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35ad758c | 1 | .\" @(#)mailaddr.7 4.2 %G% |
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2 | .TH MAILADDR 7 |
3 | .UC 4 | |
4 | .SH NAME | |
5 | mailaddr \- mail addressing description | |
6 | .SH DESCRIPTION | |
bff69eb1 | 7 | Mail addresses are based on the ARPANET protocol |
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8 | listed at the end of this manual page. |
9 | These addresses are in the general format | |
10 | .PP | |
11 | user@domain | |
12 | .PP | |
13 | where a domain is a hierarchical dot separated list of subdomains. | |
14 | For example, | |
15 | the address | |
16 | .PP | |
17 | eric@monet.Berkeley.ARPA | |
18 | .PP | |
19 | is normally interpreted from right to left: | |
20 | the message should go to the ARPA name tables | |
21 | (which do not correspond exactly to the physical ARPANET), | |
22 | then to the Berkeley gateway, | |
23 | after which it should go to the local host monet. | |
24 | When the message reaches monet it is delivered to the user ``eric''. | |
25 | .PP | |
26 | Unlike some other forms of addressing, | |
27 | this does not imply any routing. | |
28 | Thus, | |
29 | although this address is specified as an ARPA address, | |
30 | it might travel by an alternate route | |
31 | if that was more convenient or efficient. | |
32 | For example, | |
33 | at Berkeley the associated message | |
34 | would probably go directly to monet over the Ethernet | |
35 | rather than going via the Berkeley ARPANET gateway. | |
36 | .PP | |
37 | .I Abbreviation. | |
38 | Under certain circumstances | |
39 | it may not be necessary to type the entire domain name. | |
40 | In general anything following the first dot | |
41 | may be omitted | |
42 | if it is the same as the domain from which you are sending the message. | |
43 | For example, | |
44 | a user on | |
45 | ``calder.Berkeley.ARPA'' | |
46 | could send to | |
47 | ``eric@monet'' | |
48 | without adding the | |
49 | ``.Berkeley.ARPA'' | |
50 | since it is the same on both sending and receiving hosts. | |
51 | .PP | |
52 | Certain other abbreviations may be permitted | |
53 | as special cases. | |
54 | For example, | |
55 | at Berkeley ARPANET hosts can be referenced | |
56 | without adding the | |
57 | ``.ARPA'' | |
58 | as long as their names do not conflict | |
59 | with a local host name. | |
60 | .PP | |
61 | .I Compatibility. | |
62 | Certain old address formats | |
63 | are converted to the new format | |
64 | to provide compatibility with the previous mail system. | |
65 | In particular, | |
66 | .PP | |
67 | host:user | |
68 | .PP | |
69 | is converted to | |
70 | .PP | |
71 | user@host | |
72 | .PP | |
73 | to be consistent with the | |
74 | .IR rcp (1C) | |
75 | command. | |
76 | .PP | |
77 | Also, the syntax: | |
78 | .PP | |
79 | host!user | |
80 | .PP | |
81 | is converted to: | |
82 | .PP | |
83 | user@host.UUCP | |
84 | .PP | |
85 | This is normally converted back to the | |
86 | ``host!user'' | |
87 | form | |
88 | before being sent on for compatibility with older UUCP hosts. | |
89 | .PP | |
90 | The current implementation is not able to route messages | |
91 | automatically through the UUCP network. | |
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92 | Until that time you must explicitly tell the mail system |
93 | which hosts to send your message through | |
94 | to get to your final destination. | |
95 | .PP | |
96 | .I Case Distinctions. | |
97 | Domain names (i.e., anything after the ``@'' sign) | |
98 | may be given in any mixture of upper and lower case | |
99 | with the exception of UUCP hostnames. | |
100 | Most hosts accept any mixture of case in user names, | |
101 | with the notable exception of MULTICS sites. | |
102 | .PP | |
103 | .I Differences with ARPA Protocols. | |
104 | Although the UNIX addressing scheme | |
105 | is based on the ARPA mail addressing protocols, | |
106 | there are some significant differences. | |
107 | .PP | |
108 | At the time of this writing | |
109 | the only | |
110 | ``top level'' | |
111 | domain defined by ARPA is the | |
112 | ``.ARPA'' | |
113 | domain itself. | |
114 | This is further restricted to having only one level of host specifier. | |
115 | That is, | |
116 | the only addresses that ARPA accepts at this time must be in the format | |
117 | ``user@host.ARPA'' | |
118 | (where ``host'' is one word). | |
119 | In particular, | |
120 | addresses such as: | |
121 | .PP | |
122 | eric@monet.Berkeley.ARPA | |
123 | .PP | |
124 | are not currently legal | |
125 | under the ARPA protocols. | |
126 | For this reason, | |
127 | these addresses are converted to a different format on output | |
128 | to the ARPANET, | |
129 | typically: | |
130 | .PP | |
131 | eric%monet@Berkeley.ARPA | |
132 | .PP | |
133 | .I Route-addrs. | |
134 | Under some circumstances | |
135 | it may be necessary to route a message | |
136 | through several hosts | |
137 | to get it to the final destination. | |
138 | Normally this routing is done automatically, | |
139 | but sometimes it is desirable to route the message manually. | |
140 | An address that shows these relays are termed | |
141 | ``route-addrs.'' | |
142 | These use the syntax: | |
143 | .PP | |
144 | <@hosta,@hostb:user@hostc> | |
145 | .PP | |
146 | This specifies that the message should be sent to hosta, | |
147 | from there to hostb, | |
148 | and finally to hostc. | |
149 | This path is forced | |
150 | even if there is a more efficient path | |
151 | to hostc. | |
152 | .PP | |
153 | Route-addrs | |
154 | occur frequently on return addresses, | |
155 | since these are generally augmented by the software | |
156 | at each host. | |
157 | It is generally possible to ignore all but the | |
158 | ``user@host'' | |
159 | part of the address to determine the actual sender. | |
160 | .PP | |
161 | .I Postmaster. | |
162 | Every site is required to have a user or user alias | |
163 | designated | |
164 | ``postmaster'' | |
165 | to which problems with the mail system may be addressed. | |
166 | .PP | |
167 | .I CSNET. | |
168 | Messages to CSNET sites can be sent to | |
169 | ``user.host@UDel-Relay''. | |
170 | .SH BERKELEY | |
171 | The following comments apply only to the Berkeley environment. | |
172 | .PP | |
173 | .I Host Names. | |
174 | Many of the old familiar host names | |
175 | are being phased out. | |
176 | In particular, | |
177 | single character names as used in Berknet | |
178 | are incompatible with the larger world | |
179 | of which Berkeley is now a member. | |
180 | For this reason | |
181 | the following names | |
182 | are being obsoleted. | |
183 | You should notify any correspondents | |
184 | of your new address | |
185 | as soon as possible. | |
186 | .PP | |
187 | .ta 1i 1.2i 2.5i | |
188 | OLD NEW | |
189 | j ingvax ucbingres | |
190 | p ucbcad | |
191 | r arpavax ucbarpa | |
192 | v csvax ucbernie | |
193 | n ucbkim | |
194 | y ucbcory | |
195 | .PP | |
196 | The old addresses will be rejected as unknown hosts | |
197 | sometime in the near future. | |
198 | .PP | |
199 | .I What's My Address? | |
200 | If you are on a local machine, | |
201 | say monet, | |
202 | your address is | |
203 | .PP | |
204 | yourname@monet.Berkeley.ARPA | |
205 | .PP | |
206 | However, since most of the world does not have the new software | |
207 | in place yet, | |
208 | you will have to give correspondents slightly different addresses. | |
209 | From the ARPANET, | |
210 | your address would be: | |
211 | .PP | |
212 | yourname%monet@Berkeley.ARPA | |
213 | .PP | |
214 | From UUCP, your address would be: | |
215 | .PP | |
bff69eb1 | 216 | ucbvax!yourname%monet |
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217 | .PP |
218 | .I Computer Center. | |
219 | The Berkeley Computer Center | |
bff69eb1 | 220 | is in a subdomain of Berkeley. |
bf7fdc39 | 221 | Messages to the computer center |
bff69eb1 | 222 | should be addressed to: |
bf7fdc39 | 223 | .PP |
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224 | user%host.CC@Berkeley.ARPA |
225 | .PP | |
bff69eb1 EA |
226 | The alternate syntax: |
227 | .PP | |
228 | user@host.CC | |
229 | .PP | |
230 | may be used if the message is sent from inside Berkeley. | |
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231 | .PP |
232 | For the time being | |
233 | Computer Center hosts | |
234 | are known within the Berkeley domain, | |
235 | i.e., | |
236 | the | |
237 | ``.CC'' | |
238 | is optional. | |
239 | However, | |
240 | it is likely that this situation will change | |
241 | with time as both the Computer Science department | |
242 | and the Computer Center grow. | |
243 | .PP | |
244 | .I Bitnet. | |
245 | Hosts on bitnet may be accessed using: | |
246 | .PP | |
247 | user@host.BITNET | |
248 | .PP | |
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249 | .SH BUGS |
250 | The RFC822 group syntax | |
251 | (``group:user1,user2,user3;'') | |
252 | is not supported except in the special case of | |
253 | ``group:;'' | |
254 | because of a conflict with old berknet-style addresses. | |
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255 | .SH SEE ALSO |
256 | mail(1), sendmail(8); | |
257 | Crocker, D. H., | |
258 | .ul | |
259 | Standard for the Format of Arpa Internet Text Messages, | |
260 | RFC822. |