1POSTQUEUE(1) General Commands Manual POSTQUEUE(1)
2
6 postqueue - Postfix queue control
7
9 To flush the mail queue:
10 postqueue [-v] [-c config_dir] -f
12 postqueue [-v] [-c config_dir] -i queue_id
14 postqueue [-v] [-c config_dir] -s site
16 To list the mail queue:
18 postqueue [-v] [-c config_dir] -j
20 postqueue [-v] [-c config_dir] -p
22
24 The postqueue(1) command implements the Postfix user interface for
25 queue management. It implements operations that are traditionally
26 available via the sendmail(1) command. See the postsuper(1) command
27 for queue operations that require super-user privileges such as delet‐
28 ing a message from the queue or changing the status of a message.
29 The following options are recognized:
31 -c config_dir
33 The main.cf configuration file is in the named directory instead
34 of the default configuration directory. See also the MAIL_CONFIG
35 environment setting below.
36 -f Flush the queue: attempt to deliver all queued mail.
38 This option implements the traditional "sendmail -q" command, by
40 contacting the Postfix qmgr(8) daemon.
41 Warning: flushing undeliverable mail frequently will result in
43 poor delivery performance of all other mail.
44 -i queue_id
46 Schedule immediate delivery of deferred mail with the specified
47 queue ID.
48 This option implements the traditional sendmail -qI command, by
50 contacting the flush(8) server.
51 This feature is available with Postfix version 2.4 and later.
53 -j Produce a queue listing in JSON format, based on output from the
55 showq(8) daemon. The result is a stream of zero or more JSON
56 objects, one per queue file. Each object is followed by a new‐
57 line character to support simple streaming parsers. See "JSON
58 OBJECT FORMAT" below for details.
59 This feature is available in Postfix 3.1 and later.
61 -p Produce a traditional sendmail-style queue listing. This option
63 implements the traditional mailq command, by contacting the
64 Postfix showq(8) daemon.
65 Each queue entry shows the queue file ID, message size, arrival
67 time, sender, and the recipients that still need to be deliv‐
68 ered. If mail could not be delivered upon the last attempt, the
69 reason for failure is shown. The queue ID string is followed by
70 an optional status character:
71 * The message is in the active queue, i.e. the message is
73 selected for delivery.
74 ! The message is in the hold queue, i.e. no further deliv‐
76 ery attempt will be made until the mail is taken off
77 hold.
78 # The message is forced to expire. See the postsuper(1)
80 options -e or -f.
81 This feature is available in Postfix 3.5 and later.
83 -s site
85 Schedule immediate delivery of all mail that is queued for the
86 named site. A numerical site must be specified as a valid RFC
87 5321 address literal enclosed in [], just like in email
88 addresses. The site must be eligible for the "fast flush" ser‐
89 vice. See flush(8) for more information about the "fast flush"
90 service.
91 This option implements the traditional "sendmail -qRsite" com‐
93 mand, by contacting the Postfix flush(8) daemon.
94 -v Enable verbose logging for debugging purposes. Multiple -v
96 options make the software increasingly verbose. As of Postfix
97 2.3, this option is available for the super-user only.
98
100 Each JSON object represents one queue file; it is emitted as a single
101 text line followed by a newline character.
102 Object members have string values unless indicated otherwise. Programs
104 should ignore object members that are not listed here; the list of mem‐
105 bers is expected to grow over time.
106 queue_name
108 The name of the queue where the message was found. Note that
109 the contents of the mail queue may change while it is being
110 listed; some messages may appear more than once, and some mes‐
111 sages may be missed.
112 queue_id
114 The queue file name. The queue_id may be reused within a Postfix
115 instance unless "enable_long_queue_ids = true" and time is mono‐
116 tonic. Even then, the queue_id is not expected to be unique
117 between different Postfix instances. Management tools that
118 require a unique name should combine the queue_id with the
119 myhostname setting of the Postfix instance.
120 arrival_time
122 The number of seconds since the start of the UNIX epoch.
123 message_size
125 The number of bytes in the message header and body. This number
126 does not include message envelope information. It is approxi‐
127 mately equal to the number of bytes that would be transmitted
128 via SMTP including the <CR><LF> line endings.
129 forced_expire
131 The message is forced to expire (true or false). See the post‐
132 super(1) options -e or -f.
133 This feature is available in Postfix 3.5 and later.
135 sender The envelope sender address.
137 recipients
139 An array containing zero or more objects with members:
140 address
142 One recipient address.
143 delay_reason
145 If present, the reason for delayed delivery. Delayed
146 recipients may have no delay reason, for example, while
147 delivery is in progress, or after the system was stopped
148 before it could record the reason.
149
151 This program is designed to run with set-group ID privileges, so that
152 it can connect to Postfix daemon processes.
153
155 RFC 7159 (JSON notation)
156
158 Problems are logged to syslogd(8) or postlogd(8), and to the standard
159 error stream.
160
162 MAIL_CONFIG
163 Directory with the main.cf file. In order to avoid exploitation
164 of set-group ID privileges, a non-standard directory is allowed
165 only if:
166 · The name is listed in the standard main.cf file with the
168 alternate_config_directories configuration parameter.
169 · The command is invoked by the super-user.
171
173 The following main.cf parameters are especially relevant to this pro‐
174 gram. The text below provides only a parameter summary. See post‐
175 conf(5) for more details including examples.
176 alternate_config_directories (empty)
178 A list of non-default Postfix configuration directories that may
179 be specified with "-c config_directory" on the command line (in
180 the case of sendmail(1), with the "-C" option), or via the
181 MAIL_CONFIG environment parameter.
182 config_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
184 The default location of the Postfix main.cf and master.cf con‐
185 figuration files.
186 command_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
188 The location of all postfix administrative commands.
189 fast_flush_domains ($relay_domains)
191 Optional list of destinations that are eligible for per-destina‐
192 tion logfiles with mail that is queued to those destinations.
193 import_environment (see 'postconf -d' output)
195 The list of environment parameters that a privileged Postfix
196 process will import from a non-Postfix parent process, or
197 name=value environment overrides.
198 queue_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
200 The location of the Postfix top-level queue directory.
201 syslog_facility (mail)
203 The syslog facility of Postfix logging.
204 syslog_name (see 'postconf -d' output)
206 A prefix that is prepended to the process name in syslog
207 records, so that, for example, "smtpd" becomes "prefix/smtpd".
208 trigger_timeout (10s)
210 The time limit for sending a trigger to a Postfix daemon (for
211 example, the pickup(8) or qmgr(8) daemon).
212 Available in Postfix version 2.2 and later:
214 authorized_flush_users (static:anyone)
216 List of users who are authorized to flush the queue.
217 authorized_mailq_users (static:anyone)
219 List of users who are authorized to view the queue.
220
222 /var/spool/postfix, mail queue
223
225 qmgr(8), queue manager
226 showq(8), list mail queue
227 flush(8), fast flush service
228 sendmail(1), Sendmail-compatible user interface
229 postsuper(1), privileged queue operations
230 postlogd(8), Postfix logging
231 syslogd(8), system logging
232
234 Use "postconf readme_directory" or "postconf html_directory" to locate
235 this information.
236 ETRN_README, Postfix ETRN howto
237
239 The Secure Mailer license must be distributed with this software.
240
242 The postqueue command was introduced with Postfix version 1.1.
243
245 Wietse Venema
246 IBM T.J. Watson Research
247 P.O. Box 704
248 Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA
249 Wietse Venema
251 Google, Inc.
252 111 8th Avenue
253 New York, NY 10011, USA
254 POSTQUEUE(1)