QuickStart Guide to Mutt E-Mail
1. Introduction to E-Mail
If you're not a fan of e-mail clients with fancy graphical user interfaces, or
if you would just like to experiment with other mail clients before deciding
which is best for you, here is the easy way to begin using these powerful
command line tools:
fetchmail->procmail->mutt->smtp
These programs are not only powerful and highly customizable but also small and
efficient. Once you are up and running with this e-mail system you will be
amazed at what you can do with it.
Because this is a quick start guide, we will eliminate the Mail Transfer Agent
(MTA) such as sendmail, postfix or exim. This means no complex MTA
configuration. It also eliminates using port 25 for mail service.
We can do this because fetchmail can force the mail it retrieves directly to a
Mail Delivery Agent (MDA) rather than forwarding to port 25. And we don't need
to use a complex MTA for plain old outgoing mail delivery.
These are the programs you will need to get your e-mail running.
Code Listing 1.1 |
# emerge fetchmail procmail mutt nbsmtp
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Then just four quick steps to configure files and you will be up and running a
brand new e-mail system.
Important:
After each step you can run a test to make sure the setup is correct. This
means you will have a complete working e-mail system when you are done.
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2. Fetchmail
Fetchmail fetches mail from remote servers and forwards it to your local
machines delivery system. To use it you need to set up a
.fetchmailrc file in your home directory like this example:
Code Listing 2.1: Sample .fetchmailrc |
poll mail.myisp.net protocol pop3 user "myname" password "mypasswd"
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Once you have created a .fetchmailrc file, you have to change the
permissions on the file using the chmod command. The file must be readable only
by the file owner. Set the permissions with the following command:
Code Listing 2.2 |
# chmod 600 .fetchmailrc
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To see it in action use the verbose mode (-v). To fetch all messages use -a.
And you must use the option -m to tell fetchmail to send the mail to procmail.
Warning:
While testing, it's a good idea to tell fetchmail to keep (-k) the mail on the
remote server in case something goes wrong and you need to fetch it again.
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Run it now to see fetchmail in action!
Code Listing 2.3: Fetchmail test #1 |
# fetchmail -akv -m "/usr/bin/procmail -d %T"
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Once you have a working mail system you can set this as a cron job or put it in
a monitor like gkrellm. Fetchmail can also run in a daemon mode for which you
specify a polling interval in seconds.
3. Procmail
Procmail is the processor that filters the mail that is forwarded to it by
fetchmail. It also acts as the MDA to deliver mail to your mailboxes where mutt
(your e-mail client) can read it.
To use procmail you need to create a .procmailrc file in your home
directory. For our quickstart purposes we will use a very simple
.procmailrc that will filter mail from three gentoo mailing lists
into these mailboxes:gentoo-dev, gentoo-user and gentoo-announce
Note:
The procmail filter rules are called recipies and i have also included recipies
to filter out some spam.
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Code Listing 3.1: Sample .procmailrc |
MAILDIR=$HOME/MuttMail ##you better make sure it exists
LOGFILE=$HOME/.procmaillog
LOGABSTRACT=no
#VERBOSE=on...is only used for debugging
VERBOSE=off
FORMAIL=/usr/bin/formail
NL="
"
##recipe lines begin with :0
##dont put comments on recipe lines
##disable a recipe with the false condition !
##condition lines begin with * and regex is your friend
##conditions are anded and everything after * is fed straight into egrep
##one action line follows the conditions, in this case it is a mailbox name
#catch duplicates using formail
:0 Whc: .msgid.lock
| $FORMAIL -D 16384 .msgid.cache
:0 a
$MAILDIR/duplicates
#people we always allow mail from
:0
* ^From:.*(craig\@hotmail|renee\@local.com)
$MAILDIR/friends
#now flush some spam out
:0
* ^Subject:.*(credit|cash|money|debt|sex|sale|loan)
$MAILDIR/spam
#no more html messages
:0
* ^Content-Type:.*html
$MAILDIR/junk
#now put my mail lists into mailboxes
:0
* ^List-Id:.*gentoo-user
gentoo-user
:0
* ^List-Id:.*gentoo-dev
gentoo-dev
:0
* ^List-Id:.*gentoo-announce
gentoo-announce
#catch any other gentoo mail
:0
* ^From:.*gentoo.org
gentoo
:0
* ^From:.*@freshmeat\.net
freshmeat
################################
# Last rule: mail that gets #
# this far goes in default box #
################################
:0
* .*
default
# End of file
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Note:
It is only required to make the MAILDIR $HOME/MuttMail as Procmail
will create all the mailbox files as needed in this directory using the names
on the action lines. For some useful links visit
http://www.procmail.org/
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You can now test .procmailrc by re-running the fetchmail command
we tested in the first step. Remember the -k option to keep all mail on the
remote server so we have it if we need to rerun it.
Code Listing 3.2: Procmail test #1 |
# fetchmail -akv -m "/usr/bin/procmail -d %T"
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Now that fetchmail and procmail have run, go to $HOME/MuttMail and
read your messages with less or your file manager.
4. Mutt e-mail client
Mutt is used to read and compose e-mail. It is powerful and highly customizable but also small and efficient.
Mutt supports reading and writing of four different mailbox formats: mbox,
MMDF, MH and Maildir. The mailbox type is autodetected. In our case we are
using the mbox format, where all messages of a mailbox are stored in a single
file.
Mutt also has the ability to work with folders located on a remote IMAP server.
See IMAP Support in section 4.11 of the Mutt manual and the Mutt web site
http://www.mutt.org/
When you emerged mutt in the first step it installed a configurationfile in
/etc/mutt/Muttrc. You also need to create a .muttrc
file in your home directory.
Code Listing 4.1: Sample .muttrc |
# cp /etc/mutt/Muttrc ~/.muttrc
# nano -w .muttrc
set pager_context=1
set pager_index_lines=6 #show a mini-index in pager
set menu_scroll
set pgp_verify_sig=no #dont show pgp in pager
set status_on_top #put status line at top
set sort=threads #sort by message threads in index
set status_format=" %r %b %f %n Del %d Msgs %m %l %> (%P)"
set pager_format="%-10.10i %[!%a %b %d %R]"
set date_format="!%H:%M %a %d %b "
set index_format="%4C %Z %[%b%d] %-15.15F %s"
set folder_format="%2C %t %8s %d %N %f"
#set sendmail="/usr/bin/nbsmtp -d isp.net -h smtp.isp.net -f [email protected]"
#set from="default-mailaddress" #set to your from address
#set realname="myname"
set record="$HOME/MuttMail/sent" #sent mail is saved here
set delete=yes #delete without prompting
set include=yes #quote msg in reply
set fast_reply=yes #no prompting on reply
set beep=no #no noise
set markers=no #no + on wrapped lines
set confirmappend=no #no prompt for save to =keep
set to_chars=" +TCF" #no L for mail_list
set folder = $HOME/MuttMail
mailboxes =gentoo-user
mailboxes =gentoo-dev
mailboxes =gentoo-announce
mailboxes =gentoo
mailboxes =freshmeat
mailboxes =duplicates
mailboxes =default
mailboxes =sent
mailboxes =friends
mailboxes =junk
mailboxes =spam
mailboxes =keep
save-hook .* =keep #default mbox to (s)ave mail is =keep
subscribe gentoo-user gentoo-dev #subscribed to these lists
bind pager h display-toggle-weed #toggle headers with h key
# simulate the old url menu
macro index \cb |urlview\n 'call urlview to extract URLs out of a message'
macro pager \cb |urlview\n 'call urlview to extract URLs out of a message'
#run fetchmail by hitting key of G
macro index G "!fetchmail -a -m 'procmail -d %T'\r"
macro pager G "!fetchmail -a -m 'procmail -d %T'\r"
#use to edit .muttrc and then source it...no restart necessary
macro generic ,sm ":source $HOME/.muttrc\r"
macro generic \cj "!rxvt -bg wheat -e joe $HOME/.muttrc\r"
# default list of header fields to weed out when displaying mail
#ignore them all and then unignore what you want to see
ignore *
unignore Date To From: Subject X-Mailer Organization User-Agent
hdr_order Date From To Subject X-Mailer User-Agent Organization
##your Mutt has to have some colors
##these are for four levels of quoted text
##they override the system settings in /etc/mutt/Muttrc
#color quoted green default
color quoted1 magenta blue
#color quoted2 yellow default
#color quoted3 red default
#color signature cyan cyan
#this color setup is copied from /etc/mutt/Muttrc.color
#comment it out if you want the default colors in /etc/mutt/Muttrc
# Je vois la vie en rose :-)
color hdrdefault brightcyan blue
color header brightwhite blue "^from:"
color header brightwhite blue "^subject:"
color quoted brightgreen blue
color signature brightwhite blue
color indicator blue green
color error red black
mono error bold
color status black cyan
mono status bold
color tree yellow blue
color tilde brightmagenta blue
color body brightwhite blue "[-a-z_0-9.]+@[-a-z_0-9.]+"
mono body bold "[-a-z_0-9.]+@[-a-z_0-9.]+"
color body brightyellow black "^Good signature"
mono body bold "^Good signature"
color body brightwhite red "^Bad signature from.*"
mono body bold "^Bad signature from.*"
color normal white blue
color message green black
color attachment brightgreen blue
# End of file...but it can go on and on and on....:)
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For the record, this is just a sample .muttrc. There are many more
options that you can configure, gpg settings for instance. Have a look at
http://www.dotfiles.com/index.php3?app_id=27 for more examples and
help.
You are now ready to test your .muttrc
Code Listing 4.2: Testing .muttrc |
# mutt -y
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This should open Mutt with a menu showing the Mutt mailboxes that you created
in Test 2 when you ran the fetchmail command.
Type the ? for help in navigating the Mutt Mailboxes.
5. SMTP
The final step is setting up nbsmtp the 'No-Brainer SMTP' used to send mail to
your SMTP server. This setup is the easiest of all, as it only requires adding
an entry in your .muttrc file.
domain: The domain you want nbsmtp to say it belongs to. This will almost
invariably be the same as the domain in your e-mail address.
from@addr: This is the address you want nbsmtp to say the message is from. Note
that this can be different than the "From:" line in your MUA.
host: This is the smtp server you are sending to.
Code Listing 5.1: Adding smtp support |
# nano -w .muttrc
set sendmail="/usr/bin/nbsmtp -d isp.net -h smtp.isp.net -f [email protected]"
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You are now ready to send a message. So in the Mutt pager or index hit the
m key to compose a test message to send to your e-mail address. Mutt
will use the value of the EDITOR or VISUAL for the composition editor unless
you set editor= in the .muttrc. When you are done composing
hit y to send your message. If there are no errors you will see 'sending
mail' followed by 'New mail in =sent'
Remember in .muttrc we have set where to save sent mail with
set record="$HOME/MuttMail/sent"
Now to complete the test, run fetchmail again to get all your mail and verify
you have received the message you sent to your e-mail address. When you find
your test message, hit the h key to toggle a view of all the headers and
see the complete mail transfer path.
Note:
There is one more program you probably want to add called urlview. This
extracts the urls in message texts and sends them to your browser.
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Code Listing 5.2 |
# emerge urlview
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Then create ~/.urlview by copying the configuration file from
/usr/share/doc/urlview*/ and setting your browser command.
You now have a powerful and highly customizable mail system. So read all the
manuals and docs and find the many user configuration files available on the
web with 'google' procmailrc and muttrc.
6. Alternative SMTP: msmtp
For those who are required to submit their username and password to their
SMTP server before sending mail, msmtp is a simple alternative.
Code Listing 6.1: Installing msmtp |
# emerge msmtp
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Configure msmtp by creating a ~/.msmtprc file, filling in your
SMTP server's information. Remember to set the permissions to a secure value!
Code Listing 6.2: Configuring msmtp |
# nano -w .msmtprc
account default
host smtp.your_provider.net
from [email protected]
auth login
user your_username
password your_password
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Now set the permissions of the file to a secure value:
Code Listing 6.3: Setting the permissions for the configuration file |
# chmod 600 .msmtprc
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Finally, edit or add the following line to .muttrc
Code Listing 6.4: Using msmtp with Mutt |
# nano -w .muttrc
set sendmail="/usr/bin/msmtp"
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Fire up mutt and send yourself a test email to see if it worked! See
the msmtp man page for more options and another example.
The contents of this document are licensed under the Creative Commons - Attribution / Share Alike license.
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