Default Configuration

Both IMAP and POP3 have a large number of configuration options, making it difficult to deep dive into each component in more detail. If you wish to examine these protocol configurations deeper, we recommend creating a VM locally and install the two packages dovecot-imapd, and dovecot-pop3d using apt and play around with the configurations and experiment.

In the documentation of Dovecot, we can find the individual core settings and service configuration options that can be utilized for our experiments. However, let us look at the list of commands and see how we can directly interact and communicate with IMAP and POP3 using the command line.

IMAP Commands

Command	Description
1 LOGIN username password	User's login.
1 LIST "" *	Lists all directories.
1 CREATE "INBOX"	Creates a mailbox with a specified name.
1 DELETE "INBOX"	Deletes a mailbox.
1 RENAME "ToRead" "Important"	Renames a mailbox.
1 LSUB "" *	Returns a subset of names from the set of names that the User has declared as being active or subscribed.
1 SELECT INBOX	Selects a mailbox so that messages in the mailbox can be accessed.
1 UNSELECT INBOX	Exits the selected mailbox.
1 FETCH <ID> all	Retrieves data associated with a message in the mailbox.
1 CLOSE	Removes all messages with the Deleted flag set.
1 LOGOUT	Closes the connection with the IMAP server.

POP3 Commands

Command	Description
USER username	Identifies the user.
PASS password	Authentication of the user using its password.
STAT	Requests the number of saved emails from the server.
LIST	Requests from the server the number and size of all emails.
RETR id	Requests the server to deliver the requested email by ID.
DELE id	Requests the server to delete the requested email by ID.
CAPA	Requests the server to display the server capabilities.
RSET	Requests the server to reset the transmitted information.
QUIT	Closes the connection with the POP3 server.