Here are some reasons why a ~/.forward file may not work.

• The syntax of the file may be incorrect. There is no "man" page for .forward files. However, the syntax of the addr_n option in a sendmail aliases file is the same as that of a line in a .forward file.

• A .forward file must be stored in your home directory. In particular, it must be stored in your directory as seen by the Linux cluster. Use echo $HOME to make sure you're putting the ~.forward file in the correct place.

• If the mail server can't mount your home directory, it can't see your ~/.forward file. If your workstation is off, or is disconnected from the network, then the mail server cannot use the file to forward or otherwise process your mail. Instead, it will just append your message to your Nevis mail INBOX.

  By the way, the number one reason why the mail server slows down is that it tries to access a user's home directory, but the system that contains the directory is not available. The mail server has to wait for the NFS mount to time out before it can continue processing your e-mail. Even you don't have a ~/.forward file, the mail server has to check for one anyway (it also has to check if you have a ~/.procmailrc file).

  The mail server does not completely halt as it tries to mount a non-existent system, but the system load increases dramatically. (Yes, the NFS parameters that control how long the mail server waits have already been trimmed to the bare minimum.)

• Check the permissions on your home directory (ls -ld $HOME). Did you, in a burst of generosity, enable group- or world-write permissions? Don't do this; not only will the mail server refuse to process any ~/.forward or ~/.procmailrc files in a directory with such permissions, but ssh will be inhibited as well.

  In this case, you should restore your home directory's correct permissions with:

  chmod 755 $HOME

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