POP3 Service Tools and Settings

Article
10/08/2009

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

In this section

POP3 Service Tools
POP3 Service Registry Entries
POP3 Service WMI Classes
Network Ports Used by POP3 Service

The following tools, registry settings, and Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) classes are associated with the POP3 service.

POP3 Service Tools

The following tools are used to administer the POP3 service.

Winpop.exe: Winpop

Version compatibility

All versions of Winpop in Microsoft Windows Server 2003 are identical.

Winpop is the POP3 service command-line tool that sets or retrieves the service settings for the POP3 service. Winpop can also perform the domain or mailbox activities essential to the operation of the POP3 installation.

For more information about Winpop.exe, see “Command Line References” in the Tools and Settings Collection.

P3server.msc: POP3 snap-in

Version compatibility

All versions of Microsoft Management Console (MMC) and the POP3 snap-in in Windows Server 2003 are identical.

The Microsoft Management Console POP3 snap-in provides a user interface to perform the same administrative activities as Winpop.exe. The POP3 snap-in lets the administrator see all of the domains and mailboxes graphically and administer POP3 remotely.

POP3 Service Web Administration

Version compatibility

All versions of POP3 Service Web Administration in Windows Server 2003 are identical.

POP3 Service Web Administration provides remote management capabilities by using a Web browser interface as a client. From this interface, the administrator has access to settings for the Server Properties and the Domains and Mailboxes. POP3 Service Web Administration is automatically installed when you install the E-Mail Service from Add/Remove Windows Components, or you can install it manually from Add/Remove Windows Components. However, it is not installed by using Configure Your Server Wizard to configure the Mail server role. In order to use POP3 Service Web Administration, you need to make sure that Web Interface for Remote Administration is also installed on the same server. You can access the interface by entering https://servername:8098 in a Web browser or in the Run dialog box at a client computer, where servername is the name of the server on which you installed POP3 Service Web Administration.

POP3 Service Registry Entries

The following registry entries are associated with the POP3 service.

The information here is provided as a reference for use in troubleshooting or verifying that the required settings are applied. It is recommended that you do not directly edit the registry unless there is no other alternative. Modifications to the registry are not validated by the registry editor or by Windows before they are applied, and as a result, incorrect values might be written to the registry. This can result in unrecoverable errors in the system. When possible, use Group Policy or other Windows tools, such as Microsoft Management Console (MMC), to accomplish tasks rather than editing the registry directly. If you must edit the registry, use extreme caution.

POP3 Server

The following registry entries are located under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Pop3 Service\

ConsoleFile

Registry path

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Pop3 Service\

Version

Windows Server 2003

Stores the path to the MMC file (.msc), installed in the windir\system32 directory.

CreateUser

Registry path

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Pop3 Service\

Version

Windows Server 2003

Stores a value that indicates whether an associated user account will be created in Active Directory or the local Security and Accounts Manager (SAM) database when a mailbox is created. The value that is set depends on whether the Automatically create a user check box is selected.

Greeting

Registry path

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Pop3 Service\

Version

Windows Server 2003

Stores the greeting message for the POP3 service. The default message, Microsoft Windows POP3 Server Version 1.0 <FQDN of server> ready, can be changed to hide the system information. This key does not exist by default and must be created. For more information about creating this registry key, see “Advanced Mail Server Configurations” on the Microsoft Windows Server System Web site.

InstallDir

Registry path

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Pop3 Service\

Version

Windows Server 2003

Stores the path to the executables and DLLs installed by the POP3 server installation, with the exception of winpop.exe and p3server.msc, which are installed in the *windir\*system32 directory. The default installation path is *windir\*system32\pop3server.

Logging Level

Registry path

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Pop3 Service\

Version

Windows Server 2003

Stores the logging level for the POP3 service. The default value is 1 and the range of values is from 0 to 3, as shown in the following table. The events are written to the event log and can be viewed by using the Event Viewer.

Value	Explanation
0	No events are logged by the POP3 service.
1	Only critical events are logged by the POP3 service.
2	Critical and warning events are logged by the POP3 service.
3	Critical, warning, and informational events are logged by the POP3 service.

MailRoot

Registry path

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Pop3 Service\

Version

Windows Server 2003

Stores the path to the mail root directory, typically systemdrive\inetpub\mailroot. The POP3 e-mail domains are created as subdirectories underneath the mail root.

RequireSPA

Registry path

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Pop3 Service\

Version

Windows Server 2003

Stores the setting for Secure Password Authentication (SPA) on the server. The POP3 server checks the value at startup to determine if SPA is required for local Windows account or Active Directory authentication. If SPA is enabled, plain text transmission of passwords is not allowed. This key is not created until SPA is activated; it is disabled by default.

Pop3Svc

The following registry entries are located under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Pop3Svc\