getmail\_fetch(1) User Commands getmail\_fetch(1)

# [NAME](#NAME)

getmail\_fetch - retrieve messages from one or more POP3 or POP3-over-SSL mailboxes and deliver to a maildir, mboxrd-format mbox file, or external MDA

# [SYNOPSIS](#SYNOPSIS)

**getmail\_fetch** \[*OPTIONS*] *SERVER* *USERNAME* *PASSWORD* *DESTINATION*

# [DESCRIPTION](#DESCRIPTION)

getmail\_fetch retrieves messages from POP3 or POP3-over-SSL mailboxes and delivers to a maildir, mboxrd, or external MDA. This command is intended primarily for scripting, and as such does not require a client-side configuration file, and does not record any state.

The *DESTINATION* argument is interpreted as follows:

If it begins with a dot or a slash and ends with a slash, it is assumed to be a path to a maildir.

If it begins with a dot or a slash and does not end with a slash, it is assumed to be a path to an mboxrd file.

If it begins with a pipe, it is assumed to be a path to an external MDA command. Note that arguments can be included in this string by separating them by whitespace; untrusted data **must not** be used in constructing this string.

# [OPTIONS](#OPTIONS)

[**--version**](#version)

show program's version number and exit

[**-h**, **--help**](#h)

show a short usage summary and exit

[**-v**, **--verbose**](#v)

output information messages while running

[**-q**, **--quiet**](#q)

output only on error

[**-mFILE**, **--message**=*FILE*](#m)

read well-formatted RFC822 message from FILE and deliver prior to connecting to POP server

[**-pPORT**, **--port**=*PORT*](#p)

use port PORT instead of default (POP3: 110, POP3-over-SSL: 995)

[**-d**, **--delete**](#d)

delete messages from server after delivery

[**-tTIMEOUT**, **--timeout**=*TIMEOUT*](#t)

use timeout of TIMEOUT seconds instead of default 180

[**-a**, **--apop**](#a)

use APOP authentication

[**-s**, **--ssl**](#s)

use POP3-over-SSL

# [AUTHOR](#AUTHOR)

Written by Charles Cazabon and others.

# [REPORTING BUGS](#REPORTING_BUGS)

Report bugs to <https://github.com/getmail6/getmail6/issues>

**IMPORTANT:** include the output of **getmail \[options] --dump** with any bug report.

# [COPYRIGHT](#COPYRIGHT)

Copyright © 1998-2026 Charles Cazabon and others.  
This is free software; see the file COPYING for copying conditions. There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

# [SEE ALSO](#SEE_ALSO)

The full documentation for **getmail** is maintained in HTML and plaintext formats. See the included files for details.

2026 getmail 6

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Document: getmail_fetch(1) from getmail6 6.21.00-r0 (Chainguard OS)
Source: https://github.com/getmail6/getmail6