Description:

Installation:

To install vacation, type "vacation" with no arguments & quotes on the command line. This creates a .vacation.msg file, which contains the message that is automatically sent to all senders when vacation is enabled, and starts an editor for you to modify the message. Which editor is invoked is determine by the VISUAL or EDITOR environment variable, or vi(1) if neither of those environment variables are set.

A .forward file is also created if one does not exist in your home directory. Once created, the .forward file will contain a line of the form:

 
          \username, "|/usr/bin/vacation username"

If a .forward file is present in your home directory, it will ask whether you want to remove it, which disables vacation and ends the installation.

The program automatically creates .vacation.pag and .vacation.dir, which contain a list of senders when vacation is enabled.
 

Usage:

• To ENABLED The Vacation Feature

oscar%>vacation
This program can be used to answer your mail automatically when you go away on vacation.
You have a message file in /home/homedirectory/userid/.vacation.msg.
Would you like to see it? y (type "y" for yes or "n" for no)
//Here's example of Message which will be included in the reply sent to incoming mail. 
From: Your Userid (via the vacation program)
Subject: away from my mail
 
I will not be reading my mail for a while.
Your mail regarding "$SUBJECT" will be read when I return.
// End of Message

Would you like to edit it? y(type "y" for yes, if you like to customize or "n" for no)

To enable the vacation feature a ".forward" file is created.

Would you like to enable the vacation feature? y (type "y" for yes, if you like to enable vacation program)
Vacation feature ENABLED. Please remember to turn it off when
you get back from vacation. Bon voyage.
oscar%>

Most importantly, you need to add one line in your .tcshrc file, which will make sure other people will not have write access to any of the file you create:

umask 022 # file mask 022 => disallow write by others

then to make this effective:

oscar%>source .tcshrc

After you did all these, you need to go to your home directory:

oscar%>cd

oscar%>mv .forward FWD/.forward

oscar%>mv .vacation.* FWD/

Then you are all set!

• To DISABLE The Vacation Feature

oscar%>vacation -I  (Clears the vacation log files, ie: .vacation.pag & .vacation.dir)
oscar%>rm -i .forward 
rm: remove `.forward'? y (Type "y" to remove the .forward file from your unix account)
oscar%>

Files:

• ~/.forward (Contains the information for the forwarding file)
• ~/.vacation.msg (Contains the Outgoing Message)

How to write .vacation.msg :

• .vacation.msg should include a header with at least a Subject: line (it should not include a From: or a To: line).

 For example:

          Subject: I am on vacation
          I am on vacation until July 22.  If you have something urgent,
          please contact XYZ (xyz@abc.com).
               --Your Name

If the string $SUBJECT appears in the .vacation.msg file, it is replaced with the subject of the original message when the reply is sent; thus, a .vacation.msg file such as

          Subject: I am on vacation
          I am on vacation until July 22.
          Your mail regarding "$SUBJECT" will be read when I return.
          If you have something urgent, please contact XYZ (xyz@abc.com).
               --Your Name

will include the subject of the message in the reply.
• Also, you can use various editors (such as vi, pico, nedit, xemacs) to customize your .vacation.msg.

Addtional Information:

• No Message is sent if the To: or the Cc: line does not list the user to whom the original message was sent or one of a number of aliases for them, if the initial From line includes the string -REQUEST@, or if a Precedence: bulk or Precedence: junk line is included in the header.

 

 

• Vacation will also not respond to mail from either postmaster or Mailer-Daemon.
• A list of senders is kept in the dbm format files .vacation.pag and .vacation.dir in your home directory. These files are dbm files and cannot be viewed directly with text editors.