Command Line
• Option Basics:		Basic Notions About Command Line Options.
• Common Options:		Options That are Common for All Utilities.
Mailutils Configuration File
• conf-syntax:		Configuration File Syntax
• Variables:		Variable Expansion
• include:		Include Statement
• program statement:
• logging statement:
• debug statement:
• mailbox statement:
• locking statement:
• mailer statement:
• acl statement:
• tcp-wrappers statement:
• Server Settings:
• auth statement:
• pam statement:
• virtdomain statement:
• radius statement:
• sql statement:
• ldap statement:
• tls statement:
• gsasl statement:
Configuration File Syntax
• Comments:
• Statements:
• Paths:
Server Settings
• General Server Configuration:
• Server Statement:
Debugging
• Level Syntax:
• Level BNF:
• Debugging Categories:
`mail` — Send and Receive Mail
• Invoking Mail:		Command Line Options.
• Specifying Messages:		How to Specify Message Sets.
• Composing Mail:		Composing Mail.
• Reading Mail:		Reading Mail.
• Scripting:		Scripting.
• Mail Variables:		How to Alter the Behavior of `mail`.
• Mail Configuration Files:		Personal and System-wide Configuration Files.
Composing Mail
• Quitting Compose Mode:
• Getting Help on Compose Escapes:
• Editing the Message:
• Modifying the Headers:
• Enclosing Another Message:
• Adding a File to the Message:
• Attaching a File to the Message:
• Printing And Saving the Message:
• Signing the Message:
• Printing Another Message:
• Inserting Value of a Mail Variable:
• Executing Other Mail Commands:
• Executing Shell Commands:
Reading Mail
• Quitting the Program:
• Obtaining Online Help:
• Moving Within a Mailbox:
• Changing mailbox/directory:
• Controlling Header Display:
• Displaying Information:
• Displaying Messages:
• Marking Messages:
• Disposing of Messages:
• Saving Messages:
• Editing Messages:
• Aliasing:
• Replying:
• Controlling Sender Fields:
• Incorporating New Mail:
• Shell Escapes:
`movemail` — Moves Mail from the User Maildrop to the Local File
• Movemail Configuration:
• Ownership:		Setting Destination Mailbox Ownership
• Summary:		Short Movemail Invocation Summary
`readmsg` — Extract Messages from a Folder
• Opt-readmsg:		Invocation of `readmsg`.
• Conf-readmsg:		Configuration of `readmsg`.
`sieve`
• sieve interpreter:		A Sieve Interpreter
A Sieve Interpreter
• Invoking Sieve:
• Sieve Configuration:
• Logging and Debugging:
• Extending Sieve:
`guimb` — A Mailbox Scanning and Processing Language
• Specifying Scheme Program to Execute:
• Specifying Mailboxes to Operate Upon:
• Passing Options to Scheme:
• Command Line Option Summary:
maidag
• Sendmail-maidag:		Using `maidag` with Sendmail.
• Exim-maidag:		Using `maidag` with Exim.
• MeTA1-maidag:		Using `maidag` with MeTA1.
• Mailbox Quotas:
• Maidag Scripting:
• Forwarding:
• Url-mode:		Delivering Messages to a URL.
• Remote Mailbox Delivery:
• Conf-maidag:		Maidag Configuration File Summary
Mailbox Quotas
• DBM Quotas:		Keeping Quotas in DBM File.
• SQL Quotas:		Keeping Quotas in SQL Database.
Maidag Scripting
• Sieve Maidag Filters:
• Scheme Maidag Filters:
• Python Maidag Filters:
mimeview
• Mimeview Invocation:
• Mimeview Config:
POP3 Daemon
• Login delay:
• Auto-expire:
• Bulletins:
• Conf-pop3d:		Pop3d Configuration
• Command line options:
IMAP4 Daemon
• Namespace:		Namespace.
• Conf-imap4d:		Configuration.
• Starting imap4d:		Invocation Options.
Comsat Daemon
• Starting comsatd:		Invocation.
• Configuring comsatd:		Configuration of `comsatd`.
• dot.biffrc:		A per-user configuration file.
Configuring `comsatd`
• General Settings:
• Security Settings:
MH — The MH Message Handling System
• Diffs:		Major differences between Mailutils MH and other MH implementations.
Major differences between Mailutils MH and other MH implementations
• Format String Diffs:
• Profile Variable Diffs:
• Program Diffs:
mailutils
• mailutils invocation syntax:
• mailutils help:		Display a terse help summary.
• mailutils info:		Show Mailutils configuration.
• mailutils cflags:		Show compiler options.
• mailutils ldflags:		List libraries required to link.
• mailutils query:		Query configuration values.
• mailutils 2047:		Decode/encode email message headers.
• mailutils filter:		Apply a chain of filters to the input.
• mailutils acl:		Test access control lists.
• mailutils wicket:		Scan wickets for matching URLs.
• mailutils dbm:		DBM management tool.
• mailutils logger:		Log data using Mailutils log facility.
• mailutils pop:		POP3 client shell.
• mailutils imap:		IMAP4 client shell.
• mailutils send:		Send a message.
• mailutils smtp:		Run a SMTP session.
mailutils dbm
• Create a Database:
• Add Records to a Database:
• Delete Records:
• List the Database:
• Dump the Database:
• Dump Formats:
• Dbm Exit Codes:
Sieve Language
• Lexical Structure:
• Syntax:
• Preprocessor:
• Require Statement:
• Comparators:
• Tests:
• Actions:
• GNU Extensions:
Syntax
• Commands:
• Actions Described:
• Control Flow:
• Tests and Conditions:
Preprocessor
• #include:		Include the contents of a file.
• #searchpath:		Modify the current search path.
Tests
• Built-in Tests:
• External Tests:
Actions
• Built-in Actions:
• External Actions:
Date Input Formats
• General date syntax:		Common rules.
• Calendar date items:		19 Dec 1994.
• Time of day items:		9:20pm.
• Time zone items:		EST, PDT, GMT.
• Day of week items:		Monday and others.
• Relative items in date strings:		next tuesday, 2 years ago.
• Pure numbers in date strings:		19931219, 1440.
• Seconds since the Epoch:		@1078100502.
• Specifying time zone rules:		TZ="America/New_York", TZ="UTC0".
• Authors of get_date:		Bellovin, Eggert, Salz, Berets, et al.

• Introduction:

Preliminary Information.

• Mailbox:

Mailboxes and URLs.

• Programs:

Mailutils Programs.

• Libraries:

Mailutils Libraries.

• Sieve Language:

The Sieve Language.

• Reporting Bugs:

How to Report a Bug.

• News:

Getting News About GNU Mailutils.

• Acknowledgement:

Thanks and Credits.


Appendices

• References:

References.

• Date Input Formats:

• Usage Vars:

Configuring Help Summary

• GNU FDL:

This manual is under the GNU Free Documentation License.


Indices

• Function Index:

All Mailutils Functions.

• Variable Index:

All Mailutils Variables.

• Keyword Index:

Index of Keywords.

• Program Index:

All Mailutils Programs.

• Concept Index:

Index of Concepts.

 — The Detailed Node Listing —

Introduction

• Book Contents:

What this Book Contains

• History:

A bit of History


Mailbox

• Local Mailboxes:

Mailboxes stored on the local file system.

• Remote Mailboxes:

Mailboxes stored on remote hosts.

• SMTP Mailboxes:

Mailboxes that send mail.

• Program Mailboxes:


Mailutils Programs

• command line:

Command Line Syntax.

• configuration:

Common Configuration File.

• debugging:

• frm and from:

List Headers from a Mailbox.

• mail:

Send and Receive Mail.

• messages:

Count the Number of Messages in a Mailbox.

• movemail:

Moves Mail from the User Maildrop to the Local File.

• readmsg:

Extract Messages from a Folder.

• sieve:

Mail Filtering Utility.

• guimb:

Mailbox Scanning and Processing Language.

• maidag:

General-purpose Mail Delivery Agent.

• mimeview:

Universal File Viewer.

• pop3d:

POP3 Daemon.

• imap4d:

IMAP4 Daemon.

• comsatd:

Comsat Daemon.

• mh:

The MH Message Handling System.

• mailutils:

The Mailutils Multi-Purpose Tool.


Command Line

• Option Basics:

Basic Notions About Command Line Options.

• Common Options:

Options That are Common for All Utilities.


Mailutils Configuration File

• conf-syntax:

Configuration File Syntax

• Variables:

Variable Expansion

• include:

Include Statement

• program statement:

• logging statement:

• debug statement:

• mailbox statement:

• locking statement:

• mailer statement:

• acl statement:

• tcp-wrappers statement:

• Server Settings:

• auth statement:

• pam statement:

• virtdomain statement:

• radius statement:

• sql statement:

• ldap statement:

• tls statement:

• gsasl statement:


Configuration File Syntax

• Comments:

• Statements:

• Paths:


Server Settings

• General Server Configuration:

• Server Statement:


Debugging

• Level Syntax:

• Level BNF:

• Debugging Categories:


mail — Send and Receive Mail

• Invoking Mail:

Command Line Options.

• Specifying Messages:

How to Specify Message Sets.

• Composing Mail:

Composing Mail.

• Reading Mail:

Reading Mail.

• Scripting:

Scripting.

• Mail Variables:

How to Alter the Behavior of mail.

• Mail Configuration Files:

Personal and System-wide Configuration Files.


Composing Mail

• Quitting Compose Mode:

• Getting Help on Compose Escapes:

• Editing the Message:

• Modifying the Headers:

• Enclosing Another Message:

• Adding a File to the Message:

• Attaching a File to the Message:

• Printing And Saving the Message:

• Signing the Message:

• Printing Another Message:

• Inserting Value of a Mail Variable:

• Executing Other Mail Commands:

• Executing Shell Commands:


Reading Mail

• Quitting the Program:

• Obtaining Online Help:

• Moving Within a Mailbox:

• Changing mailbox/directory:

• Controlling Header Display:

• Displaying Information:

• Displaying Messages:

• Marking Messages:

• Disposing of Messages:

• Saving Messages:

• Editing Messages:

• Aliasing:

• Replying:

• Controlling Sender Fields:

• Incorporating New Mail:

• Shell Escapes:


movemail — Moves Mail from the User Maildrop to the Local File

• Movemail Configuration:

• Ownership:

Setting Destination Mailbox Ownership

• Summary:

Short Movemail Invocation Summary


readmsg — Extract Messages from a Folder

• Opt-readmsg:

Invocation of readmsg.

• Conf-readmsg:

Configuration of readmsg.


sieve

• sieve interpreter:

A Sieve Interpreter


A Sieve Interpreter

• Invoking Sieve:

• Sieve Configuration:

• Logging and Debugging:

• Extending Sieve:


guimb — A Mailbox Scanning and Processing Language

• Specifying Scheme Program to Execute:

• Specifying Mailboxes to Operate Upon:

• Passing Options to Scheme:

• Command Line Option Summary:


maidag

• Sendmail-maidag:

Using maidag with Sendmail.

• Exim-maidag:

Using maidag with Exim.

• MeTA1-maidag:

Using maidag with MeTA1.

• Mailbox Quotas:

• Maidag Scripting:

• Forwarding:

• Url-mode:

Delivering Messages to a URL.

• Remote Mailbox Delivery:

• Conf-maidag:

Maidag Configuration File Summary


Mailbox Quotas

• DBM Quotas:

Keeping Quotas in DBM File.

• SQL Quotas:

Keeping Quotas in SQL Database.


Maidag Scripting

• Sieve Maidag Filters:

• Scheme Maidag Filters:

• Python Maidag Filters:


mimeview

• Mimeview Invocation:

• Mimeview Config:


POP3 Daemon

• Login delay:

• Auto-expire:

• Bulletins:

• Conf-pop3d:

Pop3d Configuration

• Command line options:


IMAP4 Daemon

• Namespace:

Namespace.

• Conf-imap4d:

Configuration.

• Starting imap4d:

Invocation Options.


Comsat Daemon

• Starting comsatd:

Invocation.

• Configuring comsatd:

Configuration of comsatd.

• dot.biffrc:

A per-user configuration file.


Configuring comsatd

• General Settings:

• Security Settings:


MH — The MH Message Handling System

• Diffs:

Major differences between Mailutils MH and other MH implementations.


Major differences between Mailutils MH and other MH implementations

• Format String Diffs:

• Profile Variable Diffs:

• Program Diffs:


mailutils

• mailutils invocation syntax:

• mailutils help:

Display a terse help summary.

• mailutils info:

Show Mailutils configuration.

• mailutils cflags:

Show compiler options.

• mailutils ldflags:

List libraries required to link.

• mailutils query:

Query configuration values.

• mailutils 2047:

Decode/encode email message headers.

• mailutils filter:

Apply a chain of filters to the input.

• mailutils acl:

Test access control lists.

• mailutils wicket:

Scan wickets for matching URLs.

• mailutils dbm:

DBM management tool.

• mailutils logger:

Log data using Mailutils log facility.

• mailutils pop:

POP3 client shell.

• mailutils imap:

IMAP4 client shell.

• mailutils send:

Send a message.

• mailutils smtp:

Run a SMTP session.


mailutils dbm

• Create a Database:

• Add Records to a Database:

• Delete Records:

• List the Database:

• Dump the Database:

• Dump Formats:

• Dbm Exit Codes:


Sieve Language

• Lexical Structure:

• Syntax:

• Preprocessor:

• Require Statement:

• Comparators:

• Tests:

• Actions:

• GNU Extensions:


Syntax

• Commands:

• Actions Described:

• Control Flow:

• Tests and Conditions:


Preprocessor

• #include:

Include the contents of a file.

• #searchpath:

Modify the current search path.


Tests

• Built-in Tests:

• External Tests:


Actions

• Built-in Actions:

• External Actions:


Date Input Formats

• General date syntax:

Common rules.

• Calendar date items:

19 Dec 1994.

• Time of day items:

9:20pm.

• Time zone items:

EST, PDT, GMT.

• Day of week items:

Monday and others.

• Relative items in date strings:

next tuesday, 2 years ago.

• Pure numbers in date strings:

19931219, 1440.

• Seconds since the Epoch:

@1078100502.

• Specifying time zone rules:

TZ="America/New_York", TZ="UTC0".

• Authors of get_date:

Bellovin, Eggert, Salz, Berets, et al.

GNU Mailutils Manual

Table of Contents

GNU Mailutils