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(emacs)Movemail

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`movemail' and POP
==================

   When getting new mail, Rmail first copies the new mail from the inbox
file to the Rmail file; then it saves the Rmail file; then it truncates
the inbox file.  This way, a system crash may cause duplication of mail
between the inbox and the Rmail file, but cannot lose mail.  If
`rmail-preserve-inbox' is non-`nil', then Rmail will copy new mail from
the inbox file to the Rmail file without truncating the inbox file.
You may wish to set this, for example, on a portable computer you use
to check your mail via POP while traveling, so that your mail will
remain on the server and you can save it later on your workstation.

   In some cases, Rmail copies the new mail from the inbox file
indirectly.  First it runs the `movemail' program to move the mail from
the inbox to an intermediate file called `~/.newmail-INBOXNAME'.  Then
Rmail merges the new mail from that file, saves the Rmail file, and
only then deletes the intermediate file.  If there is a crash at the
wrong time, this file continues to exist, and Rmail will use it again
the next time it gets new mail from that inbox.

   If Rmail is unable to convert the data in `~/.newmail-INBOXNAME'
into Babyl format, it renames the file to `~/RMAILOSE.N' (N is an
integer chosen to make the name unique) so that Rmail will not have
trouble with the data again.  You should look at the file, find
whatever message confuses Rmail (probably one that includes the
control-underscore character, octal code 037), and delete it.  Then you
can use `1 g' to get new mail from the corrected file.

   Some sites use a method called POP for accessing users' inbox data
instead of storing the data in inbox files.  `movemail' can work with
POP if you compile it with the macro `MAIL_USE_POP' defined.  (You can
achieve that by specifying `--with-pop' when you run `configure' during
the installation of Emacs.)  `movemail' only works with POP3, not with
older versions of POP.

   Assuming you have compiled and installed `movemail' appropriately,
you can specify a POP inbox by using a "file name" of the form
`po:USERNAME', in the inbox list of an Rmail file.  `movemail' handles
such a name by opening a connection to the POP server.  The `MAILHOST'
environment variable specifies the machine to look for the server on;
alternatively, you can specify the POP server host name as part of the
mailbox name using the syntax `po:USERNAME:HOSTNAME'.

   Accessing mail via POP may require a password.  If the variable
`rmail-pop-password' is non-`nil', it specifies the password to use for
POP.  Alternatively, if `rmail-pop-password-required' is non-`nil',
then Rmail asks you for the password to use.

   If you need to pass additional command-line flags to `movemail', set
the variable `rmail-movemail-flags' a list of the flags you wish to
use.  Do not use this variable to pass the `-p' flag to preserve your
inbox contents; use `rmail-preserve-inbox' instead.

   The `movemail' program installed at your site may support Kerberos
authentication.  If it is supported, it is used by default whenever you
attempt to retrieve POP mail when `rmail-pop-password' and
`rmail-pop-password-required' are unset.

   Some POP servers store messages in reverse order.  If your server
does this, and you would rather read your mail in the order in which it
was received, you can tell `movemail' to reverse the order of
downloaded messages by adding the `-r' flag to `rmail-movemail-flags'.