DOTLOCK.MAILUTILS(1)

📦
version 3.21 · 7 versions
, in ubuntu stonking

💖 NAME 💖

dotlock.mailutils — lock mail spool files, bestie. That's literally it, that's the job. 🔒✨

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

dotlock.mailutils [OPTION...] FILE

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

okay so listen: GNU dotlock — it locks mail spool files. Living its little life, protecting your mail spool, no cap. 👑

Here's the whole menu of options, and yes, every single one is iconic in its own way:

  • -d, --[no-]debug — prints the details of why it failed to stderr. Basically it tells you the tea. ☕
  • -f, --force[=MINUTES] — forcibly breaks an existing lock that's older than a certain time. It's giving "move, I'm the lock now". 💅
  • -p, --[no-]pid-check — checks if the PID of the lock owner is still active. Like checking if your ex is still online. 👀
  • -r, --retry=RETRIES — retries the lock a few times. Persistence!! Periodt.
  • -t, --delay=SECONDS — the delay between two successive locking attempts, in seconds. Pacing yourself, we love to see it. 🧘
  • -u, --[no-]unlock — unlock. The reverse. The unbinding. 😌

🔧 Global debugging settings

  • --debug-level=LEVEL — sets the Mailutils debugging level. Crank that dial, girl.
  • --[no-]debug-line-info — show source info alongside your debugging messages. Receipts included. 🧾

🎀 Configuration handling

  • --config-file=FILE — loads this configuration file; implies --no-config.
  • --config-lint — checks the configuration file syntax and exits. Grammar check moment. ✅
  • --config-verbose — verbosely logs the parsing of the configuration files. It will narrate everything.
  • --no-config — do not load site and user configuration files.
  • --no-site-config — do not load the site-wide configuration file.
  • --no-user-config — do not load the user configuration file.
  • --set=PARAM=VALUE — set a configuration parameter. You're in charge, main character. 👑

📢 Informational options

  • --config-help — shows a summary of the configuration file.
  • --show-config-options — shows compilation options.
  • -?, --help — gives you this help list. Hi, that's me, I'm the help list. 🫶
  • --usage — gives a short usage message. The TL;DR.
  • -V, --version — prints the program version. Slay.
⚠️ real talk: mandatory or optional arguments to long options are also mandatory or optional for any corresponding short options. don't skip that part, bestie, it WILL get you. 😭

As for exit statuses — it returns 0 on success, 3 if locking the file fails because it's already locked (the audacity), and 1 if some other kind of error occurred. 🍓

😤 REPORTING BUGS 😤

Found a bug? Don't suffer in silence, tell the people:

Copyright © 2007-2025 Free Software Foundation, inc. License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>

This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law. (that NO WARRANTY is in all caps for a reason, ngl 💀)

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

The complete GNU mailutils documentation is maintained as a Texinfo manual. If the mailutils-doc package is installed, the command

info mailutils

should give you access to the complete manual. You can also find this manual online in the GNU mailutils webpage: https://www.gnu.org/software/mailutils/manual/index.html.

🙈 Please note this manpage was automatically generated by the Debian mailutils packagers. Do not file bugs for its content to the GNU Mailutils upstream authors. Like, they didn't write it, they don't deserve the smoke. Fr fr.

okay bestie that's a wrap 💖 this one's brought to you by FSF, version vibes from August 2026 — stay locked, stay iconic, and may your spool files never deadlock on you. 🎀✨🦋

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