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<title>GNU Mailutils Manual: Invoking Mail</title>

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<a name="Invoking-Mail"></a>
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<p>
Next: <a href="Specifying-Messages.html#Specifying-Messages" accesskey="n" rel="next">Specifying Messages</a>, Up: <a href="mail.html#mail" accesskey="u" rel="up">mail</a> &nbsp; [<a href="index.html#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="Function-Index.html#Function-Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]</p>
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<a name="Invoking-mail"></a>
<h4 class="subsection">3.5.1 Invoking <code>mail</code></h4>

<p>General usage of <code>mail</code> program is:
</p>
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">      mail [<var>option</var>...] [<var>address</var>...]
</pre></div>
<p>If [<var>address</var>...] part is present, <code>mail</code> switches to
mail sending mode, otherwise it operates in mail reading mode.
</p>
<p>The program uses following option groups: See <i>mailbox</i>&nbsp;(<strong>Editor&rsquo;s note: dangling link</strong>).
</p>
<p><code>Mail</code> understands following command line options:
</p>
<dl compact="compact">
<dt><samp>-e</samp></dt>
<dt><samp>--exist</samp></dt>
<dd><p>Return true if the mailbox contains some messages.  Return false
otherwise.
This is useful for writing shell scripts.
</p></dd>
<dt><samp>-E <var>command</var></samp></dt>
<dt><samp>--exec=<var>command</var></samp></dt>
<dd><p>Execute <var>command</var> before opening the mailbox.  Any number of
<samp>--exec</samp> options can be given.  The commands will be executed
after sourcing configuration files (see <a href="Mail-Configuration-Files.html#Mail-Configuration-Files">Mail Configuration Files</a>),
but before opening the mailbox. 
</p></dd>
<dt><samp>-f</samp></dt>
<dt><samp>--file</samp></dt>
<dd><p>Operate on the mailbox given by the first non-optional command line
argument.  If there is no such argument, read messages from the
user&rsquo;s <samp>mbox</samp> file.  See <a href="Reading-Mail.html#Reading-Mail">Reading Mail</a>, for more details about
using this option.
</p></dd>
<dt><samp>-F</samp></dt>
<dt><samp>--byname</samp></dt>
<dd><p>Record outgoing messages in a file named after the first recipient.
The name is the login-name portion of the address found first on the
&lsquo;<samp>To:</samp>&rsquo; line in the mail header.  This option sets the &lsquo;<samp>byname</samp>&rsquo;
variable, which see (see <a href="Mail-Variables.html#byname">byname</a>).
</p></dd>
<dt><samp>-H</samp></dt>
<dt><samp>--headers</samp></dt>
<dd><p>Print header summary to stdout and exit.
</p></dd>
<dt><samp>-i</samp></dt>
<dt><samp>--ignore</samp></dt>
<dd><p>Ignore interrupts.
</p></dd>
<dt><samp>-m <var>path</var></samp></dt>
<dt><samp>--mail-spool=<var>path</var></samp></dt>
<dd><p>Set path to the mailspool directory
</p></dd>
<dt><samp>-n</samp></dt>
<dt><samp>--norc</samp></dt>
<dd><p>Do not read the system-wide mailrc file.  See <a href="Mail-Configuration-Files.html#Mail-Configuration-Files">Mail Configuration Files</a>.
</p></dd>
<dt><samp>-N</samp></dt>
<dt><samp>--nosum</samp></dt>
<dd><p>Do not display initial header summary.
</p></dd>
<dt><samp>-p</samp></dt>
<dt><samp>--print</samp></dt>
<dt><samp>--read</samp></dt>
<dd><p>Print all mail to standard output.  It is equivalent to issuing following
commands after starting &lsquo;<samp>mail -N</samp>&rsquo;:
</p><div class="example">
<pre class="example">print *
quit
</pre></div>
</dd>
<dt><samp>-r <var>address</var></samp></dt>
<dt><samp>--return-address=<var>address</var></samp></dt>
<dd><p>Sets the return email address for outgoing mail.  See <a href="Mail-Variables.html#return_002daddress">return-address</a>.
</p></dd>
<dt><samp>-q</samp></dt>
<dt><samp>--quit</samp></dt>
<dd><p>Cause interrupts to terminate program.
</p></dd>
<dt><samp>-s <var>subj</var></samp></dt>
<dt><samp>--subject=<var>subj</var></samp></dt>
<dd><p>Send a message with a Subject of <var>subj</var>.  Valid only in sending mode.
</p></dd>
<dt><samp>-t</samp></dt>
<dt><samp>--to</samp></dt>
<dd><p>Switch to sending mode.
</p></dd>
<dt><samp>-u <var>user</var></samp></dt>
<dt><samp>--user=<var>user</var></samp></dt>
<dd><p>Operate on <var>user</var>&rsquo;s mailbox.  This is equivalent to:
</p>
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">mail -f/<var>spool_path</var>/<var>user</var>
</pre></div>

<p>with <var>spool_path</var> being the full path to your mailspool directory
<br>(<samp>/var/spool/mail</samp> or <samp>/var/mail</samp> on most systems).
</p></dd>
<dt><samp>-?</samp></dt>
<dt><samp>--help</samp></dt>
<dd><p>Display a help message.
</p></dd>
<dt><samp>--usage</samp></dt>
<dd><p>Display a short usage summary.
</p></dd>
<dt><samp>-V</samp></dt>
<dt><samp>--version</samp></dt>
<dd><p>Print program version and exit.
</p></dd>
</dl>

<hr>
<div class="header">
<p>
Next: <a href="Specifying-Messages.html#Specifying-Messages" accesskey="n" rel="next">Specifying Messages</a>, Up: <a href="mail.html#mail" accesskey="u" rel="up">mail</a> &nbsp; [<a href="index.html#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="Function-Index.html#Function-Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]</p>
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