Commands

Commands

biff

[ny]

Biff toggles the system's message notification system. Biff y alerts you when mail arrives and tells you who it is from. Biff n turns notification off .

Example: To set your system to notify you when mail arrives, type

biff y

n	Turn notification off.
y	Turn notification on.

elm

[ -achkKmrtwz ] [ -f alternate-folder ] [ -d debug level ]

elm

[ -s subject ] list of aliases or addresses

elm is a screen-oriented program for sending and receiving mail. It is usually used interactively, but may be used to send mail from the command line.

Example: To mail the file message.txt to [e-mail] with a subject, type

elm -s "Important" < message.txt

-a	Specify use of the arrow cursor (as opposed to the default, reverse video cursor).
-c	Expand listed aliases and return.
-dlevel	Specify the debug level. Output from debug goes to $HOME/ELM:debug info.
-falternative-folder	Tell elm to read from the specified folder, instead of the inbox.
-h, -?	Print help information.
-ifile	Tell elm to open with the specified file in the edit buffer.
-k	Force knowledge of the HP terminal keyboard.
-K	Enable use of softkeys (HP terminals only).
-m	Turn the menu off to make more room for mail headers.
-ssubj Subject	Allow user to specify mail subject on the command line.
-t	Turn usage of termcap/terminfo ti/te sequences.
-v	Display version information.
-z	Tell elm not to bother opening up if there is no new mail.

fetchmail

[options] [mailserver ]

fetchmailconf

Fetchmail gets mail from remote mail servers and forwards it to your local client machine's delivery system. Typically, this is run as a daemon to check remote mail servers over a PPP/SLIP link. However, it can also be used to gather mail by machines that do not permit their mail servers to initiate an SMTP connection.

Note that fetchmail is not a mail reader. To actually read your mail once retrieved, you must use elm, mail, mailx, or some other mail reader.

Example: To retrieve the mail from the server pop3.isp.com using the pop3 protocol, use

fetchmail -p pop3 pop3.isp.com

General Options

-V, --version	Display version information.
-c, --check	Check to see if there is mail waiting, but do not retrieve it.
-s, --silent	Do not display the normal complement of progress messages.
-v, --verbose	Pass any control messages sent between fetchmail and the mail server on to the display.

Disposal Options

-a, --all	Tell fetchmail to get both new messages and messages that have already been displayed.
-k, --keep	Tell fetchmail to keep any retrieved messages on the mail server, rather than delete them (which is the default).
-K, --nokeep	Tell fetchmail to delete any retrieved messages from the mail server.
-F, --flush	Tell fetchmail to delete old messages before retrieving any new messages.

Protocol and Query Options

-p, --protocolproto	Specify the protocol to use in communications with the remote server.
POP2	Invoke Post Office Protocol 2.
POP3	Invoke Post Office Protocol 3.
APOP	Invoke POP3 with MD5 authentication.
RPOP	Invoke POP3 with RPOP authentication.
KPOP	Invoke POP3 with Kerberos V4 authentication on port 1109.
SDPS	Use POP3 with Demon Internet's SDPS extensions.
IMAP	Use IMAP2bis, IMAP4, or IMAP4rev1 (fetchmail autodetects their capabilities).
IMAP-K4	Invoke IMAP4 or IMAP4rev1.
-U, --uidl	Force Unique ID Listing (UIDL). Use when using POP3.
-P, --port	Use the specified port, rather than the default.
-r folder, --folderfolder	Use the specified mail folder, rather than the default.
-S host, --smtphosthost	Specify a hunt list of hosts to forward mail to (one or more hostnames, comma-separated).
-D domain, --smtpaddressdomain	Specify the domain to be put in RCPT TO lines, shipped to SMTP, rather than the default localhost.
-Z nnn, --antispamnnn[,nnn[,nnn...]]	Specify the list of numeric SMTP errors that are to be interpreted as a spamblock response from the listener.
-m, --mda	Specify that mail will be passed to an MDA directly, rather than port 25.

Resource Limit Control Options

-l, --limit	Specify a maximum octet size argument. (Messages exceeding this size limit will not be fetched or marked as seen.)
-b, --batchlimit	Specify a limit to the number of messages shipped out to an SMTP listener in a single session. (The default is unlimited.)
-B, --fetchlimit	Specify a limit to the number of messages accepted from server in a single poll. (The default is unlimited.)
-e, --expunge	Specify that fetchmail should issue expunges only after the Nth delete. (Expunges force a deletion to be performed immediately, which is sometimes a performance drag.)

Authentication Options

-uname,--usernamename	Specify the user identification to be used when logging in to the mail server.
-Ispecification,--interfacespecification	Tell fetchmail that the specified device must be up and have a specific local IP address before polling.
-Minterface,--monitorinterface	Specify a system TCP/IP interface to be monitored constantly.
-A, --auth	Specify a preauthentication type (password | kerberos_v5 | kerberos).

Miscellaneous Options

-fpathname,--fetchmailrcpathname	Use the specified name as the .fetchmailrc file.
-ipathname,--idfilepathname	Use the specified name as the .fetchids file.
-n, --norewrite	Disable rewrite of address headers. (Of interest only to those truly paranoid about having a machine rewrite their email headers. Prevents addition of "@hostname" clauses to the address.)
-E, --envelope	Change the header. (fetchmail will change the header that it assumes will carry a copy of the mail's envelope address.)
-Q, --qvirtual	Remove the specified string prefix from the user name found in the header denoted with the envelope option.
--configdump	Tell fetchmail to parse the ~/.fetchmailrc file, interpret any command line options it finds there, and dump a configuration report to standard output.

formail

[+skip] [-total] [-bczfrktnedqBY] [-p prefix] [-D maxlen idcache] [-x headerfield] [-X headerfield] [-a headerfield] [-A headerfield] [-i headerfield] [-I headerfield] [-u headerfield] [-U headerfield] [-R oldfield newfield][-m minfields] [-s [command [arg ]]]

formail is a mail filter. It puts mail into mailbox format, does "From" escaping, generates autoreplying headers, does simple header munging/extracting, or splits up the specified mailbox/ digest/articles file.

If formail is started without any command line options, it will force any mail coming from stdin into mailbox format and will escape all bogus "From" lines with a ">".

Example: To remove all fields, except To:, From:, and Subject: from the header, use

formail -k -X To -X From: -X Subject:

-b	Don't escape any misformatted mailbox headers.
-pprefix	Specify a quotation prefix.
-Y	Tell formail to use traditional Berkeley mailbox format.
-c	Concatenate continued fields in the header.
-z	Zap fields containing only a space.
-f	Don't force generation of a "From" line.
-r	Generate an auto-replay header.
-k	Tell formail to retail the message body when generating an auto-reply header or extracting fields.
-t	Trust that the sender has a valid return address in the header.
-sprogram	Separate input into distinct mail messages and pipe into the specified program.
-n	Do not wait for a program to finish before starting the next.
-e	Do not require empty lines to precede the header of a new message.
-d	Disable recognition of the Content-Length: field.
-B	Tell formail it is splitting up a BABYL rmail file.
-mminfields	Specify the minimum number of consecutive fields that will constitute the start of a new message.
-q	Do not display error messages on write errors, duplicate messages, and mismatched Content-Length: fields quiet operation.
-Dmaxlen idcache	Detect if the Message-ID of the current message has already been seen using an id cache file of approximately maxlen size.
-xheaderfield	Extract contents of the specified headerfield from the header, and display it as a single line.
-Xheaderfield	Extract contents of the specified headerfield from the header, and display it as a single line and preserve the field name.
-aheaderfield	Append the specified headerfield to the header if and only if a similar field does not exist yet.
-Aheaderfield	Append the specified headerfield to the header.
-iheaderfield	Append the specified headerfield to the header, adding the word "Old-" to any similar field.
-Iheaderfield	Append the specified headerfield to the header, but remove any similar field.
-uheaderfield	Make the first occurrence of the specified headerfield unique. (Delete all subsequent occurrences.)
-Uheaderfield	Make the last occurrence of the specified headerfield unique. (Delete all previous occurrences.)
-Roldfield newfield	Rename all instances of oldfield as newfield.
+skip	Skip the specified number of messages.
-total	Specify a upper limit of messages to output.

mail

[-iInv] [-s subject] [-c cc-addr] [-b bcc-addr] to-addr

mail

[-iInNv] -f [name]

mail

[-iInNv] [-u user]

Mail is a mail processing (send, receive, view) system. It can be used either interactively or strictly from the command line.

Example: To send the file blah.txt to user Susie from the command line with subject "Homework", use

mail -s "Homework" susie < blah.txt

-v	Invoke verbose mode.
-i	Ignore tty interrupt signals (good for use over noisy phone lines).
-I	Force interactive mode.
-n	Do not read /etc/mail.rc on startup.
-N	Do not perform the initial display of message headers.
-ssubject	Specify subject on the command line.
-cuser[user,...]	Copy the message to the specified users.
-buser[user,...]	Send blind copies to the specified users.
-ffile	Use the specified file as your mailbox.
-u	Equivalent to mail -f /var/spool/mail/user.

To use mail interactively, type "mail" at the command line. It will get any mail you have from your default P.O. Box and display headers to the screen. You can then use the following commands:

-	Print preceding messages
?, help	Display help screen.
!command	Execute the specified shell command.
Print, P, Type, T	Display message to screen, including ignored header fields.
Reply, R	Reply to sender of current message.
alias	Print out all aliases or (if any specified) the specified alias only.
alternates	Specify alternate email accounts, usually on other machines such that mail will not copy those accounts when replying.
chdir	Change user's working directory to specified directory (if any) or to the login directory by default.
copy	Save as specified, but do not mark for deletion.
deletemessage, message,...	Mark the specified messages as deleted.
dp	Delete current message and print the next.
edit	Edit the specified list of messages.
exit, xit, x	Quit without modification.
file, fi, folder	Use the specified folder as input.
folders	List the names of the folders in your folder directory.
frommessage[,message, ...]	Print the headers from the specified list of messages.
headers [+|-]	List the current range of headers or the previous (-) or the following (+).
hold, preserve, pre	Mark specified messages to be saved in user's system mailbox.
ignore	Add specified list of headers to the ignored list.
mail username [, username, ...]	Send mail to the specified list of users.
mbox	Send the specified list of messages to mbox in your login directory when you quit mail.
next, n, +, <Enter>	Go to next message in list.
print message [, message, ...]	Display the specified message to the terminal.
quit	End session.
reply, respond	Reply to sender and all other recipients.
retain	Add the specified list of header fields to the retained list.
save, s [messages] [file]	Save message to specified file.
set [variable=value]	Set the variable to the specified value or (if no arguments) print all variables.
shell, sh	Invoke the shell.
size	Print out the size of the characters in the specified list.
source file	Read commands from the specified file.
topmessage[,message, ...]	Print the top few lines of each specified message.
unaliasalias[,alias, ...]	Discard the previously specified aliases.
undeletemessage, [,message, ...]	Mark the specified messages as undeleted.
unreadmessage,[,message,...]	Mark the specified messages as unread.
unset option	Discard the specified option values.
visualmessage[,message, ...]	Use the display editor on each specified message.
write	Save message, but not the associated header.
z [-]	Move forward or backward [-] one windowful.

makemap

[-N] [-d] [-f] [-o] [-r] [-v] maptype mapname

Sendmail uses keyed maps for lookups. The makemap command creates and maintains the map database. maptype must be one of dbm, btree, or hash. Input is read from standard input and is formatted as:

key value

where key is the database key and value is the corresponding value, separated by white space(s).

Example: To input the contents of the /etc/hosts file to makemap, use

awk '/^[^#]/ {print $2, $1}' /etc/hosts | makemap

-N	Do not trim the null byte that terminates the string when creating the map.
-d	Permit duplicate keys.
-f	Do not translate (fold) uppercase letters to lowercase.
-o	Append to an existing file.
-r	Permit replacement of existing keys.
-v	Invoke verbose output.

mesg

[y|n]

This command specifies whether you will allow other users to write to your terminal.

Example: To turn off the other user's ability to display messages (via write, talk, etc.) to your screen, type

mesg n

mimencode

[-u] [-b] [-q] [-p] [file name] [-o outputfile]

Used to attach a binary file to a mail message. Reads from standard input (by default) and sends a base64 encoded version to standard output. If a file is specified, mimencode will use that, rather than standard input.

Example: To format the file spreadsheet.xls for attachment to a mail message and store it in ss.mme, use

mimencode spreadsheet.xls -o ss.mme

mimencode is more reliable than uuencode.

 

-q	Use the specified quoted-printable encoding, rather than base64.
-u	Decode standard input, rather than encoding.
-p	Translate decoded carriage return/line feed sequences into whatever the local newline convention is during decoding.
-o file	Send output to the specified file, rather than standard output.

rmail

user

rmail interprets incoming mail received via uucp. It collapses From lines into a single line of the form "return-path!finder" and passes the processed mail on to sendmail.

rwall

host [file]

The rwall command sends a message to all users logged in to the specified host. By default, the message is taken from standard input, but if a file is specified, that will be used instead.

Example: To send the message contained in the file go.away to users currently logged in to the host local.net, type

rwall local.net go.away

sendmail

[flags] [address ]

newaliases

mailq

[-v]

Sendmail is responsible for delivering messages to the intended recipients. It transports messages across networks as necessary, but it is not designed for contact with the end user, as other programs (mail, elm) handle that phase of the mail process.

Example: To invoke sendmail as a foreground daemon in verbose mode, use

sendmail -bD -v

-Btype	Specify the body type of the message. (Current legal values 7BIT or 8BITMIME.)
-ba	Specify ARPANET mode.
-bd	Tell sendmail to run as a daemon.
-bD	Tell sendmail to run in foreground as a daemon.
-bh	Display the persistent host status database.
-bH	Empty the persistent host status database.
-bi	Initialize the alias database.
-bm	Deliver mail in the usual way (default).
-bp	Display a listing of the queue.
-bs	Tell sendmail to use the SMTP protocol as described in RFC821 on standard input and output.
-bt	Run in address test mode.
-bv	Verify names onlydo not try to collect or deliver a message.
-Cfile	Tell sendmail to use the specified configuration file.
-dX	Set debugging value to X.
-Ffullname	Set the full name of the sender.
-fname	Set the name of the sender of the mail.
-hN	Set the hop count to the specified number.
-i	Ignore dots that are alone on lines by themselves in incoming messages. (This should be set if you are reading data from a file.)
-Ndsn	Set delivery status notification conditions to dsn, which can be one of these: never, failure, delay, or success.
-n	Specify no aliasing.
-Ooption=value	Set the specified option to the specified value.
-oxvalue	Set option x to the specified value.
-pprotocol	Specify the protocol used to receive the message.
-q[time]	Specify the interval at which to process the saved messages in the queue.
-qIsubstr	Limit the processing to jobs that have substr as a substring of the queue id.
-qRsubstr	Limit the processing to jobs that contain substr as a substring of one of the recipients.
-qSsubstr	Limit the processing to jobs that contain substr as a substring of the sender.
-Rreturn	Specify the portion of the message to be returned if message bounces (one of [full|headers]).
-rname	Same as -f (obsolete).
-t	Scan the To:, Cc:, and Bcc: lines for message recipients.
-U	Initial (user) submission. [Used with user agents (e.g. Mail, elm), but never with network delivery agents.]
-Venvid	Tell sendmail to set the original envelope id.
-v	Invoke verbose mode.
-Xlogfile	Tell sendmail to log all traffic in the specified file.
AliasFile=file	Tell sendmail to use the specified alias file.

talk user

[ttyname]

Sets up a talk session. When a talk session is open, you and another user can write directly to a section of each other's terminals. You can terminate the session by pressing Ctrl-C.

Example: To attempt to initiate a talk session with user Darrell, type

talk darrell

user	Specify the user to whom you wish to talk.
ttyname	Specify the tty with which you wish to open a talk session. (Useful when the other user is logged in more than once.)

uuencode

[-m] [ file ] name

uudecode

[-o outfile] [ file ]

The uuencode/uudecode programs are used to encode binary files for transmission over media that support only transmission of ASCII data.

Example: To encode the binary file program and mail to user [e-mail], use

uuencode program | [e-mail]

-m	Use base64 encoding format.
-o	Write output to the specified file.

wall

[ message ]

Displays the specified message to the terminals of all users currently logged in. wall does not write to the terminals of those users whose mesg value is set to no.

Example: To send the message "Go away" to all users currently logged in, use

wall "Go away"

write

user [ttyname]

Display the specified message to the terminal of another user.