For technical material on the protocols for email, see the many “Request for Comments” documents (RFCs) available on the web. These documents explain the rules that email and other software products must follow in order to work cooperatively with each other on the Internet. Understanding these rules is often helpful for understanding and troubleshooting problems.
RFCs and RFC Web Sites
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All RFCs |
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3000 Internet Official Protocol Standards |
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Internet Drafts |
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821 Simple Mail Transfer Protocol |
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2821 Simple Mail Transfer Protocol |
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822 Standard for the Format of ARPA Internet Text Messages |
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2822 Internet Message Format |
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1123 Requirements for Internet Hosts-- Application and Support |
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2045 MIME Part 1: Format of the Internet Message Bodies |
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2046 MIME Part 2: Media Types |
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2047 MIME Part 3: Message Header Extensions for Non-ASCII Text |
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2049 MIME Part 5: Conformance Criteria and Examples |
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1894 An Extensible Message Format for Delivery Status Notifications (DSNs) |
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1893 Enhanced Mail System Status Codes |
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1855 Netiquette Guidelines |
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2505 Anti-Spam Recommendations for SMTP MTAs |
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2635 DON'T SPEW: A Set of Guidelines for Mass Unsolicited Mailings and Postings (spam*) |
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3098 How to Advertise Responsibly Using Email and Newsgroups |
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1818 Best Current Practices |
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1796 Not All RFCs are Standards |