VACATION(1)                          BSD                           VACATION(1)



NAME
     vacation - return "I am on vacation" indication

SYNOPSIS
     vacation -I
     vacation user

DESCRIPTION
     vacation returns a message to the sender of a message telling that you
     are on vacation.  The intended use is in a .forward file in your home
     directory.  For example, your .forward file might contain

          declan, "|vacation declan"

     which would send messages to you (assuming your login name is "declan")
     and send a message back to the sender.  Note: if you're using a version
     older than Domain/OS, you may need to use

          \declan, "|vacation declan"

     vacation expects a file .vacation.msg in your home directory to contain a
     message to be sent back to each sender.  It should be an entire message
     (including headers) like the following:

          From: declan@costello (Declan McManus)
          Subject: I am on vacation
          Delivered-By-The-Graces-Of: the Vacation program

          I am on vacation until July 22.  If you have something urgent,
          please contact ignatius@pop (James Osterburg).
               --Declan

     This message will only be sent once a week to each unique sender.  The
     people who have sent you messages are kept in the files .vacation.pag and
     .vacation.dir in your home directory.  The -I option initializes these
     files, and should be executed before you modify your .forward file.

     If the -I flag is not specified, vacation reads the first line from the
     standard input for a UNIX-style "From" line to determine the sender.
     sendmail(8) includes the "From" line automatically.

     No message is sent if the initial "From" line includes the string
     "-REQUEST@" or if a "Precedence: bulk" or "Precedence: junk" line is
     included in the header.

SEE ALSO
     sendmail(8)

BUGS
     If a well-formed "From" line is not present in the message being replied
     to, vacation produces unpleasant diagnostics.