VACATION(1)						    BSD General Commands Manual 					       VACATION(1)

NAME

     vacation -- return ``I am not here'' indication

SYNOPSIS

     vacation -dIi [-f databasefile] [-m messagefile] [-r interval] [-t interval]
     vacation -dj [-a alias] [-F F|R|S] [-f databasefile] [-m messagefile] [-s sender] [-T A|D] 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 eric"
     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.

     -d      Turn debugging on; don't send an actual message, but print it on stdout.

     -f database_file
	     Use the specified database_file prefix and append .db to it instead of $HOME/.vacation.db.

     -F F|R|S
	     Make vacation additionally look in From: (F), Return-Path: (R), or Sender: (S) headers to determine the From: field.

     -i

     -I      Initialize the vacation database files.  It should be used before you modify your .forward file.

     -j      Do not check if the recipient is present in the To: or Cc: lines.	Usage of this option is strongly discouraged because it will
	     result in vacation replying to mailing lists or other inappropriate places (e.g., messages that you have been Bcc to).

     -m message_file
	     Use message_file instead of $HOME/.vacation.msg.

     -s sender
	     Reply to sender instead of the value read from the message.

     -r interval

     -t interval
	     Set the reply interval to interval days.  If the interval number is followed by w, d, h, m, or s then the number is interpreted as
	     weeks, days, hours, minutes, or seconds respectively.  The default interval is one week.  An interval of ``0'' means that a reply is
	     sent to each message, and an interval of ``infinite'' (actually, any non-numeric character) will never send more than one reply.  It
	     should be noted that intervals of ``0'' are quite dangerous, as it allows mailers to get into ``I am on vacation'' loops.

     -T A|D  Make vacation additionally look in Apparently-To: (A) or Delivered-To: (D) headers to determine the To: field.

     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'' ``Precedence: list'' or ``Precedence: junk'' line is included in the mail
     headers.  The people who have sent you messages are maintained as a db(3) 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).  If the message contains the string $SUBJECT then it will will be replaced with the subject of the original mes-
     sage.  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.
	   Your mail regarding "$SUBJECT" will be read when I return.
	   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(8) 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(3).

FILES

     ~/.vacation.db   database file
     ~/.vacation.msg  message to send

SEE ALSO

     syslog(3), sendmail(8)

HISTORY

     The vacation command appeared in 4.3BSD.

BUGS

     Adding -t A or -t D should only be done for misconfigured or non-compliant MTAs.  Doing so may auto-respond to messages that were not sup-
     posed to be replied to.

BSD
								  August 19, 2004							       BSD