MSGS(1)                    OpenBSD Reference Manual                    MSGS(1)

NAME
     msgs - system messages and junk mail program

SYNOPSIS
     msgs [-fhlopqr] [[-]number]
     msgs [-s]
     msgs [-c [-days]]

DESCRIPTION
     msgs is used to read system messages.  These messages are sent by mailing
     to the login ``msgs'' and should be short pieces of information which are
     suitable to be read once by most users of the system.

     The options are as follows:

     -c [-days]
              The -c option is used for performing cleanup on /var/msgs.  An
              entry with the -c option should be placed in the system
              crontab(5) to run every night.  This will remove all messages
              over 21 days old.  The optional -days argument may be specified
              on the command line to override the default.

     -f       Do not say ``No new messages.'' This is useful in a .login file
              since this is often the case here.

     -h       Print the first part of messages only.

     -l       Causes only locally originated messages to be reported.

     -o       By default, msgs exits when there are no more messages to read.
              If the -o flag is specified, the user will be given the chance
              to save or read messages again.

     -p       Pipe long messages through the program specified by the PAGER
              environment variable.  If PAGER is null or not defined, more(1)
              is used.

     -q       Queries whether there are messages, printing ``There are new
              messages.'' if there are.  The command msgs -q is often used in
              login scripts.

     -r       Disables the ability to save messages or enter the mailer.  It
              is assumed that the PAGER environment is set to something se-
              cure.

     -s       The -s option is used for setting up the posting of messages.
              The line

                    msgs: "| /usr/bin/msgs -s"

              should be included in /etc/mail/aliases (see newaliases(8)) to
              enable posting of messages.

     number   A message number can be given on the command line, causing msgs
              to start at the specified message rather than at the next mes-
              sage indicated by your .msgsrc file.  Thus

                    msgs -h 1

              prints the first part of all messages.

     -number  Start number messages back from the one indicated in the .msgsrc
              file; useful for reviews of recent messages.

     msgs is normally invoked each time you login, by placing it in the file
     .login (or .profile if you use sh(1)).  It will then prompt you with the
     source and subject of each new message.  If there is no subject line, the
     first few non-blank lines of the message will be displayed.  If there is
     more to the message, you will be told how long it is and asked whether
     you wish to see the rest of the message.  The possible responses are:

     y           Type the rest of the message.

     RETURN      Synonym for y.

     n           Skip this message and go on to the next message.

     -           Redisplay the last message.

     q           Drop out of msgs; the next time msgs will pick up where it
                 last left off.

     s           Append the current message to the file Messages in the cur-
                 rent directory; `s-' will save the previously displayed mes-
                 sage.  An `s' or `s-' may be followed by a space and a file
                 name to receive the message replacing the default
                 ``Messages''.

     m           A copy of the specified message is placed in a temporary
                 mailbox and mail(1) is invoked on that mailbox.

     p           The specified message is piped through the program specified
                 by the PAGER environment variable.  If PAGER is not defined,
                 more(1) is used.

     The commands m, p, and s all accept a numeric argument in place of the
     `-'.

     msgs keeps track of the next message you will see by a number in the file
     .msgsrc in your home directory.  In the directory /var/msgs it keeps a
     set of files whose names are the (sequential) numbers of the messages
     they represent.  The file /var/msgs/bounds shows the low and high number
     of the messages in the directory so that msgs can quickly determine if
     there are no messages for you.

     Within msgs you can also go to any specific message by typing its number
     when msgs requests input as to what to do.

ENVIRONMENT
     msgs uses the HOME and TERM environment variables for the default home
     directory and terminal type.  If defined and non-null, the PAGER variable
     is invoked as the pagination program.

FILES
     /var/msgs/*  database
     ~/.msgsrc    number of next message to be presented

SEE ALSO
     mail(1), more(1), aliases(5), crontab(5), newaliases(8)

HISTORY
     The msgs command appeared in 3.0BSD.

OpenBSD 4.7                      May 31, 2007                                2
