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tmail(1)




TMAIL(1)                 USER COMMANDS                   TMAIL(1)


NAME

     tmail - Mail Delivery Module


SYNOPSIS

     tmail [-b format] [-D] [-f from_name] [-I


DESCRIPTION

     tmail delivers mail  to  a  user's  INBOX  or  a  designated
     folder.   tmail  may  be configured as a drop-in replacement
     for binmail(1), mail.local(1) or any  program  intended  for
     use  for  mail  delivery  by a mail delivery program such as
     sendmail(8).

     tmail is intended to be used  for  direct  delivery  by  the
     mailer  daemon;  dmail(1)  is  the  preferred  tool for user
     applications,  e.g.  a  mail   delivery   filter   such   as
     procmail(1).   If tmail is used for a user application, then
     the calling program must be aware of the restrictions  noted
     below.

     When tmail exits, it returns exit status  values  to  enable
     the mail delivery program to determine whether a message was
     delivered successfully or had a temporary (requeue for later
     delivery) or permanent (return to sender) failure.

     If the +folder extension is included in the  user  argument,
     tmail  will attempt to deliver to the designated folder.  If
     the folder does not exist or the extension is not  included,
     the  message  is delivered to the user's INBOX.  If delivery
     is to INBOX and no INBOX currently exists, tmail will create
     a  new  INBOX,  using the -I or -b flag if specified.  tmail
     recognizes the format of an existing INBOX  or  folder,  and
     appends the new message in that format.

     The -b flag specifies a format to create INBOX if INBOX does
     not  already  exist.  This flag requires privileges, and can
     not be used with -I.  The argument is a format name such  as
     mix, mbx, etc.

     The -D flag specifies  debugging;  this  enables  additional
     message telemetry.

     The -f or -r flag is used by the mail  delivery  program  to
     specify a Return-Path.  The header
        Return-Path: <from_name>
     is prepended to the message before delivery.

     The -I flag is used by the mail delivery program to  specify
     an  alternative  INBOX name.  This flag requires privileges,
     and can not be used with -b.  This affects the location  and
     format of INBOX.  If specified, it should be in one of three
     forms:

                 Last change: September 27, 2007                1

TMAIL(1)                 USER COMMANDS                   TMAIL(1)

     The first form of argument to  -I  is  the  string  "INBOX",
     which  means  to write to the system default inbox using the
     system default mailbox format.  These  system  defaults  are
     defined when the c-client library is built.

     The  second  form  of  argument  to   -I   is   a   delivery
     specification,  consisting of "#driver.", a c-client mailbox
     format driver name, "/", and a file name.  This  will  write
     to the specified file in the specified format.  For example,
     #driver.mbx/INBOX will write to file  "INBOX"  in  the  home
     directory in mbx format; and #driver.unix/mail/incoming will
     write to file "incoming" in the user's  "mail"  subdirectory
     in unix (default UNIX) format.

     The third  form  of  argument  to  -I  is  any  other  name.
     Normally,  this  will  write  to  the  specified file on the
     user's home directory in  the  specified  format.   However,
     certain names are special.  These are:

       value       equivalant to
       -----       -------------
       INBOX.MTX   #driver.mtx/INBOX.MTX
       mbox        #driver.unix/mbox
       mail.txt    #driver.tenex/mail.txt

     If -I is not specified, the default action is -I INBOX.

     If multiple recipients are specified on  the  command  line,
     tmail  spawns  one  child  process  per recipient to perform
     actual  delivery.   This  way  of  calling  tmail   is   not
     recommended; see below under RESTRICTIONS.


INSTALLATION

     If tmail is to be used  for  mail  delivery  from  the  mail
     delivery program, it must be installed setuid root.

     If sendmail is the mail delivery program, tmail  is  invoked
     from   sendmail.cf.    Look   for  the  "Mlocal"  line,  and
     substitute the path name for the tmail binary  in  place  of
     /bin/mail,  /usr/lib/mail.local,  etc.   You should also add
     the flag to invoke tmail with CRLF style newlines;  this  is
     usually done with E=\r\n in the Mlocal line.

     Here is an example of an Mlocal line in sendmail version 8:

     Mlocal, P=/usr/local/etc/tmail, F=lsDFMAw5:/|@qPrn+,
       S=10/30, R=20/40, E=\r\n, T=DNS/RFC822/X-Unix,
       A=tmail $u

     If tmail is to be called  with  the  -I  flag,  it  must  be
     invoked  with  both  real  and  effective  UID  root.   Many
     sendmail configurations  invoke  the  local  mailer  as  the

                 Last change: September 27, 2007                2

TMAIL(1)                 USER COMMANDS                   TMAIL(1)

     sending  user when that user is local, which will prevent -b
     or -I from working.


SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS

     If tmail is invoked  by  an  ordinary  user,  the  Received:
     header  line  will indicate the name or UID of the user that
     invoked it.

     Ordinary users are not permitted to use the -b  or  -I  flag
     since  otherwise  a  user  could  create any file on another
     user's directory.

     tmail can deliver mail to home  directories.   In  addition,
     tmail can be used to deliver mail to other mail folders in a
     home directory or an inferior directory of a home directory.


RESTRICTIONS

     The calling program should invoke tmail with CRLF  newlines,
     otherwise tmail will complain in syslog.

     Absolute  pathnames  and  ~user   specifications   are   not
     permitted in +folder extensions.

     Ordinary users are not permitted to use the -I flag.

     IMAP4 namespace names  are  not  yet  supported  in  +folder
     extensions.

     It is not possible to use tmail to deliver to  mh(1)  format
     mailboxes.

     If delivery to multiple users is specified and  delivery  to
     any  single user fails, the entire delivery will be reported
     as having failed, even though delivery to  other  users  may
     have  succeeded.   If  tmail  is used for mail delivery from
     sendmail(8), a separate tmail invocation should be done  for
     each  user.   Otherwise a delivery failure for a single user
     in a message going to multiple  users  will  cause  multiple
     deliveries  to  all  the other users every time sendmail(8),
     retries.


AUTHOR

     Mark Crispin, MRC@CAC.Washington.EDU


SEE ALSO

     binmail(1)
     sendmail(8)

                 Last change: September 27, 2007                3


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