| blob | bf0e313c20f2a0562513d868be14f0a0cc11c276 |
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12 .TH MAIL 1 "Jul 24, 2008"
13 .SH NAME
14 mail, rmail \- read mail or send mail to users
15 .SH SYNOPSIS
16 .SS "Sending Mail"
17 .LP
18 .nf
19 \fBmail\fR [\fB-tw\fR] [\fB-m\fR \fImessage_type\fR] \fIrecipient\fR...
20 .fi
22 .LP
23 .nf
24 \fBrmail\fR [\fB-tw\fR] [\fB-m\fR \fImessage_type\fR] \fIrecipient\fR...
25 .fi
27 .SS "Reading Mail"
28 .LP
29 .nf
30 \fBmail\fR [\fB-ehpPqr\fR] [\fB-f\fR \fIfile\fR]
31 .fi
33 .SS "Debugging"
34 .LP
35 .nf
36 \fBmail\fR [\fB-x\fR \fIdebug_level\fR] [\fIother_mail_options\fR] \fIrecipient\fR...
37 .fi
39 .SH DESCRIPTION
40 .sp
41 .LP
42 A \fIrecipient\fR is usually a domain style address
43 ("\fIuser\fR@\fImachine\fR") or a user name recognized by \fBlogin\fR(1). When
44 \fIrecipient\fRs are named, \fBmail\fR assumes a message is being sent. It
45 reads from the standard input up to an end-of-file (Control-d) or, if reading
46 from a terminal device, until it reads a line consisting of just a period. When
47 either of those indicators is received, \fBmail\fR adds the \fIletter\fR to the
48 \fImailfile\fR for each \fIrecipient\fR.
49 .sp
50 .LP
51 A \fIletter\fR is composed of some \fIheader lines\fR followed by a blank line
52 followed by the \fImessage content\fR. The \fIheader lines\fR section of the
53 letter consists of one or more UNIX postmarks:
54 .sp
55 .in +2
56 .nf
57 \fBFrom\fR \fIsender date_and_time\fR [\fBremote from\fR \fIremote_system_name\fR]
58 .fi
59 .in -2
60 .sp
62 .sp
63 .LP
64 followed by one or more standardized message header lines of the form:
65 .sp
66 .in +2
67 .nf
68 \fIkeyword-name\fR\fB:\fR [\fIprintable text\fR]
69 .fi
70 .in -2
71 .sp
73 .sp
74 .LP
75 where \fIkeyword-name\fR is comprised of any printable, non-whitespace
76 characters other than colon (`\fB:\fR'). A \fBMIME-version:\fR header line
77 indicates that the message is formatted as described in RFC 2045. A
78 \fBContent-Length:\fR header line, indicating the number of bytes in the
79 \fImessage content\fR, is always present unless the letter consists of only
80 header lines with no message content. A \fBContent-Type:\fR header line that
81 describes the type of the \fImessage content\fR (such as text/plain,
82 application/octet-stream, and so on) is also present, unless the letter
83 consists of only header lines with no message content. Header lines may be
84 continued on the following line if that line starts with white space.
85 .SH OPTIONS
86 .SS "Sending Mail"
87 .sp
88 .LP
89 The following command-line arguments affect sending mail:
90 .sp
91 .ne 2
92 .na
93 \fB\fB-m\fR \fImessage_type\fR\fR
94 .ad
95 .RS 19n
96 A \fBMessage-Type:\fR line is added to the message header with the value of
97 \fImessage_type\fR.
98 .RE
100 .sp
101 .ne 2
102 .na
103 \fB\fB-t\fR\fR
104 .ad
105 .RS 19n
106 A \fBTo:\fR line is added to the message header for each of the intended
107 \fIrecipient\fRs.
108 .RE
110 .sp
111 .ne 2
112 .na
113 \fB\fB-w\fR\fR
114 .ad
115 .RS 19n
116 A letter is sent to a remote recipient without waiting for the completion of
117 the remote transfer program.
118 .RE
120 .sp
121 .LP
122 If a letter is found to be undeliverable, it is returned to the sender with
123 diagnostics that indicate the location and nature of the failure. If \fBmail\fR
124 is interrupted during input, the message is saved in the file \fBdead.letter\fR
125 to allow editing and resending. \fBdead.letter\fR is always appended to, thus
126 preserving any previous contents. The initial attempt to append to (or create)
127 \fBdead.letter\fR is in the current directory. If this fails, \fBdead.letter\fR
128 is appended to (or created in) the user's login directory. If the second
129 attempt also fails, no \fBdead.letter\fR processing is done.
130 .sp
131 .LP
132 \fBrmail\fR only permits the sending of mail; Any application programs that
133 generate mail messages should be sure to invoke \fBrmail\fR rather than
134 \fBmail\fR for message transport and/or delivery.
135 .sp
136 .LP
137 If the local system has the Basic Networking Utilities installed, mail can be
138 sent to a recipient on a remote system. There are numerous ways to address mail
139 to recipients on remote systems depending on the transport mechanisms available
140 to the local system. The two most prevalent addressing schemes are Domain-style
141 and UUCP-style.
142 .sp
143 .ne 2
144 .na
145 \fBDomain-style addressing\fR
146 .ad
147 .RS 27n
148 Remote recipients are specified by appending an `\fB@\fR' and domain (and
149 possibly sub-domain) information to the recipient name (such as
150 \fBuser@sf.att.com\fR). (The local system administrator should be consulted for
151 details on which addressing conventions are available on the local system.)
152 .RE
154 .sp
155 .ne 2
156 .na
157 \fBUUCP-style addressing\fR
158 .ad
159 .RS 27n
160 Remote recipients are specified by prefixing the recipient name with the remote
161 system name and an exclamation point, such as \fBsysa!user.\fR If \fBcsh\fR(1)
162 is the default shell, \fBsysa\e!user\fR should be used. A series of system
163 names separated by exclamation points can be used to direct a letter through an
164 extended network (such as \fBsysa!sysb!sysc!user\fR or
165 \fBsysa\e!sysb\e!sysc\e!user\fR).
166 .RE
168 .SS "Reading Mail"
169 .sp
170 .LP
171 The following command-line arguments affect reading mail:
172 .sp
173 .ne 2
174 .na
175 \fB\fB-e\fR\fR
176 .ad
177 .RS 11n
178 Test for the presence of mail. \fBmail\fR prints nothing.
179 .sp
180 An exit status of \fB0\fR is returned if the user has mail. Otherwise, an exit
181 status of \fB1\fR is returned.
182 .RE
184 .sp
185 .ne 2
186 .na
187 \fB\fB-E\fR\fR
188 .ad
189 .RS 11n
190 Similar to \fB-e\fR, but tests only for the presence of \fBnew\fR mail.
191 .sp
192 An exit status of \fB0\fR is returned if the user has new mail
193 to read, an exit status of \fB1\fR is returned if the user has no
194 mail, or an exit status of \fB2\fR is returned if the user has mail
195 which has already been read.
196 .RE
198 .sp
199 .ne 2
200 .na
201 \fB\fB-h\fR\fR
202 .ad
203 .RS 11n
204 A window of headers are initially displayed rather than the latest message. The
205 display is followed by the \fB?\fR prompt.
206 .RE
208 .sp
209 .ne 2
210 .na
211 \fB\fB-p\fR\fR
212 .ad
213 .RS 11n
214 All messages are printed without prompting for disposition.
215 .RE
217 .sp
218 .ne 2
219 .na
220 \fB\fB-P\fR\fR
221 .ad
222 .RS 11n
223 All messages are printed with \fIall\fR header lines displayed, rather than the
224 default selective header line display.
225 .RE
227 .sp
228 .ne 2
229 .na
230 \fB\fB-q\fR\fR
231 .ad
232 .RS 11n
233 \fBmail\fR terminates after interrupts. Normally an interrupt causes only the
234 termination of the message being printed.
235 .RE
237 .sp
238 .ne 2
239 .na
240 \fB\fB-r\fR\fR
241 .ad
242 .RS 11n
243 Messages are printed in first-in, first-out order.
244 .RE
246 .sp
247 .ne 2
248 .na
249 \fB\fB-f\fR \fIfile\fR\fR
250 .ad
251 .RS 11n
252 \fBmail\fR uses \fIfile\fR (such as \fBmbox\fR) instead of the default
253 \fImailfile\fR.
254 .RE
256 .sp
257 .LP
258 \fBmail\fR, unless otherwise influenced by command-line arguments, prints a
259 user's mail messages in last-in, first-out order. The default mode for printing
260 messages is to display only those header lines of immediate interest. These
261 include, but are not limited to, the UNIX \fBFrom\fR and \fB>From\fR postmarks,
262 \fBFrom:\fR, \fBDate:\fR, \fBSubject:\fR, and \fBContent-Length:\fR header
263 lines, and any recipient header lines such as \fBTo:\fR, \fBCc:\fR, \fBBcc:\fR,
264 and so forth. After the header lines have been displayed, \fBmail\fR displays
265 the contents (body) of the message only if it contains no unprintable
266 characters. Otherwise, \fBmail\fR issues a warning statement about the message
267 having binary content and \fBnot\fR display the content. This can be overridden
268 by means of the \fBp\fR command.
269 .sp
270 .LP
271 For each message, the user is prompted with a \fB?\fR and a line is read from
272 the standard input. The following commands are available to determine the
273 disposition of the message:
274 .sp
275 .ne 2
276 .na
277 \fB\fB#\fR\fR
278 .ad
279 .RS 22n
280 Print the number of the current message.
281 .RE
283 .sp
284 .ne 2
285 .na
286 \fB\fB\(mi\fR\fR
287 .ad
288 .RS 22n
289 Print previous message.
290 .RE
292 .sp
293 .ne 2
294 .na
295 \fB<new-line>,\fB+\fR, or \fBn\fR\fR
296 .ad
297 .RS 22n
298 Print the next message.
299 .RE
301 .sp
302 .ne 2
303 .na
304 \fB\fB!\fR\fIcommand\fR\fR
305 .ad
306 .RS 22n
307 Escape to the shell to do \fIcommand\fR.
308 .RE
310 .sp
311 .ne 2
312 .na
313 \fB\fBa\fR\fR
314 .ad
315 .RS 22n
316 Print message that arrived during the \fBmail\fR session.
317 .RE
319 .sp
320 .ne 2
321 .na
322 \fB\fBd\fR, or \fBdp\fR\fR
323 .ad
324 .RS 22n
325 Delete the current message and print the next message.
326 .RE
328 .sp
329 .ne 2
330 .na
331 \fB\fBd\fR \fIn\fR\fR
332 .ad
333 .RS 22n
334 Delete message number \fIn\fR. Do not go on to next message.
335 .RE
337 .sp
338 .ne 2
339 .na
340 \fB\fBdq\fR\fR
341 .ad
342 .RS 22n
343 Delete message and quit \fBmail\fR.
344 .RE
346 .sp
347 .ne 2
348 .na
349 \fB\fBh\fR\fR
350 .ad
351 .RS 22n
352 Display a window of headers around current message.
353 .RE
355 .sp
356 .ne 2
357 .na
358 \fB\fBh\fR\fIn\fR\fR
359 .ad
360 .RS 22n
361 Display a window of headers around message number \fIn\fR.
362 .RE
364 .sp
365 .ne 2
366 .na
367 \fB\fBh a\fR\fR
368 .ad
369 .RS 22n
370 Display headers of all messages in the user's \fImailfile\fR.
371 .RE
373 .sp
374 .ne 2
375 .na
376 \fB\fBh d\fR\fR
377 .ad
378 .RS 22n
379 Display headers of messages scheduled for deletion.
380 .RE
382 .sp
383 .ne 2
384 .na
385 \fB\fBm\fR [ \fIpersons\fR ]\fR
386 .ad
387 .RS 22n
388 Mail (and delete) the current message to the named \fIpersons\fR.
389 .RE
391 .sp
392 .ne 2
393 .na
394 \fB\fIn\fR\fR
395 .ad
396 .RS 22n
397 Print message number \fIn\fR.
398 .RE
400 .sp
401 .ne 2
402 .na
403 \fB\fBp\fR\fR
404 .ad
405 .RS 22n
406 Print current message again, overriding any indications of binary (that is,
407 unprintable) content.
408 .RE
410 .sp
411 .ne 2
412 .na
413 \fB\fBP\fR\fR
414 .ad
415 .RS 22n
416 Override default brief mode and print current message again, displaying all
417 header lines.
418 .RE
420 .sp
421 .ne 2
422 .na
423 \fB\fBq\fR, or Control-d\fR
424 .ad
425 .RS 22n
426 Put undeleted mail back in the \fImailfile\fR and quit \fBmail\fR.
427 .RE
429 .sp
430 .ne 2
431 .na
432 \fB\fBr\fR [ \fIusers\fR ]\fR
433 .ad
434 .RS 22n
435 Reply to the sender, and other \fIusers\fR, then delete the message.
436 .RE
438 .sp
439 .ne 2
440 .na
441 \fB\fBs\fR [ \fIfiles\fR ]\fR
442 .ad
443 .RS 22n
444 Save message in the named \fIfiles\fR (\fBmbox\fR is default) and delete the
445 message.
446 .RE
448 .sp
449 .ne 2
450 .na
451 \fB\fBu\fR [ \fIn\fR ]\fR
452 .ad
453 .RS 22n
454 Undelete message number \fIn\fR (default is last read).
455 .RE
457 .sp
458 .ne 2
459 .na
460 \fB\fBw\fR [ \fIfiles\fR ]\fR
461 .ad
462 .RS 22n
463 Save message contents, without any header lines, in the named \fIfiles\fR
464 (\fBmbox\fR is default) and delete the message.
465 .RE
467 .sp
468 .ne 2
469 .na
470 \fB\fBx\fR\fR
471 .ad
472 .RS 22n
473 Put all mail back in the \fImailfile\fR unchanged and exit \fBmail\fR.
474 .RE
476 .sp
477 .ne 2
478 .na
479 \fB\fBy\fR [ \fIfiles\fR ]\fR
480 .ad
481 .RS 22n
482 Same as \fB-w\fR option.
483 .RE
485 .sp
486 .ne 2
487 .na
488 \fB\fB?\fR\fR
489 .ad
490 .RS 22n
491 Print a command summary.
492 .RE
494 .sp
495 .LP
496 When a user logs in, the presence of mail, if any, is usually indicated. Also,
497 notification is made if new mail arrives while using \fBmail\fR.
498 .sp
499 .LP
500 The permissions of \fImailfile\fR can be manipulated using \fBchmod\fR(1) in
501 two ways to alter the function of \fBmail\fR. The other permissions of the file
502 can be read-write (\fB0666\fR), read-only (\fB0664\fR), or neither read nor
503 write (\fB0660\fR) to allow different levels of privacy. If changed to other
504 than the default (mode \fB0660\fR), the file is preserved even when empty to
505 perpetuate the desired permissions. (The administrator can override this file
506 preservation using the \fBDEL_EMPTY_MAILFILE\fR option of \fBmailcnfg\fR.)
507 .sp
508 .LP
509 The group \fBID\fR of the mailfile must be \fBmail\fR to allow new messages to
510 be delivered, and the mailfile must be writable by group \fBmail\fR.
511 .SS "Debugging"
512 .sp
513 .LP
514 The following command-line arguments cause \fBmail\fR to provide debugging
515 information:
516 .sp
517 .ne 2
518 .na
519 \fB\fB-x\fR \fIdebug_level\fR\fR
520 .ad
521 .RS 18n
522 \fBmail\fR creates a trace file containing debugging information.
523 .RE
525 .sp
526 .LP
527 The \fB-x\fR option causes \fBmail\fR to create a file named
528 \fB/tmp/MLDBG\fR\fIprocess_id\fR that contains debugging information relating
529 to how \fBmail\fR processed the current message. The absolute value of
530 \fIdebug_level\fR controls the verboseness of the debug information. \fB0\fR
531 implies no debugging. If \fIdebug_level\fR is greater than \fB0\fR, the debug
532 file is retained \fIonly\fR if \fBmail\fR encountered some problem while
533 processing the message. If \fIdebug_level\fR is less than \fB0\fR, the debug
534 file is always be retained. The \fIdebug_level\fR specified via \fB-x\fR
535 overrides any specification of \fBDEBUG\fR in \fB/etc/mail/mailcnfg\fR. The
536 information provided by the \fB-x\fR option is esoteric and is probably only
537 useful to system administrators.
538 .SS "Delivery Notification"
539 .sp
540 .LP
541 Several forms of notification are available for mail by including one of the
542 following lines in the message header.
543 .sp
544 .LP
545 \fBTransport-Options:\fR [ \fB/\fR\fIoptions\fR ]
546 .sp
547 .LP
548 \fBDefault-Options:\fR [ \fB/\fR\fIoptions\fR ]
549 .sp
550 .LP
551 \fB>To:\fR \fIrecipient\fR [ \fB/\fR\fIoptions\fR ]
552 .sp
553 .LP
554 Where the "/\fIoptions\fR" can be one or more of the following:
555 .sp
556 .ne 2
557 .na
558 \fB\fB/delivery\fR\fR
559 .ad
560 .RS 15n
561 Inform the sender that the message was successfully delivered to the
562 \fIrecipient\fR's mailbox.
563 .RE
565 .sp
566 .ne 2
567 .na
568 \fB\fB/nodelivery\fR\fR
569 .ad
570 .RS 15n
571 Do not inform the sender of successful deliveries.
572 .RE
574 .sp
575 .ne 2
576 .na
577 \fB\fB/ignore\fR\fR
578 .ad
579 .RS 15n
580 Do not inform the sender of failed deliveries.
581 .RE
583 .sp
584 .ne 2
585 .na
586 \fB\fB/return\fR\fR
587 .ad
588 .RS 15n
589 Inform the sender if mail delivery fails. Return the failed message to the
590 sender.
591 .RE
593 .sp
594 .ne 2
595 .na
596 \fB\fB/report\fR\fR
597 .ad
598 .RS 15n
599 Same as \fB/return\fR except that the original message is not returned.
600 .RE
602 .sp
603 .LP
604 The default is \fB/nodelivery/return\fR. If contradictory options are used, the
605 first is recognized and later, conflicting, terms are ignored.
606 .SH OPERANDS
607 .sp
608 .LP
609 The following operand is supported for sending mail:
610 .sp
611 .ne 2
612 .na
613 \fB\fIrecipient\fR\fR
614 .ad
615 .RS 13n
616 A domain style address ("\fIuser\fR@\fImachine\fR") or user login name
617 recognized by \fBlogin\fR(1).
618 .RE
620 .SH USAGE
621 .sp
622 .LP
623 See \fBlargefile\fR(5) for the description of the behavior of \fBmail\fR and
624 \fBrmail\fR when encountering files greater than or equal to 2 Gbyte ( 2^31
625 bytes).
626 .SH ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
627 .sp
628 .LP
629 See \fBenviron\fR(5) for descriptions of the following environment variables
630 that affect the execution of \fBmail\fR: \fBLC_CTYPE\fR, \fBLC_MESSAGES\fR, and
631 \fBNLSPATH\fR.
632 .sp
633 .ne 2
634 .na
635 \fB\fBTZ\fR\fR
636 .ad
637 .RS 6n
638 Determine the timezone used with date and time strings.
639 .RE
641 .SH EXIT STATUS
642 .sp
643 .LP
644 The following exit values are returned:
645 .sp
646 .ne 2
647 .na
648 \fB\fB0\fR\fR
649 .ad
650 .RS 6n
651 Successful completion when the user had mail.
652 .RE
654 .sp
655 .ne 2
656 .na
657 \fB\fB1\fR\fR
658 .ad
659 .RS 6n
660 The user had no mail or an initialization error occurred.
661 .RE
663 .sp
664 .ne 2
665 .na
666 \fB\fB>1\fR\fR
667 .ad
668 .RS 6n
669 An error occurred after initialization.
670 .RE
672 .SH FILES
673 .sp
674 .ne 2
675 .na
676 \fB\fBdead.letter\fR\fR
677 .ad
678 .RS 20n
679 unmailable text
680 .RE
682 .sp
683 .ne 2
684 .na
685 \fB\fB/etc/passwd\fR\fR
686 .ad
687 .RS 20n
688 to identify sender and locate \fIrecipient\fRs
689 .RE
691 .sp
692 .ne 2
693 .na
694 \fB\fB$HOME/mbox\fR\fR
695 .ad
696 .RS 20n
697 saved mail
698 .RE
700 .sp
701 .ne 2
702 .na
703 \fB\fB$MAIL\fR\fR
704 .ad
705 .RS 20n
706 variable containing path name of \fImailfile\fR
707 .RE
709 .sp
710 .ne 2
711 .na
712 \fB\fB/tmp/MLDBG\fR*\fR
713 .ad
714 .RS 20n
715 debug trace file
716 .RE
718 .sp
719 .ne 2
720 .na
721 \fB\fB/var/mail/*.lock\fR\fR
722 .ad
723 .RS 20n
724 lock for mail directory
725 .RE
727 .sp
728 .ne 2
729 .na
730 \fB\fB/var/mail/:saved\fR\fR
731 .ad
732 .RS 20n
733 directory for holding temp files to prevent loss of data in the event of a
734 system crash
735 .RE
737 .sp
738 .ne 2
739 .na
740 \fB\fB/var/mail/\fIuser\fR\fR\fR
741 .ad
742 .RS 20n
743 incoming mail for \fIuser\fR; that is, the \fImailfile\fR
744 .RE
746 .sp
747 .ne 2
748 .na
749 \fB\fBvar/tmp/ma\fR*\fR
750 .ad
751 .RS 20n
752 temporary file
753 .RE
755 .SH SEE ALSO
756 .sp
757 .LP
758 \fBchmod\fR(1), \fBcsh\fR(1), \fBlogin\fR(1), \fBmailx\fR(1),
759 \fBuuencode\fR(1), \fBvacation\fR(1), \fBwrite\fR(1), \fBattributes\fR(5),
760 \fBenviron\fR(5), \fBlargefile\fR(5)
761 .sp
762 .LP
763 \fISolaris Advanced User\&'s Guide\fR
764 .SH NOTES
765 .sp
766 .LP
767 The interpretation and resulting action taken because of the header lines
768 described in the Delivery Notifications section only occur if this version of
769 \fBmail\fR is installed on the system where the delivery (or failure) happens.
770 Earlier versions of \fBmail\fR might not support any types of delivery
771 notification.
772 .sp
773 .LP
774 Conditions sometimes result in a failure to remove a lock file.
775 .sp
776 .LP
777 After an interrupt, the next message might not be printed. Printing can be
778 forced by typing a \fBp\fR.