Mutt is mail client (Mail User Agent (MUA)) with text-based interface for *nix like systems. Initially mutt can only view mail messages. But last versions can retrive, send and filter mail.
I've been using mutt as my main email client for about five months. It's very useful for quick message check or reponse, more quickly then GMail's web access.
Installation
# under ArchLinux yaourt -S mutt # under Ubuntu sudo apt-get install openssl mutt
Main configuration file can be located at ~/.muttrc or ~/.mutt/muttrc.
For IMAP it is enough to setup local folders (inbox, outbox, etc.) For POP3 it will be necessary to create local directory manually.
If you want to see mail box of somebody on local box you should execute this command
mutt -f /path/to/mail/john
General options
# vim ~/.muttrc set realname = "Ivan Morgun" set use_from = yes set editor='vim -c "set spell spelllang=en_us,ru_ru"' # see the headers when editing # set edit_headers # sort by newest conversation first. set sort = reverse-threads set sort_aux = last-date-received #confirmation skipping set fast_reply=yes # when replying, don't prompt for address set include=yes # include original text on reply? set forward_quote=yes # include original text on forward? set delete=yes # don't ask for delete confirmation
Options for IMAP (account at GMail)
# vim ~/.muttrc set from = yourmail@gmail.com set imap_user = yourmail@gmail.com set imap_pass = secret set smtp_url = smtp://yourmail@smtp.gmail.com:587/ set smtp_pass = secret # don't let your firewall kill your idle connection set imap_keepalive = 900 # do not copy sent mail set copy = no set move = no set folder = imaps://imap.gmail.com:993 set spoolfile = +INBOX #or +[Gmail]/Important set postponed = +[Gmail]/Drafts # cache set header_cache = ~/.mutt/cache/headers set message_cachedir = ~/.mutt/cache/bodies set certificate_file = ~/.mutt/certificates
Options for POP3 (account at example.com)
We can use one of two mailbox types:
We will use getmail for mail receive
# under ArchLinux yaourt -S getmail
Create necessary folders
mkdir -p ~/.mutt/cache
mkdir ~/.getmail
mkdir ~/.mail
mkdir -p ~/.mail/{cur,new,tmp}
Set options for mail receive
# vim ~/.getmail/getmailrc [retriever] type = SimplePOP3Retriever server = mail.example.com username = yourmail@example.com port = 110 password = secret [destination] type = Maildir path = ~/.mail/ [options] read_all = False
Change access for privacy
chmod 700 ~/.getmail
Try to run getmail. If it runs without errors - we can add getmail to cron for periodic check.
# crontab -e */10 * * * * /usr/bin/getmail
That will run getmail every 10 minutes.
Point mutt to folder with messages
vim ~/.mutt/muttrc # POP3 set from = yourmail@example.com set mbox_type=Maildir set folder=$HOME/.mail set spoolfile=+/ set header_cache=~/.mutt/cache
Options for SMTP (account at example.com)
vim ~/.mutt/muttrc set my_pass='secret' set my_user=yourmail@example.com set smtp_url=smtp://$my_user:$my_pass@mail.example.com set record="+sent" # where to store sent messages set postponed="+postponed" # where to store draft messages
You can cipher passwords with GPG, more about it.
Send message with attach from terminal
Send message with text
mutt -s "subject" recipient@server.com < ~/message.txt
Send message with text and file
mutt -s "subject" recipient@server.com -a file.zip < ~/message.txt
Aliases
Aliases is usefull for quick access to recipients.
# vim ~/.muttrc set alias_file = "~/.mutt/aliases" set sort_alias = alias set reverse_alias = yes source $alias_file
File with aliases
# vim ~/.mutt/aliases alias mom mom@example.com
Useful shortcuts
m - compose mail;r - reply to message;f - forward mail;t - change recipient email address;c - change Cc address;a - attach files as attachments;y - send that email;arrow up/down or j/k - move among messages not marked for deletion;J/K - move among messages regardless of deletion mark;/ - search (in sender/subject if in list, or in message when you have one open);enter - read message;space (in message) - skip to next page of message;S (in message) - skip quoted text;T - toggle visibility of quoted text;d - mark current message for deletion;u - remove deletion marker;o - sort;q - quit mutt;ctrl+g - stop current action (e.g. when it's asking a question).Appearance
I prefer solarized colors for mutt with dark background.
Download theme
cd ~/.mutt/ git clone https://github.com/altercation/mutt-colors-solarized.git
Install theme
#vim ~/.muttrc ... source ~/.mutt/mutt-colors-solarized/mutt-colors-solarized-dark-16.muttrc
Additional material