[comp.mail.sendmail] How can I change the default system mailbox

huber@aut.UUCP (Daniel Huber) (03/06/90)

In SysV-Systems the default system-mailbox is /usr/mail/logname.
In BSD-Systems the default system-mailbox is /usr/spool/mail/logname.

I want to change these defaults to $HOME/mailbox.
How can I do that?

Daniel
-- 
Daniel Huber		Tel.	+41 31 52 96 64
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huber@aut.UUCP (Daniel Huber) (03/07/90)

In article <1168@telsys.aut.UUCP> huber@aut.UUCP (Daniel Huber) writes:
>
>In SysV-Systems the default system-mailbox is /usr/mail/logname.
>In BSD-Systems the default system-mailbox is /usr/spool/mail/logname.
>
>I want to change these defaults to $HOME/mailbox.
>How can I do that?

What I want to know :

How can I set up the mail delivery directly to the "home-mailbox"
and not to the system-mailbox first.
When I login in a machine (not my home-machine) and I have installed 
Yellow Pages, I get my home-directory automatically. But what's with
my mail?

Daniel



-- 
Daniel Huber		Tel.	+41 31 52 96 64
Ascom Autelca		Fax.	+41 31 52 77 45
CH-3073 Guemligen	email:	huber@aut.uucp
Switzerland		uucp:	uunet!mcsun!cernvax!hslrswi!aut!huber

chip@tct.uucp (Chip Salzenberg) (03/07/90)

According to huber@aut.UUCP (Daniel Huber):
>In SysV-Systems the default system-mailbox is /usr/mail/logname.
>In BSD-Systems the default system-mailbox is /usr/spool/mail/logname.
>I want to change these defaults to $HOME/mailbox.

You need to change your mail transport and your mail user interface.

First, user interfaces:

Mail user interface programs usually use the MAIL environment variable
to determine the default ("system") mailbox.  This is true of the
standard programs (mail, Mail, mailx) as well as most PD ones (mush,
Elm).  So put this line in the system shell startup files:

	/etc/profile:
		MAIL=$HOME/mailbox ; export MAIL

	/etc/cshrc:
		setenv MAIL $HOME/mailbox

If you don't have these files, or you have a non-standard shell,
you'll have to put these lines in each user's ".profile" or ".login".

Now, about transports:

If you have Smail 2.5, you can get Deliver 2.0 from uunet.uu.net;
Deliver handles local delivery while Smail 2.5 routes remote mail.
Deliver is easily configured for a configuration as you describe: just
undefine MBX_DIR and define MBX_NAME to be "mailbox".

If you have Sendmail, you can configure it to hand all local mail to
/usr/bin/deliver instead of /bin/mail; then see the previous paragraph.

Smail 3, if you want such a large program, is easy to change in the
"transports" file -- look for the "local" entry.
-- 
Chip Salzenberg at ComDev/TCT   <chip%tct@ateng.com>, <uunet!ateng!tct!chip>
          "The Usenet, in a very real sense, does not exist."

eric@mammoth.Berkeley.EDU (Eric Allman) (03/13/90)

In article <1168@telsys.aut.UUCP>, huber@aut.UUCP (Daniel Huber) writes:
> In SysV-Systems the default system-mailbox is /usr/mail/logname.
> In BSD-Systems the default system-mailbox is /usr/spool/mail/logname.
> 
> I want to change these defaults to $HOME/mailbox.
> How can I do that?

You can write your own delivery mechanism, and change the definition of
the "local" mailer in sendmail.cf to use this instead of /bin/mail.
Don't forget to do locking on the mailbox.

You will then have to change all your mail readers to use this file as
well -- you're on your own for that.  Remember, however, to do the locking
in each of them as well.

eric