Mail-relatedFiles < Main

Main Web>Computing>Mail>Mail-relatedFiles (2019-09-30, WilliamSeligman) (raw view)
---++!! Files that affect your mail

The default mail setup at Nevis works for most users.  However, if you'd like finer control over your e-mail, mail notifications, mail forwarding, spam processing, mail filtering, or are trying to fix a mail problem, the following information can be useful.

In the descriptions below, =$user= is the name of your Nevis [[Linux cluster]] login account.  

%TOC%

---+++ =/a/mail/inbox/$user=

This is the file that contains the contents of your INBOX.  On the mail server, it's located in =/mail/inbox/$user=, but the above path makes the file visible on other the other systems on the cluster via [[automount]]. 

---+++ =/a/mail/folders/$user=

This is the default location of your [[IMAP mail files]].  On the mail server, this path is =/mail/folders/$user=, but the above path makes the file visible on other the other systems on the cluster via [[automount]]. 

---+++ =/a/mail/folders/$user/.subscriptions=

This file contains the list of IMAP folders that you see in your mail reader. For the most part, you don't have to change the contents of this file; you can drag, drop, create, (un)subscribe, etc., using your mail program. But every once in a while, it's easier to edit this text file than it is to manually click on lots of different folders.

---+++ =/a/mail/forward/$user= or =~/.forward=

The forwarding file controls how your e-mail is [[forward mail][forwarded]], and can also be used to automatically send [[vacation]] messages.

There are two places where you can put your forwarding instructions: =/a/mail/forward/$user= or =~/.forward=.  The latter name is the standard location for a forwarding file, and it's supported at Nevis.  The former location is preferred, however, since the file will remain available to the mail server if your home directory becomes unavailable; e.g., if your [[list of machines][group's server]] goes down.

If you have both files  =/a/mail/forward/$user= and =~/.forward=, only the lines in the former will be interpreted. The latter will be ignored. 

---+++ =/a/mail/procmailrc/$user= or =~/.procmailrc=

See the [[Procmail]] page for details. 

---+++ =~/.spamassassin/user_prefs=

For the most part, you can ignore the contents of your =~/.spamassassin/= directory, which is automatically created for you the first time you receive mail at Nevis.  The one file that you might want to look at is =~/.spamassassin/user_prefs=, which allows you to control the functionality of [[ConfigureSpamAssassin][SpamAssassin]].

Your mail reader may also offer spam-filtering options.  See [[ConfigureSpamAssassin][this page on configuring SpamAssassin]] for why this is not the best option.
Topic revision: r18 - 2019-09-30 - WilliamSeligman
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