CentOS - Oct 2009 - /etc/aliases file wildcard

I have been trying to find out if the /etc/aliases file
can accept wildcards in the user name

I was hoping that a line like or similiar:

machine*: myaccount

would take any name matching machine* and forward onto the myaccount 
mailbox.

man aliases didnt really help me nor did I find anything else.
Is there a way to pattern match in /etc/aliases with an * or something?

Thanks,

Jerry

Jerry Geis writes:
> I have been trying to find out if the /etc/aliases file
> can accept wildcards in the user name
> 
> I was hoping that a line like or similiar:
> 
> machine*: myaccount
> 
> would take any name matching machine* and forward onto the myaccount 
> mailbox.
> 
> man aliases didnt really help me nor did I find anything else.
> Is there a way to pattern match in /etc/aliases with an * or something?
 Not supported. Maybe doable in postfix with header_checks and REDIRECT.

 If you control the recipient address on the sending end, you could change
 it to myaccount+machine at domain and not need the alias.

 Or if you know all possible values of machine*, use a script or Makefile
 to generate a file with all these aliases and :include it in your main
 aliases file. The disadvantage is this is not maintenance-free.

On Wed, Oct 28, 2009 at 3:14 AM, Jerry Geis <geisj at pagestation.com>
wrote:
> I have been trying to find out if the /etc/aliases file
> can accept wildcards in the user name
>
> I was hoping that a line like or similiar:
>
> machine*: myaccount
>
> would take any name matching machine* and forward onto the myaccount
> mailbox.
>
> man aliases didnt really help me nor did I find anything else.
> Is there a way to pattern match in /etc/aliases with an * or something?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jerry
I think that it is possible to do this by using postfix and the
/etc/postfix/virtual config file.

Regards,

Radu

Jerry Geis wrote:
> I have been trying to find out if the /etc/aliases file
> can accept wildcards in the user name
> 
> I was hoping that a line like or similiar:
> 
> machine*: myaccount
> 
> would take any name matching machine* and forward onto the myaccount 
> mailbox.
> 
> man aliases didnt really help me nor did I find anything else.
> Is there a way to pattern match in /etc/aliases with an * or something?
I don't think this is possible.  You can enable getting a copy of bounces to
the
postmaster account, but the bounce is still delivered to invalid addresses.  Or 
you could use a milter like MimeDefang to alter the destination.

-- 
   Les Mikesell
    lesmikesell at gmail.com