What to do when you get a "mailbox full" warning

I received a warning that my mailbox is too full. What do I do?

SACS has implemented this warning to limit the size of mailboxes in the spool area. The mailbox size limit is currently 100MB.

If you've received this notice, you must delete or move messages in order to make room in your mailbox.

It is possible that the email-reading program on your computer has been saving deleted messages to your SACS account. Check the appropriate settings in the reader, as they often revert to a default setting which stores deleted email onto the server.

How to delete messages on the Unix server using pine

1. Log onto the server. Type pine at the Unix prompt and press Return. You will be taken to Pine's Main Menu:

socr:<01> pine        (Your prompt may display differently from this example)

Sample of Pine Main Menu

PINE 4.10 MAIN MENU

Folder: INBOX 6 Messages

   



       ?     HELP               -  Get help using Pine



       C     COMPOSE MESSAGE    -  Compose and send/post a message



       I     MESSAGE INDEX      -  View messages in current folder



       L     FOLDER LIST        -  Select a folder OR news group to view



       A     ADDRESS BOOK       -  Update address book



       S     SETUP              -  Configure Pine Options



       Q     QUIT               -  Leave the Pine program







   Copyright 1989-1999.  PINE is a trademark of the University of Washington.



? Help                     P PrevCmd                 R RelNotes

O OTHER CMDS > [ListFldrs] N NextCmd                 K KBLock

2. Using the arrow keys, highlight the line "I MESSAGE INDEX -View messages in the current folder" and press Return.

PINE 4.10 MAIN MENU	Folder: INBOX 6 Messages
? HELP - Get help using Pine C COMPOSE MESSAGE - Compose and send/post a message
I MESSAGE INDEX	- View messages in current folder
L FOLDER LIST - Select a folder OR news group to view A ADDRESS BOOK - Update address book S SETUP - Configure Pine Options Q QUIT - Leave the Pine program Copyright 1989-1999. PINE is a trademark of the University of Washington. ? Help P PrevCmd R RelNotes O OTHER CMDS > [ListFldrs] N NextCmd K KBLock

A list of mail headers will appear:

PINE 4.10 MESSAGE INDEX

Folder: INBOX Message 1 OF 5 NEW

+ N   1 Oct  7 To: Jane DOE   (1,041) test
+ N   2 Oct  7 To: Jane DOE   (1,041) test
+ N   3 Oct  7 To: Jane DOE   (1,046) your mail
+ N   4 Oct  7 To: Jane DOE   (1,041) mail
+ N   5 Oct  7 To: Jane DOE   (1,046) test mail

            
? Help       < FldrList   P PrevMsg       - PrevPage D Delete     R Reply

O OTHER CMDS > [ViewMsg]  N NextMsg     Spc NextPage U Undelete   F Forward

3. Use the arrow keys to scroll through the message header list. As you scroll down the list of mail headers, search for messages to delete. Look carefully for messages which contain large attached files. These files are often responsible for filling your mailbox to capacity. Delete large files or move them to your home directory.

To delete messages, highlight the header of the message you wish to delete. Press d. The letter D will appear next to the header:

PINE 4.10 MESSAGE INDEX

Folder: INBOX Message 5 OF 5 DEL

+ D 1 Oct 7 To: Jane DOE (1,041) test + D 2 Oct 7 To: Jane DOE (1,041) test + D 3 Oct 7 To: Jane DOE (1,046) your mail + D 4 Oct 7 To: Jane DOE (1,041) mail + D 5 Oct 7 To: Jane DOE (1,046) test mail ? Help < FldrList P PrevMsg - PrevPage D Delete R Reply O OTHER CMDS > [ViewMsg] N NextMsg Spc NextPage U Undelete F Forward

4. Repeat this procedure for all of your saved and sent mail folders.

5. When you quit pine, you will be asked whether you want to expunge the deleted messages. Press y to delete and quit the program.

How to save messages to your home directory using pine

To save your mail in your home directory, use the Export (E) command.

1. From the message inbox of any mail folder, highlight the message you want to export:

PINE 4.10 MESSAGE INDEX

Folder: INBOX Message 1 OF 5 NEW

+ N   1 Oct  7 To: Jane DOE   (1,041) test
+ N   2 Oct  7 To: Jane DOE   (1,041) test
+ N   3 Oct  7 To: Jane DOE   (1,046) your mail
+ N   4 Oct  7 To: Jane DOE   (1,041) mail

+ N   5 Oct  7 To: Jane DOE   (1,046) test mail

             
       
 
 ? Help    FldrList      P PrevMsg       - PrevPage   D Delete    R Reply


O OTHER CMDS  [ViewMsg]  N NextMsg     Spc NextPage   U Undelete   F Forward

2. Enter O for "Other Commands." Your menu will change to look like this:

PINE 4.10 MESSAGE INDEX

Folder: INBOX Message 1 OF 5 NEW

+ N   1 Oct  7 To: Jane DOE   (1,041) test
+ N   2 Oct  7 To: Jane DOE   (1,041) test
+ N   3 Oct  7 To: Jane DOE   (1,046) your mail
+ N   4 Oct  7 To: Jane DOE   (1,041) mail

+ N   5 Oct  7 To: Jane DOE   (1,046) test mail

        ? Help       M Main Menu  C Compose     Tab NextNew  % Print      S Save

        O OTHER CMDS Q Quit Pine  G GotoFldr      W WhereIs  T TakeAddr   E Export

3. Enter e to export your highlighted message.You will be asked where you want the file copied. Type in the name of the file where you want to export the message and press Return:

PINE 4.10 MESSAGE INDEX

Folder: INBOX Message 1 OF 5 NEW

+ N   1 Oct  7 To: Jane DOE   (1,041) test
+ N   2 Oct  7 To: Jane DOE   (1,041) test
+ N   3 Oct  7 To: Jane DOE   (1,046) your mail
+ N   4 Oct  7 To: Jane DOE   (1,041) mail

+ N   5 Oct  7 To: Jane DOE   (1,046) test mail

        
EXPORT: Copy message to file in home directory: mymail

 ^G Help       ^T To Files          Ret Accept      ^C Cancel

4. In the example above, the highlighted message will be exported to a home directory file called mymail.

How to delete and save messages on the Unix server using the mail command

1. Type mail at the Unix prompt and press Return.

socr:<22> mail   (Your prompt may display differently from this example)

Mail $Revision: 1.3 $Type ? for help. "/usr/spool/mail/doe": 6 messages 1 new 5 unread 1 MAILER-DAEMON@cg Mon Jun 28 15:51 12/511 "DON'T DELETE THIS MESSAGE -" 2 jdoe@cgl.ucsf Mon Jun 28 15:34 50/1513 "email termination" 3 jdoe@cgl.ucsf Mon Jun 28 15:50; 27/1119 "test" 4 jdoe@cgl.ucsf Mon Jun 28 15:51 27/1122 "testing" 5 jdoe@cgl.ucsf Mon Jun 28 15:51 27/1128 "testing again" 6 jdoe@cgl.ucsf Mon Jun 28 15:51 27/1122 "test"

2. At the prompt, type the message number to display the message, or press Return until the desired message is displayed.

3. To delete a message, type d at the mail prompt. The currently displayed message will be deleted. If you wish to delete a string of messages, you may type the messages numbers at the prompt:

{Mail}& d 1-5

4. To save a message to a file, type s at the prompt along with the desired filename:

{Mail}& s myfile      (Your mail prompt may display differently from this example).

[This example sends the currently displayed message to a file called myfile.]

5. To exit mail, type q to quit the program.