Re: [cobalt-users] Where are Emails Held

[Jale <jale@xxxxxxxxxx>]

> /var/spool/mail is where each user's mail is stored.
> the answer is yes. If a user does not check his or her email for long
> periods of time or they leave mail on the server, their mail allotment will
> fill up and they will no longer be able to receive email.
> It is a good idea to instruct all users not to leave mail on the server. A
> lot of times, you have to delete the large file in order to get the mail to
> work for that user again, hence they lose all their mail.

If the files are very big, you may see a lot of CPU time used EACH time 
this user checks their mail, I've seen users take 50+ seconds of actual CPU 
time over a few minute period doing one mail check.

I have users that *allow* me to do this trick - I point this out because it 
does give me direct access to a user's mail, although all we see is subjects.

METHOD 1
custmail - customer's email logon/filename
techsupp - tech support's logon/filename
cp custmail techsupp
then use a webmail program to view the mail, get rid of all old stuff that 
should not be there,
cp techsupp custmail
you may have to verify file ownership, ie: chown techsupp techsupp - this 
is if techsupp did not already exist, the cp gives it the owner of custmail.

I have found bugs in the system someplace (I am on RAQ3i) where mail that 
is not *left on the server* is anyway, even though it was told not to be. 
In these times, the method above is very handy. We leave the user on with 
un-read mail. We X the entire list and un-X the 5-10 unread messages at the 
top.

The only real advantage over file deletion is those few messages aren't lost.

METHOD 2
Get the customer on the phone.
Have them check their mail - while you watch *top* running
As soon as they are finished checking mail, delete their mail file.

Regards,
Jale