The Basics

In order to use massmail to send out the same piece of e-mail to all the users, you will need two text files.

1. A text file of all the e-mail addresses. Each e-mail address should be on a separate line.
   Note: Listing the userIDs alone will NOT work.  You must have the full email addresses.
2. A text file of the e-mail message that you would like to send.

These text files can either be generated using a text editor on UNIX such as emacs or can be generated on your Macintosh or PC and then transferred over to your Andrew UNIX account. The files should be located in the same directory (this can be your private directory if you do not want others to be able to view your files).

Mac Users Note: When creating the text files on a Mac, sometimes the text editor will insert odd characters (m-lines) that are invisible to see, but that cause errors when running massmail.  Follow the steps in the Mac User Note section to remove the "m-lines."

Once you have created the appropriate text files, follow these steps to then send the message:

1. Connect to a UNIX server via an authenticated telnet program such as NiftyTelnet or by using an SSH (secure shell) client.
2. Change into the directory which has your files. Massmail uses the following syntax:
   
   % massmail user_file subject message_file
   • user_file is the file name of the text file which contains the list of users that you would like to send the message to
   • subject is the subject of the e-mail message. The subject should appear in double-quotes.
   • message_file is the file name of the text file which contains the e-mail message itself

For example, if your users list is in the file named staff.txt your message is in the file named announcement.txt, and you would like the subject line to appear as "Special Announcement from the Provost", you should type the following at the UNIX prompt:

% massmail staff.txt "Special Announcement from the Provost" announcement.txt

Last Updated: 10/10/07