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 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 message. 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 supposed to be replied to.