######################################################################## ###### ####### ###### # # # # # # # # # # # # ###### # # ###### # # # # # # # # # ####### # the Post Office Protocol ######################################################################## What is POP (popper)? --------------------- popper is a POP (Post Office Protocol) server. This is a program that runs on a host that is connected to the Internet (and receives your email) and allows you to read your email offline. You should run a POP client (such as eudora) and dial up your LAN, connect to the POP server, and your email messages will be downladed into your home or remote machine running the client. To make this work you'll need to configure your server host to run qpopper whenever you connect to a certain Internet port from the remote machine: 0. Copy the POP server binary (popper) to the proper directory. This should happen automatically when you extract the tar file as follows: > su # gunzip popper.tar.gz # tar xvpf popper.tar # ls -l /usr/local/popper -rwxr-xr-x 1 root sys 76240 May 31 1995 popper* 1. Add lines to /etc/services (most likely they are there already...) Note the recommended additional alias 'pop3' to the 'pop-3' service. pop-2 109/tcp pop2 # Post office protocol v2 pop-3 110/tcp pop3 # Post office protocol v3 2. Add line to /etc/inetd.conf pop-3 stream tcp nowait root /usr/local/popper/popper popper 3. Type at shell prompt: (twice for good measure) > su # /etc/killall -HUP inetd Now your workstation is set up as a POP server. This means that you can access it remotely with a POP client program, such as MediaMail (Z-Mail), Netscape Mail, or Eudora, download your mail to the client for off-line reading. Setting up Z-Mail for POP service: ---------------------------------- Setting up Z-Mail for POP service requires the following variables to be set: use_pop: On/Off If you use POP (the Post Office Protocol) to fetch your messages from a POP mail server, this variable should be set. Changing this variable after Z-Mail is started will have no effect. Z-Mail supports version 3 of the Post Office Protocol. mailhost: POP.server.host.name If you use POP (the Post Office Protocol) to fetch your messages from a POP mail server, this variable should be set to the name or address of that server. pop_options: none/Preserve This variable controls various options for POP (Post Office Protocol) support in Z-Mail. pop_options may be set to one or more of the following: preserve: Leave mail on the POP server. pop_timeout: 0..n minutes The number of minutes between checks for new mail on the POP server. pop_user: The name Z-Mail uses to identify you to the POP server. If this is not set, the value of $user is used instead. Setting up Netscape Mail for POP service: ----------------------------------------- Setting up Netscape Mail for POP service requires setting up the Options->Mail&NewsPreferences->Servers dialog box properly: Select POP3 for Incoming Mail. Enter the POP server name and optionally the user name. Select "Remove from server" or "Leave on server" Then use the "Get Mail" button on Netscape Mail to fetch the mail from your server. Note: With both Z-Mail and Netscape Mail, I prefer to leave the mail on the server after delivery. While this creates a bit of extra work (in that you need to remember which mail you've read and where), but it also provides a ready backup for your mail.