What you need
- The host name of the POP server (for use in the telnet command)
- The POP user name (for use in the USER command)
- The user’s POP password (for use in the PASS command)
Encryption
For added security, you can encrypt your POP connection. This requires that your server supports SSL or TLS and that you have access to an SSL/TLS client program, for example OpenSSL, to use instead of telnet.
As the port number normally is 995, an example OpenSSL command would be openssl s_client -connect pop.example.com:995 -quiet. (If you would like to see the public key of the server, as well as some other encryption-related information, omit -quiet.) The server should then start a POP session, displaying a greeting such as the +OK InterMail POP3 server ready example below.
What to do
The DELE command flags messages for deletion. Use it only if you want to delete mail.
The initial telnet: > symbolises your shell prompt.
telnet: > telnet pop.example.com pop3 telnet: Trying 192.0.2.2... telnet: Connected to pop.example.com. telnet: Escape character is '^]'. server: +OK InterMail POP3 server ready. client: USER MyUsername server: +OK please send PASS command client: PASS MyPassword server: +OK MyUsername is welcome here client: LIST server: +OK 1 messages server: 1 1801 server: . client: RETR 1 server: +OK 1801 octets server: Return-Path: [email protected] server: Received: from client.example.com ([192.0.2.1]) server: by mx1.example.com with ESMTP server: id <[email protected]> server: for <[email protected]>; Tue, 20 Jan 2004 22:34:24 +0200 server: From: [email protected] server: Subject: Test message server: To: [email protected] server: Message-Id: <[email protected]> server: server: This is a test message. server: . client: DELE 1 server: +OK client: quit server: +OK MyUsername InterMail POP3 server signing off.