Configure Zimbra Out-of-Office Replies from the Command Line

Illustrative example: Taylor, an administrator at a small company, needs an out-of-office reply for the mailbox taylor@example.com during a planned October absence. This is a hypothetical example, not a report of a live configuration or test. The same command pattern can help a Zimbra administrator configure one mailbox without signing in as the mailbox owner.

Zimbra stores this setting as account preferences. The command-line tool zmprov can write the reply text, turn the reply on, and set start and end dates. The key is to set the message and schedule on the correct account, then confirm that the account’s out-of-office feature is allowed by its Class of Service (COS). The official Zimbra Tech Center page for this task is marked as a work in progress and categorized for older ZCS releases. Zimbra’s public “latest” Administrator Guide is identified as Zimbra Network Edition 8.8.15, revised December 12, 2022. Because documentation coverage and attributes can differ by release, check the installed server’s own attribute definitions before applying commands on production.

Before changing the mailbox

Run provisioning commands as the Zimbra operating-system account on a mailbox server, typically by switching to zimbra:

su - zimbra

Use the account’s primary email address, not a display name or an alias, unless you have confirmed that the alias resolves to the intended account. In Taylor’s example, the target is taylor@example.com. If your installation is multi-server, connect to the appropriate Zimbra environment and follow your organization’s admin access policy.

First ask the local schema whether the main preference exists:

zmprov desc -a zimbraPrefOutOfOfficeReply
zmprov desc -a zimbraPrefOutOfOfficeReplyEnabled
zmprov desc -a zimbraPrefOutOfOfficeFromDate
zmprov desc -a zimbraPrefOutOfOfficeUntilDate

This check is useful because the command-line reference page does not replace the schema bundled with your installed release. If an attribute is unknown, stop and consult the administrator guide or support channel for that exact Zimbra version rather than copying a command from a different release.

Check whether the mailbox is allowed to use the feature

Zimbra distinguishes between the account preference that turns on a user’s reply and the feature flag that permits Out of Office for the account or its COS. Inspect both before troubleshooting:

zmprov ga taylor@example.com \
  zimbraFeatureOutOfOfficeReplyEnabled \
  zimbraPrefOutOfOfficeReplyEnabled

The account preference zimbraPrefOutOfOfficeReplyEnabled must be TRUE for a reply to be sent. The feature flag zimbraFeatureOutOfOfficeReplyEnabled can also prevent replies when it is not enabled for the account or inherited COS. If the preference is disabled by policy, ask the Zimbra administrator responsible for that COS to review it; changing only the mailbox preference may not override a disabled feature.

Set a reply and turn it on

For Taylor’s absence message, use zmprov ma, the short form of modifyAccount. Put the text in single quotes so spaces are passed as one value. This example avoids apostrophes inside the message, which would need additional shell escaping:

zmprov ma taylor@example.com \
  zimbraPrefOutOfOfficeReply 'I am out of the office. I will return on October 19. For urgent requests, contact Morgan Lee at morgan@example.com.' \
  zimbraPrefOutOfOfficeReplyEnabled TRUE

The command writes two values: the message and the enabled preference. If you only change the reply text while the enabled preference is FALSE, no auto-reply will be sent. If you only enable the preference but leave the reply text blank, the result may be incomplete or rejected by the client interface. Use a short message that gives senders a useful return date or alternate contact without sharing unnecessary personal details.

Schedule the reply for a date range

For a planned absence, Zimbra’s account attributes include a start date and an end date. They use a generalized-time value; the following example uses a UTC timestamp in YYYYMMDDHHMMSSZ form. Convert the intended local times to UTC before running it. Here, Taylor’s window begins at 9:00 UTC on October 12 and ends at 00:00 UTC on October 17:

zmprov ma taylor@example.com \
  zimbraPrefOutOfOfficeFromDate 20261012090000Z \
  zimbraPrefOutOfOfficeUntilDate 20261017000000Z

The start and end values control when incoming mail is eligible for an out-of-office notification. Zimbra’s process notes say the date check is ignored when both date attributes are unset. Treat the end value as the moment the window closes, not as a full extra day. If your company uses a local business time zone, double-check the conversion to avoid a reply starting or ending several hours early or late.

If a date range is unnecessary, omit both date attributes and turn the preference off manually when the absence ends. If Taylor’s dates change, update both values and read them back before relying on the schedule.

Use a separate message for external senders

Some Zimbra releases support a distinct message for external senders. The relevant attributes include zimbraPrefOutOfOfficeExternalReply and zimbraPrefOutOfOfficeExternalReplyEnabled. First check their availability with zmprov desc -a on your server. If supported, a separate external reply can be set like this:

zmprov ma taylor@example.com \
  zimbraPrefOutOfOfficeExternalReply 'I am away from the office. Please contact support@example.com for assistance.' \
  zimbraPrefOutOfOfficeExternalReplyEnabled TRUE

Whether a sender counts as external depends on the server’s sender classification and domain settings. Do not assume that every address outside the visible company domain will receive the same message. If policy requires no external auto-reply, Zimbra documents a suppression preference on some releases; confirm that attribute with the local schema before using it. Keep external replies especially brief because they disclose information to people outside the organization.

Verify the saved settings

Read back the values on Taylor’s account:

zmprov ga taylor@example.com \
  zimbraPrefOutOfOfficeReply \
  zimbraPrefOutOfOfficeReplyEnabled \
  zimbraPrefOutOfOfficeFromDate \
  zimbraPrefOutOfOfficeUntilDate

Check that the reply text is correct, the enabled value is TRUE, and the dates match the UTC values you intended. If you configured the external message, include both external attributes in this query. For an end-to-end check, send a normal message from a valid test mailbox that is not the target account and confirm the reply arrives. A repeat message from the same sender may not produce another notification immediately because Zimbra caches addresses that have already received an out-of-office reply.

Turn the reply off after the absence

When Taylor returns, disable the preference while keeping the message and dates available for reference or reuse:

zmprov ma taylor@example.com zimbraPrefOutOfOfficeReplyEnabled FALSE

Read back the enabled attribute to confirm it is FALSE. Disabling the main preference does not necessarily clear the stored reply text or date values. If you reuse the account setting later, update the message and date range before turning it on again.

Common reasons a sender may not receive a reply

• The feature is disabled: check both the account preference and the account or COS feature flag.
• The message is outside the scheduled window: read the saved generalized-time values and verify your UTC conversion.
• The incoming message is filtered: Zimbra’s notification flow excludes messages that land in Junk or Trash and can suppress replies for bulk, mailing-list, or auto-submitted messages, as well as messages with an empty or invalid envelope sender.
• The same sender already received a reply: the cache-duration preference can limit how often the same address is notified. The Zimbra configuration reference lists a seven-day default, though account or COS settings and product version can affect the behavior.
• The external reply is not configured as expected: check whether the external-reply attributes exist and how the server classifies internal senders.
• The account value did not save: run zmprov ga again and compare the returned attributes with the values you entered.

For Taylor’s illustrative absence, the setup is ready when the mailbox returns the intended message, the enabled flag is on, and both time boundaries are correct. A real production change should also be checked against the local Zimbra version’s schema and organizational mail policy.

Official references

• Zimbra Tech Center: CLI option to enable Out of Office for one account
• Zimbra Tech Center: zmprov command reference
• Zimbra Tech Center: Out-of-Office notification process and suppression conditions
• Zimbra configuration reference: date and cache-duration attributes
• Zimbra Collaboration Administrator Guide