19.3.3.4. 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. At the time of writing, the default action is to use the best available from SSL2, SSL3, SSL23, TLS1, TLS1.1 and TLS1.2. Note that SSL2 is considered obsolete and due to the POODLE: SSLv3 vulnerability (CVE-2014-3566), SSLv3 should not be used. However there is no way to force the use of TLS1 or newer, therefore ensure the mail server being connected to is configured not to use SSLv2 and SSLv3. Use stunnel where the server cannot be configured not to use SSLv2 and SSLv3.
  • sslproto — Defines allowed SSL or TLS protocols. Possible values are SSL2, SSL3, SSL23, and TLS1. The default value, if sslproto is omitted, unset, or set to an invalid value, is SSL23. The default action is to use the best from SSLv3, TLSv1, TLS1.1 and TLS1.2. Note that setting any other value for SSL or TLS will disable all the other protocols. Due to the POODLE: SSLv3 vulnerability (CVE-2014-3566), it is recommend to omit this option, or set it to SSLv23, and configure the corresponding mail server not to use SSLv2 and SSLv3. Use stunnel where the server cannot be configured not to use SSLv2 and SSLv3.
  • user "username" — Replace username with the username used by Fetchmail to retrieve messages. This option must precede all other user options.