First, see the FAQ Email 14, but note that on the MetaArray, a .forward is not needed - the mail server on ma enables procmail processing for all users with a .procmailrc in their home directory.

• SDF receives mail for user from remote sender
• SDF's local mail delivery agent (MDA) consults $HOME/.forward
• if .forward calls procmail, then the MDA pipes the mail to procmail for filtering, with $HOME/.procmailrc
• Procmail runs on the mail machine for which $MAILDIR (/mail/maildir/…) is local (not across the NFS (network file system) wire.
• Best practice is for procmail filtering destinations to be local to where procmail is running, in $MAILDIR.
• Unfiltered mail is then returned by procmail to the MDA which deposits it in $MAIL, also local to the mail machine, and is the users INBOX
• User clients (i.e. mail, mutt, alpine, etc.) may read mail from $MAIL, and from $MAILDIR files, across the NFS wire to the $HOME machine for reading.
• The local client may then store the mail locally in $HOME or back on the mail machine in $MAILDIR

For procmail utilization ideas, see the Email, Advanced Topics tutorial.

$Id: procmail.html,v 1.2 2010/05/02 21:52:34 avoyager Exp $ Procmail on SDF... - traditional link (using RCS)