1POSTFIX(1)                  General Commands Manual                 POSTFIX(1)
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NAME

6       postfix - Postfix control program
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SYNOPSIS

9       postfix [-Dv] [-c config_dir] command
10

DESCRIPTION

12       This  command  is  reserved  for the superuser. To submit mail, use the
13       Postfix sendmail(1) command.
14
15       The postfix(1) command controls the operation of the Postfix mail  sys‐
16       tem:  start  or stop the master(8) daemon, do a health check, and other
17       maintenance.
18
19       By default, the postfix(1) command sets up a  standardized  environment
20       and runs the postfix-script shell script to do the actual work.
21
22       However,  when  support  for  multiple Postfix instances is configured,
23       postfix(1) executes the command specified with the multi_instance_wrap‐
24       per configuration parameter.  This command will execute the command for
25       each applicable Postfix instance.
26
27       The following commands are implemented:
28
29       check  Warn about bad directory/file ownership or permissions, and cre‐
30              ate missing directories.
31
32       start  Start  the Postfix mail system. This also runs the configuration
33              check described above.
34
35       stop   Stop the Postfix mail system in an orderly fashion. If possible,
36              running  processes  are  allowed  to terminate at their earliest
37              convenience.
38
39              Note: in order to refresh the Postfix mail system after  a  con‐
40              figuration  change,  do  not  use the start and stop commands in
41              succession. Use the reload command instead.
42
43       abort  Stop the Postfix mail system  abruptly.  Running  processes  are
44              signaled to stop immediately.
45
46       flush  Force delivery: attempt to deliver every message in the deferred
47              mail queue. Normally, attempts to deliver delayed mail happen at
48              regular  intervals,  the  interval  doubling  after  each failed
49              attempt.
50
51              Warning: flushing undeliverable mail frequently will  result  in
52              poor delivery performance of all other mail.
53
54       reload Re-read  configuration  files.  Running  processes  terminate at
55              their earliest convenience.
56
57       status Indicate if the Postfix mail system is currently running.
58
59       set-permissions [name=value ...]
60              Set the ownership and permissions of Postfix related  files  and
61              directories, as specified in the postfix-files file.
62
63              Specify  name=value to override and update specific main.cf con‐
64              figuration parameters. Use this,  for  example,  to  change  the
65              mail_owner  or  setgid_group  setting  for  an already installed
66              Postfix system.
67
68              This feature is available in Postfix 2.1 and later.  With  Post‐
69              fix  2.0  and  earlier, use "$config_directory/post-install set-
70              permissions".
71
72       upgrade-configuration [name=value ...]
73              Update the main.cf and master.cf  files  with  information  that
74              Postfix  needs  in order to run: add or update services, and add
75              or update configuration parameter settings.
76
77              Specify name=value to override and update specific main.cf  con‐
78              figuration parameters.
79
80              This  feature is available in Postfix 2.1 and later.  With Post‐
81              fix  2.0  and   earlier,   use   "$config_directory/post-install
82              upgrade-configuration".
83
84       The following options are implemented:
85
86       -c config_dir
87              Read  the main.cf and master.cf configuration files in the named
88              directory instead of the default configuration  directory.   Use
89              this  to  distinguish  between multiple Postfix instances on the
90              same host.
91
92              With Postfix 2.6 and later, this option  forces  the  postfix(1)
93              command to operate on the specified Postfix instance only.  This
94              behavior is inherited by  postfix(1)  commands  that  run  as  a
95              descendant of the current process.
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97       -D (with postfix start only)
98              Run each Postfix daemon under control of a debugger as specified
99              via the debugger_command configuration parameter.
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101       -v     Enable verbose  logging  for  debugging  purposes.  Multiple  -v
102              options make the software increasingly verbose.
103

ENVIRONMENT

105       The  postfix(1)  command  exports  the  following environment variables
106       before executing the postfix-script file:
107
108       MAIL_CONFIG
109              This is set when the -c command-line option is present.
110
111              With Postfix 2.6 and later, this environment variable forces the
112              postfix(1)  command to operate on the specified Postfix instance
113              only.  This behavior is inherited by  postfix(1)  commands  that
114              run as a descendant of the current process.
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116       MAIL_VERBOSE
117              This is set when the -v command-line option is present.
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119       MAIL_DEBUG
120              This is set when the -D command-line option is present.
121

CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS

123       The following main.cf configuration parameters are exported as environ‐
124       ment variables with the same names:
125
126       command_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
127              The location of all postfix administrative commands.
128
129       daemon_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
130              The directory with Postfix support programs and daemon programs.
131
132       config_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
133              The default location of the Postfix main.cf and  master.cf  con‐
134              figuration files.
135
136       queue_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
137              The location of the Postfix top-level queue directory.
138
139       mail_owner (postfix)
140              The  UNIX  system  account  that owns the Postfix queue and most
141              Postfix daemon processes.
142
143       setgid_group (postdrop)
144              The group ownership of set-gid Postfix commands  and  of  group-
145              writable Postfix directories.
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147       sendmail_path (see 'postconf -d' output)
148              A  Sendmail compatibility feature that specifies the location of
149              the Postfix sendmail(1) command.
150
151       newaliases_path (see 'postconf -d' output)
152              Sendmail compatibility feature that specifies  the  location  of
153              the newaliases(1) command.
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155       mailq_path (see 'postconf -d' output)
156              Sendmail  compatibility feature that specifies where the Postfix
157              mailq(1) command is installed.
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159       html_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
160              The location of Postfix HTML files that describe how  to  build,
161              configure or operate a specific Postfix subsystem or feature.
162
163       manpage_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
164              Where the Postfix manual pages are installed.
165
166       readme_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
167              The location of Postfix README files that describe how to build,
168              configure or operate a specific Postfix subsystem or feature.
169
170       Available in Postfix version 2.5 and later:
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172       data_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
173              The directory with Postfix-writable  data  files  (for  example:
174              caches, pseudo-random numbers).
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176       Other configuration parameters:
177
178       config_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
179              The  default  location of the Postfix main.cf and master.cf con‐
180              figuration files.
181
182       import_environment (see 'postconf -d' output)
183              The list of environment parameters that a Postfix  process  will
184              import from a non-Postfix parent process.
185
186       syslog_facility (mail)
187              The syslog facility of Postfix logging.
188
189       syslog_name (see 'postconf -d' output)
190              The  mail  system  name that is prepended to the process name in
191              syslog records, so that "smtpd"  becomes,  for  example,  "post‐
192              fix/smtpd".
193
194       Available in Postfix version 2.6 and later:
195
196       multi_instance_directories (empty)
197              An  optional  list of non-default Postfix configuration directo‐
198              ries; these directories belong to additional  Postfix  instances
199              that  share  the Postfix executable files and documentation with
200              the default Postfix instance, and  that  are  started,  stopped,
201              etc., together with the default Postfix instance.
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203       multi_instance_wrapper (empty)
204              The  pathname of a multi-instance manager command that the post‐
205              fix(1)  command  invokes  when  the   multi_instance_directories
206              parameter value is non-empty.
207
208       multi_instance_group (empty)
209              The optional instance group name of this Postfix instance.
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211       multi_instance_name (empty)
212              The optional instance name of this Postfix instance.
213
214       multi_instance_enable (no)
215              Allow  this  Postfix instance to be started, stopped, etc., by a
216              multi-instance manager.
217

FILES

219       Prior to Postfix version 2.6, all of the following files were in  $con‐
220       fig_directory. Some files are now in $daemon_directory so that they can
221       be shared among multiple instances that run the same Postfix version.
222
223       Use the command "postconf config_directory" or "postconf  daemon_direc‐
224       tory" to expand the names into their actual values.
225
226       $config_directory/main.cf, Postfix configuration parameters
227       $config_directory/master.cf, Postfix daemon processes
228       $daemon_directory/postfix-files, file/directory permissions
229       $daemon_directory/postfix-script, administrative commands
230       $daemon_directory/post-install, post-installation configuration
231

SEE ALSO

233       Commands:
234       postalias(1), create/update/query alias database
235       postcat(1), examine Postfix queue file
236       postconf(1), Postfix configuration utility
237       postfix(1), Postfix control program
238       postkick(1), trigger Postfix daemon
239       postlock(1), Postfix-compatible locking
240       postlog(1), Postfix-compatible logging
241       postmap(1), Postfix lookup table manager
242       postmulti(1), Postfix multi-instance manager
243       postqueue(1), Postfix mail queue control
244       postsuper(1), Postfix housekeeping
245       mailq(1), Sendmail compatibility interface
246       newaliases(1), Sendmail compatibility interface
247       sendmail(1), Sendmail compatibility interface
248
249       Postfix configuration:
250       bounce(5), Postfix bounce message templates
251       master(5), Postfix master.cf file syntax
252       postconf(5), Postfix main.cf file syntax
253       postfix-wrapper(5), Postfix multi-instance API
254
255       Table-driven mechanisms:
256       access(5), Postfix SMTP access control table
257       aliases(5), Postfix alias database
258       canonical(5), Postfix input address rewriting
259       generic(5), Postfix output address rewriting
260       header_checks(5), body_checks(5), Postfix content inspection
261       relocated(5), Users that have moved
262       transport(5), Postfix routing table
263       virtual(5), Postfix virtual aliasing
264
265       Table lookup mechanisms:
266       cidr_table(5), Associate CIDR pattern with value
267       ldap_table(5), Postfix LDAP client
268       mysql_table(5), Postfix MYSQL client
269       nisplus_table(5), Postfix NIS+ client
270       pcre_table(5), Associate PCRE pattern with value
271       pgsql_table(5), Postfix PostgreSQL client
272       regexp_table(5), Associate POSIX regexp pattern with value
273       tcp_table(5), Postfix client-server table lookup
274
275       Daemon processes:
276       anvil(8), Postfix connection/rate limiting
277       bounce(8), defer(8), trace(8), Delivery status reports
278       cleanup(8), canonicalize and enqueue message
279       discard(8), Postfix discard delivery agent
280       error(8), Postfix error delivery agent
281       flush(8), Postfix fast ETRN service
282       local(8), Postfix local delivery agent
283       master(8), Postfix master daemon
284       oqmgr(8), old Postfix queue manager
285       pickup(8), Postfix local mail pickup
286       pipe(8), deliver mail to non-Postfix command
287       proxymap(8), Postfix lookup table proxy server
288       qmgr(8), Postfix queue manager
289       qmqpd(8), Postfix QMQP server
290       scache(8), Postfix connection cache manager
291       showq(8), list Postfix mail queue
292       smtp(8), lmtp(8), Postfix SMTP+LMTP client
293       smtpd(8), Postfix SMTP server
294       spawn(8), run non-Postfix server
295       tlsmgr(8), Postfix TLS cache and randomness manager
296       trivial-rewrite(8), Postfix address rewriting
297       verify(8), Postfix address verification
298       virtual(8), Postfix virtual delivery agent
299
300       Other:
301       syslogd(8), system logging
302

README FILES

304       Use  "postconf readme_directory" or "postconf html_directory" to locate
305       this information.
306       OVERVIEW, overview of Postfix commands and processes
307       BASIC_CONFIGURATION_README, Postfix basic configuration
308       ADDRESS_REWRITING_README, Postfix address rewriting
309       SMTPD_ACCESS_README, SMTP relay/access control
310       CONTENT_INSPECTION_README, Postfix content inspection
311       QSHAPE_README, Postfix queue analysis
312

LICENSE

314       The Secure Mailer license must be distributed with this software.
315

AUTHOR(S)

317       Wietse Venema
318       IBM T.J. Watson Research
319       P.O. Box 704
320       Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA
321
322       TLS support by:
323       Lutz Jaenicke
324       Brandenburg University of Technology
325       Cottbus, Germany
326
327       Victor Duchovni
328       Morgan Stanley
329
330       SASL support originally by:
331       Till Franke
332       SuSE Rhein/Main AG
333       65760 Eschborn, Germany
334
335       LMTP support originally by:
336       Philip A. Prindeville
337       Mirapoint, Inc.
338       USA.
339
340       Amos Gouaux
341       University of Texas at Dallas
342       P.O. Box 830688, MC34
343       Richardson, TX 75083, USA
344
345       IPv6 support originally by:
346       Mark Huizer, Eindhoven University, The Netherlands
347       Jun-ichiro 'itojun' Hagino, KAME project, Japan
348       The Linux PLD project
349       Dean Strik, Eindhoven University, The Netherlands
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353                                                                    POSTFIX(1)
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