NAME

       vacation - E-mail auto-responder

SYNOPSIS

       vacation  [-a  alias]  [-C cffile] [-d] [-f database] [-i] [-I] [-j] [-l] [-m message] [-R
       returnaddr] [-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 reading 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 ``allman''.

       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  configuration  file,
              located at /etc/mail/sendmail.cf on most systems.

       -d     Send  error/debug  messages  to stderr instead of syslog.  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 your .forward file.

       -j     Respond to the message regardless of whether the login is listed as a recipient for
              the  message.   Do  not use this flag unless you are sure of the consequences.  For
              example, this will cause to reply to mailing list  messages  which  may  result  in
              removing you from the list.

       -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 returnaddr
              Set the reply envelope sender address

       -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 specify 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  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.  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 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 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

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.

                                   $Date: 2002/06/27 23:51:52 $                       VACATION(1)