/var/mail/mbox issues

[KPS]

Hi,

We have a user complaining that they're not getting mail in /var/mail/ from a script that sends them statuses on nightly batch jobs.

If I cd /var/mail, I don't see a mailbox there. Should the mail messages be creating a file in this /var/mail area? If so, could I be seeing a permssions issue with /var/mail possibly?

Any help, greatly appreciated!

KPS

[Court Campbell]

there will only be a file with the users name if they have mail. if they don't have mail then there will not be a file.

[Court Campbell]

can you paste the script?

[Keith Johnson · Accepted solution]

Check the mail log (/var/adm/syslog/mail.log). If the problemn is mail-realated it sould give you some insight. I'd also suggest looking at any output from the batch jobs in question.

[KPS]

Okay, when looking at the script that generates the email, it looks like it's sending the mail to a distribution list that is setup in an .env file. That being said, I want to change this to be sent to the a user local on the system instead of email.

How do I go about sending it to the user's local Unix System mailbox in /var/mail?

[Peter Nikitka]

Hi,

if the mail gets forwarded to another address, there won't be a local file for it:
Check for ~usernam/.forward

mfG Peter

[Keith Johnson]

>>How do I go about sending it to the user's local Unix System mailbox in /var/mail?

Simply put the user's local login in the line that sends the mail. You'll also want to make sure that there isn't a ".forward" file in the user's home directory and that the user's login isn't aliased in the /etc/mail/aliases file.

[KPS]

Thanks everyone for your help.