| POP Collector |
 |
 |
Current version 1.4.3
SSL is now supported.
IMPORTANT: An issue has been identified on Win2k8 64bit that can prevent POP Collector from working. For some reason some of the required controls do not register or load properly. I have managed to resolve the issue as detailed here.
POP Collector is a freeware POP to SMTP utility that downloads email from one or more POP3 mailboxes and forwards them to an SMTP server (tested mainly against Exchange).
Changes in the latest version:
- Full Windows 2008 support. The Install as Service option is now available for all OSs from Windows NT upwards. To install as a service, you will need to download the Windows 2003 resource kit and copy the two tools instsrv.exe and srvany.exe to the same folder as POP Collector (I am unable to redistribute due to licence restrictions).
- SSL support (e.g. GMail). This has been made possible by the use of STunnel.
Key features:
- Supports global mailbox (with failsafe). You can use a catch-all mailbox with your ISP to collect all the mail for your domain. It will be sent to the correct recipient by POP Collector (except when recipient is in BCC field, which is not included in email headers).
- Unlimited POP3 email account support (maximum supported accounts is entirely dependent upon your operating hardware).
- Multiple domain support. You can download email from as many domains as you like.
- All settings are customizeable per POP3 mailbox. You can check the POP3 mailbox at any interval starting from 1 second (though this is HIGHLY inadvisable).
- Each POP account can have it's own SMTP server. POP Collector can now act as a router between many email systems.
- SMTP AUTH support (currently AUTH LOGIN, further methods may be added on request).
- Message validity checking. Optionally you can enable (per POP mailbox) the checking of each downloaded message to ensure it is compliant with RFCs. In some (few) cases POP servers return slightly malformed mail, which an SMTP server may or may not handle correctly. Any header lines that are not compliant are removed.
- Messages will be retained on the POP server until successful delivery or a permanent error (5.x.x) is reported by the SMTP server. A notable flaw in the SBS POP connector is that it in the event that server hard-disk space runs out, it will actually delete mail from the POP mailbox even though it can't be delivered to the Exchange server.
- Messages can be kept on the POP server for any length of time after successful delivery (or deleted immediately).
- Mail archive facility. All received mail (whether successfully forwarded or not) can be stored to a folder. This is disabled by default, as the folder can get very large if not monitored (POP Collector currently does no checking of this folder).
- Will run as a service on any OS above Windows XP (e.g. 2003, 2008). So long as Windows 2003 Resource Kit Tools are available (specifically InstSrv and SrvAny - these tools work on all OSs above XP), POP Collector can now automatically install itself as a service (available from the Tools menu). When loading the UI to configure POP Collector, the service will automatically be stopped, and then restarted once the UI is closed.
- Full logging with automatic (and configurable) checking of log file sizes.
The POP Collector is available free (though donations towards ongoing support and development would be appreciated), but you must register to download (after logging in, you will see the download link at the bottom of this page).
POP Collector will always remain as Freeware. I originally wrote it because when I had a need for such a utility I couldn't find an equivalent piece of software at a reasonable price. If you find the software (or any of the scripts on this site) useful, donations are gratefully accepted - they'll go towards ongoing development, more scripts, hosting costs and the occasional beer. You can donate using the Paypal Donate button on the left.
Support
Any support requests or queries are best posted in the POP Collector forums. While you can also contact me by email, the advantage of the forums is that common questions and answers will be available to all.
Instructions for installing POP Collector as a service are available in the forums.
Windows 2008
From version 1.4.0 POP Collector is fully supported on Windows 2008, including the Install as Service option (using the same method as Windows 2003).
Source Code
I have now uploaded the latest version of the source code for POP Collector to the site. I would greatly appreciate it if any useful modifications to this were sent back to me so that I can incorporate them for the benefit of all on this site. The code is released under GPL (version 3), though I need to update the files and distribution package with the licence yet.
Coming Soon...
Nearing completion is the next level for POP Collector. Completely rewritten in .Net, emerSMTP is a full POP/SMTP server and gateway. It can be used as an emergency SMTP server (Exchange failed?) or mail gateway (i.e. POP to SMTP), and runs natively as a service on any version Windows version 2000 or above. It will also incorporate additional features such as filters and basic spam protection. emerSMTP will not be released as freeware, but provided for those that need a little more than POP Collector offers. POP Collector will still be available and supported, and as stated above will always remain freeware.
POP Collector Video Tutorial done by DownloadTube.com.
