3.4.7 Personal and System-wide Configuration Files

Upon startup, mail reads the contents of the two command files: the system-wide configuration file, and the user's configuration file. Each line read from these files is processed like a usual mail command.

When run with `--norc' (`-N') option, mail does not read the contents of system-wide configuration file. The user's file, if it exists, is always processed.

The user's configuration file is located in the user's home directory and is named `.mailrc'. The location and name of the system-wide configuration file is determined when configuring the package via `--with-mail-rc' option. It defaults to `sysconfdir/mail.rc'.