rfc3501.txt

广泛使用的邮件服务器！同时

Network Working Group                                         M. Crispin
Request for Comments: 3501                      University of Washington
Obsoletes: 2060                                               March 2003
Category: Standards Track


            INTERNET MESSAGE ACCESS PROTOCOL - VERSION 4rev1

Status of this Memo

   This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
   Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
   improvements.  Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
   Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
   and status of this protocol.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

   The Internet Message Access Protocol, Version 4rev1 (IMAP4rev1)
   allows a client to access and manipulate electronic mail messages on
   a server.  IMAP4rev1 permits manipulation of mailboxes (remote
   message folders) in a way that is functionally equivalent to local
   folders.  IMAP4rev1 also provides the capability for an offline
   client to resynchronize with the server.

   IMAP4rev1 includes operations for creating, deleting, and renaming
   mailboxes, checking for new messages, permanently removing messages,
   setting and clearing flags, RFC 2822 and RFC 2045 parsing, searching,
   and selective fetching of message attributes, texts, and portions
   thereof.  Messages in IMAP4rev1 are accessed by the use of numbers.
   These numbers are either message sequence numbers or unique
   identifiers.

   IMAP4rev1 supports a single server.  A mechanism for accessing
   configuration information to support multiple IMAP4rev1 servers is
   discussed in RFC 2244.

   IMAP4rev1 does not specify a means of posting mail; this function is
   handled by a mail transfer protocol such as RFC 2821.








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RFC 3501                         IMAPv4                       March 2003


Table of Contents

   IMAP4rev1 Protocol Specification ................................  4
   1.      How to Read This Document ...............................  4
   1.1.    Organization of This Document ...........................  4
   1.2.    Conventions Used in This Document .......................  4
   1.3.    Special Notes to Implementors ...........................  5
   2.      Protocol Overview .......................................  6
   2.1.    Link Level ..............................................  6
   2.2.    Commands and Responses ..................................  6
   2.2.1.  Client Protocol Sender and Server Protocol Receiver .....  6
   2.2.2.  Server Protocol Sender and Client Protocol Receiver .....  7
   2.3.    Message Attributes ......................................  8
   2.3.1.  Message Numbers .........................................  8
   2.3.1.1.        Unique Identifier (UID) Message Attribute .......  8
   2.3.1.2.        Message Sequence Number Message Attribute ....... 10
   2.3.2.  Flags Message Attribute ................................. 11
   2.3.3.  Internal Date Message Attribute ......................... 12
   2.3.4.  [RFC-2822] Size Message Attribute ....................... 12
   2.3.5.  Envelope Structure Message Attribute .................... 12
   2.3.6.  Body Structure Message Attribute ........................ 12
   2.4.    Message Texts ........................................... 13
   3.      State and Flow Diagram .................................. 13
   3.1.    Not Authenticated State ................................. 13
   3.2.    Authenticated State ..................................... 13
   3.3.    Selected State .......................................... 13
   3.4.    Logout State ............................................ 14
   4.      Data Formats ............................................ 16
   4.1.    Atom .................................................... 16
   4.2.    Number .................................................. 16
   4.3.    String .................................................. 16
   4.3.1.  8-bit and Binary Strings ................................ 17
   4.4.    Parenthesized List ...................................... 17
   4.5.    NIL ..................................................... 17
   5.      Operational Considerations .............................. 18
   5.1.    Mailbox Naming .......................................... 18
   5.1.1.  Mailbox Hierarchy Naming ................................ 19
   5.1.2.  Mailbox Namespace Naming Convention ..................... 19
   5.1.3.  Mailbox International Naming Convention ................. 19
   5.2.    Mailbox Size and Message Status Updates ................. 21
   5.3.    Response when no Command in Progress .................... 21
   5.4.    Autologout Timer ........................................ 22
   5.5.    Multiple Commands in Progress ........................... 22
   6.      Client Commands ........................................  23
   6.1.    Client Commands - Any State ............................  24
   6.1.1.  CAPABILITY Command .....................................  24
   6.1.2.  NOOP Command ...........................................  25
   6.1.3.  LOGOUT Command .........................................  26



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RFC 3501                         IMAPv4                       March 2003


   6.2.    Client Commands - Not Authenticated State ..............  26
   6.2.1.  STARTTLS Command .......................................  27
   6.2.2.  AUTHENTICATE Command ...................................  28
   6.2.3.  LOGIN Command ..........................................  30
   6.3.    Client Commands - Authenticated State ..................  31
   6.3.1.  SELECT Command .........................................  32
   6.3.2.  EXAMINE Command ........................................  34
   6.3.3.  CREATE Command .........................................  34
   6.3.4.  DELETE Command .........................................  35
   6.3.5.  RENAME Command .........................................  37
   6.3.6.  SUBSCRIBE Command ......................................  39
   6.3.7.  UNSUBSCRIBE Command ....................................  39
   6.3.8.  LIST Command ...........................................  40
   6.3.9.  LSUB Command ...........................................  43
   6.3.10. STATUS Command .........................................  44
   6.3.11. APPEND Command .........................................  46
   6.4.    Client Commands - Selected State .......................  47
   6.4.1.  CHECK Command ..........................................  47
   6.4.2.  CLOSE Command ..........................................  48
   6.4.3.  EXPUNGE Command ........................................  49
   6.4.4.  SEARCH Command .........................................  49
   6.4.5.  FETCH Command ..........................................  54
   6.4.6.  STORE Command ..........................................  58
   6.4.7.  COPY Command ...........................................  59
   6.4.8.  UID Command ............................................  60
   6.5.    Client Commands - Experimental/Expansion ...............  62
   6.5.1.  X<atom> Command ........................................  62
   7.      Server Responses .......................................  62
   7.1.    Server Responses - Status Responses ....................  63
   7.1.1.  OK Response ............................................  65
   7.1.2.  NO Response ............................................  66
   7.1.3.  BAD Response ...........................................  66
   7.1.4.  PREAUTH Response .......................................  67
   7.1.5.  BYE Response ...........................................  67
   7.2.    Server Responses - Server and Mailbox Status ...........  68
   7.2.1.  CAPABILITY Response ....................................  68
   7.2.2.  LIST Response ..........................................  69
   7.2.3.  LSUB Response ..........................................  70
   7.2.4   STATUS Response ........................................  70
   7.2.5.  SEARCH Response ........................................  71
   7.2.6.  FLAGS Response .........................................  71
   7.3.    Server Responses - Mailbox Size ........................  71
   7.3.1.  EXISTS Response ........................................  71
   7.3.2.  RECENT Response ........................................  72
   7.4.    Server Responses - Message Status ......................  72
   7.4.1.  EXPUNGE Response .......................................  72
   7.4.2.  FETCH Response .........................................  73
   7.5.    Server Responses - Command Continuation Request ........  79



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RFC 3501                         IMAPv4                       March 2003


   8.      Sample IMAP4rev1 connection ............................  80
   9.      Formal Syntax ..........................................  81
   10.     Author's Note ..........................................  92
   11.     Security Considerations ................................  92
   11.1.   STARTTLS Security Considerations .......................  92
   11.2.   Other Security Considerations ..........................  93
   12.     IANA Considerations ....................................  94
   Appendices .....................................................  95
   A.      References .............................................  95
   B.      Changes from RFC 2060 ..................................  97
   C.      Key Word Index ......................................... 103
   Author's Address ............................................... 107
   Full Copyright Statement ....................................... 108

IMAP4rev1 Protocol Specification

1.      How to Read This Document

1.1.    Organization of This Document

   This document is written from the point of view of the implementor of
   an IMAP4rev1 client or server.  Beyond the protocol overview in
   section 2, it is not optimized for someone trying to understand the
   operation of the protocol.  The material in sections 3 through 5
   provides the general context and definitions with which IMAP4rev1
   operates.

   Sections 6, 7, and 9 describe the IMAP commands, responses, and
   syntax, respectively.  The relationships among these are such that it
   is almost impossible to understand any of them separately.  In
   particular, do not attempt to deduce command syntax from the command
   section alone; instead refer to the Formal Syntax section.

1.2.    Conventions Used in This Document

   "Conventions" are basic principles or procedures.  Document
   conventions are noted in this section.

   In examples, "C:" and "S:" indicate lines sent by the client and
   server respectively.

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to
   be interpreted as described in [KEYWORDS].

   The word "can" (not "may") is used to refer to a possible
   circumstance or situation, as opposed to an optional facility of the
   protocol.



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RFC 3501                         IMAPv4                       March 2003


   "User" is used to refer to a human user, whereas "client" refers to
   the software being run by the user.

   "Connection" refers to the entire sequence of client/server
   interaction from the initial establishment of the network connection
   until its termination.

   "Session" refers to the sequence of client/server interaction from
   the time that a mailbox is selected (SELECT or EXAMINE command) until
   the time that selection ends (SELECT or EXAMINE of another mailbox,
   CLOSE command, or connection termination).

   Characters are 7-bit US-ASCII unless otherwise specified.  Other
   character sets are indicated using a "CHARSET", as described in
   [MIME-IMT] and defined in [CHARSET].  CHARSETs have important
   additional semantics in addition to defining character set; refer to
   these documents for more detail.

   There are several protocol conventions in IMAP.  These refer to
   aspects of the specification which are not strictly part of the IMAP
   protocol, but reflect generally-accepted practice.  Implementations
   need to be aware of these conventions, and avoid conflicts whether or
   not they implement the convention.  For example, "&" may not be used
   as a hierarchy delimiter since it conflicts with the Mailbox
   International Naming Convention, and other uses of "&" in mailbox
   names are impacted as well.

1.3.    Special Notes to Implementors

   Implementors of the IMAP protocol are strongly encouraged to read the
   IMAP implementation recommendations document [IMAP-IMPLEMENTATION] in
   conjunction with this document, to help understand the intricacies of
   this protocol and how best to build an interoperable product.

   IMAP4rev1 is designed to be upwards compatible from the [IMAP2] and
   unpublished IMAP2bis protocols.  IMAP4rev1 is largely compatible with
   the IMAP4 protocol described in RFC 1730; the exception being in
   certain facilities added in RFC 1730 that proved problematic and were
   subsequently removed.  In the course of the evolution of IMAP4rev1,
   some aspects in the earlier protocols have become obsolete.  Obsolete
   commands, responses, and data formats which an IMAP4rev1
   implementation can encounter when used with an earlier implementation
   are described in [IMAP-OBSOLETE].

   Other compatibility issues with IMAP2bis, the most common variant of
   the earlier protocol, are discussed in [IMAP-COMPAT].  A full
   discussion of compatibility issues with rare (and presumed extinct)




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RFC 3501                         IMAPv4                       March 2003


   variants of [IMAP2] is in [IMAP-HISTORICAL]; this document is
   primarily of historical interest.

   IMAP was originally developed for the older [RFC-822] standard, and
   as a consequence several fetch items in IMAP incorporate "RFC822" in
   their name.  With the exception of RFC822.SIZE, there are more modern
   replacements; for example, the modern version of RFC822.HEADER is
   BODY.PEEK[HEADER].  In all cases, "RFC822" should be interpreted as a
   reference to the updated [RFC-2822] standard.

2.      Protocol Overview

2.1.    Link Level

   The IMAP4rev1 protocol assumes a reliable data stream such as that
   provided by TCP.  When TCP is used, an IMAP4rev1 server listens on
   port 143.

2.2.    Commands and Responses

   An IMAP4rev1 connection consists of the establishment of a
   client/server network connection, an initial greeting from the
   server, and client/server interactions.  These client/server
   interactions consist of a client command, server data, and a server
   completion result response.

   All interactions transmitted by client and server are in the form of
   lines, that is, strings that end with a CRLF.  The protocol receiver
   of an IMAP4rev1 client or server is either reading a line, or is
   reading a sequence of octets with a known count followed by a line.

2.2.1.  Client Protocol Sender and Server Protocol Receiver