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The easiest method of backing up a protected mail directory is to copy it into an Andrew File System (AFS) directory since these are backed up daily as with mainframes. The only problem with this is that the file servers may be down when one wants to copy his mail directory since, at the time of this writing, these servers are still under active development; however, they are becoming more robust daily. One can read about the current AFS status in the file /../fac/usr/gripe/doc/vice/status.
Using AFS, one could keep his actual mail directory (not a copy thereof) in his AFS home directory which eliminates the issue of backing it up. This is additionally beneficial if the user does not use the same workstation everyday (that is, he does not have his own but shares project owned machines). Two problems with this arrangement result from the AFS being a distributed file system. Besides the chance that the server will be down when the user wants to read mail, performance degrades since messages must always be referenced across the local area network.
Facilities’ official mechanism for backing up protected directories is called sup. This is awkward to use and hard to set up, but a subsection here describes a particular arrangement suitable for the user’s mail directory.
Next: Introduction to Commands and Variables, Previous: Profile Components and Customized Files, Up: The Mail Interface [Contents][Index]