vacation(C)
vacation --
return extended absence message
Syntax
 <vacation -i [ -r interval ] [ -x ]
<vacation -i [ -r interval ] [ -x ]
vacation [ -a alias ] [ -f database ] [ -m message ] [ -s address ] [ -t time ] [ -z ] login
DESCRIPTION
vacation
returns a message to the sender of a message telling them that you
are currently not reading your mail.  The intended use is in a
.forward
file.  For example, your
.forward file might have:
   \eric, "|/usr/bin/vacation -a allman erica"
which would send messages to you (assuming your login name was
eric) and reply to any messages for
``eric'' or ``allman''.
Available options:
 -a alias
- 
Handle messages for
alias
in the same manner as those received for the user's
login name.
 -f filename
- 
Use filename
as name of the database instead of
~/.vacation.db.  Unless the
filename starts with / it is relative to ~.
 -i
- 
Initialize the vacation database files.  It should be used
before you modify your .forward file.
 -m filename
- 
Use filename
as name of the file containing the message to send instead of
~/.vacation.msg.  Unless the
filename starts with / it is relative to ~.
 -r interval
- 
Set the reply interval to
interval days.  The default is one week.
An interval of ``0'' or ``infinite''
(actually, any non-numeric character) will never send more than
one reply.
 -s address
- 
Use address
instead of the sender address in the
From: line to determine the reply address.
 -t time
- 
Ignored, available only for compatibility with Sun
Microsystem's vacation program.
 -x
- 
reads an exclusion list from stdin (one address per line).
Mails coming from an address
in this exclusion list won't get a reply by vacation.
It is possible to exclude complete domains by specifying
``@domain''
as element of the exclusion list.
 -z
- 
Set the sender of the vacation message to ``<>''
instead of the user.
This probably violates the RFCs since vacation messages are
not required by a standards-track RFC to have a null reverse-path.
No message will be sent unless login
(or an alias supplied using the
-a option) is part of either the
``To:'' or ``Cc:'' headers of the mail.
No messages from ``???-REQUEST'',
``Postmaster'', ``UUCP'', ``MAILER'', or ``MAILER-DAEMON''
will be replied to (where these strings are
case insensitive) nor is a notification sent if a
``Precedence: bulk'' or ``Precedence: junk''
line is included in the mail headers.
The people who have sent you messages are maintained as a
dbm(S)
database in the file .vacation.db in your home directory.
vacation expects a file .vacation.msg,
in your home directory, containing a message to be sent back to each
sender.  It should be an entire message (including headers).  For
example, it might contain:
   From: eric@CS.Berkeley.EDU (Eric Allman)
   Subject: I am on vacation
   Delivered-By-The-Graces-Of: The Vacation program
   Precedence: bulk
   
   I am on vacation until July 22.  If you have something urgent,
   please contact Keith Bostic <bostic@CS.Berkeley.EDU>.
   --eric
vacation reads the first line from the standard input for a
UNIX ``From'' line to determine the sender.
sendmail(ADMN)
includes this ``From'' line automatically.
Fatal errors, such as calling vacation
with incorrect arguments, or with non-existent logins,
are logged in the system log file, using
syslog(SLIB).
Files
 ~/.vacation.db
- 
database file
 ~/.vacation.msg
- 
message to send
See also
sendmail(ADMN),
syslog(SLIB)
© 2003 Caldera International, Inc.  All rights reserved.
SCO OpenServer Release 5.0.7 -- 11 February 2003