how to direct returned mail to dead.letter file instead of to root

[Sandra Wolters]

Running HP-UX 11.11 - We just migrated to a new server and updated from 11.00 to 11.11. Our old system directed "returned mail" to the dead.letter file. The new system dumps them to root. Can someone tell me what setting needs to be changed for these emails to go to the /usr/tmp/dead.letter file? Thanks in advance.

[harry d brown jr]

any differences in your sendmail.cf files?


live free or die
harry d brown jr

[Sandra Wolters]

Old system (that works correctly)
rw-r--r-- 1 bin bin 77758 Mar 10 2003 sendmail.cf

New system (that does not send to dead.letter)
r--r--r-- 1 bin bin 77758 Mar 28 14:44

I have changed the new system to be rw like the old system. Waiting to see if that helps

[harry d brown jr]

Is there a .forward in root on the old server?

Do a

diff -w old_sendmail.cf new_sendmail.cf

Also check the /etc/syslog.conf files on both servers.

live free or die
harry d brown jr

[Sandra Wolters]

syslog.conf files are the same

.forward is in old system, NOT in new system as follows:

root@stan:/opt/pred/bin>ll .forward
-r--r--r-- 1 bin bin 52 Jul 22 1999 .forward
root@stan:/opt/pred/bin>

".forward" [Read only] 1 line, 52 characters
1 "|/opt/pred/bin/tcpemail /opt/pred/var/tcpemail.kf"

[Sandra Wolters]

where should the .forward file be located? Our old system has a directory: /opt/pred/ that our new system does not have. Both are HPUX -- old system is HPUX11.0 new system is HPUX 11.11

[Pete Randall · Accepted solution]

The .forward file would be in root's home directory.


Pete

[Sandra Wolters]

I copied the .forward file from the old system to the new, but is it the correct file? Here is what it contains:
"|/opt/pred/bin/tcpemail /opt/pred/var/tcpemail.kf"
Thanks for the help. I don't know much about sendmail (obviously!)

[Pete Randall]

Sandra,

Man 5 aliases:

"If a file named .forward exists in a user's home directory and is owned by the user, sendmail redirects mail for that user to the list of addresses in the .forward file.

An address in a .forward or :include: file can be anything that can appear as a mailing-list in the alias text file."

-and-

"Each line of the alias text file must be of the form:
alias : mailing-list"


Pete