Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 22:56:05 -0500 From: "Andrew L. Gould" <algould@datawok.com> To: Erik Trulsson <ertr1013@student.uu.se> Cc: FreeBSD Questions <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: [OT] fetchmail, procmail and mutt (oh my!) Message-ID: <200406302256.05793.algould@datawok.com> In-Reply-To: <20040701033701.GA23011@falcon.midgard.homeip.net> References: <200406302146.31818.algould@datawok.com> <20040701033701.GA23011@falcon.midgard.homeip.net>
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On Wednesday 30 June 2004 10:37 pm, Erik Trulsson wrote: > On Wed, Jun 30, 2004 at 09:46:31PM -0500, Andrew L. Gould wrote: > > Background: > > When I travel, I use access a home server via ssh and deal with my > > email using console applications. I obtain my email from several > > sources using fetchmail. I have a .procmailrc file that properly > > puts the emails into specified mbox files -- so far so good. > > > > Problem: > > If I put 'mda /usr/local/bin/procmail' in the .fetchmailrc lines, > > procmail puts the emails in the correct mbox files; but mutt > > complains that the files are not valid email files and refuses to > > read them. > > > > If I let fetchmail put the emails into my system mbox and use > > formail to process the emails, copies of the emails get put into > > the correct mbox files and mutt will open the files; but I have to > > go back and manually delete the emails in my system mail box. > > > > How can I get both valid mbox files and without having to manually > > delete emails in my system folder? > > From the fetchmail(1) manpage: > > As each message is retrieved fetchmail normally delivers it via > SMTP to port 25 on the machine it is running on (localhost), just as > though it were being passed in over a normal TCP/IP link. The mail > will then be delivered locally via your system's MDA (Mail Delivery > Agent, usually sendmail(8) but your system may use a different > one such as smail, mmdf, exim, or qmail). All the delivery-control > mechanisms (such as .forward files) normally available through > your system MDA and local delivery agents will therefore work > automatically. > > From the procmail(1) manpage: > > If procmail is not installed globally as the default mail > delivery agent (ask your system administrator), you have to make > sure it is in- voked when your mail arrives. In this case your > $HOME/.forward file should contain the line below. Be sure to > include the single and dou- ble quotes, and unless you know your site > to be running smrsh (the SendMail Restricted SHell), it must be > an absolute path. > > "|exec /usr/local/bin/procmail || exit 75" I tried using the .forward file a couple of months ago -- it was a huge disaster. But then, the line above is much less complicated than the advice I received from one of my peers here. The line above worked wonderfully. Thanks, Andrew Gould
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