Can I change root's email address or forward it to an external address?
Clash Royale CLAN TAG#URR8PPP
up vote
55
down vote
favorite
I'm getting a lot of mail in my root user's mail account. This appears to be mostly reports and errors from things like cron scripts. I'm trying to work though and solve these things, possibly even have them be piped to some sort of "dashboard" - but until then how can I have these messages go to my personal e-mail account instead?
email root monitoring mail-transport-agent
edited Sep 4 '13 at 21:37
Gilles
517k12410321561
asked Dec 13 '11 at 0:00
cwd
13.1k52114156
add a comment |Â
up vote
55
down vote
favorite
I'm getting a lot of mail in my root user's mail account. This appears to be mostly reports and errors from things like cron scripts. I'm trying to work though and solve these things, possibly even have them be piped to some sort of "dashboard" - but until then how can I have these messages go to my personal e-mail account instead?
email root monitoring mail-transport-agent
edited Sep 4 '13 at 21:37
Gilles
517k12410321561
asked Dec 13 '11 at 0:00
cwd
13.1k52114156
You should ask your second question as a separate question if you really want an answer to it.
– cjm
Dec 13 '11 at 8:40
add a comment |Â
up vote
55
down vote
favorite
up vote
55
down vote
favorite
I'm getting a lot of mail in my root user's mail account. This appears to be mostly reports and errors from things like cron scripts. I'm trying to work though and solve these things, possibly even have them be piped to some sort of "dashboard" - but until then how can I have these messages go to my personal e-mail account instead?
email root monitoring mail-transport-agent
edited Sep 4 '13 at 21:37
Gilles
517k12410321561
asked Dec 13 '11 at 0:00
cwd
13.1k52114156
I'm getting a lot of mail in my root user's mail account. This appears to be mostly reports and errors from things like cron scripts. I'm trying to work though and solve these things, possibly even have them be piped to some sort of "dashboard" - but until then how can I have these messages go to my personal e-mail account instead?
email root monitoring mail-transport-agent
email root monitoring mail-transport-agent
edited Sep 4 '13 at 21:37
Gilles
517k12410321561
asked Dec 13 '11 at 0:00
cwd
13.1k52114156
edited Sep 4 '13 at 21:37
Gilles
517k12410321561
asked Dec 13 '11 at 0:00
cwd
13.1k52114156
edited Sep 4 '13 at 21:37
Gilles
517k12410321561
edited Sep 4 '13 at 21:37
Gilles
517k12410321561
edited Sep 4 '13 at 21:37
Gilles
517k12410321561
517k12410321561
asked Dec 13 '11 at 0:00
cwd
13.1k52114156
asked Dec 13 '11 at 0:00
cwd
13.1k52114156
asked Dec 13 '11 at 0:00
cwd
13.1k52114156
13.1k52114156
You should ask your second question as a separate question if you really want an answer to it.
– cjm
Dec 13 '11 at 8:40
add a comment |Â
You should ask your second question as a separate question if you really want an answer to it.
– cjm
Dec 13 '11 at 8:40
You should ask your second question as a separate question if you really want an answer to it.
– cjm
Dec 13 '11 at 8:40
You should ask your second question as a separate question if you really want an answer to it.
– cjm
Dec 13 '11 at 8:40
add a comment |Â
5 Answers
5
active
oldest
votes
up vote
65
down vote
accepted
Any user, including root, can forward their local email by putting the forwarding address in a file called ~/.forward. You can have multiple addresses there, all on one line and separated by comma. If you want both local delivery and forwarding, put root@localhost as one of the addresses.
The system administrator can define email aliases in the file /etc/aliases. This file contains lines like root: cwd@mailhost.example.com, /root/mailbox; the effect is the same as having cwd@mailhost.example.com, /root/mailbox in ~root/.forward. You may need to run a program such as newaliases after changing /etc/aliases.
Note that the workings of .forward and /etc/aliases depend on your MTA. Most MTAs implement the main features provided by the traditional sendmail, but check your MTA's documentation.
answered Dec 13 '11 at 0:20
Gilles
517k12410321561
hmm, doescwd@mailhost.example.com, /root/mailboxwork on ubuntu? it goes to the first address but not the local mailbox for root, even after runningnewaliases. I also tried/var/mail/rootwithout success...
– cwd
Dec 14 '11 at 1:37
1
@cwd It does for Postfix. Hmm, I think recent versions of Ubuntu install a limited MTA which doesn't do any local delivery in the default desktop installation. Older Ubuntu releases or server installations install Postfix by default, and Postfix does support my examples.
– Gilles
Dec 14 '11 at 10:07
Thanks. I think root's .forward file may have been overriding the multiple addresses I had in the alias file. It's working now, thanks for your help :)
– cwd
Dec 14 '11 at 14:20
What permissions should the file have?
– Thomas Weller
Nov 30 '15 at 21:59
@ThomasWeller Which file?/etc/aliasesand~/.forwardare usually 644, though I think 600 works with most MTAs.
– Gilles
Nov 30 '15 at 22:09
add a comment |Â
up vote
12
down vote
Simply create /root/.forward and place your email address in this file. It will be forwarded to your external mail address.
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
in .forward myaddress@example.com, root@thisserver.com
with this I get an email on my box and it is also written to /var/mail/root. (my distribution is debian with postfix) Replace "thisserver.com" with the domain name of your server
answered Mar 26 '13 at 8:48
Kawa600
111
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
Use this command:
nano /root/.forward
Insert, edit or remove emails in that text file, Ctrl+X, [Y] to save file.
edited Nov 29 '15 at 10:26
G-Man
12.2k92860
answered Nov 29 '15 at 8:49
Dylan B
1412
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
If you are using the Postfix MTA and own your own domain (example.com), you can configure it to forward to root@example.com alongside any other user account.
In the main.cf configuration file, or with the overrides in master.cf set the following options:
mydomain = example.com
mydestination = localhost.localdomain, localhost, local.$mydomain # Basically, anything but $mydomain
This will have Postfix treat mail to your root account as root@example.com and route it accordingly, whether relay to your relayhost or deliver it to example.com directly. With this configuration Postfix will deliver mail to root@local.example.com to your local mailbox (/var/mail/root or wherever your system delivers system mail).
answered 4 mins ago
palswim
1,31611629
add a comment |Â
5 Answers
5
active
oldest
votes
5 Answers
5
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
65
down vote
accepted
Any user, including root, can forward their local email by putting the forwarding address in a file called ~/.forward. You can have multiple addresses there, all on one line and separated by comma. If you want both local delivery and forwarding, put root@localhost as one of the addresses.
The system administrator can define email aliases in the file /etc/aliases. This file contains lines like root: cwd@mailhost.example.com, /root/mailbox; the effect is the same as having cwd@mailhost.example.com, /root/mailbox in ~root/.forward. You may need to run a program such as newaliases after changing /etc/aliases.
Note that the workings of .forward and /etc/aliases depend on your MTA. Most MTAs implement the main features provided by the traditional sendmail, but check your MTA's documentation.
answered Dec 13 '11 at 0:20
Gilles
517k12410321561
hmm, doescwd@mailhost.example.com, /root/mailboxwork on ubuntu? it goes to the first address but not the local mailbox for root, even after runningnewaliases. I also tried/var/mail/rootwithout success...
– cwd
Dec 14 '11 at 1:37
1
@cwd It does for Postfix. Hmm, I think recent versions of Ubuntu install a limited MTA which doesn't do any local delivery in the default desktop installation. Older Ubuntu releases or server installations install Postfix by default, and Postfix does support my examples.
– Gilles
Dec 14 '11 at 10:07
Thanks. I think root's .forward file may have been overriding the multiple addresses I had in the alias file. It's working now, thanks for your help :)
– cwd
Dec 14 '11 at 14:20
What permissions should the file have?
– Thomas Weller
Nov 30 '15 at 21:59
@ThomasWeller Which file?/etc/aliasesand~/.forwardare usually 644, though I think 600 works with most MTAs.
– Gilles
Nov 30 '15 at 22:09
add a comment |Â
up vote
65
down vote
accepted
Any user, including root, can forward their local email by putting the forwarding address in a file called ~/.forward. You can have multiple addresses there, all on one line and separated by comma. If you want both local delivery and forwarding, put root@localhost as one of the addresses.
The system administrator can define email aliases in the file /etc/aliases. This file contains lines like root: cwd@mailhost.example.com, /root/mailbox; the effect is the same as having cwd@mailhost.example.com, /root/mailbox in ~root/.forward. You may need to run a program such as newaliases after changing /etc/aliases.
Note that the workings of .forward and /etc/aliases depend on your MTA. Most MTAs implement the main features provided by the traditional sendmail, but check your MTA's documentation.
answered Dec 13 '11 at 0:20
Gilles
517k12410321561
hmm, doescwd@mailhost.example.com, /root/mailboxwork on ubuntu? it goes to the first address but not the local mailbox for root, even after runningnewaliases. I also tried/var/mail/rootwithout success...
– cwd
Dec 14 '11 at 1:37
1
@cwd It does for Postfix. Hmm, I think recent versions of Ubuntu install a limited MTA which doesn't do any local delivery in the default desktop installation. Older Ubuntu releases or server installations install Postfix by default, and Postfix does support my examples.
– Gilles
Dec 14 '11 at 10:07
Thanks. I think root's .forward file may have been overriding the multiple addresses I had in the alias file. It's working now, thanks for your help :)
– cwd
Dec 14 '11 at 14:20
What permissions should the file have?
– Thomas Weller
Nov 30 '15 at 21:59
@ThomasWeller Which file?/etc/aliasesand~/.forwardare usually 644, though I think 600 works with most MTAs.
– Gilles
Nov 30 '15 at 22:09
add a comment |Â
up vote
65
down vote
accepted
up vote
65
down vote
accepted
Any user, including root, can forward their local email by putting the forwarding address in a file called ~/.forward. You can have multiple addresses there, all on one line and separated by comma. If you want both local delivery and forwarding, put root@localhost as one of the addresses.
The system administrator can define email aliases in the file /etc/aliases. This file contains lines like root: cwd@mailhost.example.com, /root/mailbox; the effect is the same as having cwd@mailhost.example.com, /root/mailbox in ~root/.forward. You may need to run a program such as newaliases after changing /etc/aliases.
Note that the workings of .forward and /etc/aliases depend on your MTA. Most MTAs implement the main features provided by the traditional sendmail, but check your MTA's documentation.
answered Dec 13 '11 at 0:20
Gilles
517k12410321561
Any user, including root, can forward their local email by putting the forwarding address in a file called ~/.forward. You can have multiple addresses there, all on one line and separated by comma. If you want both local delivery and forwarding, put root@localhost as one of the addresses.
The system administrator can define email aliases in the file /etc/aliases. This file contains lines like root: cwd@mailhost.example.com, /root/mailbox; the effect is the same as having cwd@mailhost.example.com, /root/mailbox in ~root/.forward. You may need to run a program such as newaliases after changing /etc/aliases.
Note that the workings of .forward and /etc/aliases depend on your MTA. Most MTAs implement the main features provided by the traditional sendmail, but check your MTA's documentation.
answered Dec 13 '11 at 0:20
Gilles
517k12410321561
answered Dec 13 '11 at 0:20
Gilles
517k12410321561
answered Dec 13 '11 at 0:20
Gilles
517k12410321561
answered Dec 13 '11 at 0:20
Gilles
517k12410321561
517k12410321561
hmm, doescwd@mailhost.example.com, /root/mailboxwork on ubuntu? it goes to the first address but not the local mailbox for root, even after runningnewaliases. I also tried/var/mail/rootwithout success...
– cwd
Dec 14 '11 at 1:37
1
@cwd It does for Postfix. Hmm, I think recent versions of Ubuntu install a limited MTA which doesn't do any local delivery in the default desktop installation. Older Ubuntu releases or server installations install Postfix by default, and Postfix does support my examples.
– Gilles
Dec 14 '11 at 10:07
Thanks. I think root's .forward file may have been overriding the multiple addresses I had in the alias file. It's working now, thanks for your help :)
– cwd
Dec 14 '11 at 14:20
What permissions should the file have?
– Thomas Weller
Nov 30 '15 at 21:59
@ThomasWeller Which file?/etc/aliasesand~/.forwardare usually 644, though I think 600 works with most MTAs.
– Gilles
Nov 30 '15 at 22:09
add a comment |Â
hmm, doescwd@mailhost.example.com, /root/mailboxwork on ubuntu? it goes to the first address but not the local mailbox for root, even after runningnewaliases. I also tried/var/mail/rootwithout success...
– cwd
Dec 14 '11 at 1:37
1
@cwd It does for Postfix. Hmm, I think recent versions of Ubuntu install a limited MTA which doesn't do any local delivery in the default desktop installation. Older Ubuntu releases or server installations install Postfix by default, and Postfix does support my examples.
– Gilles
Dec 14 '11 at 10:07
Thanks. I think root's .forward file may have been overriding the multiple addresses I had in the alias file. It's working now, thanks for your help :)
– cwd
Dec 14 '11 at 14:20
What permissions should the file have?
– Thomas Weller
Nov 30 '15 at 21:59
@ThomasWeller Which file?/etc/aliasesand~/.forwardare usually 644, though I think 600 works with most MTAs.
– Gilles
Nov 30 '15 at 22:09
hmm, does
cwd@mailhost.example.com, /root/mailbox work on ubuntu? it goes to the first address but not the local mailbox for root, even after running newaliases. I also tried /var/mail/root without success...– cwd
Dec 14 '11 at 1:37
hmm, does
cwd@mailhost.example.com, /root/mailbox work on ubuntu? it goes to the first address but not the local mailbox for root, even after running newaliases. I also tried /var/mail/root without success...– cwd
Dec 14 '11 at 1:37
1
1
@cwd It does for Postfix. Hmm, I think recent versions of Ubuntu install a limited MTA which doesn't do any local delivery in the default desktop installation. Older Ubuntu releases or server installations install Postfix by default, and Postfix does support my examples.
– Gilles
Dec 14 '11 at 10:07
@cwd It does for Postfix. Hmm, I think recent versions of Ubuntu install a limited MTA which doesn't do any local delivery in the default desktop installation. Older Ubuntu releases or server installations install Postfix by default, and Postfix does support my examples.
– Gilles
Dec 14 '11 at 10:07
Thanks. I think root's .forward file may have been overriding the multiple addresses I had in the alias file. It's working now, thanks for your help :)
– cwd
Dec 14 '11 at 14:20
Thanks. I think root's .forward file may have been overriding the multiple addresses I had in the alias file. It's working now, thanks for your help :)
– cwd
Dec 14 '11 at 14:20
What permissions should the file have?
– Thomas Weller
Nov 30 '15 at 21:59
What permissions should the file have?
– Thomas Weller
Nov 30 '15 at 21:59
@ThomasWeller Which file?
/etc/aliases and ~/.forward are usually 644, though I think 600 works with most MTAs.– Gilles
Nov 30 '15 at 22:09
@ThomasWeller Which file?
/etc/aliases and ~/.forward are usually 644, though I think 600 works with most MTAs.– Gilles
Nov 30 '15 at 22:09
add a comment |Â
up vote
12
down vote
Simply create /root/.forward and place your email address in this file. It will be forwarded to your external mail address.
add a comment |Â
up vote
12
down vote
Simply create /root/.forward and place your email address in this file. It will be forwarded to your external mail address.
add a comment |Â
up vote
12
down vote
up vote
12
down vote
Simply create /root/.forward and place your email address in this file. It will be forwarded to your external mail address.
Simply create /root/.forward and place your email address in this file. It will be forwarded to your external mail address.
answered Dec 13 '11 at 0:12
user11780
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
in .forward myaddress@example.com, root@thisserver.com
with this I get an email on my box and it is also written to /var/mail/root. (my distribution is debian with postfix) Replace "thisserver.com" with the domain name of your server
answered Mar 26 '13 at 8:48
Kawa600
111
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
in .forward myaddress@example.com, root@thisserver.com
with this I get an email on my box and it is also written to /var/mail/root. (my distribution is debian with postfix) Replace "thisserver.com" with the domain name of your server
answered Mar 26 '13 at 8:48
Kawa600
111
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
up vote
1
down vote
in .forward myaddress@example.com, root@thisserver.com
with this I get an email on my box and it is also written to /var/mail/root. (my distribution is debian with postfix) Replace "thisserver.com" with the domain name of your server
answered Mar 26 '13 at 8:48
Kawa600
111
in .forward myaddress@example.com, root@thisserver.com
with this I get an email on my box and it is also written to /var/mail/root. (my distribution is debian with postfix) Replace "thisserver.com" with the domain name of your server
answered Mar 26 '13 at 8:48
Kawa600
111
answered Mar 26 '13 at 8:48
Kawa600
111
answered Mar 26 '13 at 8:48
Kawa600
111
answered Mar 26 '13 at 8:48
Kawa600
111
111
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
Use this command:
nano /root/.forward
Insert, edit or remove emails in that text file, Ctrl+X, [Y] to save file.
edited Nov 29 '15 at 10:26
G-Man
12.2k92860
answered Nov 29 '15 at 8:49
Dylan B
1412
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
Use this command:
nano /root/.forward
Insert, edit or remove emails in that text file, Ctrl+X, [Y] to save file.
edited Nov 29 '15 at 10:26
G-Man
12.2k92860
answered Nov 29 '15 at 8:49
Dylan B
1412
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
up vote
0
down vote
Use this command:
nano /root/.forward
Insert, edit or remove emails in that text file, Ctrl+X, [Y] to save file.
edited Nov 29 '15 at 10:26
G-Man
12.2k92860
answered Nov 29 '15 at 8:49
Dylan B
1412
Use this command:
nano /root/.forward
Insert, edit or remove emails in that text file, Ctrl+X, [Y] to save file.
edited Nov 29 '15 at 10:26
G-Man
12.2k92860
answered Nov 29 '15 at 8:49
Dylan B
1412
edited Nov 29 '15 at 10:26
G-Man
12.2k92860
edited Nov 29 '15 at 10:26
G-Man
12.2k92860
edited Nov 29 '15 at 10:26
G-Man
12.2k92860
12.2k92860
answered Nov 29 '15 at 8:49
Dylan B
1412
answered Nov 29 '15 at 8:49
Dylan B
1412
answered Nov 29 '15 at 8:49
Dylan B
1412
1412
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
If you are using the Postfix MTA and own your own domain (example.com), you can configure it to forward to root@example.com alongside any other user account.
In the main.cf configuration file, or with the overrides in master.cf set the following options:
mydomain = example.com
mydestination = localhost.localdomain, localhost, local.$mydomain # Basically, anything but $mydomain
This will have Postfix treat mail to your root account as root@example.com and route it accordingly, whether relay to your relayhost or deliver it to example.com directly. With this configuration Postfix will deliver mail to root@local.example.com to your local mailbox (/var/mail/root or wherever your system delivers system mail).
answered 4 mins ago
palswim
1,31611629
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
If you are using the Postfix MTA and own your own domain (example.com), you can configure it to forward to root@example.com alongside any other user account.
In the main.cf configuration file, or with the overrides in master.cf set the following options:
mydomain = example.com
mydestination = localhost.localdomain, localhost, local.$mydomain # Basically, anything but $mydomain
This will have Postfix treat mail to your root account as root@example.com and route it accordingly, whether relay to your relayhost or deliver it to example.com directly. With this configuration Postfix will deliver mail to root@local.example.com to your local mailbox (/var/mail/root or wherever your system delivers system mail).
answered 4 mins ago
palswim
1,31611629
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
up vote
0
down vote
If you are using the Postfix MTA and own your own domain (example.com), you can configure it to forward to root@example.com alongside any other user account.
In the main.cf configuration file, or with the overrides in master.cf set the following options:
mydomain = example.com
mydestination = localhost.localdomain, localhost, local.$mydomain # Basically, anything but $mydomain
This will have Postfix treat mail to your root account as root@example.com and route it accordingly, whether relay to your relayhost or deliver it to example.com directly. With this configuration Postfix will deliver mail to root@local.example.com to your local mailbox (/var/mail/root or wherever your system delivers system mail).
answered 4 mins ago
palswim
1,31611629
If you are using the Postfix MTA and own your own domain (example.com), you can configure it to forward to root@example.com alongside any other user account.
In the main.cf configuration file, or with the overrides in master.cf set the following options:
mydomain = example.com
mydestination = localhost.localdomain, localhost, local.$mydomain # Basically, anything but $mydomain
This will have Postfix treat mail to your root account as root@example.com and route it accordingly, whether relay to your relayhost or deliver it to example.com directly. With this configuration Postfix will deliver mail to root@local.example.com to your local mailbox (/var/mail/root or wherever your system delivers system mail).
answered 4 mins ago
palswim
1,31611629
answered 4 mins ago
palswim
1,31611629
answered 4 mins ago
palswim
1,31611629
answered 4 mins ago
palswim
1,31611629
1,31611629
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
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You should ask your second question as a separate question if you really want an answer to it.
– cjm
Dec 13 '11 at 8:40