1SENDMAIL(1) General Commands Manual SENDMAIL(1)
2
6 sendmail - Postfix to Sendmail compatibility interface
7
9 sendmail [option ...] [recipient ...]
10 mailq
12 sendmail -bp
13 newaliases
15 sendmail -I
16
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 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 Specific command aliases are provided for other common modes of opera‐
29 tion:
30 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 * The message is in the active queue, i.e. the message is
38 selected for delivery.
39 ! 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 This mode of operation is implemented by executing the
45 postqueue(1) command.
46 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 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 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 The following options are recognized:
65 -Am (ignored)
67 -Ac (ignored)
69 Postfix sendmail uses the same configuration file regardless of
70 whether or not a message is an initial submission.
71 -B body_type
73 The message body MIME type: 7BIT or 8BITMIME.
74 -bd Go into daemon mode. This mode of operation is implemented by
76 executing the "postfix start" command.
77 -bh (ignored)
79 -bH (ignored)
81 Postfix has no persistent host status database.
82 -bi Initialize alias database. See the newaliases command above.
84 -bm Read mail from standard input and arrange for delivery. This is
86 the default mode of operation.
87 -bp List the mail queue. See the mailq command above.
89 -bs Stand-alone SMTP server mode. Read SMTP commands from standard
91 input, and write responses to standard output. In stand-alone
92 SMTP server mode, mail relaying and other access controls are
93 disabled by default. To enable them, run the process as the
94 mail_owner user.
95 This mode of operation is implemented by running the smtpd(8)
97 daemon.
98 -bv Do not collect or deliver a message. Instead, send an email
100 report after verifying each recipient address. This is useful
101 for testing address rewriting and routing configurations.
102 This feature is available in Postfix version 2.1 and later.
104 -C config_file
106 -C config_dir
108 The path name of the Postfix main.cf file, or of its parent
109 directory. This information is ignored with Postfix versions
110 before 2.3.
111 With all Postfix versions, you can specify a directory pathname
113 with the MAIL_CONFIG environment variable to override the loca‐
114 tion of configuration files.
115 -F full_name
117 Set the sender full name. This overrides the NAME environment
118 variable, and is used only with messages that have no From: mes‐
119 sage header.
120 -f sender
122 Set the envelope sender address. This is the address where
123 delivery problems are sent to. With Postfix versions before 2.1,
124 the Errors-To: message header overrides the error return
125 address.
126 -G Gateway (relay) submission, as opposed to initial user submis‐
128 sion. Either do not rewrite addresses at all, or update incom‐
129 plete addresses with the domain information specified with
130 remote_header_rewrite_domain.
131 This option is ignored before Postfix version 2.3.
133 -h hop_count (ignored)
135 Hop count limit. Use the hopcount_limit configuration parameter
136 instead.
137 -I Initialize alias database. See the newaliases command above.
139 -i When reading a message from standard input, don´t treat a line
141 with only a . character as the end of input.
142 -L label (ignored)
144 The logging label. Use the syslog_name configuration parameter
145 instead.
146 -m (ignored)
148 Backwards compatibility.
149 -N dsn (default: 'delay, failure')
151 Delivery status notification control. Specify either a comma-
152 separated list with one or more of failure (send notification
153 when delivery fails), delay (send notification when delivery is
154 delayed), or success (send notification when the message is
155 delivered); or specify never (don't send any notifications at
156 all).
157 This feature is available in Postfix 2.3 and later.
159 -n (ignored)
161 Backwards compatibility.
162 -oAalias_database
164 Non-default alias database. Specify pathname or type:pathname.
165 See postalias(1) for details.
166 -O option=value (ignored)
168 Backwards compatibility.
169 -o7 (ignored)
171 -o8 (ignored)
173 To send 8-bit or binary content, use an appropriate MIME encap‐
174 sulation and specify the appropriate -B command-line option.
175 -oi When reading a message from standard input, don´t treat a line
177 with only a . character as the end of input.
178 -om (ignored)
180 The sender is never eliminated from alias etc. expansions.
181 -o x value (ignored)
183 Set option x to value. Use the equivalent configuration parame‐
184 ter in main.cf instead.
185 -r sender
187 Set the envelope sender address. This is the address where
188 delivery problems are sent to. With Postfix versions before 2.1,
189 the Errors-To: message header overrides the error return
190 address.
191 -R return_limit (ignored)
193 Limit the size of bounced mail. Use the bounce_size_limit con‐
194 figuration parameter instead.
195 -q Attempt to deliver all queued mail. This is implemented by exe‐
197 cuting the postqueue(1) command.
198 Warning: flushing undeliverable mail frequently will result in
200 poor delivery performance of all other mail.
201 -qinterval (ignored)
203 The interval between queue runs. Use the queue_run_delay config‐
204 uration parameter instead.
205 -qIqueueid
207 Schedule immediate delivery of mail with the specified queue ID.
208 This option is implemented by executing the postqueue(1) com‐
209 mand, and is available with Postfix version 2.4 and later.
210 -qRsite
212 Schedule immediate delivery of all mail that is queued for the
213 named site. This option accepts only site names that are eligi‐
214 ble for the "fast flush" service, and is implemented by execut‐
215 ing the postqueue(1) command. See flush(8) for more information
216 about the "fast flush" service.
217 -qSsite
219 This command is not implemented. Use the slower "sendmail -q"
220 command instead.
221 -t Extract recipients from message headers. These are added to any
223 recipients specified on the command line.
224 With Postfix versions prior to 2.1, this option requires that no
226 recipient addresses are specified on the command line.
227 -U (ignored)
229 Initial user submission.
230 -V envid
232 Specify the envelope ID for notification by servers that support
233 DSN.
234 This feature is available in Postfix 2.3 and later.
236 -XV (Postfix 2.2 and earlier: -V)
238 Variable Envelope Return Path. Given an envelope sender address
239 of the form owner-listname@origin, each recipient user@domain
240 receives mail with a personalized envelope sender address.
241 By default, the personalized envelope sender address is owner-
243 listname+user=domain@origin. The default + and = characters are
244 configurable with the default_verp_delimiters configuration
245 parameter.
246 -XVxy (Postfix 2.2 and earlier: -Vxy)
248 As -XV, but uses x and y as the VERP delimiter characters,
249 instead of the characters specified with the default_verp_delim‐
250 iters configuration parameter.
251 -v Send an email report of the first delivery attempt (Postfix ver‐
253 sions 2.1 and later). Mail delivery always happens in the back‐
254 ground. When multiple -v options are given, enable verbose log‐
255 ging for debugging purposes.
256 -X log_file (ignored)
258 Log mailer traffic. Use the debug_peer_list and debug_peer_level
259 configuration parameters instead.
260
262 By design, this program is not set-user (or group) id. However, it must
263 handle data from untrusted, possibly remote, users. Thus, the usual
264 precautions need to be taken against malicious inputs.
265
267 Problems are logged to syslogd(8) and to the standard error stream.
268
270 MAIL_CONFIG
271 Directory with Postfix configuration files.
272 MAIL_VERBOSE (value does not matter)
274 Enable verbose logging for debugging purposes.
275 MAIL_DEBUG (value does not matter)
277 Enable debugging with an external command, as specified with the
278 debugger_command configuration parameter.
279 NAME The sender full name. This is used only with messages that have
281 no From: message header. See also the -F option above.
282
284 The following main.cf parameters are especially relevant to this pro‐
285 gram. The text below provides only a parameter summary. See post‐
286 conf(5) for more details including examples.
287
289 The DEBUG_README file gives examples of how to trouble shoot a Postfix
290 system.
291 debugger_command (empty)
293 The external command to execute when a Postfix daemon program is
294 invoked with the -D option.
295 debug_peer_level (2)
297 The increment in verbose logging level when a remote client or
298 server matches a pattern in the debug_peer_list parameter.
299 debug_peer_list (empty)
301 Optional list of remote client or server hostname or network
302 address patterns that cause the verbose logging level to
303 increase by the amount specified in $debug_peer_level.
304
306 Available in Postfix version 2.2 and later:
307 authorized_flush_users (static:anyone)
309 List of users who are authorized to flush the queue.
310 authorized_mailq_users (static:anyone)
312 List of users who are authorized to view the queue.
313 authorized_submit_users (static:anyone)
315 List of users who are authorized to submit mail with the send‐
316 mail(1) command (and with the privileged postdrop(1) helper com‐
317 mand).
318
320 bounce_size_limit (50000)
321 The maximal amount of original message text that is sent in a
322 non-delivery notification.
323 fork_attempts (5)
325 The maximal number of attempts to fork() a child process.
326 fork_delay (1s)
328 The delay between attempts to fork() a child process.
329 hopcount_limit (50)
331 The maximal number of Received: message headers that is allowed
332 in the primary message headers.
333 queue_run_delay (300s)
335 The time between deferred queue scans by the queue manager;
336 prior to Postfix 2.4 the default value was 1000s.
337
339 The ETRN_README file describes configuration and operation details for
340 the Postfix "fast flush" service.
341 fast_flush_domains ($relay_domains)
343 Optional list of destinations that are eligible for per-destina‐
344 tion logfiles with mail that is queued to those destinations.
345
347 The VERP_README file describes configuration and operation details of
348 Postfix support for variable envelope return path addresses.
349 default_verp_delimiters (+=)
351 The two default VERP delimiter characters.
352 verp_delimiter_filter (-=+)
354 The characters Postfix accepts as VERP delimiter characters on
355 the Postfix sendmail(1) command line and in SMTP commands.
356
358 alias_database (see 'postconf -d' output)
359 The alias databases for local(8) delivery that are updated with
360 "newaliases" or with "sendmail -bi".
361 command_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
363 The location of all postfix administrative commands.
364 config_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
366 The default location of the Postfix main.cf and master.cf con‐
367 figuration files.
368 daemon_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
370 The directory with Postfix support programs and daemon programs.
371 default_database_type (see 'postconf -d' output)
373 The default database type for use in newaliases(1), postalias(1)
374 and postmap(1) commands.
375 delay_warning_time (0h)
377 The time after which the sender receives the message headers of
378 mail that is still queued.
379 enable_errors_to (no)
381 Report mail delivery errors to the address specified with the
382 non-standard Errors-To: message header, instead of the envelope
383 sender address (this feature is removed with Postfix version
384 2.2, is turned off by default with Postfix version 2.1, and is
385 always turned on with older Postfix versions).
386 mail_owner (postfix)
388 The UNIX system account that owns the Postfix queue and most
389 Postfix daemon processes.
390 queue_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
392 The location of the Postfix top-level queue directory.
393 remote_header_rewrite_domain (empty)
395 Don't rewrite message headers from remote clients at all when
396 this parameter is empty; otherwise, rewrite message headers and
397 append the specified domain name to incomplete addresses.
398 syslog_facility (mail)
400 The syslog facility of Postfix logging.
401 syslog_name (see 'postconf -d' output)
403 The mail system name that is prepended to the process name in
404 syslog records, so that "smtpd" becomes, for example, "post‐
405 fix/smtpd".
406
408 /var/spool/postfix, mail queue
409 /etc/postfix, configuration files
410
412 pickup(8), mail pickup daemon
413 qmgr(8), queue manager
414 smtpd(8), SMTP server
415 flush(8), fast flush service
416 postsuper(1), queue maintenance
417 postalias(1), create/update/query alias database
418 postdrop(1), mail posting utility
419 postfix(1), mail system control
420 postqueue(1), mail queue control
421 syslogd(8), system logging
422
424 Use "postconf readme_directory" or "postconf html_directory" to locate
425 this information.
426 DEBUG_README, Postfix debugging howto
427 ETRN_README, Postfix ETRN howto
428 VERP_README, Postfix VERP howto
429
431 The Secure Mailer license must be distributed with this software.
432
434 Wietse Venema
435 IBM T.J. Watson Research
436 P.O. Box 704
437 Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA
438 SENDMAIL(1)