28
4
I have a VPS (virtual private server) running Debian Linux. When I login using PuTTY the console shows - "You have mail"
I have no idea on how to retrieve this email. Which software do I need to install? Which steps to follow?
Vinayak
Posted 2009-09-11T09:17:06.223
Reputation: 581
29
Just type mail, it is the most basic way to read the mail. It should be installed by default on a Debian system, it comes from the mailutils package. Read the man page or type ? to figure out commands to use.
But there are better ways to read the mail. As noted earlier, mailx is an improved version. Even more user-friendly are mutt, cone and (al)pine. All of these are packaged by Debian and can be installed by apt-get
jor
Posted 2009-09-11T09:17:06.223
Reputation: 636
6
I find the mail program difficult to use. The mail is stored in a flat file, so I use vi /var/spool/mail/user and manage it there.
Mark Lu
Posted 2009-09-11T09:17:06.223
Reputation: 61
5
/var/mail/user
or
/var/spool/mail/user
Haim Cohen
Posted 2009-09-11T09:17:06.223
Reputation: 49
2don`t forget to read with CAT
cat /var/mail/root
cat /var/spool/mail/root
– Haim Cohen – 2016-06-16T07:25:36.823This suggestion has been made before. Could you expand on what you are doing differently? – Burgi – 2016-06-21T07:55:15.930
1
mailx is present by default on most systems. Type mailx to invoke it. Read the manpages to understand how to navigate the mailx interface.
(al)pineis cosy aspicoornano, so if you feel ok with the latters go with the first. – Hastur – 2016-06-21T08:10:36.927