How can I read system mail on my admin account?

Question

On a new server running lucid, I get "you have new mail" in my admin account. However, I don't have a mail command available to read it. Do I need to install it manually (or mutt, etc.), or is a mail client included somewhere in the base install?

Answer 1

Installing bsd-mailx should give you a minimal mail reader command mail. You can rad the mail file with less if you wish. You mail will be a file in /var/mail.

Setting up your mail server for no local delivery and creating an off-host alias for root should get you mail to a central location. Generally, you will want to use a Smarthost for delivery.