1FLUSH(8) System Manager's Manual FLUSH(8)
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6 flush - Postfix fast flush server
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9 flush [generic Postfix daemon options]
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12 The flush(8) server maintains a record of deferred mail by destination.
13 This information is used to improve the performance of the SMTP ETRN
14 request, and of its command-line equivalent, "sendmail -qR" or
15 "postqueue -f". This program expects to be run from the master(8)
16 process manager.
17 The record is implemented as a per-destination logfile with as contents
19 the queue IDs of deferred mail. A logfile is append-only, and is trun‐
20 cated when delivery is requested for the corresponding destination. A
21 destination is the part on the right-hand side of the right-most @ in
22 an email address.
23 Per-destination logfiles of deferred mail are maintained only for eli‐
25 gible destinations. The list of eligible destinations is specified with
26 the fast_flush_domains configuration parameter, which defaults to
27 $relay_domains.
28 This server implements the following requests:
30 add sitename queueid
32 Inform the flush(8) server that the message with the specified
33 queue ID is queued for the specified destination.
34 send_site sitename
36 Request delivery of mail that is queued for the specified desti‐
37 nation.
38 send_file queueid
40 Request delivery of the specified deferred message.
41 refresh
43 Refresh non-empty per-destination logfiles that were not read in
44 $fast_flush_refresh_time hours, by simulating send requests (see
45 above) for the corresponding destinations.
46 Delete empty per-destination logfiles that were not updated in
48 $fast_flush_purge_time days.
49 This request completes in the background.
51 purge Do a refresh for all per-destination logfiles.
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55 The flush(8) server is not security-sensitive. It does not talk to the
56 network, and it does not talk to local users. The fast flush server
57 can run chrooted at fixed low privilege.
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60 Problems and transactions are logged to syslogd(8) or postlogd(8).
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63 Fast flush logfiles are truncated only after a "send" request, not when
64 mail is actually delivered, and therefore can accumulate outdated or
65 redundant data. In order to maintain sanity, "refresh" must be executed
66 periodically. This can be automated with a suitable wakeup timer set‐
67 ting in the master.cf configuration file.
68 Upon receipt of a request to deliver mail for an eligible destination,
70 the flush(8) server requests delivery of all messages that are listed
71 in that destination's logfile, regardless of the recipients of those
72 messages. This is not an issue for mail that is sent to a relay_domains
73 destination because such mail typically only has recipients in one
74 domain.
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77 Changes to main.cf are picked up automatically as flush(8) processes
78 run for only a limited amount of time. Use the command "postfix reload"
79 to speed up a change.
80 The text below provides only a parameter summary. See postconf(5) for
82 more details including examples.
83 config_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
85 The default location of the Postfix main.cf and master.cf con‐
86 figuration files.
87 daemon_timeout (18000s)
89 How much time a Postfix daemon process may take to handle a
90 request before it is terminated by a built-in watchdog timer.
91 fast_flush_domains ($relay_domains)
93 Optional list of destinations that are eligible for per-destina‐
94 tion logfiles with mail that is queued to those destinations.
95 fast_flush_refresh_time (12h)
97 The time after which a non-empty but unread per-destination
98 "fast flush" logfile needs to be refreshed.
99 fast_flush_purge_time (7d)
101 The time after which an empty per-destination "fast flush" log‐
102 file is deleted.
103 ipc_timeout (3600s)
105 The time limit for sending or receiving information over an
106 internal communication channel.
107 max_idle (100s)
109 The maximum amount of time that an idle Postfix daemon process
110 waits for an incoming connection before terminating voluntarily.
111 max_use (100)
113 The maximal number of incoming connections that a Postfix daemon
114 process will service before terminating voluntarily.
115 parent_domain_matches_subdomains (see 'postconf -d' output)
117 A list of Postfix features where the pattern "example.com" also
118 matches subdomains of example.com, instead of requiring an
119 explicit ".example.com" pattern.
120 process_id (read-only)
122 The process ID of a Postfix command or daemon process.
123 process_name (read-only)
125 The process name of a Postfix command or daemon process.
126 queue_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
128 The location of the Postfix top-level queue directory.
129 syslog_facility (mail)
131 The syslog facility of Postfix logging.
132 syslog_name (see 'postconf -d' output)
134 A prefix that is prepended to the process name in syslog
135 records, so that, for example, "smtpd" becomes "prefix/smtpd".
136 Available in Postfix 3.3 and later:
138 service_name (read-only)
140 The master.cf service name of a Postfix daemon process.
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143 /var/spool/postfix/flush, "fast flush" logfiles.
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146 smtpd(8), SMTP server
147 qmgr(8), queue manager
148 postconf(5), configuration parameters
149 master(5), generic daemon options
150 master(8), process manager
151 postlogd(8), Postfix logging
152 syslogd(8), system logging
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155 Use "postconf readme_directory" or "postconf html_directory" to locate
156 this information.
157 ETRN_README, Postfix ETRN howto
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160 The Secure Mailer license must be distributed with this software.
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163 This service was introduced with Postfix version 1.0.
164
166 Wietse Venema
167 IBM T.J. Watson Research
168 P.O. Box 704
169 Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA
170 Wietse Venema
172 Google, Inc.
173 111 8th Avenue
174 New York, NY 10011, USA
175 FLUSH(8)