mailx change sender name

hudac · 01-30-2013, 09:29 AM

Hey,

I understood that for changing sender's name with "mailx" I should do the following:

Code:

mailx -r newmail@mail.com -s "some subject" my@email.com

But when I do that, I get:

Code:

mailx: invalid option -- r
Usage: mail [-iInv] [-s subject] [-c cc-addr] [-b bcc-addr] to-addr ...
            [-- sendmail-options ...]
       mail [-iInNv] -f [name]
       mail [-iInNv] [-u user

Does anyone knows what's happening? thanks,

TB0ne · 01-30-2013, 11:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hudac

Hey,
I understood that for changing sender's name with "mailx" I should do the following:

Code:

mailx -r newmail@mail.com -s "some subject" my@email.com

But when I do that, I get:

Code:

mailx: invalid option -- r
Usage: mail [-iInv] [-s subject] [-c cc-addr] [-b bcc-addr] to-addr ...
            [-- sendmail-options ...]
       mail [-iInNv] -f [name]
       mail [-iInNv] [-u user

Does anyone knows what's happening? thanks,

Yep...that option hasn't been supported for some time now. The mailx documentation is thorough, but complex. You've got a couple of options:

Something like
Code:
```
mailx -s "Subject" user@domain.com -- -f from@domain.com < body
```
The double-dash tells mailx not to parse the -f, but just pass it along to sendmail/postfix, which will then set the "from" address accordingly
The -a switch, which supplies additional headersy, supplying a From: header on the command line that will be appended to the outgoing mail. In conjunction with the $REPLYTO environment variable specifies a Reply-To: header:
Code:
```
export REPLYTO=user@domain.com
mailx -aFrom:user@domain.com -s 'Testing'
```

chrism01 · 01-31-2013, 12:40 AM

Hate to disagree with you, but mailx on my Centos 6.3 supports it (-r ) fully. Its both in the man page and it works; just tested it to be sure...

TB0ne · 01-31-2013, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrism01

Hate to disagree with you, but mailx on my Centos 6.3 supports it (-r ) fully. Its both in the man page and it works; just tested it to be sure...

Huh...I had read it wasn't supported, and it doesn't work for me on my system. However, from the man page:

Quote:

Originally Posted by mailx man page

-r address
Sets the From address. Overrides any from variable specified in environment or startup files.
Tilde escapes are disabled. The -r address options are passed to the mail transfer agent
unless SMTP is used. This option exists for compatibility only; it is recommended to set the from
variable directly instead.

The bolded part is what caught my eye. I'm puzzled though, since the man page DOES mention the "-r" being a valid option, but it does note it's only there for compatibility.

chrism01 · 01-31-2013, 05:54 PM

Well, your profile says RHEL+Centos; try it on one of those?

TB0ne · 01-31-2013, 08:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrism01

Well, your profile says RHEL+Centos; try it on one of those?

Yep...tried it on an RHEL6 server, and it didn't work, which is why I'm puzzled. Is the mailx executable on your box a link, or the actual mailx program?? I've seen links to "mail" from "mailx" before...but just grasping at straws here.

chrism01 · 02-01-2013, 01:08 AM

Code:

which mailx
  /bin/mailx
ll /bin/mailx
   -rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 391224 Aug 22  2010 /bin/mailx

Would I lie to you

TB0ne · 02-01-2013, 08:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrism01

Code:

which mailx
  /bin/mailx
ll /bin/mailx
   -rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 391224 Aug 22  2010 /bin/mailx

Would I lie to you

Hey, I cast no dispersions your way!

Was just trying to thing why it would behave differently. For me:
ll /usr/bin/mailx
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 361048 Feb 22 2011 /usr/bin/mailx

hudac · 02-03-2013, 07:00 AM

I have Red Hat 5.6, and It doesn't work.

I cant find "-r" in the manpage...

TB0ne · 02-03-2013, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hudac

I have Red Hat 5.6, and It doesn't work.

I cant find "-r" in the manpage...

Ok...so go back and re-read post #2, where I gave you two different things to try. Did you try them??

hudac · 02-03-2013, 12:06 PM

Oh I forgot about it!

the

Quote:

mailx -s "Subject" user@domain.com -- -f from@domain.com < body

works!
Thanks!

chrism01 · 02-03-2013, 07:13 PM

Hey TB0ne, maybe its a version thing; here are my details

Code:

mailx -V
12.4 7/29/08

# OS
CentOS release 6.3 (Final)
Linux nodename 2.6.32-279.19.1.el6.x86_64 #1 SMP Wed Dec 19 07:05:20 UTC 2012 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

HTH