j4b@psuecl.bitnet (Joe B...ski) (04/08/89)
Does anyone know how to set up a global aliases file
for Microport's System V mail program. I am trying to set up
a postmaster without giving it a special account of its own.
Thanks in advance for your advice.
Joe
#! rneSSUCS004@vmd.cso.uiuc.edu (Jeff Gustafson) (04/10/89)
This is to address "Joe B...ski" and his question: > Does anyone know how to set up a global aliases file for >Microport's System V mail program. (sic) I am trying to set up >a postmaster without giving it a special account of its own. Well, Joe, I am afraid I don't know much about Microport, but I can tell you that what would really help you out is "mailx," the BSD mail utility. With mailx, you can set up global aliases in the /usr/lib/mailx/mailx.rc file. If you do not have this particular mailer, but are using plain 'ol Sys V mail, you will have to jury-rig things a little bit. I might suggest invoking mail by a shell script, which has as its contents: mail user1 user2 user3 ... user_n and then, once the thing has been invoked, to perform the necessary tasks. Admittedly, this is a rather cheap alternative to a global alias. Another method might be to actually create a separate login for this "postmaster," although I realize you are reluctant to do this. But, what's one more entry in /etc/passwd and a few more i-nodes if it works the way you want it to. A final suggestion (and this one is really far-fetched, but I add it because it will at least work) is that you create a separate directory for the list of names which you want to have as an alias, and then give each name in the list a zero-byte file with this user as its name. An example: Say you want an alias for staff members. You set up a directory /users1/aliases/staff. This directory would contain the following zero-byte files: sysop, prog1, backup, prog2 (etcetera, etcetera...). To mail to these people, just invoke mail by "mail /users1/aliases/staff/*" and then perform your usual mailing tasks. No doubt there are other (BETTER) ways. The important thing for you to do is keep asking. SOMEONE out there has an answer you will find acceptable. ------------------------------------- Jeff Gustafson <SSUCS004@vmd.cso.uiuc.edu> <SSUCS004@UIUCVMD> J-168, Academic Computing Services Sangamon State University Springfield, IL 62794-9243 "It's not a question of where he grips it; it's a simple matter of weight ratios: a five-ounce bird cannot carry a one-pound coconut." --- Monty Python (Holy Grail) -------------------------------------
SSUCS004@vmd.cso.uiuc.edu (Jeff Gustafson) (04/10/89)
OUCH! I just discovered I made a big mistake. To "Joe B...ski," I must
issue a correction. Method three on my list for jury-rigging mail aliases
should NOT read "mail /users1/aliases/staff/*" but SHOULD read either:
1. cd /users1/aliases/staff; mail *
-OR-
2. mail `ls /users1/aliases/staff/*`
Sorry about that. Good luck to you! I hope you find some letters of the
alphabet to replace the three dots in "B...ski" someday. :-)
-------------------------------------
Jeff Gustafson
<SSUCS004@vmd.cso.uiuc.edu>
<SSUCS004@UIUCVMD>
J-168, Academic Computing Services
Sangamon State University
Springfield, IL 62794-9243
"It's not a question of where he grips it; it's a simple matter of
weight ratios: a five-ounce bird cannot carry a one-pound coconut."
--- Monty Python (Holy Grail)
-------------------------------------