1vacation(1) User Manuals vacation(1)
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6 vacation - reply to mail automatically
7
9 vacation [ -I | -i ]
10 vacation [ -j ] [ -h hostname ] [ -a alias ] [ -tN ] [ -r ] [ -? ]
11 username
12
14 vacation automatically replies to incoming mail. The reply is con‐
15 tained in the file .vacation.msg in your home directory. The vacation
16 program run interactively will create and/or edit a .vacation.msg file
17 in your home directory. The old .vacation.msg will be backed up to
18 .vacation.old file. Type vacation with no arguments. (See USAGE
19 below.)
20 For example, the message created by vacation is:
22 Subject: away from my mail
23 From: smith (via the vacation program)
24 I will not be reading my mail for a while. Your
25 mail regarding "$SUBJECT" will be
26 read when I return.
27 The .vacation.msg file should include a header with at least a `Sub‐
29 ject:' line (it should not contain a `To:' line and need not contain a
30 `From:' line, since these are generated automatically).
31 The fields `From', `From:' and `Reply-To:' are evaluated in the follow‐
33 ing order: If there is a `Reply-To:', and the option -r is given, then
34 its entry is accepted. Otherwise, the entry of the `From:' field is
35 taken. Should this entry lack a complete domain address (e.g. user@site
36 instead of user@site.domain), vacation evaluates the `From' field, con‐
37 verting the contained UUCP bang path into a domain style address. If
38 this fails too, vacation gives up.
39 If the string $SUBJECT appears in the .vacation.msg file, it is
41 replaced with the subject of the original message when the reply is
42 sent.
43 No message is sent if the `To:' or the `Cc:' line does not list the
45 user to whom the original message was sent or one of a number of
46 aliases for them, if the initial From line includes one of the strings
47 -request@, postmaster, uucp, mailer-daemon, mailer or -relay or if a
48 `Precedence: bulk' or `Precedence: junk' or `Precedence: list' line is
49 included in the header. The search for special senders is made case-
50 independent.
51
53 -I | -i
54 Initialize the .vacation.db file and start vacation.
55 If the -I flag is not specified, and a user argument is given, vacation
57 reads the first line from the standard input (for a `From:' line, no
58 colon). If absent, it produces an error message. The following
59 options may be specified:
60 -h hostname
62 Force vacation to create emails from hostname rather than the
63 default domain name. This is for situations where you might be
64 using it to respond to a virtual domain, for example.
65 -a alias
67 Indicate that alias is one of the valid aliases for the user
68 running vacation, so that mail addressed to that alias generates
69 a reply.
70 -j Do not check whether the recipient appears in the `To:' or the
72 `Cc:' line. Reply always.
73 -tN Change the interval between repeat replies to the same sender.
75 N is the number of days between replies. Default is one week.
76 -r If there is a `Reply-To:' header, send the automatic reply to
78 the address given there. Otherwise, use the `From:' entry.
79 -? issue short usage line.
81
83 The vacation, create a .forward file in your home directory containing
84 a line of the form:
85 \username, "|/usr/bin/vacation username"
87 where username is your login name. The original .forward will be backed
89 up to .forward.old file.
90 Then type in the command:
93 vacation -I
95 To stop vacation, remove the .forward file, or move it to a new name.
97 If vacation is run with no arguments, it will create a new .vaca‐
99 tion.msg file for you, using the editor specified by the VISUAL or EDI‐
100 TOR environment variable, or vi(1) if neither of those environment
101 variables are set. If a .forward file is not present in your home
102 directory, it creates it for you, and automatically performs a `vaca‐
103 tion -I' function, turning on vacation.
104
106 $HOME/.forward
107 $HOME/.vacation.msg
108 A list of senders is kept in the file .vacation.db in your home direc‐
110 tory.
111
113 vi(1), sendmail(8)
114
116 vacation is Copyright (c) 1983 by Eric P. Allman, University of Berke‐
117 ley, California, and Copyright (c) 1993 by Harald Milz
118 (hm@seneca.ix.de). Tiny patches 1998 by Mark Seuffert (moak@pirate.de).
119 Previously maintained by Sean Rima (thecivvie@softhome.net), now main‐
121 tained by Chris Samuel (chrissamuel at users.sourceforge.net) and Brian
122 May (bmay at users.sourceforge.net).
1233rd Berkeley Distribution March 2000 vacation(1)