E-mail alias

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An e-mail alias is simply a forwarding e-mail address. The term alias expansion is sometimes used to indicate a specific mode of email forwarding, thereby implying a more generic meaning of the term e-mail alias as an address that is forwarded in a simplistic fashion^[1].

[edit] Usage

Email aliases can be created on a Mail server. Each e-mail alias simply forwards e-mail messages on to each specified e-mail address. E-Mail aliases are often used to create handy replacements for long or difficult-to-remember e-mail addresses. They can also be used to create generic e-mail addresses such as webmaster@example.com and info@example.com.

On UNIX-like systems, email aliases may be placed into the file /etc/aliases and have the form:

local-alias-name: adifferentlocaluser, anotherlocaluser, an@external.user.example.com

[edit] Notes

1. ^ RFC 2821 defines alias expansion as opposed to the list expansion of mailing lists, noting that the replacement of the address to whom bounce messages are returned makes a key difference.