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Last updated: Fri, 27 Jun 2008

imap_open

(PHP 4, PHP 5)

imap_open — Open an IMAP stream to a mailbox

Description

resource imap_open ( string $mailbox , string $username , string $password [, int $options [, int $n_retries ]] )

Opens an IMAP stream to a mailbox .

This function can also be used to open streams to POP3 and NNTP servers, but some functions and features are only available on IMAP servers.

Parameters

mailbox

A mailbox name consists of a server and a mailbox path on this server. The special name INBOX stands for the current users personal mailbox. Mailbox names that contain international characters besides those in the printable ASCII space have to be encoded width imap_utf7_encode().

The server part, which is enclosed in '{' and '}', consists of the servers name or ip address, an optional port (prefixed by ':'), and an optional protocol specification (prefixed by '/').

The server part is mandatory in all mailbox parameters.

All names which start with { are remote names, and are in the form "{" remote_system_name [":" port] [flags] "}" [mailbox_name] where:

remote_system_name - Internet domain name or bracketed IP address of server.
port - optional TCP port number, default is the default port for that service
flags - optional flags, see following table.
mailbox_name - remote mailbox name, default is INBOX

Optional flags for names

Flag Description

/service=service mailbox access service, default is "imap"

/user=user remote user name for login on the server

/authuser=user remote authentication user; if specified this is the user name whose password is used (e.g. administrator)

/anonymous remote access as anonymous user

/debug record protocol telemetry in application's debug log

/secure do not transmit a plaintext password over the network

/imap, /imap2, /imap2bis, /imap4, /imap4rev1 equivalent to /service=imap

/pop3 equivalent to /service=pop3

/nntp equivalent to /service=nntp

/norsh do not use rsh or ssh to establish a preauthenticated IMAP session

/ssl use the Secure Socket Layer to encrypt the session

/validate-cert validate certificates from TLS/SSL server (this is the default behavior)

/novalidate-cert do not validate certificates from TLS/SSL server, needed if server uses self-signed certificates

/tls force use of start-TLS to encrypt the session, and reject connection to servers that do not support it

/notls do not do start-TLS to encrypt the session, even with servers that support it

/readonly request read-only mailbox open (IMAP only; ignored on NNTP, and an error with SMTP and POP3)

username

**Optional flags for names**
Flag	Description
/service=service	mailbox access service, default is "imap"
/user=user	remote user name for login on the server
/authuser=user	remote authentication user; if specified this is the user name whose password is used (e.g. administrator)
/anonymous	remote access as anonymous user
/debug	record protocol telemetry in application's debug log
/secure	do not transmit a plaintext password over the network
/imap, /imap2, /imap2bis, /imap4, /imap4rev1	equivalent to /service=imap
/pop3	equivalent to /service=pop3
/nntp	equivalent to /service=nntp
/norsh	do not use rsh or ssh to establish a preauthenticated IMAP session
/ssl	use the Secure Socket Layer to encrypt the session
/validate-cert	validate certificates from TLS/SSL server (this is the default behavior)
/novalidate-cert	do not validate certificates from TLS/SSL server, needed if server uses self-signed certificates
/tls	force use of start-TLS to encrypt the session, and reject connection to servers that do not support it
/notls	do not do start-TLS to encrypt the session, even with servers that support it
/readonly	request read-only mailbox open (IMAP only; ignored on NNTP, and an error with SMTP and POP3)

The user name

password

The password associated with the username

options

The options are a bit mask with one or more of the following:

OP_READONLY - Open mailbox read-only
OP_ANONYMOUS - Don't use or update a .newsrc for news (NNTP only)
OP_HALFOPEN - For IMAP and NNTP names, open a connection but don't open a mailbox.
CL_EXPUNGE - Expunge mailbox automatically upon mailbox close (see also imap_delete() and imap_expunge())
OP_DEBUG - Debug protocol negotiations
OP_SHORTCACHE - Short (elt-only) caching
OP_SILENT - Don't pass up events (internal use)
OP_PROTOTYPE - Return driver prototype
OP_SECURE - Don't do non-secure authentication

n_retries

Number of maximum connect attempts

Return Values

Returns an IMAP stream on success or FALSE on error.

ChangeLog

Version Description

5.2.0 n_retries added

Version	Description
5.2.0	`n_retries` added

Examples

Example #1 Different use of imap_open()


<?php
// To connect to an IMAP server running on port 143 on the local machine,
// do the following:
$mbox = imap_open("{localhost:143}INBOX", "user_id", "password");

// To connect to a POP3 server on port 110 on the local server, use:
$mbox = imap_open ("{localhost:110/pop3}INBOX", "user_id", "password");

// To connect to an SSL IMAP or POP3 server, add /ssl after the protocol
// specification:
$mbox = imap_open ("{localhost:993/imap/ssl}INBOX", "user_id", "password");

// To connect to an SSL IMAP or POP3 server with a self-signed certificate,
// add /ssl/novalidate-cert after the protocol specification:
$mbox = imap_open ("{localhost:995/pop3/ssl/novalidate-cert}", "user_id", "password");

// To connect to an NNTP server on port 119 on the local server, use:
$nntp = imap_open ("{localhost:119/nntp}comp.test", "", "");
// To connect to a remote server replace "localhost" with the name or the
// IP address of the server you want to connect to.
?>

Example #2 imap_open() example


<?php
$mbox = imap_open("{imap.example.org:143}", "username", "password");

echo "<h1>Mailboxes</h1>\n";
$folders = imap_listmailbox($mbox, "{imap.example.org:143}", "*");

if ($folders == false) {
    echo "Call failed<br />\n";
} else {
    foreach ($folders as $val) {
        echo $val . "<br />\n";
    }
}

echo "<h1>Headers in INBOX</h1>\n";
$headers = imap_headers($mbox);

if ($headers == false) {
    echo "Call failed<br />\n";
} else {
    foreach ($headers as $val) {
        echo $val . "<br />\n";
    }
}

imap_close($mbox);
?>


Dears.

In my case, e-mail host was the IMAP enabled.

So, just use the imap_open as the very simple form like:



$mailbox = "{mail.myhost.com:143/notls}INBOX";

$user = "me@myhost.com"; 

$pass = "mypassword"; 



$connection = imap_open($mailbox,$user,$pass) or die(imap_last_error()."<br>Connection Faliure!");



thanks!

Binit
12-Apr-2008 06:39


I was trying imap_open() function but I was continuously getting this error:



Array ( [0] => [CLOSED] IMAP connection broken (server response) )



I was finally able to solve this problem (which is a very common problem as I saw it on the net but could not find any solution to it) so I'm posting my solution here which I hope will be useful to others.



I used stunnel program (http://www.stunnel.org/) and made changes in the stunnel.conf file as follows:



I added these lines:

[imapsClient]

accept = localhost:143

connect  = imapserver:993

client = yes

sslVersion = TLSv1



This will map insecure imap connection from localhost:143 to imapserver:993 (IMAP with SSL).



After this I tried this code and it worked fine:



<?php



$user="";

$pass="";

$imap = @imap_open("{localhost:143}INBOX", $user, $pass);

?>



and I was able to do away with the errors.



A more detailed post about it can be found here:

http://www.phpfreaks.com/forums/index.php/topic,190628.0.html

marcos at logindesarrollos dot com dot ar
17-Jan-2008 03:47


If you have a proble with imap_open and you dont know what the errors means, visit



http://www.washington.edu/imap/IMAP-FAQs/index.html



Greetings

itstooloud
01-Nov-2007 04:50


Works with Gmail's new IMAP function for personal and for Google Apps.



$mbox = imap_open ("{imap.gmail.com:993/imap/ssl}INBOX", "username@gmail.com", "password")

     or die("can't connect: " . imap_last_error());

rhaft22 at gmail dot com
04-Oct-2007 10:29


The following works for connecting via POP3 to a gmail server:

imap_open("{pop.gmail.com:995/pop3/ssl/novalidate-cert}INBOX", $username, $pasword);

askalski at synacor dot com
28-Sep-2007 12:50


By default, imap_open() will retry an incorrect password 3 times before giving up.  This is a feature built into the c-client library intended for interactive mail clients (which can prompt the end user for a new username/password combo.)



The new optional parameter "$n_retries" allows PHP to override the default retry limit.  There is absolutely no reason to leave this at default, or to set it to any value other than 1.  This is especially important if the mail server you're using locks users out after too many login failures.

bow+php dot net at virtual-habitat dot net
09-Sep-2007 12:06


Setting a mailbox name (eg INBOX) at the end of the connection string does not work when using imap_open() with OP_HALFOPEN. You may use imap_reopen() then.



<?php



/* this will fail : */

$connection = imap_open('{mx.example.net}INBOX', 'foo', 'secret', OP_HALFOPEN.);

$num_mgs = imap_num_msg($connection);

imap_close($connection);



/* this will do : */

$connection = imap_open('{mx.example.net}INBOX', 'foo', 'secret', OP_HALFOPEN.);

imap_reopen($connection, '{mx.example.net}INBOX');

$num_mgs = imap_num_msg($connection);

imap_close($connection);



?>

gyokimae
11-May-2007 03:11


Beginning with 5.2.2, binaries built for Windows also seem to have changed its default behavior.

'/notls' needs to be specified for a non-SSL connection.

Fladnag
27-Feb-2007 06:08


you can avoid this message :



Warning: (null)(); Mailbox is empty (errflg=1) in Unknown on line 0



by specified the option OP_SILENT to imap_open.

Amit
12-Sep-2006 02:25


None of the above comments explain the configuration issues on Apache/Windows combination. I thought it might be helpful to list my findings here so that Windows people's time is saved.



There is a bug in Windows php_imap.dll that prevents it from connecting it to the SSL IMAP/POP3 server.



http://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=36496&edit=1

shaikh_zaid at yahoo dot com
05-Apr-2006 03:55


imap_open will not open a stream if your server operates with Transport Layer Security (i.e. TLS) imap_open connects with SSL if its there. So try opening mailbox as 



$mailbox="{mail.domain.com:143/imap/notls}"; 

or

$mailbox="{mail.domain.com:110/pop3/notls}"; This works...



Some mail server requires you to provide username@domain.com so you can always use. user@doamin.com



$conn=imap_open($mailbox, $username, $password);



Some server may ask for username as "user=user@domain.com"



:)

admin at sellchain dot com
09-Dec-2005 01:36


Looking for a cool PHP Script to help you connect to a POP3 server, and download E-Mail to MySQL? Check out my neet-skeet script I wrote. Have fun.



Http://www.sellchain.com/phPOP3/phPOP3.txt



Download the above TXT file, and rename it to phPOP3.php.



Trust me, you will learn mostly everything about IMAP with this script.



By the way, be sure to use print_r($headers) to discover the headers that come with each message. You can setup your MySQL + Email Account information at the top of the script. No includes required!



Enjoyz;)

03-Aug-2005 11:13


WHen you use the /ssl connection...  half open doesnt work...!



what i did was opened it up with the .com:143/pop3}, op_halfopen



when i was getting my folders...

avizion at relay dot dk
12-May-2005 07:30


For FreeBSD users...



If you want to have SSL support, you want to install the ports:



mail/php5-imap

security/php5-openssl



Cheers :)



 - avizion

m dot stoel at cyberkinetic dot nl
28-Apr-2005 02:50


a little tip for those who get really frustrated even after reading all the right solutions and implementing them but still get the same errors or none at all..:

after having changed the code.. restart the httpd deamon..



for Fedora or any other Red Hat Linux OS (/etc/init.d/httpd restart).



After this you will be able to make a imap/pop3 stream from apache..

thushara dot perera at unilink dot lk
26-Feb-2005 02:19


Warning: imap_open() [function.imap-open]: Couldn't open stream {xx.xx.x.xxx:143}INBOX 



correct the connection string as :

{xx.xx.x.xxx:143/notls}INBOX

info at infosoporte.com
25-Feb-2005 11:14


I can connect to my email server with no problem using regular usernames and passwords but.... in my server the usernames are long.. like name.surname1.surname2@subdomain.domain.com , and i get an error when the username size is over 40 chars:



$conn = imap_open("{". $server . ":110/pop3}", $username, $user_password) or die ("Failed with error: ".imap_last_error());



returns



Too many login failures



when the username is over 40 chars. Just remember that if you plan to use long usernames.

elizar.palad
14-Dec-2004 03:22


thanks to the one who added that the login part should be the whole email address for it to work.. (assuming of course that all other stuff is good and working ;)



to add something, in the 'email address' login name, is not really the email address, ,it's the pop login name plus '@' plus the domain.. hope it's not confusing... 



poploginname@domain.com



not



emailaddress@domain.com..

gasaunde at vcu dot edu
14-Dec-2004 04:35


I've found that on my servers I _must_ use imap_errors() and imap_alerts() after an imap_open or this error is thrown in the logs when the mailbox is empty: [error] PHP Warning: (null)(); Mailbox is empty (errflg=1) in Unknown on line 0

cg at compile dot ch
20-Sep-2004 09:16


If you use cyrus, passwords shadow via saslauth, check this:



> =====IMAPD.conf======

> configdirectory:        /var/imap

> partition-default:      /var/spool/imap

> sievedir:               /var/imap/sieve

> tls_cert_file:          /etc/cyrusimapd/server.crt

> tls_key_file:           /etc/cyrusimapd/server.key

> admins:                 cyrus

> hashimapspool:          yes

> allowanonymouslogin:    no

> allowplaintext:         yes

> unixhierarchysep:       0

> servername:             mail.garage.com

> sasl_pwcheck_method:    saslauthd

> mech_list: plain login



Make this



sasl_mech_list: plain login

liamr at umich dot edu
30-Jun-2004 08:40


To authenticate using kerberos V / GSSAPI, you might need to add "user=" to the connection string.. eg:



$mbox = imap_open( "\{imap.example.com:143/imap/notls/user=" . $user . "}INBOX", $user, $passwd );



Our IMAP servers won't allow a user other than the user specified in the kerberos credentials connect using those credentials unless you specify that extra "user=" in the connection string.  Passing it as an argument to imap_open() doesn't seem to be enough.

nmmm at nmmm dot nu
23-Jun-2004 02:37


To open local mailbox ( mbox ) enter its absolute file name.



>an absolute filename 

>This specifies a mailbox in the default format (usually >Berkeley format for most default library builds) 



source:

http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/CodeDoc/Mail-Cclient/Cclient.html

rvarkelen AT hortimax.nl
14-Jan-2004 08:03


In order to make a IMAP connection to a Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5, I used this connection-string :



<?php

if(imap_open ("{192.168.1.6:143/imap}Inbox", "DOMAIN/USERNAME/ALIAS", "PASSWORD"))

{

    echo 'Connection success!';

}

else

{

    echo 'Connection failed';

}

?>



By replacing "Inbox" with, e.g. "Tasks", its possible to see all your tasks. I Hope this helps anybody!



Regards

marshall /AT\ pacdemon.org
04-Nov-2003 04:50


Thanks for all your comments.  The user comments have saved me countless times.



I'd like to give back in my small way by providing this little tip.  To test your pop or imap services you can use telnet (almost all operating systems should come with a command line telnet client).



Here's the pop3 example (the lines that start with + are the server's response):



    telnet your.pop.host.com 110

    +OK POP3 your.pop.host.com v2001.78 server ready

    user your_username

    +OK User name accepted, password please

    pass your_password

    +OK Mailbox open, 23 messages



Note that your pop server may be on some other port than 110 but that is the default/standard.



Here's the imap example (Lines that have OK near the begining are server responses):



    telnet your.imap.host.com 143

    * OK [CAPABILITY IMAP4REV1...]

    1 LOGIN "your_username" "your_password"

    1 OK [CAPABILITY...] ... User your_username authenticated



This might be old news to some people but I hope it's helpful for many.

marshall /at/ sprux net
19-Aug-2003 08:44


I only run imap on port 993 (ssl only) and I was unable to use imap_open().. couldn't even get an error out of the script, it just sat there and timed out with no messages in the logs or anything--the page wouldn't load.



Anyway, this is what finally worked, which I found in the readme for a popular opensource webmail system:



$i = @imap_open("{localhost:993/ssl/novalidate-cert}INBOX", $user, $pw);



I didn't see the 'ssl' option mentioned anywhere in these comments so maybe this will help someone out.

Kyle Putnam
15-Jun-2003 08:52


I was getting bizzare errors that I couldn't find documentation about anywhere on Google. I tried connecting to another server and got different, but just as unusual error messages. I even checked the POP3 server logs and it said something about invalid command... I figured it was another libc problem.



Stupidly enough, the problem was that I was using an unset variable for the password! Make sure you don't have an empty username or password... you'll have a hard time debugging the problem ;)

stefan dot greifeneder at dioezese-linz dot at
09-May-2003 10:10


Had problems to use imap_open with iMail 6.06 Server. My problem was (sounds stupid): Didn't realise that the username had to be the full email address and not just the login. Maybe this helps some people.

bill dot mccoy at pictureiq dot com
24-Apr-2003 11:29


"notls" seems to be required for PHP on RedHat 8.0, but it seems that "/norsh" is also advisable; without it, the client library will attempt an RSH connection and wait for this to timeout before reverting to normal IMAP. This was causing a 15 second delay in imap_open for me. Looking at the client lib C code this will likely be an issue on other platforms as well as they update to the newer version. You can use both "/notls" and "/norsh", e.g. the first parameter to imap_open can be something like: "{your.imap.host/imap/notls/norsh}".

kaper at nexgc dot com
09-Apr-2003 01:17


I had been having lots of trouble trying to get imap_open to connect to an imap server.  Then I found another post online that suggested this and it worked, so I am going to post it here.  I hope this helps others..



"I have tried with the following strings instead and it works: 



for pop3: {www.server.com:110/pop3/notls}INBOX 



and for imap: {www.server.com:143/notls}INBOX.

xore at hotmail dot com
02-Apr-2003 09:37


pop3 seems to like refusing connection if you have OP_READONLY set



testers: be forewarned :P

madsiuk at morellos dot net
28-Feb-2003 12:35


hi

  Note for all having problems to connect hosts using imap_open:



  I spent almost week trying to fix my script which was connecting to localhost but was unable to connect any other host. Sollution was actually wery simple but I'm writing that note becouse there are some posts at usenet or forums decribing similiar problems. And actually I haven't found any  answer for that. So for all of you trying to connect to hosts with imap_open CHECK IF THERE IS NO FIREWALL BLOCKING POP3. 



madsiuk

russell at flora dot ca
09-Jan-2003 08:07


Note about "PHP Warning:  Certificate failure"



I'm not sure if this is a RedHat, PHP, or IMAP library issue, but the default for SSL seems to have changed.



You now need to specify "/notls" when you don't want TLS, rather than only needing to specify "/ssl" when you do.



Example:  



"{localhost:143}INBOX"



becomes:



"{localhost:143/notls}INBOX"

jpdalbec at ccNO dot ysuSPAM dot edu
18-Jun-2002 03:27


I ran into the 

PHP Warning:  Certificate failure for <server>: self signed certificate:

message while upgrading 4.0.6->4.1.2.  I'm pleased to report that {<server>:<port>/imap/tls/novalidate-cert}<mailbox>

works as expected (and fixes my problem).  I'm using IMP 2.2.8.

fxbois at free dot fr
06-Jun-2002 03:07


Hi,

I just want to say to all redhat people who have problem (Couldn't open stream) with the connection on the local pop server to use this :

{127.0.0.1:110/pop3/notls}INBOX

hope this help

frederik at roal dot no
18-Apr-2002 01:02


For all imap functions where you specify the mailbox string it is important that you ALWAYS use IP (not hostname) and the portnumber. If you do not do this imap functions will be painfully slow.

Using hostname instead of IP adds 3 seconds to each IMAP call, not using portnumber adds 10 seconds to each imap call. (hint: use gethostbyname() )

brojann at netscape dot com
31-Oct-2001 07:01


You can do





<? $foo = imap_errors(); ?>





to clear unwanted warning messages like 'Mailbox is empty'

jdg11 at po dot cwru dot edu
14-Aug-2001 07:41


It would be nice to mention that this function does send headers. It makes sense, but it is not obvious. It took me a while to figure it out. I authenticate against a POP3 server, and set a cookie if the authentication validates. At least I wanted to :) But since it sends a header to the server, setcookie() won't work.

curtis at lamere dot net
27-Jun-2001 08:16


I have found that the syntax for the imap_open command in PHP 4 differs whether you're passing a variable to the imap_open function or declaring the host directly within the function.  If you are passing variables to the imap_open function, the syntax should look like:





$username = "user";


$password = "password";


$mailserver = "mail.somedomina.com:110/imap";





$link = imap_open("\{$mailserver}INBOX",$username,$password);





If you don't include the leading backslash (\) you will not open the stream.  Likewise you cannot pass the curly braces to the function.





If you define the server directly, omit the leading backslash.





$username = "user";


$password = "password";





$link = imap_open("{mail.somedomain.com:110/pop3}",$username,$password)"





I discovered all of this after 3 days of trying to get all of this work on redhat 7.1.

24-May-2001 02:23


A better way to connect to a mail server would be to use uri syntax, for example:





imap://username:password@server.com:143/INBOX/message/part





this is very easy to parse using 'parse_url()'





Remember to keep your username and password hidden if your over an open network

fferreres at joydivision dot com dot ar
30-Mar-2001 12:12


IMAP, POP and NNTP are ok. But plaintext mailboxes are unmentioned here. You just forget the {part} and go for the file (tested on unix): 





$mbox = imap_open ($a_mail_box_file_name_in_home_dir, "", "") || die("Snif...:


".imap_last_error());

kvance at n-link dot net
10-Mar-2001 06:34


Connections to the IMAP server work without specifying the port number, but they are slow, so specifying the port number is important if you don't want a slow application.

bandpay at hotmail dot com
05-Dec-2000 05:59


I have a single comment to add about imap_open.


If you want to connect to a news server, without specifying any news gruop, you can use the following:





$server = "{news.servername.com/nntp:119}";


$nntp = imap_open($server,"","",OP_HALFOPEN);





and $nntp will become the connection ID.





Regards 


//Babak

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