2.11BSD/src/libexec/popper/popper.8

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.\" Copyright (c) 1980 Regents of the University of California.
.\" All rights reserved.
.\"
.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms are permitted
.\" provided that this notice is preserved and that due credit is given
.\" to the University of California at Berkeley. The name of the University
.\" may not be used to endorse or promote products derived from this
.\" software without specific prior written permission. This software
.\" is provided ``as is'' without express or implied warranty.
.\"
.\" @(#)@(#)popper.8	2.3.1    (2.11BSD)   1996/11/27
.\" 	Copyright (c) 1990 Regents of the University of California.
.\" 	All rights reserved.\n
.\"
.TH popper 8 "November 27, 1996"
.UC 6
.ad
.SH NAME
popper \- pop 3 server
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B /usr/libexec/popper
[ -d ]
[ -t trace-file]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.I Popper
is an implementation of the Post Office Protocol server that runs on a
variety of Unix computers to manage electronic mail for Macintosh
and MS-DOS computers.  The server was developed at the University of
California at Berkeley and conforms fully to the specifications in RFC
1081 and RFC 1082.  The Berkeley server also has extensions to
send electronic mail on behalf of a client.
.PP
The 
.B \-d
flag sets the socket to debugging and turns on debugging.  All debugging
information is saved using syslog(8).  The 
.B \-t trace\-file
flag turns on debugging and saves the trace information in
.I trace\-file
using fprintf(s).
.SH HOW TO OBTAIN THE SERVER
.PP
The POP server is available via anonymous ftp from ftp.CC.Berkeley.EDU
(128.32.136.9, 128.32.206.12).  It is in two files in the pub directory:
a compressed
tar file popper.tar.Z and a Macintosh StuffIt archive in BinHex format
called MacPOP.sit.hqx.
.SH THE POP TRANSACTION CYCLE
.PP
The Berkeley POP server is a single program (called popper) that is
launched by inetd when it gets a service request on the POP TCP port.
(The official port number specified in RFC 1081 for POP version 3 is
port 110.  However, some POP3 clients attempt to contact the server at
port 109, the POP version 2 port.  Unless you are running both POP2 and
POP3 servers, you can simply define both ports for use by the POP3
server.  This is explained in the installation instructions later on.)
The popper program initializes and verifies that the peer IP address is
registered in the local domain, logging a warning message when a
connection is made to a client whose IP address does not have a
canonical name.  For systems using BSD 4.3 bind, it also checks to see
if a cannonical name lookup for the client returns the same peer IP
address, logging a warning message if it does not.  The the server
enters the authorization state, during which the client must correctly
identify itself by providing a valid Unix userid and password on the
server's host machine.  No other exchanges are allowed during this
state (other than a request to quit.)  If authentication fails, a
warning message is logged and the session ends.  Once the user is
identified, popper changes its user and group ids to match that of the
user and enters the transaction state.  The server makes a temporary
copy of the user's maildrop (ordinarily in /usr/spool/mail) which is
used for all subsequent transactions.  These include the bulk of POP
commands to retrieve mail, delete mail, undelete mail, and so forth.  A
Berkeley extension also allows the user to submit a mail parcel to the
server who mails it using the sendmail program (this extension is
supported in the HyperMail client distributed with the server).  When
the client quits, the server enters the final update state during which
the network connection is terminated and the user's maildrop is updated
with the (possibly) modified temporary maildrop.
.SH LOGGING
.PP
The POP server uses syslog to keep a record of its activities.  On
systems with BSD 4.3 syslogging, the server logs (by default) to the
"local0" facility at priority "notice" for all messages except
debugging which is logged at priority "debug".  The default log file is
/usr/spool/mqueue/POPlog.  These can be changed, if desired.  On
systems with 4.2 syslogging all messages are logged to the local log
file, usually /usr/spool/mqueue/syslog.
.SH DEBUGGING
.PP
The popper program will log debugging information when the -d parameter
is specified after its invocation in the inetd.conf file.  Care should
be exercised in using this option since it generates considerable
output in the syslog file.  Alternatively, the "-t <file-name>" option
will place debugging information into file "<file-name>" using fprintf
instead of syslog.
.PP
For SunOS version 3.5, the popper program is launched by inetd from
/etc/servers.  This file does not allow you to specify command line
arguments.  Therefore, if you want to enable debugging, you can specify
a shell script in /etc/servers to be launched instead of popper and in
this script call popper with the desired arguments.
.PP
You can confirm that the POP server is running on Unix by telneting to
port 110 (or 109 if you set it up that way).  For example:
.PP
.nf
%telnet myhost 110
Trying...
Connected to myhost.berkeley.edu.
Escape character is '^]'.
+OK UCB Pop server (version 1.6) at myhost starting.
quit
Connection closed by foreign host.
.fi
.SH VERSION 1.7 RELEASE NOTES
Extensive re-write of the maildrop processing code contributed by 
Viktor Dukhovni <viktor@math.princeton.edu> that greatly reduces the
possibility that the maildrop can be corrupted as the result of
simultaneous access by two or more processes.
.PP
Added "pop_dropcopy" module to create a temporary maildrop from
the existing, standard maildrop as root before the setuid and 
setgid for the user is done.  This allows the temporary maildrop
to be created in a mail spool area that is not world read-writable.
.PP
This version does *not* send the sendmail "From " delimiter line
in response to a TOP or RETR command.
.PP
Encased all debugging code in #ifdef DEBUG constructs.  This code can
be included by specifying the DEGUG compiler flag.  Note:  You still
need to use the -d or -t option to obtain debugging output.
.SH LIMITATIONS
The POP server copies the user's entire maildrop to /tmp and
then operates on that copy.  If the maildrop is particularly
large, or inadequate space is available in /tmp, then the
server will refuse to continue and terminate the connection.
.PP
Simultaneous modification of a single maildrop can result in 
confusing results.  For example, manipulating messages in a
maildrop using the Unix /usr/ucb/mail command while a copy of
it is being processed by the POP server can cause the changes
made by one program to be lost when the other terminates.  This
problem is being worked on and will be fixed in a later
release.
.SH FILES
.nf
/usr/spool/mail         mail files
/etc/inetd.conf         pop program invocation
/etc/syslog.conf        logging specifications
.fi
.SH "SEE ALSO"
inetd(8), 
RFC1081, 
RFC1082
.SH AUTHORS
Bob Campbell, Edward Moy, Austin Shelton, Marshall T Rose, and cast of
thousands at Rand, UDel, UCI, and elsewhere