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<h5 class="subsubsection">4.7.3.2 Using Maildirs</h5>
<p>A “maildir” is a simple directory structure originally developed for
qmail that allows safe atomic update without locking. Create a base
directory with three subdirectories: “new”, “tmp”, and “cur”.
When messages arrive, they are put into a uniquely-named file (using
pids, timestamps, and random numbers) in “tmp”. When the file is
complete, it is atomically renamed into “new”. Eventually the
buildmaster notices the file in “new”, reads and parses the
contents, then moves it into “cur”. A cronjob can be used to delete
files in “cur” at leisure.
<p>Maildirs are frequently created with the <samp><span class="command">maildirmake</span></samp> tool,
but a simple <samp><span class="command">mkdir -p ~/MAILDIR/{cur,new,tmp}</span></samp> is pretty much
equivalent.
<p>Many modern MTAs can deliver directly to maildirs. The usual .forward
or .procmailrc syntax is to name the base directory with a trailing
slash, so something like <code>~/MAILDIR/</code> . qmail and postfix are
maildir-capable MTAs, and procmail is a maildir-capable MDA (Mail
Delivery Agent).
<p>Here is an example procmail config, located in ~/.procmailrc
<pre class="example"> # .procmailrc
# routes incoming mail to appropriate mailboxes
PATH=/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin
MAILDIR=$HOME/Mail
LOGFILE=.procmail_log
SHELL=/bin/sh
:0
*
new
</pre>
<p>If procmail is not setup on a system wide basis, then the following one-line
<samp><span class="file">.forward</span></samp> file will invoke it.
<pre class="example"> !/usr/bin/procmail
</pre>
<p>For MTAs which cannot put files into maildirs directly, the
<samp><span class="file">safecat</span></samp> tool can be executed from a <samp><span class="file">.forward</span></samp> file to accomplish
the same thing.
<p>The Buildmaster uses the linux DNotify facility to receive immediate
notification when the maildir's “new” directory has changed. When
this facility is not available, it polls the directory for new
messages, every 10 seconds by default.
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