


VACATION(1)                                           VACATION(1)


NAME
       vacation - E-mail auto-responder

SYNOPSIS
       vacation  [-a  alias]  [-C cffile] [-d] [-f database] [-i]
       [-I] [-l] [-m message]  [-r  interval]  [-s  address]  [-t
       time] [-U] [-x] [-z] login

DESCRIPTION
       Vacation returns a message, ~/.vacation.msg by default, to
       the sender informing them that you are currently not read-
       ing  your  mail.   The message is only sent to each sender
       once per reply interval (see -r below).  The intended  use
       is  in  a  .forward file.  For example, your .forward file
       might have:

              \eric, "|/usr/bin/vacation -a allman eric"

       which would send messages to you (assuming your login name
       was eric) and reply to any messages for ``eric'' or ``all-
       man''.

       Available options:

       -a alias
              Handle messages for alias in  the  same  manner  as
              those received for the user's login name.

       -C cfpath
              Specify  pathname  of  the  sendmail  configuration
              file.  This option is ignored if -U  is  specified.
              This  option defaults to the standard sendmail con-
              figuration file, located  at  /etc/mail/sendmail.cf
              on most systems.

       -d     Send error/debug messages to stderr instead of sys-
              log.  Otherwise,  fatal  errors,  such  as  calling
              vacation  with  incorrect  arguments,  or with non-
              existent logins, are logged in the system log file,
              using  syslog(8).   This should only be used on the
              command line, not in your .forward file.

       -f filename
              Use filename as name of  the  database  instead  of
              ~/.vacation.db  or  ~/.vacation.{dir,pag}.   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.  This
              should only be used on the  command  line,  not  in
              your .forward file.

       -I     Same  as  -i  (for  backwards compatibility).  This
              should only be used on the  command  line,  not  in



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VACATION(1)                                           VACATION(1)


              your .forward file.

       -l     List  the  content  of  the  vacation database file
              including the address and the  associated  time  of
              the  last  auto-response  to  that  address.   This
              should only be used on the  command  line,  not  in
              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.  The -r option
              should  only  be used when the vacation database is
              initialized (see -i above).

       -s address
              Use address instead of the incoming message  sender
              address  on  the From line as the recipient for the
              vacation message.

       -t time
              Ignored,  available  only  for  compatibility  with
              Sun's vacation program.

       -U     Do  not  attempt  to  lookup  login in the password
              file.  The -f and -m options must be used to  spec-
              ify the database and message file since there is no
              home directory for the default settings  for  these
              options.

       -x     Reads an exclusion list from stdin (one address per
              line).  Mails coming from an address in this exclu-
              sion  list  won't  get  a reply by vacation.  It is
              possible to exclude complete domains by  specifying
              ``@domain'' as element of the exclusion list.  This
              should only be used on the  command  line,  not  in
              your .forward file.

       -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.

       Vacation reads the first line from the standard input  for
       a UNIX ``From'' line to determine the sender.  Sendmail(8)
       includes this ``From'' line automatically.

       No message will be sent unless login (or an alias supplied



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VACATION(1)                                           VACATION(1)


       using  the  -a  option)  is  part of either the ``To:'' or
       ``Cc:''  headers  of   the   mail.    No   messages   from
       ``???-REQUEST'',       ``???-RELAY'',       ``???-OWNER'',
       ``OWNER-???'', ``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 db(3) or dbm(3) database
       in the file .vacation.db or  .vacation.{dir,pag}  in  your
       home directory.

       Vacation expects a file .vacation.msg, in your home direc-
       tory, 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

FILES
       ~/.vacation.db    default database file for db(3)

       ~/.vacation.{dir,pag}
                         default database file for dbm(3)

       ~/.vacation.msg   default message to send

SEE ALSO
       sendmail(8), syslog(8)

HISTORY
       The vacation command appeared in 4.3BSD.


















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