How to setup the mail check feature for a local POP mail server

If you have a local POP mail server on your LAN, you cannot use the web GUI to configure the router to check it and notify you via syslog or the mail waiting LED on the front of the router. The web GUI only works when you have an external POP mail server out on the Internet. So, here is how to setup the router to check a local POP mail server using the CLI via telnet or the serial console.

• Logon to the router using telnet or the serial console. The default username/password is admin/admin.
• First, you will need to delete any previous mail check configuration attempts via the web GUI. To do this, type the following command at the admin> prompt:

  mailcheck clear

  To make sure that there is no existing mail check configuration remnants left over, type the following command:

  mailcheck list

  which should produce a listing that looks something like the following:

      Mail Check Accounts:
  
       ID  |   Name   |Mail UserName/POP3 ServerAddress| WAN interface  | Enabled
      -----|----------|--------------------------------|----------------|---------
      ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

• Now create a new mail check configuration by typing the following commands:

  mailcheck add c1 waninterface iplan
  mailcheck set c1 interval 5
  mailcheck set c1 mail username myusername
  mailcheck set c1 mail password mypassword
  mailcheck set c1 mail pop3server 192.168.1.2
  

  where:
  • c1 is the default "name" normally used by the router;
  • iplan is the name of the router's LAN interface;
  • 5 is the number of minutes between mail checks;
  • myusername is your POP email server username;
  • mypassword is your POP email server password; and
  • 192.168.1.2 is the IP address of your POP email server.

• To double check your new mail check configuration before enabling it, type the following command:

  mailcheck list

  which should produce a listing that looks something like the following:

      Mail Check Accounts:
  
       ID  |   Name   |Mail UserName/POP3 ServerAddress| WAN interface  | Enabled
      -----|----------|--------------------------------|----------------|---------
         1 | c1       | myusername  /192.168.1.2       | iplan          | false  
      ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

• To enable the mail check which you have just configured, type the following command:

  mailcheck set c1 enabled
  

• Finally, to save your mail check configuration permanently, type the following command:

  system config save

Enjoy!

Back to the Info Dump