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Using the Unix Vacation Program with WAM or Glue

This FAQ explains how to use the unix vacation program on WAM/Glue. Note, you must log on to the WAM/Glue system in order to make these changes. You can do this by using a telnet program to connect to wam.umd.edu or glue.umd.edu respectively, depending on whether you have a WAM or a Glue account.

1. Log into your WAM or Glue account with telnet or a secure shell program
2. Change directory to your incoming mail directory:

   /mail/userid

   (where userid is your login ID on the system) by typing:

   cd /mail/userid

   Once there, type the command:

   /usr/local/bin/vacation -I

   This will create a file called .vacation.db. To see the file you can type:

   ls -a .vacation.db

3. Next, in the same directory (/mail/userid) create a file called

   .vacation.msg

   Within this file you should type the message that you wish people to automatically receive when they send you e-mail. You can do this by using a text editor on the Unix system. Some popular editors are Pico, Emacs, and vi. (If you are not familiar with any of these editors, clicking on the links will take you to a tutorial on how to use them.)

4. Use an editor (like the pico editor) to create the .forward file:

   If you have used the Pine mail program to send mail, then you are familiar with pico, which is the editor Pine uses to compose mail. You can use that editor separately from Pine to create files -- in this case, to create the .forward file with your new e-mail address in it. At the Unix system prompt, type:

       pico   .forward 
   

   You'll get a screen similar to Pine's mail composing screen, except without the ready-made mail header at the top. The cursor is where it needs to be for you to type your new e-mail address:
   
   • type the correct string in:

         \userid, "| /usr/local/bin/vacation userid"
     

     again, change to match your own situation. Note the usage of the double-quotes.
   • press control-X to exit from pico (the same as in Pine)
   • type "y" to confirm that you want to save the "buffers"
   • confirm that you want .forward as the name by pressing Return or Enter.

   From the instant that the .forward file is created, the vacation program will send the reply message contained in the .vacation.msg file. Each sending address will only receive one reply per week.

5. When you no longer wish to have the automatic response sent, simply remove the .forward file with the command:

       rm /mail/userid/.forward