1vacation(1)                      User Commands                     vacation(1)
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NAME

6       vacation - reply to mail automatically
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SYNOPSIS

9       vacation [-I]
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11
12       vacation [-a alias] [-e filter_file] [-f database_file]
13            [-j] [-m message_file] [-s sender] [-tN] username
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15
16       vacation [-f database_file] -l
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18

DESCRIPTION

20       The vacation utility automatically replies to incoming mail.
21
22   Installation
23       The installation consists of an interactive program which sets up vaca‐
24       tion's basic configuration.
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26
27       To install vacation,  type it with no arguments on  the  command  line.
28       The  program  creates  a .vacation.msg file, which contains the message
29       that is automatically sent to all senders when vacation is enabled, and
30       starts  an  editor  for you to modify the message. (See USAGE section.)
31       Which editor is invoked is determined by the VISUAL or EDITOR  environ‐
32       ment  variable,  or vi(1) if neither of those environment variables are
33       set.
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36       A .forward file is also created if one does  not  exist  in  your  home
37       directory.  Once  created, the .forward file will contain a line of the
38       form:
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41       One copy of an incoming message is sent to  the  username  and  another
42       copy is piped into vacation:
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44         \username, "|/usr/bin/vacation username"
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46
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48       If  a  .forward  file  is  present  in your home directory, it will ask
49       whether you want to remove it, which disables  vacation  and  ends  the
50       installation.
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53       The  program  automatically  creates  .vacation.pag  and .vacation.dir,
54       which contain a list of senders when vacation is enabled.
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56   Activation and Deactivation
57       The presence of the .forward file determines whether or not vacation is
58       disabled  or enabled. To disable vacation, remove the .forward file, or
59       move it to a new name.
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61   Initialization
62       The -I option clears the vacation log files, .vacation.pag  and  .vaca‐
63       tion.dir, erasing the list of senders from a previous vacation session.
64       (See OPTIONS section.)
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66   Additional Configuration
67       vacation provides configuration  options  that  are  not  part  of  the
68       installation,  these being -a, -e, -f, -j, -m, -s, and -t. (See OPTIONS
69       section.)
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71   Reporting
72       vacation provides a reporting option, -l. See OPTIONS.
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OPTIONS

75       The following options are supported:
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77       -I    Initializes the .vacation.pag and .vacation.dir files and enables
78             vacation. If the -I flag is not specified, and a user argument is
79             given, vacation reads the first line from the standard input (for
80             a From: line, no colon). If absent, it produces an error message.
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84       Options  -a, -e, -f, -j, -m, -s, and -t are configuration options to be
85       used in conjunction with vacation in the .forward file, not on the com‐
86       mand line. For example,
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88         \username, "|/usr/bin/vacation -t1m username"
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92       repeats replies to the sender every minute.
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94       -a alias            Indicates  that  alias  is one of the valid aliases
95                           for  the  user  running  vacation,  so  that   mail
96                           addressed to that alias generates a reply.
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99       -e filter_file      Uses filter_file instead of .vacation.filter as the
100                           source of the domain and email address filters.
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102
103       -f database_file    Uses database_file instead of .vacation as the base
104                           name for the database file.
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107       -j                  Does not check whether the recipient appears in the
108                           To: or the Cc: line. Warning: use  of  this  option
109                           can  result in vacation replies being sent to mail‐
110                           ing lists and other inappropriate places;  its  use
111                           is therefore strongly discouraged.
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114       -m message_file     Uses  ~/message_file as the message to send for the
115                           reply instead of ~/.vacation.msg. message_file is a
116                           relative path to the desired vacation message file.
117                           To prevent directory/file "not found" errors,  mes‐
118                           sage_file  should  be on the same disk partition as
119                           ~/.forward.
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121
122       -s sender           Replies to sender instead of the  value  read  from
123                           the UNIX From line of the incoming message.
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125
126       -tN                 Changes  the interval between repeat replies to the
127                           same sender. The default is 1 week. A  trailing  s,
128                           m,  h, d, or w scales N to seconds, minutes, hours,
129                           days, or weeks, respectively.
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133       The -l option is neither for initialization nor configuration., but for
134       reporting. The -foption can also be used in conjunction with the -l.
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136       -l     Lists  the  addresses  to  which a reply has been sent since the
137             last invocation of vacation -I, along with a date and time stamp.
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139

USAGE

141       .vacation.msg should include a header with at least a Subject: line (it
142       should not include a To: line). For example:
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144         Subject: I am on vacation
145         I am on vacation until July 22.  If you have something urgent,
146         please contact Joe Jones (jones@fB0).
147              --John
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151
152       If  the  string  $SUBJECT  appears  in  the  .vacation.msg  file, it is
153       replaced with the subject of the original message  when  the  reply  is
154       sent. Thus, a .vacation.msg file such as
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156         Subject: I am on vacation
157         I am on vacation until July 22.
158         Your mail regarding "$SUBJECT" will be read when I return.
159         If you have something urgent, please contact
160         Joe Jones (jones@fB0).
161              --John
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165
166       will include the subject of the message in the reply.
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169       No message is sent if the To: or the Cc: line does not list the user to
170       whom the original message was sent or one of a number  of  aliases  for
171       them,  if  the initial From line includes the string −REQUEST@, or if a
172       Precedence: bulk or Precedence: junk line is included in the header.
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175       vacation will also not  respond  to  mail  from  either  postmaster  or
176       Mailer-Daemon.
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178
179       In  addition  to the above criteria, if a .vacation.filter file exists,
180       it is used to constrain further the set of addresses to which  a  reply
181       is  sent.  Each  line  in  that file should be either a domain name, an
182       email address, a negated domain name or  a  negated  email  address.  A
183       negated line starts with the single character !.
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186       Each line is compared in the order listed to the sender address. A line
187       containing an email address matches if the sender  address  is  exactly
188       the same except for case, which is ignored.  A line containing a domain
189       name matches if the sender address is  something@domain-name  or  some‐
190       thing@something.domain-name.  A  reply is sent if the first match is an
191       entry that is not negated. If the first match is a negated entry, or if
192       no lines match, then no reply is sent.
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194
195       A sample filter file might look like the following:
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197         !host.subdomain.sun.com
198         sun.com
199         !wife@mydomain.com
200         mydomain.com
201         onefriend@hisisp.com
202         anotherfriend@herisp.com
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206
207       Blank lines and lines starting with  "#" are ignored.
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FILES

210       ~/.forward
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213       ~/.vacation.filter
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216       ~/.vacation.msg
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219       A  list  of  senders  is kept in the dbm format files .vacation.pag and
220       .vacation.dir in your home directory. These files  are  dbm  files  and
221       cannot be viewed directly with text editors.
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ATTRIBUTES

224       See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
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229       ┌─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┐
230       │      ATTRIBUTE TYPE         │      ATTRIBUTE VALUE        │
231       ├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
232       │Availability                 │SUNWsndmu                    │
233       └─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────┘
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SEE ALSO

236       vi(1),    sendmail(1M),    dbm(3UCB),   getusershell(3C),   aliases(4),
237       shells(4), attributes(5)
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241SunOS 5.11                        20 Aug 2005                      vacation(1)
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