Many people have asked for my .muttrc Mutt config file. This page is here to make it easier for people to find. to use this config file just cut/paste into your .muttrc file.
If you would like to use this .muttrc file you need to change a few variables for your mail account.
1. The "Headers" section you need to replace the example email address "username@your_isp.com". Replace the example setting with your email and full name you want to be known as.
2. The "Macros" section setup the mail boxes you would like to have "hot key" access to. For example in in this config "F5" will switch to the "inbox"."
3. The "Hooks" section make sure your signature files are setup correctly. Also, take a look at some of the commented option to see if you will find them useful.
4. The PGP/GPG options are commented out. You need to setup a GPG key first on a public or private key server before using these options. Onced your key is setup then replace the three(3) entires "E316DAB9" with your real GPG key. Then uncommnet the "GPG Hooks" options. Good to go.
5. Lastly, take some time and look at all of the options in the config file. There are a lot of things to learn about mutt. Read the man pages and join the mutt discussion groups. Block out a few minutes a day and find out what a few of the .muttrc options do. You may find out the options here are perfect for your uses or you may want to tweek a few. Just take your time and have fun. Mutt is a really good mail client.
####################################################### ### Calomel.org .muttrc BEGIN ####################################################### # System configuration file for Mutt ( .muttrc ) # ####################################################### ### Pager ####################################################### ignore * unignore X-Bogosity From: Reply-To: To: Cc: Date: Subject: hdr_order X-Bogosity From: Reply-To: To: Cc: Date: Subject: ####################################################### ### Macros ####################################################### # change mailbox macro index <f5> 'c =inbox^M' macro pager <f5> 'c =inbox^M' macro index <f6> 'c =archive^M' macro pager <f6> 'c =archive^M' macro index <f7> 'c =saved^M' macro pager <f7> 'c =saved^M' macro index <f8> 'c =SPAM^M' macro pager <f8> 'c =SPAM^M' macro generic <f12> '!fetchmail^M' # save attachments to incoming macro attach s <save-entry>lt;bol>my_saved/incoming/ ####################################################### ### Headers ####################################################### my_hdr From: username@your_isp.com (User Name) my_hdr Reply-To: username@your_isp.com (User Name) my_hdr Errors-To: username@your_isp.com my_hdr Organization: Open Source Software Supporter (OSSs) # email address mutt knows this client as. This is used to # avoid problems with the "metoo" argument not taking effect. set alternates=username@your_isp.com # When OutLook receives email it will put it at the # top of their mailbox list and flag it with an "urgent" # red box. Just another way to play with Outlook/LookOut users. my_hdr X-Message-Flag: OUTLOOK WARNING!! Use Open Source my_hdr Reply-By: `date --date="-3 days"` my_hdr X-MSMail-Priority: High ####################################################### ### Colors ####################################################### color quoted yellow default color quoted1 cyan default color quoted2 magenta default color quoted3 green default color quoted4 red default color signature blue default color normal white black color status brightgreen blue color indicator brightyellow black color error red black color tree yellow black color attachment blue default color index cyan black (calomel.org) color header green black .* color header brightred black (^From\:|^Reply-To\:) color header brightyellow black (^To\:|^cc\:|^Cc\:) color body magenta default "(ftp|http|https)://[^ ]+" color body magenta default [-a-z_0-9.]+@[-a-z_0-9.]+ color body brightgreen default "^(gpg: )?Good signature" color body brightgreen default "^(gpg: )?encrypted" color body brightred default "^(gpg: )?Bad signature" color body red default "^(gpg: )?warning:" color body red default "^(gpg: ).*failed:" color message magenta default # info messages color search brightyellow red # search matches color tilde brightmagenta default # ~ at bottom of msg color markers red default # + at beginning of wrapped lines color hdrdefault cyan default # default header lines color bold cyan default # hiliting bold patterns in body color underline cyan default # hiliting underlined patterns in body color index green default ~T # Tagged color index red default ~D # Deleted ####################################################### ### Options ####################################################### bind editor <BackSpace> backspace push <show-version> source ~/Mutt/address mailboxes ~/Mail/inbox # Autoview attachments unset implicit_autoview alternative_order text/html text/enriched text/plain auto_view text/html set mailcap_path=~/.mailcap set status_format="-%r-Mutt: %f --------[Msgs:%?M?%M/?%m%?n? New:%n?%?o? Old:%o?%?d? Del:%d?%?F? Flag:%F?%?t? Tag:%t?%?p? Post:%p?%?b? Inc:%b?%?l? %l?]-%>-----%h-(%P)" set alias_file="~/Mutt/address" unset abort_nosubject unset abort_unmodified set allow_8bit unset arrow_cursor unset ascii_chars set autoedit unset beep unset beep_new unset bounce_delivered set check_new unset confirmappend set copy set delete unset edit_headers set editor = "vim -c 'set textwidth=77' -c 'mapgqap' -c 'map :50d 9999 '" set envelope_from set fast_reply unset fcc_attach set fcc_clear set folder="~/Mail" set forward_decode set forward_format="Fwd: %s" set help set hostname="your_isp.com" set include set index_format="%3C %Z %(%D) %-27.27L (%4c) %s" set indent_string=">" set ispell="clear;aspell -e -c" set mailcap_sanitize set mail_check=1 unset markers unset mark_old set menu_scroll unset metoo set mime_forward=no set mime_forward_decode set mime_forward_rest set pager="builtin" set pager_format="" set pager_index_lines=10 set pager_stop unset postpone set postponed="~/Mail/postponed" set print=ask-no set read_inc=2 unset reply_self set reply_to unset sig_dashes set sig_on_top set smart_wrap set sort_aux=last-date-received set sort=threads set sort_re set status_on_top unset strict_threads unset suspend set tilde set timeout=5 set thorough_search unset user_agent unset wait_key unset write_bcc ####################################################### ### Hooks ####################################################### # Hooks send-hook . "set signature=~/Mutt/signature_long" send-hook calomel.org "set signature=~/Mutt/signature_short" send-hook . 'unset pgp_autoencrypt pgp_autosign' send-hook . 'set record="~/Mail/archive"' # Mark mail as read #folder-hook archive push '<tag-pattern>.*\r<tag-prefix><clear-flag>N<untag-pattern>.*\r' # Delete old mail after a set number of days #folder-hook archive push 'D~r>32d!~F\n' #folder-hook SPAM push 'D~r>60d!~F\n' ####################################################### ### GPG Hooks ####################################################### #my_hdr X-GPG-Key-Server: http://pgp.mit.edu #my_hdr X-GPG-Key-FingerPrint: 1180 F11D 11E6 1176 11CC E1B1 #send-hook example@calomel.org 'set pgp_autosign; set pgp_autoencrypt' #pgp-hook example@calomel.org E316DAB9 #set pgp_decode_command="gpg %?p?--passphrase-fd 0? --no-verbose --batch --output - %f" #set pgp_verify_command="gpg --no-verbose --batch --output - --verify %s %f" #set pgp_decrypt_command="gpg --passphrase-fd 0 --no-verbose --batch --output - %f" #set pgp_sign_command="gpg --no-verbose --batch --output - --passphrase-fd 0 --armor --detach-sign --textmode %?a?-u %a? %f" #set pgp_clearsign_command="gpg --no-verbose --batch --output - --passphrase-fd 0 --armor --textmode --clearsign %?a?-u %a? %f" #set pgp_encrypt_only_command="/usr/lib/mutt/pgpewrap gpg --batch --quiet --no-verbose --output - --encrypt --textmode --armor --always-trust --encrypt-to E316DAB9 -- -r %r -- %f" #set pgp_encrypt_sign_command="/usr/lib/mutt/pgpewrap gpg --passphrase-fd 0 --batch --quiet --no-verbose --textmode --output - --encrypt --sign %?a?-u %a? --armor --always-trust --encrypt-to E316DAB9 -- -r %r -- %f" #set pgp_import_command="gpg --no-verbose --import -v %f" #set pgp_export_command="gpg --no-verbose --export --armor %r" #set pgp_verify_key_command="gpg --no-verbose --batch --fingerprint --check-sigs %r" #set pgp_list_pubring_command="gpg --no-verbose --batch --with-colons --list-keys %r" #set pgp_list_secring_command="gpg --no-verbose --batch --with-colons --list-secret-keys %r" #unset pgp_retainable_sigs #set pgp_ignore_subkeys #set pgp_verify_sig=yes #set pgp_create_traditional=no #set pgp_autosign=no #set pgp_autoencrypt=no #set pgp_sign_as=E316DAB9 #set pgp_replysignencrypted #set pgp_replyencrypt=yes #set pgp_replysign=yes #set pgp_timeout=3600 #set pgp_good_sign="^gpg: Good signature from" ####################################################### ### Calomel.org .muttrc END #######################################################
How can I generate a GPG key for use with Mutt? All of the options you will need to make GPG work are in the example .muttrc file above. In order to use GPG you need to generate a GPG/PGP key. The key is made using the binary "gpg" and the supporting program "pgpwrap". Make sure both are alreay installed on your system.
Generating the GPG key. A key size of 1024 should be fine, but systems today are quite fast so lets make the key to be 4096 bit. The key files will be placed in the hime directory of the user in ~/.gnupg/
calomel@calomel# gpg --gen-key
Please select what kind of key you want:
(1) DSA and Elgamal (default)
(2) DSA (sign only)
(5) RSA (sign only)
Your selection? 1
DSA keypair will have 1024 bits.
ELG-E keys may be between 1024 and 4096 bits long.
What keysize do you want? (2048) 4096
Requested keysize is 4096 bits
Please specify how long the key should be valid.
0 = key does not expire
<n> = key expires in n days
<n>w = key expires in n weeks
<n>m = key expires in n months
<n>y = key expires in n years
Key is valid for? (0) 5y
Key expires at Mon 01 Jan 2020 01:02:03 PM EDT
Is this correct? (y/N) y
Real name: Calomel
Email address: example@calomel.org
Comment: Calomel's Example
You selected this USER-ID:
"Calomel (Calomel's Example) <example@calomel.org>"
Change (N)ame, (C)omment, (E)mail or (O)kay/(Q)uit? O
You need a Passphrase to protect your secret key.
Make sure the key way generated. For this example the key ID is "E316DAB9". The key id is how this key will be refered to any time you need to manipulate or refer to it. Notice the three(3) instances of "E316DAB9" in the example .muttrc above.
calomel.@calomel# gpg --list-keys /home/calomel/.gnupg/pubring.gpg ------------------------ pub 1024D/850CC8F8 2015-01-02 [expires: 2020-01-02] uid Calomel (Calomel's Example) <example@calomel.org> sub 4096g/E316DAB9 2015-01-02 [expires: 2020-01-02]
If you would like to make your GPG public so others may easily find it you can publish the key to a key server. The GPG key server at MIT has been around a long time and will also b a ble to share you key with other key servers around the world. Her will will publish our key and then do a quick search to make sure it can be found.
calomel@calomel# gpg --keyserver pgp.mit.edu --send-keys E316DAB9
gpg: sending key E316DAB9 to hkp server mit.edu
calomel@calomel# gpg --keyserver pgp.mit.edu --search-keys Calomel
gpg: searching for "Calomel" from hkp server pgp.mit.edu
(1) Calomel (Calomel's Example) <example@calomel.org>
1024 bit DSA key E316DAB9, created: 2015-01-02
Your next step is to collect the GPG keys from theose people you want to send encrypted mail to. If they also published their keys to a key server then you can use the gpg argument "--search-keys" like above to find their keys.
Once you collect the GPG keys of other people you must then sign their GPG on your keychain with your GPG key. This means that you fully trust the key. The following example uses the key id, "4C4FE4FE" from the other person's public key.
calomel@calomel# gpg --sign-key 4C4FE4FE
You should now be able to send encrypted email to any person you have a key for.