I'm using a Linux workstation to check my email. I use fetchmail to collect my email, but the westhost server is denying my password. I have verified the password using the on-line web based email, so I know my account is working.
After I did some searching on the web, I found out that fetchmail has an option to force the checking of email before sending a message. I remember seeing an important note in the westhost email manual about making sure to check email before attempting to send. Something I did not realize is I guess fetchmail uses sendmail. I added this option called "postconnect". It looks something like this:
options postconnect "/usr/sbin/sendmail -q"
Afterwards I'm still denied by the server, so I'm wondering if there is a timeout before I can attempt to check my email first before sending in order to get authenticated properly.
Anyone have further information on how to get fetchmail to download email from westhost?
One suggestion I have for the westhost manual is to have some instructions on what to do if you accidentally try to send mail before receiving mail. In other words, do I have to call tech support to get my account reset or do I have to wait a certain time period and then try again with downloading mail first?
Well, it must not be a timeout issue, because I retried this morning with the new fetchmail option to download before sending and I still cannot get authenticated. Here is the log.
fetchmail: POP3> USER hiddenuser
fetchmail: POP3< +OK Password required for hiddenuser.
fetchmail: POP3> PASS *
fetchmail: POP3< -ERR [AUTH] Password supplied for "hiddenuser" is incorrect.
fetchmail: [AUTH] Password supplied for "hiddenuser" is incorrect.
fetchmail: Authorization failure on hiddenuser@www.yourdomain.com
fetchmail: POP3> QUIT
fetchmail: POP3< +OK Pop server at yourdomain.com signing off.
You do not have permission to process the queue
fetchmail: post-connection command failed with status 19712
fetchmail: Query status=19712
Well I discovered what the problem was. It was not fetchmail; it was a DNS issue. My local "hosts" file on my workstation listed the IP address of my own domain from my old provider. So fetchmail was attempting to authenticate with that provider instead of the server at Westhost. I did not discover the problem right away because both the "host" and "nslookup" commands reported the IP address assigned by Westhost.
In a nutshell, my own hosts file was pointing to the wrong server.
My local "hosts" file on my workstation listed the IP address of my own domain from my old provider. So fetchmail was attempting to authenticate with that provider instead of the server at Westhost. I did not discover the problem right away because both the "host" and "nslookup" commands reported the IP address assigned by Westhost.
In a nutshell, my own hosts file was pointing to the wrong server.
Isn't it funny how those commands don't even bother to look at the hosts file? I don't have to source in front of me, but it would be interesting to look at it and see exactly what it's doing vs. what fetchmail is doing.
Anyway, I think you should only use a hosts file for servers that are internal to your network. You never know when the IP address is going to change. If it's in your hosts file, you'll have to same problem again.