Unix mail command

The mail command is a Unix utility that allows users to send and receive email messages. Here are some basic commands and options:

Sending an email

• mail [email protected] - sends an email to the specified recipient
• mail -s "Subject" [email protected] - sends an email with a specified subject
• mail -c "CC: [email protected]" [email protected] - sends an email with a carbon copy to the specified recipient

Reading email

• mail - reads the user's mailbox and displays the list of messages
• mail -f - reads the user's mailbox and displays the list of messages, with the most recent message first
• mail -i - reads the user's mailbox and displays the list of messages, with the most recent message first, and allows the user to interactively read and respond to messages

Deleting email

• mail -d message_number - deletes the specified message
• mail -d - deletes all messages in the mailbox

Replying to email

• mail -r - replies to the most recent message in the mailbox
• mail -r message_number - replies to the specified message

Other options

• mail -h - displays help information
• mail -v - displays verbose output
• mail -q - quits the mail program

Example usage

Here's an example of how to use the mail command to send an email:

$ mail -s "Hello" [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Hello

Hello,

This is a test email.

Best regards,
Your Name

$ mail -f
Mail version 8.1 6/6/93
Type? for help
"1 [email protected]"   1 message 1/1   1/1   1/1
  1 [email protected]   1   1/1   1/1   1/1   "Hello"

In this example, the user sends an email to [email protected] with the subject "Hello". The user then uses the mail -f command to read their mailbox and displays the list of messages. The most recent message is highlighted.