vacation(1)							   User Manuals 						       vacation(1)

NAME

       vacation - reply to mail automatically

SYNOPSIS

       vacation [ -I | -i | -l ] [ -F ]
       vacation [ -j ] [ -a alias ] [ -f file ] [ -tN ] [ -r ] [ -?  ] username

DESCRIPTION

       vacation  automatically	replies  to incoming mail.  The reply is contained in the file .vacation.msg in your home directory.  The vacation
       program run interactively will create and/or edit a .vacation.msg file in your home directory. The old .vacation.msg will be backed  up	to
       .vacation.old file.  Type vacation with no arguments.  (See USAGE below.)

       For example, the message created by vacation is:
	      Subject: away from my mail
	      From:  smith (via the vacation program)
	      I will not be reading my mail for a while. Your
	      mail regarding "$SUBJECT" will be
	      read when I return.

       The  .vacation.msg  file should include a header with at least a `Subject:' line (it should not contain a `To:' line and need not contain a
       `From:' line, since these are generated automatically).

       The fields `From', `From:' and `Reply-To:' are evaluated in the following order: If there is a `Reply-To:', and the  option  -r	is  given,
       then  its  entry  is  accepted.	Otherwise, the entry of the `From:' field is taken. Should this entry lack a complete domain address (e.g.
       user@site instead of user@site.domain), vacation evaluates the `From' field, converting the contained UUCP bang path into  a  domain  style
       address. If this fails too, vacation gives up.

       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.

       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 one of the strings -request@, postmaster, uucp, mailer-daemon, mailer or -relay or if a
       `Precedence: bulk' or `Precedence: junk' or `Precedence: list' line is included in the header. The search for special senders is made case-
       independant.

OPTIONS

       -I     Or -i initialize the .vacation.db file and start vacation.  This should only be used on the command line, not in the .forward file.

       -F     Force creation of .vacation.db even if the $HOME directory is identified as a NFS file system.  Please note that the used data  base
	      is not portable between 32bit and 64bit architectures and also not portable between little and big endianess architectures even same
	      bit-wide is used for.  Therefore the initial creation of the .vacation.db should always happen on  the  server  used  for  receiving
	      mails for the specific user.

       -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 the .forward file.

       If the -I, -i or -l 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.  The following options may be specified:

       -a alias
	      Indicate	that  alias  is  one  of the valid aliases for the user running vacation, so that mail addressed to that alias generates a
	      reply.

       -j     Do not check whether the recipient appears in the `To:' or the `Cc:' line. Reply always.

       -tN    Change the interval between repeat replies to the same sender.  N is the number of days between replies. Default is one week.

       -r     If there is a `Reply-To:' header, send the automatic reply to the address given there.  Otherwise, use the `From:' entry.

       -f <file>
	      use a different message file than the default, .vacation.msg .  The path to this file is relative to the home directory of the user.

       -?     issue short usage line.

USAGE

       The vacation, create a .forward file in your home directory containing a line of the form:

	      username, "|/usr/bin/vacation username"

       where username is your login name. The original .forward will be backed up to .forward.old file.

       Then type in the command:

	      vacation -I

       To stop vacation, remove the .forward file, or move it to a new name.

       If vacation is run with no arguments, it will create a new .vacation.msg file for you, using the editor specified by the VISUAL	or  EDITOR
       environment  variable,  or  vi(1) if neither of those environment variables are set.  If a .forward file is not present in your home direc-
       tory, it creates it for you, and automatically performs a `vacation -I' function, turning on vacation.

FILES

       $HOME/.forward
       $HOME/.vacation.msg

       A list of senders is kept in the file .vacation.db in your home directory.

SEE ALSO

       vi(1), sendmail(8)

AUTHOR

       vacation is Copyright (c)  1983	by  Eric  P.  Allman,  University  of  Berkeley,  California,  and  Copyright  (c)  1993  by  Harald  Milz
       (hm@seneca.ix.de). Tiny patches 1998 by Mark Seuffert (moak@pirate.de).	Now maintained by Sean Rima (thecivvie@softhome.net)

3rd Berkeley Distribution					    March 2000							       vacation(1)