getmail_mbox(1)

📦
version 6.20.2 · 4 versions
, in epel 10, fedora 43, fedora 44, nixos 26.05, nixpkgs unstable, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💌 getmail_mbox — the manual page, but make it make sense

okay bestie, welcome to getmail_mbox from the User Commands section of the manual 💅 this is the lil' tool that reads a message off stdin and drops it into a named mboxrd-format mbox file with fcntl-style locking. no cap.

✨ NAME ✨

getmail_mbox — read a message from stdin and deliver to a named mboxrd-format mbox file with fcntl-style locking. that's the whole job. she's focused. she's iconic. 👑

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

getmail_mbox [OPTION] PATH

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so here's the vibe: you pipe a mail message in on standard input, and she delivers it to the mboxrd-format mbox file you named as PATH. that's it. that's the whole personality. 🎀

now, PATH has rules, bestie, and she WILL notice:

  • it must start with a dot (.) or a slash (/)
  • it must not end with a slash (/)

fcntl-type locking is what she uses, periodt. if your system needs a different kind of locking — think flock or dotlock — then lowkey this isn't the tool for you, and you should use an MDA that's configured for that style of locking instead. no hard feelings, it's just not her moment. 🙈

she also reads some environment variables to do her lil' header magic, and honestly? obsessed:

  • SENDER — used to construct a Return-Path: header field, and also used when creating the mbox From_ line 👀 (she's multitasking, she's booked, she's thriving)
  • RECIPIENT — her contents get used to construct a Delivered-To: header field, which gets slapped at the top of the message

so those two env vars are doing real work up in there. give them the respect they deserve. 🫶

💅 OPTIONS 💅

  • --verbose, -v — prints a status message on success. that's it. one flag. she doesn't need more. minimalism is the aesthetic ✨

🌈 AUTHOR 🌈

Written by Charles Cazabon and others. king behavior, fr fr 👑

🍓 REPORTING BUGS 🍓

found a bug? spill the tea here: <https://github.com/getmail6/getmail6/issues> — they wanna hear it, bestie, that's literally the whole point of the link 💖

Copyright © 1998-2026 Charles Cazabon and others.

This is free software; see the file COPYING for copying conditions. There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. like, none. zero. she said what she said 💀

🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

The full documentation for getmail_mbox is maintained in HTML and plaintext formats. See the included files for details. the lore is out there if you want it 🧚

okay that's the whole page, you ate that. now go deliver some mail 💌

getmail 6 · 2026 · getmail_mbox(1) — mwah, signing off 💋🌸

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