Re: Help setting up POP3 email (rmail)

[Robert Thorpe]

<cptvlaze@tutamail.com> writes:

> Good afternoon. I've started using emacs today, so I'm a total newbie
> at this time.  I want to read my GMX email from emacs, using POP3 and
> rmail, but I just don't know where to start. I've read lots of wikis
> and manuals and I'm completely lost. Could somebody throw a bit of
> light over this?  Thank you.

There are two parts to this.  Firstly, there's setting up outgoing
mail.  That uses the part of Emacs called "Message" (which is the same
for GNUs and Rmail).  The second step is to setup Rmail for receiving
mail.

You need to find the names of the servers to communicate with.  You need
the SMTP server for outgoing mail and the POP3 server for incoming
mail.  If you're already using a mail program you can find that info in
it's settings.

Your init file maybe init.el or .emacs.  Either way, put the following
into it:

;; Firstly setup SMTP.
(setq send-mail-function 'smtpmail-send-it)
      smtpmail-smtp-server "your_smtp_server.com"
      smtpmail-smtp-service 587
      user-mail-address "your_email_address@domain.com")
;; The line below puts sent items into an mbox file.
(setq mail-default-headers "FCC: ~/Mail/Sent")
;; This puts my name correctly in email To/From lines.
(setq user-full-name "Your Name")

;; Setup Rmail
(setq rmail-primary-inbox-list
      (cons (concat "pop3://"
                    "your_username"
                    "your_password"
                    "@your_pop3_server.com") nil))

I only use the "concat" above so I can separate out the various
elements.  If you omit the password then Emacs will ask you the first
time you recieve mail.

Finally, you can setup an ".authinfo" file.  This is for sending mail
with Message-mode.  It avoids entering the password.

Create a file called .authinfo in your ~/ directory.  It only needs to
contain one line:
"machine your_smtp_server.com login your_username port 587 password
your_password"

Many ISP prefer you to use port 587 for outgoing emails rather than port
25, which was the traditional port.  That's why I used "587" above in
.authinfo and smtpmail-smtp-service.  If your ISP is a traditionalist
and prefers 25 then replace those numbers with 25.

You can also setup encryption, see the manuals to Message and Rmail.
Evaluate the lines below with C-x C-e.
(info "(message) Top")
(info "(emacs) Rmail").

If you have a username with a "@" symbol in it that will activate a bug
in Rmail.  I have a solution for that if it's a problem.

BR,
Robert Thorpe