Sending automatic responses when on vacation

You can use the rcvtrip(C) utility to generate automatic replies to messages while you are on vacation. Mail will still arrive in your system mailbox (or other folders, if you have set up /.maildelivery to redirect messages).

rcvtrip only sends an automatic response to messages that include your login on the ``To'' or ``Cc'' lines. It cannot respond to messages sent to you as part of an alias. rcvtrip also logs those to whom it has responded, and sends only one reply to each person.

Use the following procedure to set up rcvtrip:

1. 
   Create a file called tripnote in your home directory to contain the response that you want sent. For example, you might want to tell people about where you are and when you will be back.

2. Make sure the permissions on tripnote are set to 644 (-rw-r--r--):
   
   chmod 644 tripnote

3. Create an empty file called triplog in your home directory:
   
   touch triplog

   On your return, triplog will contain a record of the people responded to by rcvtrp. Each line in triplog lists the address, date, and time you received the message, part of the ``Subject'' line, and a plus ``+'' or minus ``-'' character to indicate whether or not rcvtrip sent an automatic response.

4. Make sure that the permissions on triplog are set to 644:
   
   chmod 644 triplog

5. Add the following as the first line in your .maildelivery file:

      *  -  pipe  R	rcvtrip $(sender)
   

   This makes rcvtrip process all your incoming messages before they are processed according to the remaining instructions in .maildelivery, and sent to the appropriate folders. For more details, see the rcvtrip(C) manual page.

   You should leave this line commented out (using a leading number sign ``#'') until immediately before you go on vacation.

6. On your return, comment out the rcvtrip line in .maildelivery.