Setting Up a Vacation Message

Vacation messages are used to let people know that you are away and will not answering your email for a certain amount of time. This is easy to setup and actually has a sort of wizard that will help you to make the file and initialize it.

Directions

1. Start the vacation program

   Use Putty or SSH to login to the math server, and at the prompt just type the word "vacation".
   Note: If you already have a vacation message this is a very similar procedure, except some of the messages will be different.
   
   This program can be used to answer your mail automatically when you go away on vacation. You need to create a message file in /math/home/username/.vacation.msg first. Please use your editor (/usr/local/bin/emacs) to edit this file.
   It will then open emacs with a default message already there. You can now edit the file and then save it by typing CTRL+X, CTRL+C. Now emacs will save and close the file and bring you to a new message:
   
   You have a message file in /math/home/username/.vacation.msg. Would you like to see it?
   Here type N(for no), because really this is an unecessary step as you will see. Another message comes next which says:
   
   Would you like to edit it?
   Now if you want to make more changes, you can edit the file again, but the program will start over again at the first question.
   
   If you do not have a .forward file you will then get the following:
   
   To enable the vacation feature a ".forward" file is created. Would you like to enable the vacation feature?
   Here type Y(for yes) and you will get this:
   
   Vacation feature ENABLED. Please remember to turn it off when you get back from vacation. Bon voyage.



2. Disabling the Vacation Message

   When you return from vacation just type vacation to get back to the same menu and disable the vacation message