Diagnostic aids for popper

Diagnostic aids for popper are found in the SYSLOGD log information. Following is a sample z/OS UNIX popper log message:

Apr 20 14:19:36 MVSW popper[16777240]: Received: "quit"

Use the -t trace option to direct all popper message logging to the specified file. The POP server copies the user's entire maildrop to /tmp and then operates on that copy. If the maildrop is particularly large, or inadequate space is available in /tmp, then the server refuses to continue and terminate the connection.

To test popper, you can mimic a popper client by TELNETing into a popper port (110) and issuing the popper commands that are documented in RFC 1725. The following are a few of the commands that are used to verify that popper is listening on port 110:

user name: Specifies the mailbox.
pass string: Specifies a server/mailbox-specific password.
list [msg]: Lists all message numbers and size or information about a specific message.
retr msg: Retrieves the specific message to the screen.
quit: Closes the connection to popper.

Following is an example of a TELNET exchange:

> telnet <host name/ip addr> 110
OK POP (version 2.53) at MVSW.tcp.raleigh.ibm.com starting.
 
> user user163
OK Password required for USER163
 
> pass tcpxyz
OK USER163 has 6 messages (4273 octets)
 
> list
OK 6 messages (4273 octets)
1 346
2 371
3 333
4 347
5 2541
6 335
.
 
> retr 3
OK 333 octets
Received: 9BPXROOT@local host by mvsw.tcp.raleigh.ibm.com (8.8.7/8.8.1) id
PAA83
886099 for user163; Tue, 10 Mar 1998 15:36:57 -0500
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 1998 15:36:57 -0500
from USER163 <USER163>USER163
Message-ID: <199803102036.PAA83886099@mvsw.tcp.raleigh.ibm.com>
X-UIDL: 4569e8e12631e857eed8d8b0ca493
Status: 0
 
hello
 
.