IMAP

Summary and Commands

IMAP listens to TCP port 143

Basic Commands

Command	Description
telnet 143	Connect to the IMAP server using Telnet
a login	Authenticate the user
a select	Select a mailbox
a examine	Examine a mailbox
a list "" "*"	List all available mailboxes
a fetch	Fetch message attributes
a store	Set message flags
a search	Search for messages
a create	Create a new mailbox
a delete	Delete a mailbox
a logout	Log out of the IMAP server

IMAP Operations

Operation	Description
Connect	Establish a connection to the IMAP server
Authenticate	Verify the user’s identity
Select	Choose a mailbox to work with
Examine	Inspect the contents of a mailbox
List	Get a list of available mailboxes
Fetch	Retrieve message attributes
Store	Set message flags
Search	Find messages matching a set of criteria
Create	Create a new mailbox
Delete	Remove a mailbox
Logout	Terminate the session with the server

IMAP Flags

Flag	Description
\Seen	The message has been read
\Answered	The message has been replied to
\Flagged	The message is flagged for special attention
\Deleted	The message is marked for deletion
\Draft	The message is a draft

Example

telnet 10.10.45.250 110

#Trying 10.10.45.250...
#Connected to MACHINE_IP.
#Escape character is '^]'.
#+OK MACHINE_IP Mail Server POP3 Wed, 15 Sep 2021 11:05:34 +0300

USER frank
#+OK frank

PASS D2xc9CgD
#+OK 1 messages (179) octets

STAT
#+OK 1 179

LIST

#+OK 1 messages (179) octets
#1 179

.
RETR 1

#+OK

From: Mail Server 
To: Frank 
subject: Sending email with Telnet
Hello Frank,
I am just writing to say hi!
.
QUIT


#+OK MACHINE_IP closing connection
#Connection closed by foreign host.