Howto Forward root’s mail to your inbox

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If you want to read these system messages, you can always do sudo mutt -f /var/mail/root if you are familiar with mutt. However, an easier and more efficient way to check this mail would be to have it forwarded to your user's local inbox, and then read it with your favorite email reader.

Note:- Replace username with your account name.

First, you need a mailbox, preferably with all of root's old mail already in it.

cd /var/mail

sudo cp root username

sudo chown username username

sudo chgrp username mail

That creates a mailbox for your username with the appropriate user and group permissions. The contents of the mailbox are a copy of root's mailbox.

Now you need to forward all of root's incoming mail to your inbox.

sudo gedit /root/.forward

Enter the following line save and exit the file

username@localhost

Now, you will receive any mail sent to root. To make things more convenient, let's set up Evolution to read the mail.

Change the permissions of /var/mail directory if you get any permission errors in Thunderbird or Evolution mail client

sudo chmod 777 /var/mail

Open up Evolution. In Tools -> Settings -> Mail Accounts, click Add. Enter your Full Name if you wish, and your local mail address username@localhost, then click Forward.

For server type, select "Standard Unix mbox spool or directory." For Path, enter /var/mail/username , then click Forward.

The options on the next screen are optional.

On the next screen, select Sendmail for the Server Type, then click Forward. Name the account however you wish. Use username@localhost, Local Mail, or something similar. Now you're finished.

To test, compose a mail to root@localhost and send it. Then click Send/Receive. You should see the new mail pop up in your inbox.

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