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LFCS · Question #472

The user bob complains that he cannot access his email. In which directory would you look to see if there is any deliverable email for him?

The correct answer is A. /var/spool/mail. To locate deliverable email for a user in traditional Linux/Unix systems, you would check the standard mail spool directory.

Submitted by ngozi_ng· Apr 18, 2026Operation of Running Systems

Question

The user bob complains that he cannot access his email. In which directory would you look to see if there is any deliverable email for him?

Options

  • A/var/spool/mail
  • B/var/mail/mqueue
  • C/var/spool/mqueue
  • D/home/bob/.mail

How the community answered

(59 responses)
  • A
    93% (55)
  • B
    3% (2)
  • C
    2% (1)
  • D
    2% (1)

Why each option

To locate deliverable email for a user in traditional Linux/Unix systems, you would check the standard mail spool directory.

A/var/spool/mailCorrect

In standard Unix-like systems, incoming email for users is typically stored in individual files under the /var/spool/mail directory, with each file named after the respective user.

B/var/mail/mqueue

/var/mail/mqueue is not a standard location for user mailboxes; 'mqueue' is often related to temporary message queues for outbound or delayed mail.

C/var/spool/mqueue

/var/spool/mqueue is primarily used by Mail Transfer Agents (MTAs) like Sendmail to queue messages for delivery, not for storing received user mail.

D/home/bob/.mail

/home/bob/.mail might be a local mail directory used by a specific mail client, but it's not the primary system-managed inbox for incoming mail.

Concept tested: Standard Linux mail spool directory

Source: https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man7/mail.7.html

Topics

#Email#Mailbox#File System Paths#Mail Spool

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