3.12 POP3 Daemon

The pop3d daemon implements the Post Office Protocol Version 3 server.

pop3d has two operation modes:

Inetd

The server is started from `/etc/inetd.conf' file:

pop3 stream tcp nowait root /usr/local/sbin/pop3d pop3d

This is the default operation mode.

Standalone

The server runs as daemon, forking a child for each new connection. This mode is triggered by `-d' command line switch.

The program uses following option groups: See section 3.1.2 Mailbox, See section 3.1.5 Daemon, See section 3.1.8 Logging, See section 3.1.6 Auth.

Command line options

`-d[number]'

`--daemon[=number]'

Run in standalone mode. An optional number specifies the maximum number of child processes the daemon is allowed to fork. When it is omitted, it defaults to 10 processes. Please note, that there should be no whitespace between the `-d' and its parameter.

`-h'

`--help'

Display short help message and exit.

`-i'

`--inetd'

Run in inetd mode.

`-m path'

`--mail-spool=path'

Set path to the mailspool directory

`-p number'

`--port number'

Listen on given port number. This option is meaningful only in standalone mode. It defaults to port 110.

`-t number'

`--timeout number'

Set idle timeout to given number of seconds. Default is 600 seconds (10 minutes). The daemon breaks the connection if it receives no commands from the client within that number of seconds.

`-v'

`--version'

Display program version and exit.

`--undelete'

Remove all deletion marks from the messages after opening the mailbox.

`--login-delay=seconds'

Sets the minimum allowed delay between closing a pop3d session and opening it again with the same user name.

`--stat-file=filename'

Sets the name of the login timestamp database, used with `--login-delay'. By default, these data are kept in `/var/run/pop3-login'. Be sure to specify the file name without DBM-specific suffix.