brew

Install mailutils with Homebrew, apk, apt, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, zypper

Swiss Army knife of email handling. Version 3.21 via Homebrew; verified from local package data.

Install command Security notes

install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install mailutils

local Homebrew formula metadata

MacPortsverified · 94%

sudo port install mailutils

MacPorts ports tree · mail/mailutils/Portfile · source: api.github.com

Linux

Alpine Linux apkverified · 92%

sudo apk add mailutils

Alpine Linux edge package indexes · mailutils · source: dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org

Debian aptverified · 92%

sudo apt install libmailutils-dev

Debian stable package indexes · libmailutils-dev · source: deb.debian.org

Nixverified · 92%

nix profile install nixpkgs#mailutils

nixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/ma/mailutils/package.nix · source: api.github.com

Arch Linux pacmanverified · 92%

sudo pacman -S mailutils

Arch Linux sync databases · mailutils · source: geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com

openSUSE zypperverified · 92%

sudo zypper install libmailutils9

openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · libmailutils9 · source: download.opensuse.org

overview

Package summary

Swiss Army knife of email handling

Project links

Commands and aliases

comsatd
decodemail
dotlock
frm
from
imap4d
lmtpd
mail
mailutils
mailutils-config
messages
mimeview
movemail
pop3d
popauth
putmail
readmsg
sieve

history

Project history and usage

GNU Mailutils is the GNU Project's general-purpose mail package: a set of command-line utilities, daemons, and libraries for handling electronic mail across local and remote mailbox formats.

Project history

The Mailutils manual describes the package as having started from a practical need to handle large mailbox files more gracefully than the POP3 servers available to its authors at the time. That origin explains the library-centered design: programs built on Mailutils are meant to work across mailbox formats through one interface rather than carrying separate mailbox-specific code.

Public GNU source archives show Mailutils 0.1 available in September 2002, 1.0 in July 2006, and the 3.x line continuing through Mailutils 3.21 in December 2025. Over that span the package accumulated classic Unix mail commands, protocol daemons, Sieve support, MH-compatible tools, and libmailutils APIs for mailbox, MIME, authentication, and protocol work.

Adoption history

The upstream homepage identifies Mailutils as official GNU software and lists it as useful to regular users, system administrators, and developers. It also names other free software packages using it, including MH-E and Mailfromd, which is a useful signal that Mailutils is both a user-facing toolbox and a reusable mail framework.

In package-manager culture, Mailutils matters because it is the GNU-flavored provider of familiar commands such as mail, frm, from, messages, movemail, readmsg, and sieve, while also shipping POP3, IMAP4, LMTP, and related services. That makes one package cover many mail-adjacent command names that otherwise vary by Unix lineage.

How it is used

Users install Mailutils for traditional command-line mail reading and sending, mailbox inspection, message extraction, MIME viewing, movemail-style retrieval, and Sieve filtering. Administrators use its daemons and delivery tools for POP3, IMAP4, LMTP, local delivery, and mailbox conversion.

Mailutils reads a site-wide configuration file named ${sysconfdir}/mailutils.conf and, for client utilities, per-user files named after the program such as ~/.sieve. Its wicket command looks up matching URLs in the default ticket file ~/.mu-tickets, allowing credentials to be kept out of command lines and ordinary examples.

Why package nerds care

Mailutils is a dense GNU package in the best and worst senses: one formula brings in a pile of historically loaded mail commands plus servers, libraries, and protocol glue. It is especially interesting when comparing which implementation of mail, movemail, or sieve a distribution chooses to expose.

Because the suite understands UNIX maildrops, Maildir, MH, POP3, IMAP4, SMTP, TLS, SASL, and related mechanisms, it sits at the crossroads of old local Unix mail and network-era mail protocols. That makes it a frequent dependency, conflict, or alternative in mail tooling stacks.

Timeline

2002: Mailutils 0.1 appears in the official GNU FTP archive.
2006: Mailutils 1.0 appears in the official GNU FTP archive.
2025: Mailutils 3.21 is released and documented by the upstream manual.

Related projects

GNU Emacs movemail is a historical reference point for Mailutils movemail.
MH-E is listed by the upstream homepage as free software using Mailutils.
Mailfromd is listed by the upstream homepage as free software using Mailutils.

Sources

security posture

Risk level: green

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

Risk classifier

green risk · low confidence · appliance

Why

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals

Signals

metadata:no-higher-risk-signals

Install behavior

No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
Installs with 7 runtime dependencies.

Recommended review

Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.

local files

Configuration and credential file locations

These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.

Configuration files

Config paths the tool may read or write during local use.

Unix: ${sysconfdir}/mailutils.conf~/.<program>

Credential files

Credential-bearing paths to review before unattended agent runs.

Unix: ~/.mu-tickets

executables

Installed executables

Command	Kind	Exposure
`comsatd`	cli	global executable
`decodemail`	cli	global executable
`dotlock`	cli	global executable
`frm`	cli	global executable
`from`	cli	global executable
`imap4d`	cli	global executable
`lmtpd`	cli	global executable
`mail`	cli	global executable
`mailutils`	cli	global executable
`mailutils-config`	cli	global executable
`messages`	cli	global executable
`mimeview`	cli	global executable
`movemail`	cli	global executable
`pop3d`	cli	global executable
`popauth`	cli	global executable
`putmail`	cli	global executable
`readmsg`	cli	global executable
`sieve`	cli	global executable

freshness

Version and freshness

These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.

page generated2026-07-08

manager version3.21

manager updated

local dataok

upstreamnot checked

latest detectednot detected

https://mailutils.org/

infoNo package-manager update timestamp was available.low confidence
infoRelease/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories.https://mailutils.org/none confidence

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:mailutils
Version	3.21
Package manager	Homebrew
Package manager page	https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/mailutils
Homepage	https://mailutils.org/
Repository	https://git.savannah.gnu.org/git/mailutils.git
Upstream docs	https://mailutils.org/manual/mailutils.html
License	GPL-3.0-or-later
Source archive	https://ftpmirror.gnu.org/gnu/mailutils/mailutils-3.21.tar.gz
Dependencies	gdbm, gettext, gnutls, gsasl, libtool, libunistring, readline
Uses from macOS	libxcrypt
Bottle	available (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux)
Homebrew post-install	not defined
Service	none declared

registry facts

Source database details

Source Database	Homebrew formula API
Tap	homebrew/core
Full Name	mailutils
Version Scheme	0
Revision	0
Bottle Stable Root URL	https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecated	no
Disabled	no
Keg Only	no
URL Keys	stable

source database matches

Other package-manager records

Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.

Debian apt95%

libmailutils-dev 1:3.19-1

development files for GNU mailutils