PATHTO(1) Local PATHTO(1)NAME
pathto, uupath - calculate mail paths
SYNOPSIS
pathto [ -tdnsv ] address ...
uupath [ -tsv ] [ sitename|domain|path ] ...
DESCRIPTION
These commands query the mail routing databases to determine which
paths will be used in sending mail to the specified hosts or addresses.
The pathto(1) command takes the address of a user and determines the
path that smail(8) would use for delivery. For historical reasons, the
resulting path is rewritten as a UUCP-style `!'-path by default, even
though this form may not be used by smail for delivery. The leading
sitename in the path is the site towards which smail(8) will make a
delivery. The leading sitename may be followed by a route to the tar‐
get of the address if the leading sitename and target are different.
The remainder of the argument, if anything, is added on to the end.
This command advises you on how smail(8) will handle an address but
does not give the actual address that smail(8) will use, unless the -n
option given.
The uupath(1) command attempts to compute paths from your machine to
other machines. If the argument is the name of a site such as nsavax,
or nsavax.nsa.gov, or if it is the name of a domain such as .nsa.gov,
then the uupath(1) program will try to produce a path to that site or
domain. If the argument is a `!'-path, then uupath computes a route to
the first site, and appends the remainder of the path onto it. For
historical reasons, the resultant string will be ``%s'', if the host is
the local host.
It is important to note that uupath arguments relate to sitenames,
while the pathto arguments relate to addresses of users. The command:
uupath namei
will compute a path to the SITE named namei, while the command:
pathto namei
will ``compute a path'' to the USER named namei on the local machine.
OPTIONS
All three commands take hosts and addresses from the arguments, or from
standard input if none are given as arguments. The following options
are recognised:
-s If smart-host routing is enabled in the smail routing databases,
then -s will cause smart-host routing used as a last resort in
computing paths. By default, smart-host routing is not taken
into account by these commands. A smart-host router will route
an address to a remote host that supposedly has a larger or more
up-to-date routing database than the local host.
-d By default, pathto does not examine what will happen when mail
is actually delivered to the final user(s). If the final users
are on the local system, then -d will apply any aliasing, for‐
warding or mailing lists expansions. The order and number of
arguments will not necessarily correspond to the order and num‐
ber of output address when this option is used.
-nuupath will always produce a pure UUCP path, and by default so
will will pathto, in the interest of backward compatibility.
The -n flag will generate other addressing forms if they would
actually be used by smail for delivery. With the -n option, the
pathto command will print the next-hop host that a particular
address would be sent to (or it will print ``local'' if the
address would be delivered locally), and it will print the
address that smail will give to the next-hop. The next-hop host
and the address are separated by ``::'' and some whitespace.
-t Announce the name of the transport that would be used in deliv‐
ering to an address, if the transport is known. Local addresses
that are not resolved using the -d flag will not produce a
transport because the specific local transport cannot determined
without applying the directors.
-v Be verbose, announcing each important state of address resolu‐
tion as it occurs. The verbose messages are written to standard
error.
EXAMPLES
The following examples assume the following routing configuration will
be used to compute path information:
a. a list of known local host names: amdahl, uts.amdahl.com and
amdahl.com.
b. a pathalias(8) database containing the lines:
.nsa.gov namei!nsavax!%s
amdahl %s
glotz namei!glotz!%s
kgbvax name!walldrug!kgbvax!%s
namei namei!%s
nsavax namei!glotz!nsavax!%s
where each path will use UUX for delivery.
c. a known network connection to the host eek, which is also known as
eek.uts.amdahl.com.
d. domains of the form [number.number.number.number] are recognized as
internet numbers to be delivered using TCP/IP.
e. the path namei!glotz!nsavax is used as a smart-host path for
addresses the localhost cannot route.
The following commands, in italic, will produce the corresponding out‐
put:
$ uupath nsavax mit-prep uts.amdahl.com
namei!glotz!nsavax
uupath: no route found to mit-prep
%s
$ uupath-s mit-prep!rms
namei!glotz!nsavax!mit-prep!rms
$ pathto @eek.uts.amdahl.com:rms@prep.ai.mit.edu
eek!prep.ai.mit.edu!rms
$ pathto -n @[192.2.12.3]:rms@prep.ai.mit.edu
[192.2.12.3] :: rms@prep.ai.mit.edu
$ pathto brown@nsavax
namei!glotz!nsavax!brown
DIAGNOSTICS
An error message will be written to standard error if there is a syntax
error in an address, or if no path can be found for an address and
smart-host routing is not being used. In case of such errors, these
programs return an appropriate exit code from the file
/usr/include/sysexits.h; e.g., EX_DATAERR or EX_NOHOST.
FILES
Standard ASCII path database.
/etc/smail/routers Smail routing configuration.
SEE ALSOsmail(8), smail(5), pathalias(8) and pathalias(5).
BUGS
Your local site does not always know a correct path to every site.
Routing is only as good as your routing information. Smail cannot com‐
pensate for out-of-date or poorly synchronised databases.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (C) 1987, 1988 Ronald S. Karr and Landon Curt Noll
Copyright (C) 1992 Ronald S. Karr
See a file COPYING, distributed with the source code, or type smail
-bc, to view distribution rights and restrictions associated with this
software.
Smail-3 RELEASE-3_2_0_115 PATHTO(1)
