I intend to run fetchmail from /etc/init.d/. Just want to verify that I did not miss something important or do something wrong:
1. The script /etc/init.d/fetchmail is taken from /usr/share/doc/fetchamil/contrib /debian_rc: ---------------------------------------------------------------- !/bin/sh # # To start fetchmail as a system service, copy this file to # /etc/init.d/fetchmail and run "update-rc.d fetchmail # defaults". A fetchmailrc file containg hosts and # passwords for all local users should be placed in /root # and should contain a line of the form "set daemon <nnn>". # # To remove the service, delete /etc/init.d/fetchmail and run # "update-rc.d fetchmail remove". DAEMON=/usr/bin/fetchmail set -e test -f $DAEMON || exit 0 case "$1" in start) echo -n "Starting mail retrieval agent: " if start-stop-daemon --start --quiet --exec $DAEMON; then echo "fetchmail." else echo "fetchmail already running."; fi ;; stop) echo -n "Stopping mail retrieval agent: " start-stop-daemon --stop --quiet --exec $DAEMON echo "fetchmail." ;; force-reload|restart) echo -n "Restarting mail retrieval agent: " start-stop-daemon --stop --quiet --exec $DAEMON start-stop-daemon --start --quiet --exec $DAEMON echo "fetchmail." ;; *) echo "Usage: /etc/init.d/fetchmail {start|stop|restart}" exit 1 ;; esac exit 0 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Since the local mail service is started with S20, is it wise to call update-rc.d fetchmail with priority 20? I mean, won't it cause unnecessary error messages at boot because fetchmail might look for the mail service when it is not started yet? Isn't update-rc.d fetchmail defaults 95-start 05-stop better? 2. /root/.fetchmailrc will be: ---------------------------------------------------------------- # ~/.fetchmailrc poll mail.israsrv.net.il protocol pop3 username shaulk, with password XXXXXXXXX, is shaul here; set daemon 900 set syslog ---------------------------------------------------------------- Is it better to have the config file in /etc/fetchmailrc since /etc is the usual dir for config files? Suppose I'll write the config file in /etc/fetchmailrc. How do I tell fetchmail to look it there? Will start-stop-daemon --stop --quiet --exec $DAEMON -- -f /etc/fetchmailrc work? 3. Is it a good idea to ask the package maintainer to help running fetchmail in this way by installing no-fetchmail-on-boot file and an rc script when installing the package (like PPP does)?