Re: How to run fetchmail as daemon at startup
On Thu, 2007-03-22 at 13:10 -0400, judd@wadsworth.org wrote:
> On 22 Mar, Greg Folkert wrote:
> > On Thu, 2007-03-22 at 11:38 +0800, Jian Jun Wang wrote:
> >>
> >> I installed Debian etch on my laptop and I want to configure
> >> fetchmail to get my mails from gmail. In order to run fetchmail at
> >> startup, I did
> >> 1. Installed sysv-rc-conf and toggle fetchmail in it as root
> >> 2. edit /etc/default/fetchmail, to make it as daemon
> >> 3. edit $HOME/.fetchmailrc
> >>
> >> defaults
> >> mda "/usr/bin/procmail -d %T"
> >>
> >> set logfile "/home/jerry/.log/fetchmail.log"
> >
> > Sorry, but running fetchmail as a daemon is the worst possible way to
> > run fetchmail.
> >
> > Run it as a cronjob as a job as your user. It will work. You just need
> > to setup your .fetchmailrc properly.
> >
> > ANYTIME I've run fetchmail as a system daemon it dies sooner or later.
> > Usually sooner. Or even better yet it stalls. never more to retrieve
> > mail.
> >
>
> Is this typical of other users' experience? I've been running
> fetchmail as a daemon on my home box, with a size limit and a time
> interval of 15 minutes. It quite often stops before downloading all
> the messages. I've run it in verbose mode and logged the output; it
> ends with a message something like "Client/server protocol error".
> I've never taken the time to investigate it further, as it continues
> downloading at the next designated time.
>
> In what way is it better as a cron job? I'll change the setup
> if there are advantages to it.
The daemon mode has runaway and stalling modes. At least it did last
time I tried it. Plus sometimes it doesn't even start.
Running it as a cron job is best. I've only had problems with it when
the ISPs pop3 server is down, or the internet connection is down.
Best part is, it tells you when it cannot reach the pickup point and
when it resumes being able to. It kid of gives me a way to guage when my
Internet connection is down and I can back bill comcast.
--
greg, greg@gregfolkert.net
Novell's Directory Services is a competitive product to Microsoft's
Active Directory in much the same way that the Saturn V is a competitive
product to those dinky little model rockets that kids light off down at
the playfield. -- Thane Walkup
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