INSTALL.mbox
changeset 0 068428edee47
--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/INSTALL.mbox	Fri Oct 19 14:06:22 2007 +0200
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+The qmail package includes a local delivery agent, qmail-local, which
+provides user-controlled mailing lists, cross-host alias loop detection,
+and many other important qmail features.
+
+There's one important difference between qmail-local and binmail:
+qmail-local delivers mail by default into ~user/Mailbox, rather than
+/var/spool/mail/user. It uses mbox format, with lockf locking on systems
+that don't have flock (HP/UX, Solaris), and flock locking otherwise.
+
+This file explains how to switch your system to ~user/Mailbox. You
+aren't required to do this; for further discussion of /var/spool/mail,
+and an explanation of how to continue using binmail for local
+deliveries, see INSTALL.vsm.
+
+The basic procedure for switching to ~user/Mailbox is simple:
+
+   * Move each /var/spool/mail/user to ~user/Mailbox. For safety, do
+     this in single-user mode.
+
+   * As root, set up a symbolic link from /var/spool/mail/user to
+     ~user/Mailbox for each user. /var/spool/mail should be mode 1777,
+     so users will not be able to accidentally remove these links.
+
+A few mail programs are unable to handle symbolic links, so you will
+have to configure them to look at ~user/Mailbox directly:
+
+   * procmail: Change SYSTEM_MBOX in config.h and recompile; or, with
+     recent versions, define MAILSPOOLHOME in src/authenticate.c.
+
+An alternative to symbolic links is hlfsd. Consult the documentation for
+hlfsd if it is included in your operating system.
+
+If /var/spool/mail is large, you can gain extra speed by configuring
+all your mail software to look at ~user/Mailbox directly:
+
+   * Most MUAs: Put ``setenv MAIL $HOME/Mailbox'' in your system-wide
+     .cshrc and ``MAIL=$HOME/Mailbox; export MAIL'' in your system-wide
+     .profile.
+
+   * elm: Change "mailbox" to "Mailbox" around line 388 of newmbox.c and
+     recompile. (elm looks at $MAIL, but without this change elm will
+     fail if two users try to read mail simultaneously.)
+
+   * pine: Put ``inbox-path=Mailbox'' in your system-wide pine.conf.
+     (For pine versions more recent than 3.91, see also FAQ 6.2.)
+
+   * qpopper 2.2: Change /.mail to /Mailbox in pop_dropcopy.c and
+     recompile with -DHOMEDIRMAIL in CFLAGS.
+
+Some vendors, in a misguided attempt to solve the security problems of
+/var/spool/mail, have made all their mail software setgid mail. After
+you move the mailboxes, you can---and, for security, should---remove
+those setgid-mail bits.