1SENDMAIL(1)                 General Commands Manual                SENDMAIL(1)
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NAME

6       sendmail - Postfix to Sendmail compatibility interface
7

SYNOPSIS

9       sendmail [option ...] [recipient ...]
10
11       mailq
12       sendmail -bp
13
14       newaliases
15       sendmail -I
16

DESCRIPTION

18       The Postfix sendmail(1) command implements the Postfix to Sendmail com‐
19       patibility interface.  For the  sake  of  compatibility  with  existing
20       applications,  some  Sendmail  command-line  options are recognized but
21       silently ignored.
22
23       By default, Postfix sendmail(1) reads a  message  from  standard  input
24       until  EOF  or  until  it  reads  a  line  with only a . character, and
25       arranges for delivery.  Postfix sendmail(1) relies on  the  postdrop(1)
26       command to create a queue file in the maildrop directory.
27
28       Specific  command aliases are provided for other common modes of opera‐
29       tion:
30
31       mailq  List the mail queue. Each entry shows the queue file ID, message
32              size,  arrival  time, sender, and the recipients that still need
33              to be delivered.  If mail could not be delivered upon  the  last
34              attempt, the reason for failure is shown. The queue ID string is
35              followed by an optional status character:
36
37              *      The message is in the active queue, i.e. the  message  is
38                     selected for delivery.
39
40              !      The  message is in the hold queue, i.e. no further deliv‐
41                     ery attempt will be made until  the  mail  is  taken  off
42                     hold.
43
44              This   mode   of  operation  is  implemented  by  executing  the
45              postqueue(1) command.
46
47       newaliases
48              Initialize the alias database.  If no input  file  is  specified
49              (with  the  -oA  option,  see  below), the program processes the
50              file(s) specified with the alias_database configuration  parame‐
51              ter.   If  no alias database type is specified, the program uses
52              the type specified with the default_database_type  configuration
53              parameter.  This mode of operation is implemented by running the
54              postalias(1) command.
55
56              Note: it may take a minute or so before an alias database update
57              becomes  visible.  Use the "postfix reload" command to eliminate
58              this delay.
59
60       These and other features can be selected by specifying the  appropriate
61       combination  of  command-line  options. Some features are controlled by
62       parameters in the main.cf configuration file.
63
64       The following options are recognized:
65
66       -Am (ignored)
67
68       -Ac (ignored)
69              Postfix sendmail uses the same configuration file regardless  of
70              whether or not a message is an initial submission.
71
72       -B body_type
73              The message body MIME type: 7BIT or 8BITMIME.
74
75       -bd    Go  into  daemon  mode. This mode of operation is implemented by
76              executing the "postfix start" command.
77
78       -bh (ignored)
79
80       -bH (ignored)
81              Postfix has no persistent host status database.
82
83       -bi    Initialize alias database. See the newaliases command above.
84
85       -bl    Go into daemon mode. To accept only local  connections  as  with
86              Sendmail´s  -bl  option, specify "inet_interfaces = loopback" in
87              the Postfix main.cf configuration file.
88
89       -bm    Read mail from standard input and arrange for delivery.  This is
90              the default mode of operation.
91
92       -bp    List the mail queue. See the mailq command above.
93
94       -bs    Stand-alone  SMTP  server mode. Read SMTP commands from standard
95              input, and write responses to standard output.   In  stand-alone
96              SMTP  server  mode,  mail relaying and other access controls are
97              disabled by default. To enable them,  run  the  process  as  the
98              mail_owner user.
99
100              This  mode  of  operation is implemented by running the smtpd(8)
101              daemon.
102
103       -bv    Do not collect or deliver a  message.  Instead,  send  an  email
104              report  after  verifying each recipient address.  This is useful
105              for testing address rewriting and routing configurations.
106
107              This feature is available in Postfix version 2.1 and later.
108
109       -C config_file
110
111       -C config_dir
112              The path name of the Postfix main.cf  file,  or  of  its  parent
113              directory.  This  information  is  ignored with Postfix versions
114              before 2.3.
115
116              With all Postfix versions, you can specify a directory  pathname
117              with  the MAIL_CONFIG environment variable to override the loca‐
118              tion of configuration files.
119
120       -F full_name
121              Set the sender full name. This overrides  the  NAME  environment
122              variable, and is used only with messages that have no From: mes‐
123              sage header.
124
125       -f sender
126              Set the envelope sender  address.  This  is  the  address  where
127              delivery problems are sent to. With Postfix versions before 2.1,
128              the  Errors-To:  message  header  overrides  the  error   return
129              address.
130
131       -G     Gateway  (relay)  submission, as opposed to initial user submis‐
132              sion.  Either do not rewrite addresses at all, or update  incom‐
133              plete  addresses  with  the  domain  information  specified with
134              remote_header_rewrite_domain.
135
136              This option is ignored before Postfix version 2.3.
137
138       -h hop_count (ignored)
139              Hop count limit. Use the hopcount_limit configuration  parameter
140              instead.
141
142       -I     Initialize alias database. See the newaliases command above.
143
144       -i     When  reading  a message from standard input, don´t treat a line
145              with only a . character as the end of input.
146
147       -L label (ignored)
148              The logging label. Use the syslog_name  configuration  parameter
149              instead.
150
151       -m (ignored)
152              Backwards compatibility.
153
154       -N dsn (default: 'delay, failure')
155              Delivery  status  notification  control. Specify either a comma-
156              separated list with one or more of  failure  (send  notification
157              when  delivery fails), delay (send notification when delivery is
158              delayed), or success (send  notification  when  the  message  is
159              delivered);  or  specify  never (don't send any notifications at
160              all).
161
162              This feature is available in Postfix 2.3 and later.
163
164       -n (ignored)
165              Backwards compatibility.
166
167       -oAalias_database
168              Non-default alias database. Specify pathname  or  type:pathname.
169              See postalias(1) for details.
170
171       -O option=value (ignored)
172              Set  the named option to value. Use the equivalent configuration
173              parameter in main.cf instead.
174
175       -o7 (ignored)
176
177       -o8 (ignored)
178              To send 8-bit or binary content, use an appropriate MIME  encap‐
179              sulation and specify the appropriate -B command-line option.
180
181       -oi    When  reading  a message from standard input, don´t treat a line
182              with only a . character as the end of input.
183
184       -om (ignored)
185              The sender is never eliminated from alias etc. expansions.
186
187       -o x value (ignored)
188              Set option x to value. Use the equivalent configuration  parame‐
189              ter in main.cf instead.
190
191       -r sender
192              Set  the  envelope  sender  address.  This  is the address where
193              delivery problems are sent to. With Postfix versions before 2.1,
194              the   Errors-To:  message  header  overrides  the  error  return
195              address.
196
197       -R return
198              Delivery status notification control.  Specify "hdrs" to  return
199              only  the header when a message bounces, "full" to return a full
200              copy (the default behavior).
201
202              The -R option specifies an upper bound; Postfix will return only
203              the  header, when a full copy would exceed the bounce_size_limit
204              setting.
205
206              This option is ignored before Postfix version 2.10.
207
208       -q     Attempt to deliver all queued mail. This is implemented by  exe‐
209              cuting the postqueue(1) command.
210
211              Warning:  flushing  undeliverable mail frequently will result in
212              poor delivery performance of all other mail.
213
214       -qinterval (ignored)
215              The interval between queue runs. Use the queue_run_delay config‐
216              uration parameter instead.
217
218       -qIqueueid
219              Schedule immediate delivery of mail with the specified queue ID.
220              This option is implemented by executing  the  postqueue(1)  com‐
221              mand, and is available with Postfix version 2.4 and later.
222
223       -qRsite
224              Schedule  immediate  delivery of all mail that is queued for the
225              named site. This option accepts only site names that are  eligi‐
226              ble  for the "fast flush" service, and is implemented by execut‐
227              ing the postqueue(1) command.  See flush(8) for more information
228              about the "fast flush" service.
229
230       -qSsite
231              This  command  is  not implemented. Use the slower "sendmail -q"
232              command instead.
233
234       -t     Extract recipients from message headers. These are added to  any
235              recipients specified on the command line.
236
237              With Postfix versions prior to 2.1, this option requires that no
238              recipient addresses are specified on the command line.
239
240       -U (ignored)
241              Initial user submission.
242
243       -V envid
244              Specify the envelope ID for notification by servers that support
245              DSN.
246
247              This feature is available in Postfix 2.3 and later.
248
249       -XV (Postfix 2.2 and earlier: -V)
250              Variable  Envelope Return Path. Given an envelope sender address
251              of the form owner-listname@origin,  each  recipient  user@domain
252              receives mail with a personalized envelope sender address.
253
254              By  default,  the personalized envelope sender address is owner-
255              listname+user=domain@origin. The default + and = characters  are
256              configurable   with  the  default_verp_delimiters  configuration
257              parameter.
258
259       -XVxy (Postfix 2.2 and earlier: -Vxy)
260              As -XV, but uses x and  y  as  the  VERP  delimiter  characters,
261              instead of the characters specified with the default_verp_delim‐
262              iters configuration parameter.
263
264       -v     Send an email report of the first delivery attempt (Postfix ver‐
265              sions  2.1 and later). Mail delivery always happens in the back‐
266              ground. When multiple -v options are given, enable verbose  log‐
267              ging for debugging purposes.
268
269       -X log_file (ignored)
270              Log mailer traffic. Use the debug_peer_list and debug_peer_level
271              configuration parameters instead.
272

SECURITY

274       By design, this program is not set-user (or group) id. However, it must
275       handle  data  from  untrusted, possibly remote, users.  Thus, the usual
276       precautions need to be taken against malicious inputs.
277

DIAGNOSTICS

279       Problems are logged to syslogd(8) and to the standard error stream.
280

ENVIRONMENT

282       MAIL_CONFIG
283              Directory with Postfix configuration files.
284
285       MAIL_VERBOSE (value does not matter)
286              Enable verbose logging for debugging purposes.
287
288       MAIL_DEBUG (value does not matter)
289              Enable debugging with an external command, as specified with the
290              debugger_command configuration parameter.
291
292       NAME   The  sender full name. This is used only with messages that have
293              no From: message header. See also the -F option above.
294

CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS

296       The following main.cf parameters are especially relevant to  this  pro‐
297       gram.   The  text  below  provides  only a parameter summary. See post‐
298       conf(5) for more details including examples.
299

COMPATIBILITY CONTROLS

301       Available with Postfix 2.9 and later:
302
303       sendmail_fix_line_endings (always)
304              Controls how the Postfix sendmail command converts email message
305              line endings from <CR><LF> into UNIX format (<LF>).
306

TROUBLE SHOOTING CONTROLS

308       The  DEBUG_README file gives examples of how to trouble shoot a Postfix
309       system.
310
311       debugger_command (empty)
312              The external command to execute when a Postfix daemon program is
313              invoked with the -D option.
314
315       debug_peer_level (2)
316              The  increment  in verbose logging level when a remote client or
317              server matches a pattern in the debug_peer_list parameter.
318
319       debug_peer_list (empty)
320              Optional list of remote client or  server  hostname  or  network
321              address  patterns  that  cause  the  verbose  logging  level  to
322              increase by the amount specified in $debug_peer_level.
323

ACCESS CONTROLS

325       Available in Postfix version 2.2 and later:
326
327       authorized_flush_users (static:anyone)
328              List of users who are authorized to flush the queue.
329
330       authorized_mailq_users (static:anyone)
331              List of users who are authorized to view the queue.
332
333       authorized_submit_users (static:anyone)
334              List of users who are authorized to submit mail with  the  send‐
335              mail(1) command (and with the privileged postdrop(1) helper com‐
336              mand).
337

RESOURCE AND RATE CONTROLS

339       bounce_size_limit (50000)
340              The maximal amount of original message text that is  sent  in  a
341              non-delivery notification.
342
343       fork_attempts (5)
344              The maximal number of attempts to fork() a child process.
345
346       fork_delay (1s)
347              The delay between attempts to fork() a child process.
348
349       hopcount_limit (50)
350              The maximal number of Received:  message headers that is allowed
351              in the primary message headers.
352
353       queue_run_delay (300s)
354              The time between deferred queue  scans  by  the  queue  manager;
355              prior to Postfix 2.4 the default value was 1000s.
356

FAST FLUSH CONTROLS

358       The  ETRN_README file describes configuration and operation details for
359       the Postfix "fast flush" service.
360
361       fast_flush_domains ($relay_domains)
362              Optional list of destinations that are eligible for per-destina‐
363              tion logfiles with mail that is queued to those destinations.
364

VERP CONTROLS

366       The  VERP_README  file describes configuration and operation details of
367       Postfix support for variable envelope return path addresses.
368
369       default_verp_delimiters (+=)
370              The two default VERP delimiter characters.
371
372       verp_delimiter_filter (-=+)
373              The characters Postfix accepts as VERP delimiter  characters  on
374              the Postfix sendmail(1) command line and in SMTP commands.
375

MISCELLANEOUS CONTROLS

377       alias_database (see 'postconf -d' output)
378              The  alias databases for local(8) delivery that are updated with
379              "newaliases" or with "sendmail -bi".
380
381       command_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
382              The location of all postfix administrative commands.
383
384       config_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
385              The default location of the Postfix main.cf and  master.cf  con‐
386              figuration files.
387
388       daemon_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
389              The directory with Postfix support programs and daemon programs.
390
391       default_database_type (see 'postconf -d' output)
392              The default database type for use in newaliases(1), postalias(1)
393              and postmap(1) commands.
394
395       delay_warning_time (0h)
396              The time after which the sender receives a copy of  the  message
397              headers of mail that is still queued.
398
399       enable_errors_to (no)
400              Report  mail  delivery  errors to the address specified with the
401              non-standard Errors-To: message header, instead of the  envelope
402              sender  address  (this  feature  is removed with Postfix version
403              2.2, is turned off by default with Postfix version 2.1,  and  is
404              always turned on with older Postfix versions).
405
406       mail_owner (postfix)
407              The  UNIX  system  account  that owns the Postfix queue and most
408              Postfix daemon processes.
409
410       queue_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
411              The location of the Postfix top-level queue directory.
412
413       remote_header_rewrite_domain (empty)
414              Don't rewrite message headers from remote clients  at  all  when
415              this  parameter is empty; otherwise, rewrite message headers and
416              append the specified domain name to incomplete addresses.
417
418       syslog_facility (mail)
419              The syslog facility of Postfix logging.
420
421       syslog_name (see 'postconf -d' output)
422              The mail system name that is prepended to the  process  name  in
423              syslog  records,  so  that  "smtpd" becomes, for example, "post‐
424              fix/smtpd".
425

FILES

427       /var/spool/postfix, mail queue
428       /etc/postfix, configuration files
429

SEE ALSO

431       pickup(8), mail pickup daemon
432       qmgr(8), queue manager
433       smtpd(8), SMTP server
434       flush(8), fast flush service
435       postsuper(1), queue maintenance
436       postalias(1), create/update/query alias database
437       postdrop(1), mail posting utility
438       postfix(1), mail system control
439       postqueue(1), mail queue control
440       syslogd(8), system logging
441

README_FILES

443       Use "postconf readme_directory" or "postconf html_directory" to  locate
444       this information.
445       DEBUG_README, Postfix debugging howto
446       ETRN_README, Postfix ETRN howto
447       VERP_README, Postfix VERP howto
448

LICENSE

450       The Secure Mailer license must be distributed with this software.
451

AUTHOR(S)

453       Wietse Venema
454       IBM T.J. Watson Research
455       P.O. Box 704
456       Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA
457
458
459
460                                                                   SENDMAIL(1)
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