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Jim Mirick | 29 Aug 2005 16:46
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connecting via Thunderbird

I am running RH ES v4 and I have installed the RPM of popa3d.  I can connect via

command line and see messages in my list, and read them . . . but I'm trying to

get my Thunderbird client on another machine to connect.  I have created the

account in t-bird's account list, it prompts me for a password, then gives a

popup saying "server says invlaid login."  I can send via t-bird, I'm using

Postfix on the server so I know its actually connecting to the machine.  And

Postfix processes incoming emails into the mailbox, but T-bird just can't get 
them.

Any help, or pointing to documentation, would be appreciated.  I have relatively

little Unix experience and I'm trying to make a point about getting our servers

off Windows, this doesn't help!  Thanks . . .
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Daniel | 31 Aug 2005 11:43

Re: connecting via Thunderbird

>popup saying "server says invlaid login."

Are you sure it isn't a cached password issue in thunderbird?

hotdiggedgdog

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 29/08/2005 at 2:46 pm Jim Mirick wrote:

>I am running RH ES v4 and I have installed the RPM of popa3d.  I can
>connect via
>
>command line and see messages in my list, and read them . . . but I'm
>trying to
>
>get my Thunderbird client on another machine to connect.  I have created
>the
>
>account in t-bird's account list, it prompts me for a password, then gives
>a
>
>popup saying "server says invlaid login."  I can send via t-bird, I'm using
>
>Postfix on the server so I know its actually connecting to the machine. 
>And
>
>Postfix processes incoming emails into the mailbox, but T-bird just can't
>get 
>them.
(Continue reading)

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damir bikmuhametov | 30 Aug 2005 08:22
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Re: connecting via Thunderbird

On Mon, Aug 29, 2005 at 02:46:14PM +0000, Jim Mirick wrote:

> Any help, or pointing to documentation, would be appreciated.  I
> have relatively little Unix experience and I'm trying to make a
> point about getting our servers off Windows, this doesn't help!

Jim,

One of the main rules of unix system administrator is: "Watch logs!"

You should configure your syslog to write popa3d's log messages into
separate file. Say, /var/log/popa3d.log.

man syslog
man syslog.conf

--

-- 
boco
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Dave Oksner | 29 Aug 2005 18:54

Re: connecting via Thunderbird

Are you getting any popa3d messages in the logs (/var/log/messages, probably)?

If not, check the firewall settings (probably either ipchains or iptables).
RedHat might not allow access to the pop3 port by default.  You may have
to add a new rule to allow for it.

Dave

On Mon, Aug 29, 2005 at 02:46:14PM +0000, Jim Mirick wrote:
> I am running RH ES v4 and I have installed the RPM of popa3d.  I can connect via
> 
> command line and see messages in my list, and read them . . . but I'm trying to
> 
> get my Thunderbird client on another machine to connect.  I have created the
> 
> account in t-bird's account list, it prompts me for a password, then gives a
> 
> popup saying "server says invlaid login."  I can send via t-bird, I'm using
> 
> Postfix on the server so I know its actually connecting to the machine.  And
> 
> Postfix processes incoming emails into the mailbox, but T-bird just can't get 
> them.
> 
> Any help, or pointing to documentation, would be appreciated.  I have relatively
> 
> little Unix experience and I'm trying to make a point about getting our servers
> 
> off Windows, this doesn't help!  Thanks . . .
(Continue reading)

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Hallgrimur H. Gunnarsson | 29 Aug 2005 18:12
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Re: connecting via Thunderbird

On 8/29/05, Jim Mirick <jrmpublic@...> wrote:
> I am running RH ES v4 and I have installed the RPM of popa3d.  I can connect via
> command line and see messages in my list, and read them . . . but I'm trying to
> get my Thunderbird client on another machine to connect.  

Judging by the above, this is a thunderbird issue, not a popa3d issue.

> Any help, or pointing to documentation, would be appreciated.

I'd suggest the relevant thunderbird documentation and/or requesting
help from a mailing list that deals with thunderbird issues.

(Also: take a look at the popa3d syslog output, that might give you a
clue as to what is causing your problem.)
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Jim Mirick | 30 Aug 2005 22:26
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Re: connecting via Thunderbird

Hallgrimur H. Gunnarsson <hhg <at> ...> writes:

> 
> On 8/29/05, Jim Mirick <jrmpublic <at> ...> wrote:
> > I am running RH ES v4 and I have installed the RPM of popa3d.  I can connect
 via
> > command line and see messages in my list, and read them . . . but I'm trying
 to
> > get my Thunderbird client on another machine to connect.  
> 
> Judging by the above, this is a thunderbird issue, not a popa3d issue.
> 
> > Any help, or pointing to documentation, would be appreciated.
> 
> I'd suggest the relevant thunderbird documentation and/or requesting
> help from a mailing list that deals with thunderbird issues.
> 
> (Also: take a look at the popa3d syslog output, that might give you a
> clue as to what is causing your problem.)
> 
> 
Thunderbird can connect to other mail servers with no problem, 
so it wouldn't seem to be the client program, but good point 
of course. . .
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Solar Designer | 30 Aug 2005 22:38
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Re: Re: connecting via Thunderbird

On Tue, Aug 30, 2005 at 08:26:19PM +0000, Jim Mirick wrote:
> Thunderbird can connect to other mail servers with no problem, 
> so it wouldn't seem to be the client program, but good point 
> of course. . .

Given that you're on RHEL, this is very likely a packet filtering
("firewall") setup issue, as correctly pointed out by Dave Oksner.
Please invoke the following command as root and see if it helps:

	service iptables stop

Please also review your logs and let us (popa3d-users) know if you find
any messages from popa3d in there.

--

-- 
Alexander Peslyak <solar at openwall.com>
GPG key ID: B35D3598  fp: 6429 0D7E F130 C13E C929  6447 73C3 A290 B35D 3598
http://www.openwall.com - bringing security into open computing environments

Was I helpful?  Please give your feedback here: http://rate.affero.net/solar
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Jim Mirick | 31 Aug 2005 17:27
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Re: connecting via Thunderbird


Solar Designer <solar <at> ...> writes:

> 
> On Tue, Aug 30, 2005 at 08:26:19PM +0000, Jim Mirick wrote:
> > Thunderbird can connect to other mail servers with no problem, 
> > so it wouldn't seem to be the client program, but good point 
> > of course. . .
> 
> Given that you're on RHEL, this is very likely a packet filtering
> ("firewall") setup issue, as correctly pointed out by Dave Oksner.
> Please invoke the following command as root and see if it helps:
> 
> 	service iptables stop
> 
> Please also review your logs and let us (popa3d-users) know if you find
> any messages from popa3d in there.
> 

A little more diagnosis:  /var/log/messages has some things from popa3d, as 
when I log on as root and then execute popa3d from the command line to
look at my mailbox (I say USER JRM etc.).  Looks OK.

I also executed the iptables command below, had no apparent effect.

However, if I log on to Linux as JRM and try to execute popa3d it says 
"command not found", even if I cd to /usr/sbin where the executable is.
So I suspect there is a permissions problem.  I have changed the permissions
for popa3d in /usr/sbin to "everybody can execute" it still won't execute it
for anybody except root.
(Continue reading)

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Code Monkeyboy | 31 Aug 2005 21:54

Re: Re: connecting via Thunderbird


> A little more diagnosis:  /var/log/messages has some things from popa3d, as
> when I log on as root and then execute popa3d from the command line to
> look at my mailbox (I say USER JRM etc.).  Looks OK.

Ah, I think I see what your problem is.

popa3d is a daemon, not a "user program" to be run whenever you want POP3
services.

Please read the setup/install notes in the distribution.

> However, if I log on to Linux as JRM and try to execute popa3d it says
> "command not found", even if I cd to /usr/sbin where the executable is.
> So I suspect there is a permissions problem.  I have changed the
> permissions for popa3d in /usr/sbin to "everybody can execute" it still
> won't execute it for anybody except root.

popa3d isn't designed to be run by users, but rather via either an
inetd/xinetd issued runtime, *OR* run as a persistent standalone daemon out of
/etc/rc.d/*

If your server's anticipated pop3 load is low, I'd just add (or replace)
whatever entry you have in /etc/inetd.conf (or /etc/xinet.d/*) to run popa3d
on the POP3 port.

> Is there a config file for popa3d somewhere?

No, its configuration is compiled into the daemon.  It's lean-and-mean.
(Continue reading)

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Uwe Dippel | 31 Aug 2005 18:11
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Re: Re: connecting via Thunderbird

Jim Mirick wrote:

> A little more diagnosis:  /var/log/messages has some things from popa3d, as 
> when I log on as root and then execute popa3d from the command line to
> look at my mailbox (I say USER JRM etc.).

Amazing. Now everything is through and said ... .

Do we agree on some basics here ? Does RHEL eventually start popa3d by 
default ? can you do some 'ps ax | grep pop' before and after you start it ?

And then, what does "I can connect via command line" mean ? what do you 
type ? Be specific, please !

Did you try to telnet from the client (the one you run Thunderbird on) 
to the server ?

What distro does the client (the one running Thunderbird) use ? Also 
RedHat ?
It might help you could install nmap on that machine and then issue some 
'nmap -v 123.123.123.123' (replace 123.123.123.123 with the IP of the 
server).

And add the 'some things from popa3d' for us to see, please !

> However, if I log on to Linux as JRM and try to execute popa3d it says 
> "command not found", even if I cd to /usr/sbin where the executable is.

Try to run it as root, instead !
(Continue reading)

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Jim Mirick | 31 Aug 2005 20:54
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Re: connecting via Thunderbird

Uwe Dippel <udippel <at> ...> writes:

> 
> Jim Mirick wrote:
> 
> > A little more diagnosis:  /var/log/messages has some things from popa3d, as 
> > when I log on as root and then execute popa3d from the command line to
> > look at my mailbox (I say USER JRM etc.).
> 
> Amazing. Now everything is through and said ... .
> 
> Do we agree on some basics here ? Does RHEL eventually start popa3d by 
> default ? can you do some 'ps ax | grep pop' before and after you start it ?
> 
> And then, what does "I can connect via command line" mean ? what do you 
> type ? Be specific, please !
> 
> Did you try to telnet from the client (the one you run Thunderbird on) 
> to the server ?
> 
> What distro does the client (the one running Thunderbird) use ? Also 
> RedHat ?
> It might help you could install nmap on that machine and then issue some 
> 'nmap -v 123.123.123.123' (replace 123.123.123.123 with the IP of the 
> server).
> 
> And add the 'some things from popa3d' for us to see, please !
> 
> > However, if I log on to Linux as JRM and try to execute popa3d it says 
> > "command not found", even if I cd to /usr/sbin where the executable is.
(Continue reading)

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Daniel | 1 Sep 2005 12:31

Re: Re: connecting via Thunderbird

>On 31/08/2005 at 6:54 pm Jim Mirick wrote:
> 1. nmap reports that port 110 is not open

Umm, the first thing you should have tried was to telnet
in to port 110 from the box running the troubled tb client.

Then if you connected you could workout whether it was an account
issue on the server (e.g wrong password, username or something).

If you couldn't connect, it was likely to be a network, firewall or service
issue (aka daemon in the nix world).

>> And then, what does "I can connect via command line" mean ? what do you 
>> type ? Be specific, please !

Telnet is you friend. From a command prompt on your windows pc client
(or any pc o/s with a telnet client) type (without the % characters and case sensitive):
--------------------------------
c:\> telnet %server-ip-or-name% 110
user %username%
pass %password%
list
quit
---------------

You don't need NMAP or Fedora to sort this out. Its not a MS problem either ;-)

man popa3d
http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1939.html
(Continue reading)

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Solar Designer | 1 Sep 2005 03:49
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Re: Re: connecting via Thunderbird

On Wed, Aug 31, 2005 at 06:54:18PM +0000, Jim Mirick wrote:
> 1. nmap reports that port 110 is not open, after considering it I just tried
> "service popa3d start" and voila it now says started.
[...]
> 2.  I guess it has to be manually started, as does postfix, if I reboot.

No.  You just need to configure your system to start these services upon
bootup.  Try this:

	chkconfig --add popa3d
	chkconfig popa3d on

	chkconfig --add postfix
	chkconfig postfix on

--

-- 
Alexander Peslyak <solar at openwall.com>
GPG key ID: B35D3598  fp: 6429 0D7E F130 C13E C929  6447 73C3 A290 B35D 3598
http://www.openwall.com - bringing security into open computing environments

Was I helpful?  Please give your feedback here: http://rate.affero.net/solar
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Daniel | 31 Aug 2005 11:57

Re[2]: Re: connecting via Thunderbird

Umm, if you can connect via console (telnet) from the pc running
thunderbird then it can't be a firewall issue or a popa3d issue.

hotdiggedydog

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 31/08/2005 at 12:38 am Solar Designer wrote:

>On Tue, Aug 30, 2005 at 08:26:19PM +0000, Jim Mirick wrote:
>> Thunderbird can connect to other mail servers with no problem, 
>> so it wouldn't seem to be the client program, but good point 
>> of course. . .
>
>Given that you're on RHEL, this is very likely a packet filtering
>("firewall") setup issue, as correctly pointed out by Dave Oksner.
>Please invoke the following command as root and see if it helps:
>
>	service iptables stop
>
>Please also review your logs and let us (popa3d-users) know if you find
>any messages from popa3d in there.
>
>-- 
>Alexander Peslyak <solar at openwall.com>
>GPG key ID: B35D3598  fp: 6429 0D7E F130 C13E C929  6447 73C3 A290 B35D
>3598
>http://www.openwall.com - bringing security into open computing
>environments
>
(Continue reading)

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