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Date:      Wed, 15 Nov 2017 16:40:17 +0100
From:      Polytropon <freebsd@edvax.de>
To:        Ernie Luzar <luzar722@gmail.com>
Cc:        "freebsd-questions@freebsd.org" <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org>
Subject:   Re: fetchmail
Message-ID:  <20171115164017.0af64123.freebsd@edvax.de>
In-Reply-To: <5A0C5727.7080105@gmail.com>
References:  <5A0C4C88.70105@gmail.com> <20171115152344.d08dfe4f.freebsd@edvax.de> <5A0C5727.7080105@gmail.com>

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On Wed, 15 Nov 2017 10:03:03 -0500, Ernie Luzar wrote:
> Polytropon wrote:
> > On Wed, 15 Nov 2017 09:17:44 -0500, Ernie Luzar wrote:
> >> Is there a more modern port that does the same thing as fetchmail?
> > 
> > What is "un-modern" about fetchmail?
> > 
> > 
> 
> 
> It's been around for a very long time and I have been using it all most 
> all that time. But lately been getting socket errors and other error 
> messages.

One suggestion is to use an IP instead of a hostname for the
server to fetch messages from:

	http://www.fvue.nl/wiki/Fetchmail:_socket_error_while_fetching_from_mail.example.com

I don't think this is an ideal workaround (as IPs might change).
Also the suggestions here (from the fetchmail web page) could
help:

	http://www.catb.org/esr/fetchmail/fetchmail-FAQ.html#R6

And another suggestion is to check if your configuration file
has the "ssl" keyword added, for example with a configuration line
in ~/.fetchmailrc (for user-local use) like this:

	poll pop.example.com proto POP3 user <username> pass <password> fetchall flush ssl

If you don't add "ssl", but the server does not support non-SSL
connections, such socket errors might occur. See "man fetchmail"
for option details.



> To lazy to spend the time right now to trace down the problem with the 
> remote email provider.

It is possible that the problem (maybe just an SSL upgrade) is
at the end of the provider, and you need to change your local
configuration in order to adapt to that change.



> Though it would be quicker to try something different and if got same 
> problem then will know problem is with other end for sure.

Okay, so you're searching for an _alternative_ program for the same
purpose, primarily for diagnostics and repair. ;-)

In this case, getmail is probably a good thing to try. From its
feature summary:

- Retrieve mail from an unlimited number of POP3/IMAP4 mailboxes and servers.
- Support for POP3-over-SSL and IMAP-over-SSL, as well as SDPS
  WARNING: even with SSL, "no certificate or key validation is done." so
  that getmail does not detect or protect from man-in-the-middle attacks.
- Support for multidrop or domain mailboxes.
- Safe and reliable delivery to qmail-style Maildirs, as well as program
  (pipe) delivery for use with arbitrary external MDAs. Includes an MDA
  for mbox files that supports mboxrd format and fcntl-type flock locking.
- Does not destroy information by rewriting mail headers.
- Does not cause mail loops by doing SMTP injection, and therefore does
  not require that you run an MTA (like qmail or sendmail) on your host.
- Can remember which mail it has already retrieved, and can be set to
  only download new messages.
- Written in Python, and therefore easy to extend or customize.
- Simple to install, configure, and use.

Source of list here:

	https://www.freshports.org/mail/getmail/

Documentation:

	http://pyropus.ca/software/getmail/

If this also shows you comparable errors, re-check the SSL thing.



-- 
Polytropon
Magdeburg, Germany
Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0
Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...



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