VACATION(1)VACATION(1)NAMEvacation - reply to mail automatically
SYNOPSISvacation [-I]
vacation [-a alias] [-e filter_file] [-f database_file]
[-j] [-m message_file] [-s sender] [-tN] username
vacation [-f database_file] -l
DESCRIPTION
The vacation utility automatically replies to incoming mail.
Installation
The installation consists of an interactive program which sets up vaca‐
tion's basic configuration.
To install vacation, type it with no arguments on the command line.
The program creates a .vacation.msg file, which contains the message
that is automatically sent to all senders when vacation is enabled, and
starts an editor for you to modify the message. (See USAGE section.)
Which editor is invoked is determined by the VISUAL or EDITOR environ‐
ment variable, or vi(1) if neither of those environment variables are
set.
A .forward file is also created if one does not exist in your home
directory. Once created, the .forward file will contain a line of the
form:
One copy of an incoming message is sent to the username and another
copy is piped into vacation:
\username, "|/usr/bin/vacation username"
If a .forward file is present in your home directory, it will ask
whether you want to remove it, which disables vacation and ends the
installation.
The program automatically creates .vacation.pag and .vacation.dir,
which contain a list of senders when vacation is enabled.
Activation and Deactivation
The presence of the .forward file determines whether or not vacation is
disabled or enabled. To disable vacation, remove the .forward file, or
move it to a new name.
Initialization
The -I option clears the vacation log files, .vacation.pag and .vaca‐
tion.dir, erasing the list of senders from a previous vacation session.
(See OPTIONS section.)
Additional Configuration
vacation provides configuration options that are not part of the
installation, these being -a, -e, -f, -j, -m, -s, and -t. (See OPTIONS
section.)
Reporting
vacation provides a reporting option, -l. See OPTIONS.
OPTIONS
The following options are supported:
-I
Initializes the .vacation.pag and .vacation.dir files and enables
vacation. If the -I flag is not specified, and a user argument is
given, vacation reads the first line from the standard input (for
a From: line, no colon). If absent, it produces an error message.
Options -a, -e, -f, -j, -m, -s, and -t are configuration options to be
used in conjunction with vacation in the .forward file, not on the com‐
mand line. For example,
\username, "|/usr/bin/vacation -t1m username"
repeats replies to the sender every minute.
-a alias
Indicates that alias is one of the valid aliases
for the user running vacation, so that mail
addressed to that alias generates a reply.
-e filter_file
Uses filter_file instead of .vacation.filter as the
source of the domain and email address filters.
-f database_file
Uses database_file instead of .vacation as the base
name for the database file.
-j
Does not check whether the recipient appears in the
To: or the Cc: line. Warning: use of this option
can result in vacation replies being sent to mail‐
ing lists and other inappropriate places; its use
is therefore strongly discouraged.
-m message_file
Uses ~/message_file as the message to send for the
reply instead of ~/.vacation.msg. message_file is a
relative path to the desired vacation message file.
To prevent directory/file "not found" errors, mes‐
sage_file should be on the same disk partition as
~/.forward.
-s sender
Replies to sender instead of the value read from
the UNIX From line of the incoming message.
-tN
Changes the interval between repeat replies to the
same sender. The default is 1 week. A trailing s,
m, h, d, or w scales N to seconds, minutes, hours,
days, or weeks, respectively.
The -l option is neither for initialization nor configuration., but for
reporting. The -foption can also be used in conjunction with the -l.
-l
Lists the addresses to which a reply has been sent since the
last invocation of vacation-I, along with a date and time stamp.
USAGE
.vacation.msg should include a header with at least a Subject: line (it
should not include a To: line). For example:
Subject: I am on vacation
I am on vacation until July 22. If you have something urgent,
please contact Joe Jones (jones@fB0).
--John
If the string $SUBJECT appears in the .vacation.msg file, it is
replaced with the subject of the original message when the reply is
sent. Thus, a .vacation.msg file such as
Subject: I am on vacation
I am on vacation until July 22.
Your mail regarding "$SUBJECT" will be read when I return.
If you have something urgent, please contact
Joe Jones (jones@fB0).
--John
will include the subject of the message in the reply.
No message is sent if the To: or the Cc: line does not list the user to
whom the original message was sent or one of a number of aliases for
them, if the initial From line includes the string −REQUEST@, or if a
Precedence: bulk or Precedence: junk line is included in the header.
vacation will also not respond to mail from either postmaster or
Mailer-Daemon.
In addition to the above criteria, if a .vacation.filter file exists,
it is used to constrain further the set of addresses to which a reply
is sent. Each line in that file should be either a domain name, an
email address, a negated domain name or a negated email address. A
negated line starts with the single character !.
Each line is compared in the order listed to the sender address. A line
containing an email address matches if the sender address is exactly
the same except for case, which is ignored. A line containing a domain
name matches if the sender address is something@domain-name or some‐
thing@something.domain-name. A reply is sent if the first match is an
entry that is not negated. If the first match is a negated entry, or if
no lines match, then no reply is sent.
A sample filter file might look like the following:
!host.subdomain.sun.com
sun.com
!wife@mydomain.com
mydomain.com
onefriend@hisisp.com
anotherfriend@herisp.com
Blank lines and lines starting with "#" are ignored.
FILES
~/.forward
~/.vacation.filter
~/.vacation.msg
A list of senders is kept in the dbm format files .vacation.pag and
.vacation.dir in your home directory. These files are dbm files and
cannot be viewed directly with text editors.
SEE ALSOvi(1), sendmail(1M), dbm(3UCB), getusershell(3C), aliases(4),
shells(4), attributes(5)
Aug 20, 2005 VACATION(1)
