| | | Automatic mail forwarding |
You probably have an account on more than one computer, and you might find it convenient to have all your mail forwarded automatically to the account that you check most often. Alternatively, you might like to keep a copy of each incoming mail message in the account to which it is addressed, and also forward a copy to the account you use most often.
On a Unix system, you can use a text editor to create a special file named ".forward" (that file name starts with a period) in your home directory. If this file consists of the line
BRiemann@zeta.function.edu
for example, then all mail coming to your account will
be rerouted to the address BRiemann@zeta.function.edu. If
instead your .forward file reads
\your-user-id,BRiemann@zeta.function.edu
then a copy of each incoming mail message will be stored with your account, and a second copy will be forwarded. (That line is supposed to be a backslash followed by your user name followed by a comma followed by the forwarding address.)
To enable forwarding, make sure that the mailer daemon can read your .forward file. At a command prompt, execute the command chmod a+r .forward to change the permissions mode of the file .forward to universal read access.
You can test your set-up by having a friend send mail to you and checking where it ends up. Be cautious with automatic mail forwarding between different machines. You do not want to create an infinite loop that bounces mail back and forth!
The Math 696 course
pages were last modified April 5, 2005. | | | Automatic mail forwarding |