
            maildrop - mail delivery agent with filtering abilities

   Copyright 1998-2001, Double Precision Inc.

   This program is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public
   License. See COPYING for additional information.

Where to find maildrop

   Join the maildrop mailing list -
   http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/courier-maildrop.

   I've started a list of "tips and tricks" for writing mail filters with
   maildrop.

   The HTML version of the maildrop README is located at
   http://www.flounder.net/~mrsam/maildrop/. Although the following files
   may also be found there, please check your favorite archive for any
   local copies.

   Download maildrop: http://www.courier-mta.org/download.php#maildrop

Building RPMs

   Starting with version 0.99, it is possible to build binary RPMs
   directly from the source tarball, so there's no longer a need to
   provide a separate set of source and binary RPMs. You will need RPM
   3.0 or higher in order to build a binary RPM. Execute the following
   command:
   rpm -ta maildrop-1.3.1.tar.gz

   The binary RPM will be built with a customized configuration (userdb,
   GDBM, and quota enhancements enabled). Afterwards, simply execute rpm
   -i to install it. That's it.

   If you would like to change the RPM build options, move
   maildrop-1.3.1.tar.gz to your SOURCES directory, extract the file
   maildrop.spec, move it to your SPECS directory, customize it if
   necessary, then build from the spec file.

   maildrop includes documentation in HTML, as well as traditional man
   pages. The HTML versions may also be found at
   http://www.flounder.net/~mrsam/maildrop/maildrop.html.

Introduction

   maildrop is the mail filter/mail deilvery agent that's used by the
   Courier Mail Server. You do not need to download maildrop from here if
   you already have Courier installed. This is a standalone build of the
   maildrop mail filter that can be used with other mail servers.

   maildrop is a replacement for your local mail delivery agent. maildrop
   reads a mail message from standard input, then delivers the message to
   your mailbox. maildrop knows how to deliver mail to mbox-style
   mailboxes, and maildirs. "maildir" is a mailbox format used by the
   Qmail MTA.

   maildrop will optionally read instructions from a file, which
   describes how to filter incoming mail. Instructions can be provided
   having mail delivered to alternate mailboxes, or forwarded somewhere
   else. Unlike procmail, maildrop uses a structured filtering language.

   maildrop is written in C++, and is significantly larger than procmail
   in compiled form. However, it uses resources much more efficiently.
   Unlike procmail, maildrop will not read a 10 megabyte mail message
   into memory. Large messages are saved in a temporary file, and are
   filtered from the temporary file. Temporary files are saved in the
   user's home directory. If the standard input to maildrop is a file,
   and not a pipe, a temporary file will not be necessary.

   maildrop checks the syntax of the mail delivery instructions the
   filter file, before attempting to deliver a message. Unlike procmail,
   if the filter file contains syntax errors, maildrop terminates without
   delivering the message. The user can fix the typo without causing any
   mail to be lost.

Installation

   See INSTALL for installation information. If you are using an
   RPM-based Linux distribution, you can install build a binary RPM
   directly from the source code.

Using maildrop with sendmail

   Maildrop can be easily used as sendmail's local delivery agent,
   instead of procmail. Here is the suggested entry for sendmail.cf,
   courtesy of Eric J. Schwertfeger <ejs@bfd.com>:

Mlocal,         P=/usr/local/bin/maildrop, F=lsAw5:/|@SPfhn, S=10/30, R=20/40,
                T=DNS/RFC822/X-Unix,
                A=maildrop -d $u

   You may also consider including the D, F, and M flags as well.

Other Links

   SuSE RPMs of maildrop

Revision history (including development versions)

   Change Log
