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1 | .\" Copyright (c) 1983, 1987 The Regents of the University of California. |
2 | .\" All rights reserved. | |
3 | .\" | |
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4 | .\" @(#)mailaddr.7 6.5 (Berkeley) 2/14/89 |
5 | .\" | |
6 | .\" Extensively rewritten by Arnt Gulbrandsen <agulbra@troll.no>. My | |
7 | .\" changes are placed under the same copyright as the original BSD page. | |
8 | .\" | |
9 | .\" Adjusted by Arnt Gulbrandsen <arnt@gulbrandsen.priv.no> in 2004 to | |
10 | .\" account for changes since 1995. Route-addrs are now even less | |
11 | .\" common, etc. Some minor wording improvements. Same copyright. | |
12 | .\" | |
7c576f45 | 13 | .\" %%%LICENSE_START(PERMISSIVE_MISC) |
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14 | .\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms are permitted |
15 | .\" provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are | |
16 | .\" duplicated in all such forms and that any documentation, | |
17 | .\" advertising materials, and other materials related to such | |
18 | .\" distribution and use acknowledge that the software was developed | |
19 | .\" by the University of California, Berkeley. The name of the | |
20 | .\" University may not be used to endorse or promote products derived | |
21 | .\" from this software without specific prior written permission. | |
22 | .\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED ``AS IS'' AND WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR | |
23 | .\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED | |
24 | .\" WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. | |
8ff7380d | 25 | .\" %%%LICENSE_END |
fea681da | 26 | .\" |
05eabe65 | 27 | .TH MAILADDR 7 2004-09-15 "Linux" "Linux User's Manual" |
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28 | .UC 5 |
29 | .SH NAME | |
30 | mailaddr \- mail addressing description | |
31 | .SH DESCRIPTION | |
32 | .nh | |
33 | This manual page gives a brief introduction to SMTP mail addresses, as | |
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34 | used on the Internet. |
35 | These addresses are in the general format | |
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36 | .PP |
37 | user@domain | |
38 | .PP | |
39 | where a domain is a hierarchical dot-separated list of subdomains. | |
40 | These examples are valid forms of the same address: | |
41 | .PP | |
42 | eric@monet.berkeley.edu | |
43 | .br | |
44 | Eric Allman <eric@monet.berkeley.edu> | |
45 | .br | |
5a6194a4 | 46 | eric@monet.berkeley.edu (Eric Allman) |
fea681da | 47 | .PP |
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48 | The domain part ("monet.berkeley.edu") is a mail-accepting domain. |
49 | It can be a host and in the past it usually was, but it doesn't have to be. | |
50 | The domain part is not case sensitive. | |
fea681da | 51 | .PP |
18701562 | 52 | The local part ("eric") is often a username, but its meaning is |
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53 | defined by the local software. |
54 | Sometimes it is case sensitive, | |
55 | although that is unusual. | |
56 | If you see a local-part that looks like | |
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57 | garbage, it is usually because of a gateway between an internal e-mail |
58 | system and the net, here are some examples: | |
59 | .PP | |
60 | "surname/admd=telemail/c=us/o=hp/prmd=hp"@some.where | |
61 | .br | |
62 | USER%SOMETHING@some.where | |
63 | .br | |
64 | machine!machine!name@some.where | |
65 | .br | |
66 | I2461572@some.where | |
67 | .PP | |
68 | (These are, respectively, an X.400 gateway, a gateway to an arbitrary | |
69 | internal mail system that lacks proper internet support, an UUCP | |
70 | gateway, and the last one is just boring username policy.) | |
71 | .PP | |
72 | The real-name part ("Eric Allman") can either be placed before | |
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73 | <>, or in () at the end. |
74 | (Strictly speaking the two aren't the same, | |
75 | but the difference is beyond the scope of this page.) | |
75b94dc3 | 76 | The name may have to be quoted using "", for example, if it contains ".": |
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77 | .PP |
78 | "Eric P. Allman" <eric@monet.berkeley.edu> | |
79 | .SS Abbreviation. | |
80 | .PP | |
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81 | Many mail systems let users abbreviate the domain name. |
82 | For instance, | |
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83 | users at berkeley.edu may get away with "eric@monet" to send mail to |
84 | Eric Allman. | |
85 | .I "This behavior is deprecated." | |
86 | Sometimes it works, but you should not depend on it. | |
87 | .SS Route-addrs. | |
88 | .PP | |
2f5ef9ca | 89 | In the past, sometimes one had to route a message through |
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90 | several hosts to get it to its final destination. |
91 | Addresses which | |
92 | show these relays are termed "route-addrs". | |
93 | These use the syntax: | |
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94 | .PP |
95 | <@hosta,@hostb:user@hostc> | |
96 | .PP | |
97 | This specifies that the message should be sent to hosta, from there | |
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98 | to hostb, and finally to hostc. |
99 | Many hosts disregard route-addrs | |
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100 | and send directly to hostc. |
101 | .PP | |
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102 | Route-addrs are very unusual now. |
103 | They occur sometimes in old mail | |
104 | archives. | |
105 | It is generally possible to ignore all but the "user@hostc" | |
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106 | part of the address to determine the actual address. |
107 | .SS Postmaster. | |
108 | .PP | |
109 | Every site is required to have a user or user alias designated | |
110 | "postmaster" to which problems with the mail system may be | |
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111 | addressed. |
112 | The "postmaster" address is not case sensitive. | |
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113 | .SH FILES |
114 | .I /etc/aliases | |
115 | .br | |
116 | .I ~/.forward | |
47297adb | 117 | .SH SEE ALSO |
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118 | .BR binmail (1), |
119 | .BR mail (1), | |
120 | .BR mconnect (1), | |
121 | .BR aliases (5), | |
122 | .BR forward (5), | |
123 | .BR sendmail (8), | |
124 | .BR vrfy (8) | |
125 | ||
331da7c3 | 126 | RFC\ 2822 (Internet Message Format) |