How would you like to receive e-mail messages into IFS directories of your iSeries (AS/400)?
There could be some good reasons for doing that:

• you need to automatically process on your iSeries messages adressed to given users
• you want to check some mail before re-distributing it to the appropriate people within your organization
• you want to provide some controlled mail facility within your company

In order to achieve such objectives, you need a pop3 client running on your iSeries. Unluckily, however, no such utility or API is available within the basic iSeries software (apart from some JavaMail code that would challenge your patience).

If you happen to be an RPG programmer, you would therefore be happy to read about this public-source ILE-RPG POP3 client program authored by Koen Decorte from Belgium, koendecorte@csmbvba.be, that you may easily download, install and customize to your needs.

• Define your users (mail receivers) on a simple database file
• Run the pop3 client program: for each user the program will
  • contact the appropriate pop server
  • receive the mail messages into IFS stream files
  • update the index of mail received
  • remove mail messages from the hosting pop client, if requested so
• Optionally have your own programs to go through the mail index, display or process the received mail messages.

1. Download the pop3read.zip file
2. Unzip the pop3read.zip file. Two files are generated: pop3read.savf and readme.txt.
3. On the AS/400
   crtsavf qgpl/pop3read
4. Use FTP to send file pop3read.savf to library QGPL (detail instructions in file readme.txt).
5. Signon as a USRCLS(*SECOFR) user profile
6. RSTLIB SAVLIB(POP3READ) DEV(*SAVF) SAVF(QGPL/POP3READ)
7. If you already have library POP3READ, rename it POP3READO
8. STRREXPRC SRCMBR(INSTALL) SRCFILE(POP3READ/QREXSRC)
   This procedure:
   • creates objectes in library POP3READ (service program, modules, programs, commands, etc.)
   • if not yet existing, it creates library POP3READTA containing your local files
   • if not yet existing, it creates IFS directory /pop3 .

• Save library POP3READ from the system you have installed it
• Restore it on the production system
• Either save/restore also library POP3READTA, or run command POP3READ/INSTALL on the production system to create and populate library POP3READTA.

First of all, you need to take a note of their IP addresses. For instance, if your pop server has the DNS name pop.servername.uk, on the iSeries command entry screen type command
   ping 'pop.servername.uk'
to display its IP address (e.g. 195.132.124.102). Take a note of this IP address.

Next, you have to check whether your iSeries is able to contact this pop server on port 110. In fact, if your AS/400 is in the public network (Internet) but is protected through a firewall, most likely it cannot connect to port 110 of the pop server, until the firewall protection is changed. To perform this test, from an iSeries command entry screen enter command
   TELNET RMTSYS('pop_server_ipAddress') PORT(110)

If no response, then you have a connection problem.
Otherwise, you may have the following dialog:

+OK POP3 server ready
USER KIBEL           
-ERR unknown command   (first user command on telnet always gives -err on iseries)
USER KIBEL            
+OK POP3 server ready
PASS ********** (password replaced)                       
+OK start sending message         
LIST                              
+OK 11 messages (176957 octets)   
1 8674                            
2 14571                           
3 9380                            
4 33052                           
5 4387                            
6 4584                            
7 37047                           
8 5984                            
9 33974                           
10 7753                           
11 17551                          
.
UIDL 1                
+OK 1 JW443098.NOTNS  (file which resides in /qtcptmm/mail/..... if the pop server is an iSeries)
RETR 1
..... MAILLISTING (if command TOP is used than only mailheader until first blank line is send.)
QUIT (exit)

• add a record to file POP3READTA/POP3ACC (accounts)
• add a subdirectory to IFS directory /pop3 (created by the INSTALL program),
  named as the POP3ACC account code, example
  MD DIR('/pop3/BSmith')

1. Add a record to file POP3READTA/POP3ACC (accounts)
   STRDFU option 5 on file POP3READTA/POP3ACC:

   WORK WITH DATA IN A FILE Mode . . . . : ENTRY Format . . . . : ACCREC File . . . . : POP3ACC Account code: __________ (example BSmith) Description: __________________________________________________ User: ________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ Password: ________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ Server IP address: _______________ Retain after rtv: _ Remove after delete: _ Log communications: _

   Account code: this is an alphanumeric identifier to become a unique record key. It is also the name of the subdirectory to be created in the IFS directory '/pop3'.
   Description: any useful description to identify this user, e.g. full name
   User name: the user name as it is known to the pop server.
   For an Outlook user, this name can be found in Tools -> Account... -> Properties -> Server -> Account name.
   For an iSeries user, this would be an user profile name.
   Password: the user password known to the pop server.
   For an Outlook user, this is the same password specified in Tools -> Account... -> Properties -> Server -> Password.
   For an iSeries user, this would be the password of the user profile.
   Without correct username and password, mail messages cannot be received.
   Server IP address: the IP address of the pop server.
   For an Outlook user, the pop server name is specified in Tools -> Account... -> Properties -> Server -> Incoming mail (POP3). You have then to ping it to find the IP address.
   Retain after retrieve: specify 'Y' if a message should NOT be removed from the pop server after it has been retrieved by the pop client. If you specify any other character, a message will be removed after having been retrieved.
   Remove after delete: A messages received can later be optionally marked for deletion by inserting a 'D' in field DLFLAG of file POP3READTA/POP3MAIL (the index of the mail received). If this is done, and the field Retain after retrieve contains 'Y', then this message is removed from the pop server at the next connection.
   Log communications: specify 'Y' if you want all socket communications be logged for this user. The log is kept in file POP3READTA/POP3LOG. This should be done just temporarily for debug purposes.
2. Add a subdirectory to IFS directory /pop3
   Once you have added a record to file POP3READTA/POP3ACC, you should create a subdirectory -named as the account code- in the IFS directory '/pop3'. The pop client will store messages retrieved for this user in such a subdirectory.
   Messages are stored as stream files with name Mnnnnnnnnnn.MHTML.
   Files with extension MHTML (MIME HTML) can be efficiently displayed by MS Interner Explorer.

• if only non-SSL POP3 servers,
  run command CALL POP3READ/POP3READ or POP3READ/POP3READ
• if only SSL POP3 servers,
  run command CALL POP3READ/POP3RSSL or POP3READ/POP3RSSL
• if non-SSL and SSL POP3 servers, run command CALL POP3READ/POP3ALL or POP3READ/POP3ALL

• to display the index of the mail received:
•    DSPPFM POP3READTA/POP3MAIL
• to view the messages received for a given account code:
     WRKLNK '/pop3/account_code/*'