There is a handy little program called "Vacation" on many UNIX machines. Usually located in the /bin directory, this program notifies mail senders that the receiver is on vacation. Normally the automated message is repeated to the sender once a week.
First we have to initialize the program "vacation"
To initialize Vacation, enter the command:
vacation -i [-r interval]
Available options:
-i Initialize the vacation database files. It should be used before you modify your .forward file.
-r Set the reply interval to interval days. The default is one week. An interval of "0" means that a reply is sent to each message, and an interval of "infinite" will never send more than one replay.
Then we have to make a .forward file in which we call vacation
The .forward must look like this:
your_userid, |"vacation your_userid"
Vacation expects a file .vacation.msg, in your home directory, containing a message to be sent back to each sender. It should be an entire message (including headers). For example, it might contain:
From: userid@....... (your name)
Subject: I am on vacation
Delivered-By-The-Graces-Of: The Vacation program
Precedence: bulk
I am on vacation until August 18. If you have something urgent,
please contact ........ <....@.....>
---your name
No message will be sent unless login (userid) is part of either the "To:" or "Cc:" headers of the mail.
Nor is a notification sent if a "Precedence: bulk" or "Precedence: junk" line is included in the mail headers.