[Pkg-exim4-users] Local delivery to accounts without home directories

[Maarten Bezemer]

On Wed, 28 Jan 2009, Robert Steinmetz AIA wrote:

> Sebastian Tennant wrote:
> > Quoth "Neil S. Briscoe" <neil.briscoe at censornet.com>:
> > 
> >> If the user doesn't have a home directory, you have to give the poor 
> >> mail system some clue as to where it should deliver things.
> >>
> >> Where did you have in mind?
> >
> > The usual location, i.e., the mbox file in the spool directory;
> > /var/mail/<user> on a stock Debian box. 
> >
> There is a configuration option to deliver all mail to /var/spool/<user> 
> if that is what you want.
> I understood you wanted a conditional delivery, to use /var/spool only 
> if there is no user home directory.
> I don't know how to accomplish that.

Normally I think delivery is deferred if exim cannot check the user's home 
directory for .forward file or procmail rc file.
IIRC there is a home_directory option you can set to try to fool this 
check. For example, use /home/fakehomedir for all your users.

But in fact, if your users have any need for configuration files, or even 
pop bulletin support or something like that, you're probably going to need 
a home directory for each user anyway.

Or are you planning to use something like teapop or courier/cyrus (I 
always forget which does what) with virtual pop boxes?

HTH,
Maarten