
getmail documentation

   This is the documentation for getmail version 4. Version 4 includes
   numerous changes from version 3.x; if you are using getmail version 3,
   please refer to the documentation included with that version of the
   software.
   
   getmail is Copyright © 1998-2005 Charles Cazabon.
   
   getmail is licensed under the GNU General Public License version 2
   (only). If you wish to obtain a license to distribute getmail under
   other terms, please contact me directly.
   
Troubleshooting problems

   This section of the documentation is to be added to as getmail version
   4 progresses through beta testing to release state. If you have
   suggestions for additions or changes to this documentation, please
   send them to the mailing list or me.
   
Error messages

   getmail may output various diagnostic error messages. The common ones
   and their meanings are given below.
   
ImportError: getmail version 4 requires Python version 2.3.3 or later

   You tried to run getmail 4 with a version of Python prior to Python
   2.3.3. This is unsupported. If you cannot install a newer Python
   alongside your current version, please use getmail version 3, which
   supports Python 1.5.2 and later.
   
Configuration error: ...

   getmail detected an error in your configuration. Check your getmail rc
   file(s). getmail will do its best to point out the exact cause of the
   error. Some of the specific errors it may find include the following.
   
Configuration error: missing required configuration parameter name

   A class object in your getmail rc file requires the parameter name,
   but it was not found in the appropriate section of the file.
   
Configuration error: configuration value name (value) not of required type
type (why)

   The configuration parameter name must be of type type, but the
   supplied value value does not appear to be of that type. Further
   information may be present in why.
   
   The getmail documentation contains descriptions of the syntax for each
   parameter type.
   
Configuration error: maildir path missing trailing /

   Maildir paths must start with dot or slash and end with a slash.
   
Configuration error: not a maildir (path)

   The specified maildir path path does not appear to be a valid maildir.
   Check to ensure that it is a valid maildir, and that getmail has
   permission to write to it.
   
Configuration error: not an mboxrd file (path)

   The specified mboxrd path path does not appear to be a valid mboxrd
   file. To avoid corrupting files in the event of a user typo, getmail
   will not deliver messages to files that do not appear to be valid
   mboxrd files.
   
Configuration error: mboxrd does not exist

   The specified mboxrd does not exist. getmail will not create mbox
   files; ensure they exist before trying to deliver to them.
   
Configuration error: the fieldname header field does not record the envelope
recipient address

   In a multidrop retriever configuration, you specified that the
   envelope recipient was recorded in a header field that getmail knows
   does not actually record that information.
   
Configuration error: refuse to invoke external commands as root or GID 0 by
default

   By default, getmail will not invoke external commands (in destinations
   or filters) when it is running with root privileges, for security
   reasons. See the documenation for possible solutions.
   
Configuration error: no such command path

   An external command was specified as being located at path path, but
   the command executable was not found at that location.
   
Configuration error: path not executable

   A specified external command at path path was found to not be an
   executable file.
   
Configuration error: destination specifies section name section which does
not exist

   A destination in the getmail rc file refers to another rc file section
   named section, but that section was not found in the file.
   
Delivery error ...

   getmail detected an error after retrieving a message but before
   delivery was successfully completed. Some of the specific errors it
   may find include the following.
   
Delivery error: maildir delivery process failed (refuse to deliver mail as
root)

   getmail will not deliver to a maildir as the root user. You may
   specify an alternate user to deliver as with the user directive in the
   destination section of your getmailrc file, or let getmail default to
   the user who is the owner of the maildir.
   
Delivery error: mbox delivery process failed (refuse to deliver mail as
root)

   getmail will not deliver to an mbox file as the root user. You may
   specify an alternate user to deliver as with the user directive in the
   destination section of your getmailrc file, or let getmail default to
   the user who is the owner of the mbox file.
   
Delivery error: mbox delivery process failed (not an mboxrd file)

   The specified mbox file does not appear to be a valid mbox file.
   
Error: ...

   getmail detected an operational error. getmail will do its best to
   point out the exact cause of the error. Common causes are failures to
   connect to a remote mail server, timeouts during network operations,
   and other transient failures.
   
Error: server-info does not uniquely identify messages ...

   The POP3 server for this particular account was not able to uniquely
   identify the messages in the mailstore. You can use the
   BrokenUIDLPOP3Retriever class with this server instead, but
   functionality is limited because of the inability to identify messages
   properly.
   
Warning messages

   getmail may output various diagnostic warning messages. The common
   ones and their meanings are given below.
   
Warning: ...

   getmail detected a condition which might be problematic. Some of the
   specific warnings it may find include the following.
   
Warning: ignoring unknown parameter "parameter_name"

   A getmail rc file contained an unknown parameter. This usually
   indicates that you've put the parameter in the wrong section of the
   file (such as putting the read_all parameter in the [retriever]
   section instead of in the [options] section).
   
Warning: filter filter returned fewer headers (X) than supplied (Y)

   A message filter appeared to incorrectly remove header fields from the
   header of a message which it handled. getmail warns you about this so
   that you can check your filter for proper operation. Filters should
   add information to the message header or leave it alone; check the
   configuration for the filter program you are using.
   
Unexpected Behaviour

   If getmail is behaving in a manner other that you expected, see the
   following sections.
   
getmail uses the wrong hostname for my machine

   If getmail records a hostname other than the "right" one for your host
   (in its Received: trace header fields), check your /etc/hosts file and
   make sure the "right" name is the first hostname listed for any of the
   addresses of the machine.
   
getmail puts "unknown" in the Delivered-To: or Return-Path:header field

   getmail records the envelope recipient address in the Delivered-To:
   header field, and the envelope sender in the Return-Path: header
   field. If this information is not available (because you're not using
   a multidrop retriever class, or the MTA on the POP/IMAP server is
   broken, for example), getmail uses the string "unknown". You can
   disable the creation of the Delivered-To: header field if you wish.
   
getmail isn't replacing my command argument "%(recipient)" with the message
recipient address

   The %(recipient), %(local), and %(domain) replacement strings are only
   replaced if the message is retrieved with a multidrop retriever class;
   otherwise, getmail does not "know" the recipient address of the
   message, and therefore cannot perform this replacement.
   
getmail seems to take longer than expected to initialize

   If getmail takes more than a few seconds to initialize, run the
   following command to test:
python -c "import socket; print socket.getfqdn()"

   If this seems to take a similarly long period of time to complete, the
   delay is in finding the fully-qualified hostname of your system. The
   fix is to ensure you have a valid mapping of address-to-hostname for
   all the addresses in your system. You can do this in your /etc/hosts
   file, in your authoritative content DNS server, or in another
   system-specific manner -- please contact your OS vendor (or its public
   support mailing list) for assistance.
