Comments on: How to Delete Root Mails (Mailbox) File in Linux https://www.tecmint.com/delete-root-mails-mailbox-file-in-linux/ Tecmint - Linux Howtos, Tutorials, Guides, News, Tips and Tricks. Thu, 13 Jul 2023 22:58:41 +0000 hourly 1 By: Ravi Saive https://www.tecmint.com/delete-root-mails-mailbox-file-in-linux/comment-page-1/#comment-1844012 Tue, 12 Jul 2022 05:18:31 +0000 https://www.tecmint.com/?p=28508#comment-1844012 In reply to Peg.

@Peg,

Use sudo while running the command like:

$ sudo > /var/spool/mail/root
]]> By: Peg https://www.tecmint.com/delete-root-mails-mailbox-file-in-linux/comment-page-1/#comment-1843885 Mon, 11 Jul 2022 22:03:28 +0000 https://www.tecmint.com/?p=28508#comment-1843885 When I try to run > /var/spool/mail/root, I receive ~Permission Denied~ error.

How do I get past this???

This is on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS.

]]> By: alex https://www.tecmint.com/delete-root-mails-mailbox-file-in-linux/comment-page-1/#comment-966751 Mon, 05 Feb 2018 13:54:34 +0000 https://www.tecmint.com/?p=28508#comment-966751 I would instead set a .forward in the root home directory to receive root emails on a real account. I think it is bad practice to delete these.

What you miss could be :

  • security alerts
  • log reports / logwatch
  • updates notifications
  • system health alerts
  • misconfigured tasks error messages and so on.

Sorry clearly, I’d rather redirect root email to a real mailbox than deleting it.

Sure, if you first reach it and it is full, then you may need to empty it as a starting point.

For console based email client, i also like mutt.

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