QuickStart Guide to Mutt E-Mail

- -

-Procmail is the processor that filters the mail that is forwarded to it by -fetchmail. It also acts as the MDA to deliver mail to your mailboxes where mutt -(your e-mail client) can read it. +Often you happen to jump through a couple of messages a couple of times shortly +after each other, which would require to download the same message over and +over again. Since this simply is a waste, Mutt uses a so-called header cache +(hcache) to keep the most important bits of messages that it needs. This +hcache is backed by a db-library, of which four flavours exist: gdbm, +berkdb, qdbm and tokyocabinet. If you don't have any +preference yourself, pick gdbm or berkdb. Most likely you will have both +already installed on your system. Enabling the USE-flags for more than one +hcache backend will make Mutt choose one it likes best. It will always use +at most one.

-To use procmail you need to create a .procmailrc file in your home -directory. For our quickstart purposes we will use a very simple -.procmailrc that will filter mail from three gentoo mailing lists -into these mailboxes:gentoo-dev, gentoo-user and gentoo-announce +While IMAP is important for reading mail, sending mail requires a mail server. +Mutt can talk to a mail server that exists on the local system, but often that's +not the case, or simply not a good solution for e.g. laptop users that often +travel around. Mutt comes with SMTP support which gets enabled by the smtp +USE-flag. Again, enabling it if you're not sure doesn't harm. Mutt's SMTP +support allows you just to send mail over a mail server of your choice; usually +the one that you are given by your email provider.

- -The procmail filter rules are called recipes, and I have also included recipes -to filter out some spam. - - -

-MAILDIR=$HOME/MuttMail                ##you better make sure it exists
-LOGFILE=$HOME/.procmaillog
-LOGABSTRACT=no
-#VERBOSE=on...is only used for debugging
-VERBOSE=off
-FORMAIL=/usr/bin/formail
-NL="
-"
-##recipe lines begin with :0
-##dont put comments on recipe lines
-##disable a recipe with the false condition !
-##condition lines begin with * and regex is your friend
-##conditions are anded and everything after * is fed straight into egrep
-##one action line follows the conditions, in this case it is a mailbox name
-
-#catch duplicates using formail
-:0 Whc: .msgid.lock
-| $FORMAIL -D 16384 .msgid.cache
-
-:0 a
-$MAILDIR/duplicates
-
-#people we always allow mail from
-:0
-* ^From:.*(craig\@hotmail|renee\@local.com)
-$MAILDIR/friends
-
-#now flush some spam out
-:0
-* ^Subject:.*(credit|cash|money|debt|sex|sale|loan)
-$MAILDIR/spam
-
-#no more html messages
-:0
-* ^Content-Type:.*html
-$MAILDIR/junk
-
-#now put my mail lists into mailboxes
-:0
-* ^List-Id:.*gentoo-user
-gentoo-user
-
-:0
-* ^List-Id:.*gentoo-dev
-gentoo-dev
-
-:0
-* ^List-Id:.*gentoo-announce
-gentoo-announce
-
-#catch any other gentoo mail
-:0
-* ^From:.*gentoo.org
-gentoo
-
-:0
-* ^From:.*@freshmeat\.net
-freshmeat
-
-################################
-# Last rule: mail that gets    #
-# this far goes in default box #
-################################
-:0
-* .*
-default
-
-# End of file
-

- - -It is only required to make the MAILDIR $HOME/MuttMail as Procmail -will create all the mailbox files as needed in this directory using the names -on the action lines. For some useful links visit -http://www.procmail.org/ - -

-You can now test .procmailrc by re-running the fetchmail command -we tested in the first step. Remember the -k option to keep all mail on the -remote server so we have it if we need to rerun it. +Both IMAP and SMTP mostly go over encrypted channels these days, hence if you +enabled any of both, it is wise to also enable either of the ssl or +gnutls USE-flags. Both just add the secure variants (imaps and smtps) to +Mutt's list of supported protocols using either OpenSSL's or GNUTLS' +implementation. If you don't have a strong preference for either, just go for +ssl. Most likely this is in your global USE already anyway.

- -

-$ fetchmail -akv -m "/usr/bin/procmail -d %T"
-

-Now that fetchmail and procmail have run, go to $HOME/MuttMail and -read your messages with less or your file manager. +Last but not least, there is the sidebar USE-flag. It enables an +extension to Mutt that can show a navigation pane of available mailboxes on the +left hand side of the screen. While this is not a recommended feature for +absolute newcomers (it is nowhere mentioned in any official docs, since it +simply isn't official), more experienced users might like its functionality. +Luckily, just enabling the USE-flag doesn't make it visible at all, meaning you +don't even notice it's enabled.

@@ -261,244 +130,184 @@ -Mutt e-mail client +Configuring Mutt

-Mutt is used to read and compose e-mail. It is powerful and highly customizable -but also small and efficient. -

+After you emerged mutt with your USE-flags of choice, the only necessary step is +to create a .muttrc file in your home directory. Muttrc's are to +be found in many places on the web and in Mutt's documentation. In +/usr/share/doc/mutt-<version>/samples you can find some +muttrc samples that are from the official distribution. We discuss a very +minimal .muttrc for an IMAP based account with SMTP mail delivery +below. +

+ +

+# character set on messages that we send +set send_charset="utf-8" +# if there is no character set given on incoming messages, it is probably windows +set assumed_charset="iso-8859-1" + +# make sure Vim knows mutt is a mail client and that we compose an UTF-8 encoded message +set editor="vim -c 'set syntax=mail ft=mail enc=utf-8'" + +# just scroll one line instead of full page +set menu_scroll=yes + +# we want to see some MIME types inline, see below this code listing for explanation +auto_view application/msword +auto_view application/pdf + +# make default search pattern to search in To, Cc and Subject +set simple_search="~f %s | ~C %s | ~s %s" + +# threading preferences, sort by threads +set sort=threads +set strict_threads=yes + +# show spam score (from SpamAssassin only) when reading a message +spam "X-Spam-Score: ([0-9\\.]+).*" "SA: %1" +set pager_format = " %C - %[%H:%M] %.20v, %s%* %?H? [%H] ?" + +# do not show all headers, just a few +ignore * +unignore From To Cc Bcc Date Subject +# and in this order +unhdr_order * +hdr_order From: To: Cc: Bcc: Date: Subject: + +# brighten up stuff with colours, for more colouring examples see: +# http://aperiodic.net/phil/configs/mutt/colors +color normal white black +color hdrdefault green default +color quoted green default +color quoted1 yellow default +color quoted2 red default +color signature cyan default +color indicator brightyellow red +color error brightred default +color status brightwhite blue +color tree brightmagenta black +color tilde blue default +color attachment brightyellow default +color markers brightred default +color message white black +color search brightwhite magenta +color bold brightyellow default +# if you don't like the black progress bar at the bottom of the screen, +# comment out the following line +color progress white black + +# personality settings +set realname = "Andrew Dalziel" +set from = "andy@mail.server" +alternates "andrew@mail.server|andrew.dalziel@mail.server" +# this file must exist, and contains your signature, comment it out if +# you don't want a signature to be used +set signature = ~/.signature + +# aliases (sort of address book) +source ~/.aliases + +# IMAP connection settings +set mail_check=60 +set imap_keepalive=300 + +# IMAP account settings +set folder=imaps://andy@imap.mail.server/ +set spoolfile=imaps://andy@imap.mail.server/ +set record=imaps://andy@imap.mail.server/Sent +set postponed=imaps://andy@imap.mail.server/Drafts + +# use headercache for IMAP (make sure this is a directory for performance!) +set header_cache=/var/tmp/.mutt + +# mailboxes we want to monitor for new mail +mailboxes "=" +mailboxes "=Lists" -

-Mutt supports reading and writing of four different mailbox formats: mbox, -MMDF, MH and Maildir. The mailbox type is autodetected. In our case we are -using the mbox format, where all messages of a mailbox are stored in a single -file. -

- -

-Mutt also has the ability to work with folders located on a remote IMAP server. -See IMAP Support in section 4.11 of the Mutt manual and the Mutt web site -http://www.mutt.org/ -

- -

-When you emerged mutt in the first step it installed a configuration file in -/etc/mutt/Muttrc. You also need to create a .muttrc -file in your home directory. -

- -

-(Be sure to read the fine Mutt manual in /usr/share/doc/mutt*)
-(Any settings here override the system settings in /etc/mutt/Muttrc)
-
-# cp /etc/mutt/Muttrc ~/.muttrc
-# nano -w .muttrc
-set pager_context=1
-set pager_index_lines=6                 #show a mini-index in pager
-set menu_scroll
-set pgp_verify_sig=no                   #dont show pgp in pager
-set status_on_top                       #put status line at top
-set sort=threads                        #sort by message threads in index
-
-set status_format=" %r %b %f %n      Del %d      Msgs %m %l %> (%P)"
-set pager_format="%-10.10i %[!%a %b %d %R]"
-set date_format="!%H:%M %a %d %b     "
-set index_format="%4C %Z %[%b%d] %-15.15F %s"
-set folder_format="%2C %t %8s %d %N %f"
-
-#set sendmail="/usr/bin/nbsmtp -d isp.net -h smtp.isp.net -f yourname@isp.net"
-
-#set from="default-mailaddress"         #set to your from address
-#set realname="myname"
-
-set record="$HOME/MuttMail/sent"        #sent mail is saved here
-set delete=yes                          #delete without prompting
-set include=yes                         #quote msg in reply
-set fast_reply=yes                      #no prompting on reply
-set beep=no                             #no noise
-set markers=no                          #no + on wrapped lines
-set confirmappend=no                    #no prompt for save to =keep
-set to_chars=" +TCF"                    #no L for mail_list
-
-set folder = $HOME/MuttMail
-mailboxes =gentoo-user
-mailboxes =gentoo-dev
-mailboxes =gentoo-announce
-mailboxes =gentoo
-mailboxes =freshmeat
-mailboxes =duplicates
-mailboxes =default
-mailboxes =friends
-mailboxes =junk
-mailboxes =spam
-mailboxes =keep
-
-save-hook .* =keep                      #default mbox to (s)ave mail is =keep
-subscribe gentoo-user gentoo-dev        #subscribed to these lists
-
-bind pager h display-toggle-weed        #toggle headers with h key
-
-# simulate the old url menu
-macro index \cb |urlview\n 'call urlview to extract URLs out of a message'
-macro pager \cb |urlview\n 'call urlview to extract URLs out of a message'
-
-#run fetchmail by hitting key of G
-macro index G "!fetchmail -a -m 'procmail -d %T'\r"
-macro pager G "!fetchmail -a -m 'procmail -d %T'\r"
-
-#use to edit .muttrc and then source it...no restart necessary
-macro generic ,sm ":source $HOME/.muttrc\r"
-macro generic \cj "!rxvt -bg wheat -e joe $HOME/.muttrc\r"
-
-# default list of header fields to weed out when displaying mail
-#ignore them all and then unignore what you want to see
-ignore *
-unignore  Date To From: Subject X-Mailer Organization User-Agent
-hdr_order Date From To Subject X-Mailer User-Agent Organization
-
-##your Mutt has to have some colors
-##these are for four levels of quoted text
-##they override the system settings in /etc/mutt/Muttrc
-
-#color quoted green  default
-color quoted1 magenta blue
-#color quoted2 yellow default
-#color quoted3 red default
-#color signature cyan cyan
-
-
-#this color setup is copied from /etc/mutt/Muttrc.color
-#comment it out if you want the default colors in /etc/mutt/Muttrc
-# Je vois la vie en rose :-)
-color   hdrdefault      brightcyan      blue
-color   header          brightwhite     blue "^from:"
-color   header          brightwhite     blue   "^subject:"
-
-color   quoted          brightgreen     blue
-color   signature       brightwhite     blue
-
-color   indicator       blue            green
-
-color   error           red             black
-mono    error           bold
-color   status          black cyan
-mono    status          bold
-color   tree            yellow          blue
-
-color   tilde           brightmagenta   blue
-color   body            brightwhite     blue    "[-a-z_0-9.]+@[-a-z_0-9.]+"
-mono    body            bold                    "[-a-z_0-9.]+@[-a-z_0-9.]+"
-color   body            brightyellow    black   "^Good signature"
-mono    body            bold                    "^Good signature"
-color   body            brightwhite     red     "^Bad signature from.*"
-mono    body            bold                    "^Bad signature from.*"
-color   normal          white           blue
-color   message         green           black
-color   attachment      brightgreen     blue
+# mailing lists we are on (these are regexps!)
+subscribe "gentoo-.*@gentoo\\.org"
 
-# End of file...but it can go on and on and on....:)
+# SMTP mailing configuration (for sending mail)
+set smtp_url=smtp://mail.server/

-For the record, this is just a sample .muttrc. There are many more -options that you can configure, such as integration with GPG. Have a look at -http://www.dotfiles.com/index.php?app_id=27 for more examples and -help. -

- -

-You are now ready to test your .muttrc. -

- -

-$ mutt -y
-

- -

-This should open Mutt with a menu showing the Mutt mailboxes that you created -in Test 2 when you ran the fetchmail command. -

- -

-Type the ? for help in navigating the Mutt Mailboxes. -

- - -

- - - -SMTP -

- - -

-The final step is setting up nbsmtp the 'No-Brainer SMTP' used to send mail to -your SMTP server. This setup is the easiest of all, as it only requires adding -an entry in your .muttrc file. -

- -

-domain: The domain you want nbsmtp to say it belongs to. This will almost -invariably be the same as the domain in your e-mail address. -

+ +It is good practice to review all settings from the example above. There are +many more, and some preferences may actually not match yours. Keep that in mind +when you feel that Mutt at first doesn't really work the way you like. +

-from@addr: This is the address you want nbsmtp to say the message is from. Note -that this can be different than the "From:" line in your MUA. +The example .muttrc above sets up an IMAP account, uses an SMTP +server to send mail, stores its cache in /var/tmp/.mutt, reads the +known address aliases (think of it as an address book) from +~/.aliases and appends the signature from ~/.signature +when composing new mail. For some IMAP servers it may be necessary to change the +spool, record and postponed directories, as the folders Sent and +Drafts may be under a folder called INBOX. Simply +trying this out with Mutt is the simplest way to figure this out.

-host: This is the smtp server you are sending to. +Once your .muttrc is setup, you are ready to launch Mutt by just +running mutt. If you entered a valid IMAP server url, Mutt will prompt +you for your password and afterwards load all messages for you. Note that the +first time entering your mailbox may take a while if you have quite some +messages, since Mutt's header cache is still empty. If this succeeds you're in +your IMAP mailbox ready to go.

-$ nano -w .muttrc
-set sendmail="/usr/bin/nbsmtp -d isp.net -h smtp.isp.net -f urname@isp.net"
-

-You are now ready to send a message. So in the Mutt pager or index hit the -m key to compose a test message to send to your e-mail address. Mutt -will use the value of the EDITOR or VISUAL for the composition editor unless -you set editor= in the .muttrc. When you are done composing -hit y to send your message. If there are no errors you will see 'sending -mail' followed by 'Mail sent.' +Navigation is intuitive, as is reading messages by just pressing the enter key +or space bar. Mutt is quite Vim alike in that it uses key strokes to perform +most of its actions. You best read Mutt's manual on the web to get yourself +known with all existing functions (or press ? in Mutt) and what key they are +bound to, or better, what key you like it to be bound to. Some essential keys +are m (for message) to start composing a new message, q for quit, +r for reply, s for save and p for print.

-Remember in .muttrc we have set where to save sent mail with -set record="$HOME/MuttMail/sent" +One of the features that Mutt has that is still not in today's most savvy email +clients is the ability to display attachments inline through some viewer. The +auto_view directive in the .muttrc file tells Mutt which attachments (based on +their MIME-type) it should view inline. To figure out how to do that, Mutt uses +mailcap files to lookup how to display a certain MIME-type. Usually the system +wide mailcap file isn't sufficient here, so you better start a +~/.mailcap file to put items in there for copiousoutput that +Mutt can display inline.

-Now to complete the test, run fetchmail again to get all your mail and verify -you have received the message you sent to your e-mail address. When you find -your test message, hit the h key to toggle a view of all the headers and -see the complete mail transfer path. +In the example .muttrc above auto_view is enabled for +application/msword and application/pdf files. These two show +the extreme usefulness of this capability, because it means meeting notes sent +as doc file now are perfectly fine readable without having to save the +attachment and open it in OpenOffice. Instead the text just shows up in the +message reader, that is, if you have a matching entry in your +~/.mailcap file.

- -There is one more program you probably want to add called urlview. This -extracts the urls in message texts and sends them to your browser. - - -

-# emerge urlview
++application/msword; antiword '%s'; copiousoutput; description=Word Document;
+nametemplate=%s.doc
+application/pdf; pdftotext '%s' -; copiousoutput; description=PDF Document;
+nametemplate=%s.pdf
 
 
 
-Then create ~/.urlview by copying the configuration file from
-/usr/share/doc/urlview*/ and setting your browser command.
-
-
-
-You now have a powerful and highly customizable mail system. To take advantage
-of its flexibility, read all the manuals and docs and find the many user
-configuration files available on the web: search for procmailrc and
-muttrc.
+The above .mailcap example tells mutt what to do to "view"
+msword and pdf files. For the former it should run a program
+called antiword (emerge app-text/antiword), for the latter the
+program pdftotext (emerge app-text/poppler). You can go wild with
+these to for example display rendered HTML (give app-text/vilistextum a
+try), render vcards, or show ASCII representation of attached images. All you
+need to do is define how to call the program in your .mailcap, and
+tell Mutt to try to view it inline using the auto_view directive.
 
 
 
@@ -506,86 +315,21 @@
 
 
 
-Authenticated SMTP
+Conclusions
 
-Using nbSMTP
 
 
 
-If you need to pass a username and password to your SMTP server, you can edit
-the set sendmail command in your .muttrc to include -U
-<username> -P <password>, like this:
-
-
--set sendmail="/usr/bin/nbsmtp -U username -P password -d isp.net -h smtp.isp.net -f urname@isp.net"
-
-
-
-If you do not want this information to be present in your .muttrc
-file, you can also create a .nbsmtprc file in which you include all
-information:
-
-
--auth_user = username
-auth_pass = password
-
-
-
-
-
-Alternative: Using msmtp
-
-
-
-msmtp is a simple alternative to nbsmtp with similar
-possibilities.
-
-
--# emerge msmtp
-
-
-
-Now login as a normal user and configure msmtp by creating a
-~/.msmtprc file, filling in your SMTP server's information.
-Remember to set the permissions to a secure value!
-
-
--$ nano -w .msmtprc
-account default
-host smtp.your_provider.net
-from your_username@provider1.net
-#see man page for more auth options
-auth login
-user your_username
-password your_password
-#If your SMTP Server supports TLS encryption, uncomment the next line
-#tls
-
-
-
-Now set the permissions of the file to a secure value:
-
-
--$ chmod 600 .msmtprc
-
-
-
-Finally, edit or add the following line to .muttrc
-
-
--$ nano -w .muttrc
-set sendmail="/usr/bin/msmtp"
-
-
-
-Fire up mutt and send yourself a test email to see if it worked!  See
-the msmtp man page for more options and another example.
+Mutt is a very versatile console email client. If you like the concept, Mutt
+can be altered to behave in nearly any way through its configuration. Search
+the web to find others explaining how they did "it", or find one of the many
+patches that exist to make Mutt do even more. Gentoo applies a couple of very
+popular patches to Mutt, so make sure to check mutt -v if you want
+something more to make sure it is not yet already at your disposal. While
+learning Mutt is not necessarily easy, once it is in your fingers, it can make
+your mail experience much faster and efficient than with other clients.
+Searching for example is quite powerful if you know how to hit the right flags
+and know which regular expression narrows your search down. Enjoy Mutting!