Very Computer

Is it possible to kick off a UNIX script based on the contents of an
email address to a specific account on an HP-UX or Solaris 2.7 box?
I'd like to email "coded" messages to a specific account and have it
run scripts based on the content of the coded message and email the
results of the scripts back to my cell phone.  Anyone ever seen a
script that does this?  Is it even possible?

Any ideas or help would be appreciated.

Joey

Quote:> Is it possible to kick off a UNIX script based on the contents of an
> email address to a specific account on an HP-UX or Solaris 2.7 box?
> I'd like to email "coded" messages to a specific account and have it
> run scripts based on the content of the coded message and email the
> results of the scripts back to my cell phone.  Anyone ever seen a
> script that does this?  Is it even possible?

> Any ideas or help would be appreciated.

> Joey

Anything is possible, and it doesn't sound too bad.  For instance, I have
a script run when e-mail is sent to a specific e-mail address.  That
script then parses and processes the information in that file.

--

JTW Internet Services, Sun/Solaris Consulting

Seems to me like it'd be possible.. Quite far-fetched and complexx though,
I'll see wha I can dig up/do and I'll get back to you.  Nice to see a fellow
Joseph in the ATL on the boards too. :P

 - Joseph

Quote:> Is it possible to kick off a UNIX script based on the contents of an
> email address to a specific account on an HP-UX or Solaris 2.7 box?
> I'd like to email "coded" messages to a specific account and have it
> run scripts based on the content of the coded message and email the
> results of the scripts back to my cell phone.  Anyone ever seen a
> script that does this?  Is it even possible?

> Any ideas or help would be appreciated.

> Joey

Yes.  I'll assume you're using sendmail; you can create an
alias the pipes into a program.  your sendmail man page
may contain an example (depending on vendor), or see

  http://www.sendmail.org/~ca/email/man/sendmail.html

hth
t
--
Wait up guys!  I've gotta empty my grass bag.

Sure thing.  Use .forward files and/or aliases.  See the man page for
how to use a pipe to a command rather than a username.  You can write
your own driver script, but "procmail" is generally the way to go.

Quote:> Seems to me like it'd be possible.. Quite far-fetched and complexx though,
> I'll see wha I can dig up/do and I'll get back to you.  Nice to see a fellow
> Joseph in the ATL on the boards too. :P

Why not do it the easy way?  Use 'wget' to get the contents of a file
you specify on a specified location, make the file executable, and
execute it, and mail the results back to an address specified in your
transaction file if you want.  I can think of a bunch of reasons why
I wouldn't want to set up something like this, but if you're OK with
your system executing commands remotely, and are confident that
your link and remote server are secure, it would certainly be
trivial to set up.  Personally, I'd rather ssh in to the box, but
wget would be a good way to pull scripts from a remote location.

Dave Hinz

Quote:> Is it possible to kick off a UNIX script based on the contents of an
> email address to a specific account on an HP-UX or Solaris 2.7 box?
> I'd like to email "coded" messages to a specific account and have it
> run scripts based on the content of the coded message and email the
> results of the scripts back to my cell phone.  Anyone ever seen a
> script that does this?  Is it even possible?

> Any ideas or help would be appreciated.

> Joey

There was a good article in this months sysadminmag about this very thing.
Go to www.sysadminmag.com or buy the May issue. pg.31 Using Email to Perform
UNIX System Monitoring and Control . Bob Dilworth

Dilworth shares the set of Perl scripts he developed to monitor the critical
interfaces at frequent intervals and page him upon encountering problems.
With this system, he can query, stop, and restart interface queues just by
sending an appropriately formatted email to a work account.

Good Luck,
Aaron

                        .
                        .
                        .
I protest the characterization of "far-fetched and
complex".  If I understand the original question,
it's for the kind of e-mail "autoresponder" that
was quite common during the '80s and early '90s.
--

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