COMSATD(8)

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version 3.21 · 8 versions
, in ubuntu stonking

👑 COMSATD(8) — the Comsat daemon 👑

okay bestie, so you've stumbled into section 8 of the manual (that's the System Administration Utilities corner of the man-verse, iykyk) and the star of the show today is comsatd, aka the Comsat daemon. GNU's very own mail-notification baddie. Let's get into it 💅

✨ NAME ✨

comsatd — literally the Comsat daemon. that's it, that's the name, she's serving ✨

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

comsatd [OPTION...]

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

GNU comsatd -- notify users about incoming mail 💌

like, her entire job is telling people "hey bestie, mail's here." iconique.

  • -d, --daemon[=NUMBER] — runs in daemon mode, and NUMBER is the maximum number of children she's allowed to have. yes, children. she's a mother now 😭
  • --[no-]foreground — remain in foreground. the no- version flips that, obviously.
  • -f, --file=FILE — read FILE instead of .biffrc. your config, your choice 🎀
  • -i, --[no-]inetd — run in inetd mode.
  • -t, --test[=FILE] — run in test mode; use FILE as tty. the default is /dev/tty. so if you don't hand her a FILE, she's just gonna use /dev/tty and go off 🫶

🧚 Global debugging settings 🧚

  • --debug-level=LEVEL — set the Mailutils debugging level. crank it up, watch the vibes 📈
  • --[no-]debug-line-info — show source info with debugging messages. like, WHERE did this come from, bestie?
  • --log-facility=FACILITY — output logs to syslog FACILITY. she's logging, she's journaling, she's documenting everything 💜

⭐ Configuration handling ⭐

  • --config-file=FILE — load this configuration file; this implies --no-config. yes that's a real side effect, no cap.
  • --config-lint — check configuration file syntax and then exit. she's a proofreader fr fr 🔍
  • --config-verbose — verbosely log parsing of the configuration files. she will tell you EVERYTHING 🗣️
  • --no-site-config, --no-config — do not load the site-wide configuration file. two names, one job, periodt.
  • --set=PARAM=VALUE — set a configuration parameter. PARAM=VALUE, exactly like that.

🌈 Informational options 🌈

  • --config-help — show a configuration file summary. the sparknotes version 💅
  • --show-config-options — show compilation options. nerd shit, we love it 🤓
  • -?, --help — give this help list. the classic ✨
  • --usage — give a short usage message. tiny. bite-sized.
  • -V, --version — print program version. gotta know her age 👑
bestie, important: mandatory or optional arguments to long options are also mandatory or optional for any corresponding short options. so like, don't think you can sneak around it through the short form. the rules are the rules 🚨

🐛 REPORTING BUGS 🐛

Found something cursed? Report bugs to <bug-mailutils@gnu.org>.

GNU Mailutils home page: <http://mailutils.org>

General help using GNU software: <http://www.gnu.org/gethelp/>

(not me telling you to file bugs, but like, do file them bestie, they wanna know 😭)

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. 🫣 like, none. zero. zilch. read it and weep (or don't, because no warranty, soz).

👀 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.

heads up: 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. they did not write this, ok? don't @ them about it 🙈

mwah 💋 that's the whole page — brought to you by FSF, dated August 2026, living in the COMSATD(8) section of your friendly neighborhood manual. go notify some users about their mail, you absolute legend 👑✨

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