qmail-popup(8)        Maintenance Procedures       qmail-popup(8)



NAME
     qmail-popup - read a POP username and password

SYNOPSIS
     qmail-popup hostname subprogram

DESCRIPTION
     qmail-popup  reads a POP username and password from the net-
     work.  It then runs subprogram.

     qmail-popup is most commonly invoked from inetd as

        qmail-popup CHANGEME checkpassword qmail-pop3d Maildir

     with CHANGEME replaced by the fully qualified domain name of
     the local host.

     qmail-popup  expects  descriptor  0 to read from the network
     and descriptor 1 to write to the network.  It reads a  user-
     name and password from descriptor 0 in POP's USER-PASS style
     or  APOP  style.   It  invokes  subprogram,  with  the  same
     descriptors  0  and  1; descriptor 2 writing to the network;
     and descriptor 3 reading the username, a 0 byte,  the  pass-
     word,  another  0  byte,  an  APOP  timestamp  derived  from
     hostname, and a final 0 byte.  qmail-popup  then  waits  for
     subprogram to finish.  It prints an error message if subpro-
     gram crashes or exits nonzero.

     qmail-popup should be used only  within  a  secure  network.
     Otherwise  an eavesdropper can steal passwords.  Even if you
     use APOP, an active attacker can still take over the connec-
     tion and wreak havoc.

     qmail-popup has a 20-minute idle timeout.

     qmail-popup  is  based on a program contributed by Russ Nel-
     son.

SEE ALSO
     maildir(5), qmail-alias(8), qmail-pop3d(8)















SunOS 5.5                 Last change:                          1