fetchmail multidrop box
You know what the problem was?
Host names on the Solaris box. I think.
It couldn’t figure out who the host was, so it couldn’t figure out
where to put the other user IDs. Peculiar not to check the
“/etc/passwd” file on the localhost, but the FAQ’s explain that’s
deliberate. Still peculiar, IMHO. If the user is supposed to be on a
different host, why not assume I’ll TELL you it’s on a different host?
Oh well.
So, the .fetchmailrc file that finally worked is:
poll pop3.domain.com
protocol pop3
aka host1 host2 domain.com host1.domain.com host2.domain.com
username catchall password secret
to long_user_name=shortusr * here
Bingo!
You see, the problem is that I’ve also been mucking about with the
name of the host. I think the “/etc/nodename” still has the original
“host1” name, even though the “/etc/hosts” file has it as “host2”.
Plus, the “/etc/hosts” file also has “host2.domain.com”. On top of
all that, I’ve still got “host1” in the “/etc/hosts” file using a
separate IP address, so the host can talk to our LAN as well as to the
ISP via their router.
Gadz, I knew something was more complicated than it needed to be!
I must say that the documentation is VERY confusing in terms of
exactly where and how and why to use the “aka” keyword. That took
quite a bit of experimentation before getting right. Plus it’s
unclear what an alias to the host has to do with aliases to the users.
So when the warning messages tell me that it can’t find an alias for
a user, what reason would I have to check the alias to the host?
( Now, where’d I put that heartburn medicine … ?? )
Thanks all for your kind assistance!
🙂
> Here’s an example of another kind of multidrop connection:
>
> poll pop.provider.net localdomains loonytoons.org toons.org:
> user maildrop with pass secret1 to ‘esr’ * here
>
> This also says that the mailbox of account `maildrop’ on the server is a multi-drop box. It tells fetchmail
> that any address in the loonytoons.org or toons.org domains (including subdomain addresses like
> `joe@daffy.loonytoons.org’) should be passed through to the local SMTP listener without modification. Be care
> ful of mail loops if you do this!