Where is root mail going?

[Jake McHenry]

> Hi;
>
> Thanks for the topic.  The time has come for me as a relative newbie to
> properly set up my root's system email.  I am using FC6, on a home
> network with two computers (one a Linux with 2 users and one a
> WindowsXP).  Some dumb questions follow:
>
> On Fri, 2007-03-09 at 19:00 +1000, Michael Fleming wrote:
>> On Fri, 2007-03-09 at 10:53 +0200, Dotan Cohen wrote:
>> > On an FC6 installation that is about two months old, I finally decided
>> > to route roots email to user. I open /etc/aliases and I see this:
>> >
>> > # Person who should get root's mail
>> > #root:          marc
>>   ^^^ Note the comment (#) mark.
>>
> Should be 'root:     bill' --right?  (I am bill)
>

yes

>
>> > Who is marc, and why is he getting root's mail?
>>
>> He isn't. The above example is commented, you can change "marc" to any
>> other local username, remove the hash mark and run "newaliases" to have
>> mail for root redirected to another user (which is one of the first
>> configuration steps an administrator should take)
>>
>
> I use evolution for email, but don't want to get system mail mixed up
> with incoming emails.  How do I set up a special account in evolution?
> Or, can I set it up to use a separate reader like 'mutt'?  What is the
> usual way for root/users to view the system mail?  'bill' would want to
> read the system mail caused by both 'bill' and 'randy' (the second Linux
> user)?  Does WindowsXP generate system mail and should/could I see that
> as well.  The XP mail is on the second computer.
>

I havn't used evolution in a while, but I have rules set up in Outlook to 
put root@ emails into a folder. You should be able to do the same thing in 
evolution.

XP only has the eventlog, no mail.

> What is the usual filtering of system mail?  A lot of it seems to be
> cruft to me.
>
> Any help or suggestions gratefully received.
>
>> >  Should I be worried
>> > that the machine is compromised?
>>
>> It isn't, this is the standard Sendmail (and in Fedora other MTAs using
>> the alternatives system ie. Postfix/Exim) aliases file.
>>
> [snip]
>> Michael.
>
> -- 
> Regards Bill