11.3.3.4. User Options

User options may be placed on their own lines beneath a server option or on the same line as the server option. In either case, the defined options must follow the user option (defined below).
  • fetchall — Orders Fetchmail to download all messages in the queue, including messages that have already been viewed. By default, Fetchmail only pulls down new messages.
  • fetchlimit <number> — Replace <number> with the number of messages to be retrieved before stopping.
  • flush — Deletes all previously viewed messages in the queue before retrieving new messages.
  • limit <max-number-bytes> — Replace <max-number-bytes> with the maximum size in bytes that messages are allowed to be when retrieved by Fetchmail. This option is useful with slow network links, when a large message takes too long to download.
  • password '<password>' — Replace <password> with the user's password.
  • preconnect "<command>" — Replace <command> with a command to be executed before retrieving messages for the user.
  • postconnect "<command>" — Replace <command> with a command to be executed after retrieving messages for the user.
  • ssl — Activates SSL encryption.
  • user "<username>" — Replace <username> with the username used by Fetchmail to retrieve messages. This option must precede all other user options.