Q161116: XCLN: POP3 Supported Command Set for Exchange Server 5.0
Article: Q161116
Product(s): Microsoft Exchange
Version(s): winnt:5.0
Operating System(s):
Keyword(s): kbusage exc5
Last Modified: 06-AUG-2002
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The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Exchange Server, version 5.0
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SUMMARY
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POP3 is a very simple and limited protocol. It has a set of approximately 11
commands, 10 of which are supported by Microsoft Exchange Server.
To test a POP3 connection to a Server, the user may telnet to port 110 of the
POP3 Microsoft Exchange Server computer and execute any of the following
commands.
MORE INFORMATION
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Listed below are the commands along with the functionality that each command
provides.
- Command: USER
Description: Used to specify the name of the user you wish to logon as. For
TR1, it can be specified in the form of either:
USER <username> -or- USER <domain\username>
Additionally, if the mailbox name for the user logging on differs from that of
the username, the log on may be stated in the form of:
USER <domain\username/mailboxname>
- Command: PASS
Description: This is the Windows NT domain password of the user who is logging
on.
Usage:
PASS <password>
- Command: LIST
Description: Used to list messages and their combined size. For example,
invoking the LIST command with no parameters will return 2 +OK messages (320
octets). This means that there are two messages in the user's mail drop
taking a total of 320 octets of space. To see an individual message simply
type:
LIST <N>
Where <N> is a number between one and the number of messages originally
returned by the LIST command.
- Command: QUIT
Description: Quits the current telnet session and deletes any messages marked
for deletion.
- Command: UIDL
Description: Returns the Unique ID Listing for a message. This command invoked
in the form of either:
UIDL -or- UIDL <N>
Where <N> is the message number of the UIDL that the user wants to view.
Exchange Server determines this unique value in the following fashion:
The BASE64 value of the 64-bit Message ID and then the 128 GUID for that
message. If the command is invoked without arguments, a numerical listing of
all messages and their associated UIDLs is displayed.
- Command: APOP
Description: Not Supported. APOP is an alternative method of authentication.
This is one of the optional POP3 commands.
- Command: RETR
Description: Used to Retrieve a message from the server.
Usage:
"RETR <N>" (without the quotation marks)
Where <N> is a number between 1 and the last number returned by the LIST
command. This command may not be used to retrieve a message that has been
marked as deleted.
- Command: STAT
Description: The STAT command is similar to the LIST command in that the
server will return the number of messages in the Mail drop along with the
total space (in octets) that those messages occupy. However, this is all the
information returned by this command. To display messages, either the RETR or
LIST commands must be invoked.
- Command: DELE
Description: This command is used to delete a message. It does not actually
delete the message but simply sets a delete flag. The message is actually
deleted when the client gracefully breaks the connection to the server using
the QUIT command. In the case where there is a crash or immediate connection
termination by the client, the messages are not deleted.
Usage:
DELE <N>
Where <N> is the number of the message provided by the LIST command.
- Command: NOOP
Description: A Null or NO OPeration. In this case, the server does nothing.
- Command: RSET
Description: Used by the client to reset the state of messages marked for
deletion.
- Command: TOP
Description: This command is used to display both the header for a message and
a given number of lines for that message. This command is used in the form
of:
TOP <X><Y>
Where <X> is the message number the user wants to view and <Y> is
the number of lines in that message to be displayed. The server should return
the headers for the message followed by a blank line and then the Y number of
lines for that message.
- Command: AUTH
Description: This is an IMAP4 command that is part of the POP specification
from RFC1734. It allows for the use of alternative IMAP4 authorization
techniques.
NOTE: A POP3 client uses standard SMTP to send messages. The POP3 command set
listed in this article is to receive messages only.
For more information on POP3, please refer to RFC 1725, RFC 1734 and RFC 1939.
You can locate these and other RFCs at the following Web site:
http://www.pmg.lcs.mit.edu/rfc.html
Additional query words: internet eudora inbox
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Keywords : kbusage exc5
Technology : kbExchangeSearch kbExchange500 kbZNotKeyword2
Version : winnt:5.0
Issue type : kbinfo
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