aboutsummaryrefslogtreecommitdiffstats
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
authorSimon Josefsson2003-02-23 16:44:44 +0000
committerSimon Josefsson2003-02-23 16:44:44 +0000
commitf4c61ea85c3f43d8f26691ec1dba7e4f428d045c (patch)
tree24a8e5a662a18baa8e50a6acc8553f3727ab270b
parentd8f94eb0c6af9bedf43ec44df49d3bb6e385c34b (diff)
downloademacs-f4c61ea85c3f43d8f26691ec1dba7e4f428d045c.tar.gz
emacs-f4c61ea85c3f43d8f26691ec1dba7e4f428d045c.zip
Add.
-rw-r--r--man/smtpmail.texi128
1 files changed, 105 insertions, 23 deletions
diff --git a/man/smtpmail.texi b/man/smtpmail.texi
index fd0d5b07d33..4eff3be2725 100644
--- a/man/smtpmail.texi
+++ b/man/smtpmail.texi
@@ -34,21 +34,98 @@ license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
34@titlepage 34@titlepage
35@title{Emacs SMTP Library} 35@title{Emacs SMTP Library}
36@subtitle{An Emacs package for sending mail via SMTP} 36@subtitle{An Emacs package for sending mail via SMTP}
37@author{Simon Josefsson} 37@author{Simon Josefsson, Alex Schroeder}
38@page
39@vskip 0pt plus 1filll
40@insertcopying
38@end titlepage 41@end titlepage
39 42
43@contents
44
45@ifnottex
40@node Top 46@node Top
41@chapter Sending mail via SMTP 47@top Emacs SMTP Library
42@cindex SMTP 48
49@insertcopying
50@end ifnottex
51
52@menu
53* How Mail Works:: Brief introduction to mail concepts.
54* Emacs Speaks SMTP:: How to use the SMTP library in Emacs.
55* Authentication:: Authenticating yourself to the server.
56* Queued delivery:: Sending mail without an Internet connection.
57* Server workarounds:: Mail servers with special requirements.
58* Debugging:: Tracking down problems.
59
60Indices
61
62* Index:: Index over variables and functions.
63@end menu
43 64
44 On the Internet, mail is sent from host to host using the simple 65@node How Mail Works
45mail transfer protocol (SMTP). When you read and write mail you are 66@chapter How Mail Works
46using a mail program that does not use SMTP --- it just reads mails 67
47from files. This is called a mail user agent (MUA). The mail 68@cindex SMTP
48transfer agent (MTA) is the program that accepts mails via SMTP and 69@cindex MTA
49stores them in files. You also need a mail transfer agent when you 70 On the Internet, mail is sent from mail host to mail host using the
50send mails. Your mail program has to send its mail to a MTA that can 71simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP). To send and receive mail, you
51pass it on using SMTP. 72must get it from and send it to a mail host. Every mail host runs a
73mail transger agent (MTA) such as Exim that accepts mails and passes
74them on. The communication between a mail host and other clients does
75not necessarily involve SMTP, however. Here is short overview of what
76is involved.
77
78@cindex MUA
79 The mail program --- also called a mail user agent (MUA) ---
80usually sends outgoing mail to a mail host. When your computer is
81permanently connected to the internet, it might even be a mail host
82itself. In this case, the MUA will pipe mail to the
83@file{/usr/lib/sendmail} application. It will take care of your mail
84and pass it on to the next mail host.
85
86@cindex ISP
87 When you are only connected to the internet from time to time, your
88internet service provider (ISP) has probably told you which mail host
89to use. You must configure your MUA to use that mail host. Since you
90are reading this manual, you probably want to configure Emacs to use
91SMTP to send mail to that mail host. More on that in the next
92section.
93
94@cindex MDA
95 Things are different when reading mail. The mail host responsible
96for your mail keeps it in a file somewhere. The messages get into the
97file by way of a mail delivery agent (MDA) such as procmail. These
98delivery agents often allow you to filter and munge your mails before
99you get to see it. When your computer is that mail host, this file is
100called a spool, and sometimes located in the directory
101/var/spool/mail/. All your MUA has to do is read mail from the spool,
102then.
103
104@cindex POP3
105@cindex IMAP
106 When your computer is not always connected to the Internet, you
107must get the mail from the remote mail host using a protocol such as
108POP3 or IMAP. POP3 essentially downloads all your mail from the mail
109host to your computer. The mail is stored in some file on your
110computer, and again, all your MUA has to do is read mail from the
111spool.
112
113 When you read mail from various machines, downloading mail from the
114mail host to your current machine is not convenient. In that case,
115you will probably want to use the IMAP protocol. Your mail is kept on
116the mail host, and you can read it while you are connected via IMAP to
117the mail host.
118
119@cindex Webmail
120 So how does reading mail via the web work, you ask. In that case,
121the web interface just allows you to remote-control a MUA on the web
122host. Whether the web host is also a mail host, and how all the
123pieces interact is completely irrelevant. You usually cannot use
124Emacs to read mail via the web, unless you use software that parses
125the ever-changing HTML of the web interface.
126
127@node Emacs Speaks SMTP
128@chapter Emacs Speaks SMTP
52 129
53 Emacs includes a package for sending your mail to a SMTP server and 130 Emacs includes a package for sending your mail to a SMTP server and
54have it take care of delivering it to the final destination, rather 131have it take care of delivering it to the final destination, rather
@@ -126,17 +203,14 @@ The following example illustrates what you could put in
126(setq smtpmail-smtp-service 587) 203(setq smtpmail-smtp-service 587)
127@end example 204@end example
128 205
129@menu
130* Authentication:: Authenticating yourself to the server.
131* Queued delivery:: Sending mail without an Internet connection.
132* Server workarounds:: Mail servers with special requirements.
133* Debugging:: Tracking down problems.
134* Index:: Index over variables and functions.
135@end menu
136
137@node Authentication 206@node Authentication
138@section Authentication 207@chapter Authentication
139 208
209@cindex SASL
210@cindex CRAM-MD5
211@cindex PLAIN
212@cindex LOGIN
213@cindex STARTTLS
140Many environments require SMTP clients to authenticate themselves 214Many environments require SMTP clients to authenticate themselves
141before they are allowed to route mail via a server. The two following 215before they are allowed to route mail via a server. The two following
142variables contains the authentication information needed for this. 216variables contains the authentication information needed for this.
@@ -198,8 +272,9 @@ respectively.
198@end example 272@end example
199 273
200@node Queued delivery 274@node Queued delivery
201@section Queued delivery 275@chapter Queued delivery
202 276
277@cindex Dialup connection
203If you connect to the Internet via a dialup connection, or for some 278If you connect to the Internet via a dialup connection, or for some
204other reason doesn't have permanent Internet connection, sending mail 279other reason doesn't have permanent Internet connection, sending mail
205will fail when you are not connected. The SMTP library implements 280will fail when you are not connected. The SMTP library implements
@@ -233,7 +308,7 @@ smtpmail-send-queued-mail RET} when you are connected to the Internet.
233 308
234 309
235@node Server workarounds 310@node Server workarounds
236@section Server workarounds 311@chapter Server workarounds
237 312
238Some SMTP servers have special requirements. The following variables 313Some SMTP servers have special requirements. The following variables
239implement support for common requirements. 314implement support for common requirements.
@@ -272,7 +347,7 @@ an error such as:
272 347
273 348
274@node Debugging 349@node Debugging
275@section Debugging 350@chapter Debugging
276 351
277Sometimes delivery fails, often with the generic error message 352Sometimes delivery fails, often with the generic error message
278@samp{Sending failed; SMTP protocol error}. Enabling one or both of 353@samp{Sending failed; SMTP protocol error}. Enabling one or both of
@@ -302,7 +377,14 @@ cannot accept mail.
302@end table 377@end table
303 378
304@node Index 379@node Index
380@chapter Index
381
382@section Concept Index
383
384@printindex cp
385
305@section Function and Variable Index 386@section Function and Variable Index
387
306@printindex fn 388@printindex fn
307 389
308@contents 390@contents