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 ap‐
20 plications, some Sendmail command-line options are recognized but
21 silently ignored.
22 By default, Postfix sendmail(1) reads a message from standard input un‐
24 til EOF or until it reads a line with only a . character, and arranges
25 for delivery. Postfix sendmail(1) relies on the postdrop(1) command to
26 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 # The message is forced to expire. See the postsuper(1) op‐
45 tions -e or -f.
46 This mode of operation is implemented by executing the
48 postqueue(1) command.
49 newaliases
51 Initialize the alias database. If no input file is specified
52 (with the -oA option, see below), the program processes the
53 file(s) specified with the alias_database configuration parame‐
54 ter. If no alias database type is specified, the program uses
55 the type specified with the default_database_type configuration
56 parameter. This mode of operation is implemented by running the
57 postalias(1) command.
58 Note: it may take a minute or so before an alias database update
60 becomes visible. Use the "postfix reload" command to eliminate
61 this delay.
62 These and other features can be selected by specifying the appropriate
64 combination of command-line options. Some features are controlled by
65 parameters in the main.cf configuration file.
66 The following options are recognized:
68 -Am (ignored)
70 -Ac (ignored)
72 Postfix sendmail uses the same configuration file regardless of
73 whether or not a message is an initial submission.
74 -B body_type
76 The message body MIME type: 7BIT or 8BITMIME.
77 -bd Go into daemon mode. This mode of operation is implemented by
79 executing the "postfix start" command.
80 -bh (ignored)
82 -bH (ignored)
84 Postfix has no persistent host status database.
85 -bi Initialize alias database. See the newaliases command above.
87 -bl Go into daemon mode. To accept only local connections as with
89 Sendmail's -bl option, specify "inet_interfaces = loopback" in
90 the Postfix main.cf configuration file.
91 -bm Read mail from standard input and arrange for delivery. This is
93 the default mode of operation.
94 -bp List the mail queue. See the mailq command above.
96 -bs Stand-alone SMTP server mode. Read SMTP commands from standard
98 input, and write responses to standard output. In stand-alone
99 SMTP server mode, mail relaying and other access controls are
100 disabled by default. To enable them, run the process as the
101 mail_owner user.
102 This mode of operation is implemented by running the smtpd(8)
104 daemon.
105 -bv Do not collect or deliver a message. Instead, send an email re‐
107 port after verifying each recipient address. This is useful for
108 testing address rewriting and routing configurations.
109 This feature is available in Postfix version 2.1 and later.
111 -C config_file
113 -C config_dir
115 The path name of the Postfix main.cf file, or of its parent di‐
116 rectory. This information is ignored with Postfix versions be‐
117 fore 2.3.
118 With Postfix version 3.2 and later, a non-default directory must
120 be authorized in the default main.cf file, through the alter‐
121 nate_config_directories or multi_instance_directories parame‐
122 ters.
123 With all Postfix versions, you can specify a directory pathname
125 with the MAIL_CONFIG environment variable to override the loca‐
126 tion of configuration files.
127 -F full_name
129 Set the sender full name. This overrides the NAME environment
130 variable, and is used only with messages that have no From: mes‐
131 sage header.
132 -f sender
134 Set the envelope sender address. This is the address where de‐
135 livery problems are sent to. With Postfix versions before 2.1,
136 the Errors-To: message header overrides the error return ad‐
137 dress.
138 -G Gateway (relay) submission, as opposed to initial user submis‐
140 sion. Either do not rewrite addresses at all, or update incom‐
141 plete addresses with the domain information specified with re‐
142 mote_header_rewrite_domain.
143 This option is ignored before Postfix version 2.3.
145 -h hop_count (ignored)
147 Hop count limit. Use the hopcount_limit configuration parameter
148 instead.
149 -I Initialize alias database. See the newaliases command above.
151 -i When reading a message from standard input, don't treat a line
153 with only a . character as the end of input.
154 -L label (ignored)
156 The logging label. Use the syslog_name configuration parameter
157 instead.
158 -m (ignored)
160 Backwards compatibility.
161 -N dsn (default: 'delay, failure')
163 Delivery status notification control. Specify either a
164 comma-separated list with one or more of failure (send notifica‐
165 tion when delivery fails), delay (send notification when deliv‐
166 ery is delayed), or success (send notification when the message
167 is delivered); or specify never (don't send any notifications at
168 all).
169 This feature is available in Postfix 2.3 and later.
171 -n (ignored)
173 Backwards compatibility.
174 -oAalias_database
176 Non-default alias database. Specify pathname or type:pathname.
177 See postalias(1) for details.
178 -O option=value (ignored)
180 Set the named option to value. Use the equivalent configuration
181 parameter in main.cf instead.
182 -o7 (ignored)
184 -o8 (ignored)
186 To send 8-bit or binary content, use an appropriate MIME encap‐
187 sulation and specify the appropriate -B command-line option.
188 -oi When reading a message from standard input, don't treat a line
190 with only a . character as the end of input.
191 -om (ignored)
193 The sender is never eliminated from alias etc. expansions.
194 -o x value (ignored)
196 Set option x to value. Use the equivalent configuration parame‐
197 ter in main.cf instead.
198 -r sender
200 Set the envelope sender address. This is the address where de‐
201 livery problems are sent to. With Postfix versions before 2.1,
202 the Errors-To: message header overrides the error return ad‐
203 dress.
204 -R return
206 Delivery status notification control. Specify "hdrs" to return
207 only the header when a message bounces, "full" to return a full
208 copy (the default behavior).
209 The -R option specifies an upper bound; Postfix will return only
211 the header, when a full copy would exceed the bounce_size_limit
212 setting.
213 This option is ignored before Postfix version 2.10.
215 -q Attempt to deliver all queued mail. This is implemented by exe‐
217 cuting the postqueue(1) command.
218 Warning: flushing undeliverable mail frequently will result in
220 poor delivery performance of all other mail.
221 -qinterval (ignored)
223 The interval between queue runs. Use the queue_run_delay config‐
224 uration parameter instead.
225 -qIqueueid
227 Schedule immediate delivery of mail with the specified queue ID.
228 This option is implemented by executing the postqueue(1) com‐
229 mand, and is available with Postfix version 2.4 and later.
230 -qRsite
232 Schedule immediate delivery of all mail that is queued for the
233 named site. This option accepts only site names that are eligi‐
234 ble for the "fast flush" service, and is implemented by execut‐
235 ing the postqueue(1) command. See flush(8) for more information
236 about the "fast flush" service.
237 -qSsite
239 This command is not implemented. Use the slower "sendmail -q"
240 command instead.
241 -t Extract recipients from message headers. These are added to any
243 recipients specified on the command line.
244 With Postfix versions prior to 2.1, this option requires that no
246 recipient addresses are specified on the command line.
247 -U (ignored)
249 Initial user submission.
250 -V envid
252 Specify the envelope ID for notification by servers that support
253 DSN.
254 This feature is available in Postfix 2.3 and later.
256 -XV (Postfix 2.2 and earlier: -V)
258 Variable Envelope Return Path. Given an envelope sender address
259 of the form owner-listname@origin, each recipient user@domain
260 receives mail with a personalized envelope sender address.
261 By default, the personalized envelope sender address is
263 owner-listname+user=domain@origin. The default + and = charac‐
264 ters are configurable with the default_verp_delimiters configu‐
265 ration parameter.
266 -XVxy (Postfix 2.2 and earlier: -Vxy)
268 As -XV, but uses x and y as the VERP delimiter characters, in‐
269 stead of the characters specified with the default_verp_delim‐
270 iters configuration parameter.
271 -v Send an email report of the first delivery attempt (Postfix ver‐
273 sions 2.1 and later). Mail delivery always happens in the back‐
274 ground. When multiple -v options are given, enable verbose log‐
275 ging for debugging purposes.
276 -X log_file (ignored)
278 Log mailer traffic. Use the debug_peer_list and debug_peer_level
279 configuration parameters instead.
280
282 By design, this program is not set-user (or group) id. It is prepared
283 to handle message content from untrusted, possibly remote, users.
284 However, like most Postfix programs, this program does not enforce a
286 security policy on its command-line arguments. Instead, it relies on
287 the UNIX system to enforce access policies based on the effective user
288 and group IDs of the process. Concretely, this means that running Post‐
289 fix commands as root (from sudo or equivalent) on behalf of a non-root
290 user is likely to create privilege escalation opportunities.
291 If an application runs any Postfix programs on behalf of users that do
293 not have normal shell access to Postfix commands, then that application
294 MUST restrict user-specified command-line arguments to avoid privilege
295 escalation.
296 • Filter all command-line arguments, for example arguments that
298 contain a pathname or that specify a database access method.
299 These pathname checks must reject user-controlled symlinks or
300 hardlinks to sensitive files, and must not be vulnerable to TOC‐
301 TOU race attacks.
302 • Disable command options processing for all command arguments
304 that contain user-specified data. For example, the Postfix send‐
305 mail(1) command line MUST be structured as follows:
306 /path/to/sendmail system-arguments -- user-arguments
308 Here, the "--" disables command option processing for all
310 user-arguments that follow.
311 Without the "--", a malicious user could enable Postfix send‐
313 mail(1) command options, by specifying an email address that
314 starts with "-".
315
317 Problems are logged to syslogd(8) or postlogd(8), and to the standard
318 error stream.
319
321 MAIL_CONFIG
322 Directory with Postfix configuration files.
323 MAIL_VERBOSE (value does not matter)
325 Enable verbose logging for debugging purposes.
326 MAIL_DEBUG (value does not matter)
328 Enable debugging with an external command, as specified with the
329 debugger_command configuration parameter.
330 NAME The sender full name. This is used only with messages that have
332 no From: message header. See also the -F option above.
333
335 The following main.cf parameters are especially relevant to this pro‐
336 gram. The text below provides only a parameter summary. See post‐
337 conf(5) for more details including examples.
338
340 Available with Postfix 2.9 and later:
341 sendmail_fix_line_endings (always)
343 Controls how the Postfix sendmail command converts email message
344 line endings from <CR><LF> into UNIX format (<LF>).
345
347 The DEBUG_README file gives examples of how to troubleshoot a Postfix
348 system.
349 debugger_command (empty)
351 The external command to execute when a Postfix daemon program is
352 invoked with the -D option.
353 debug_peer_level (2)
355 The increment in verbose logging level when a nexthop destina‐
356 tion, remote client or server name or network address matches a
357 pattern given with the debug_peer_list parameter.
358 debug_peer_list (empty)
360 Optional list of nexthop destination, remote client or server
361 name or network address patterns that, if matched, cause the
362 verbose logging level to increase by the amount specified in
363 $debug_peer_level.
364
366 Available in Postfix version 2.2 and later:
367 authorized_flush_users (static:anyone)
369 List of users who are authorized to flush the queue.
370 authorized_mailq_users (static:anyone)
372 List of users who are authorized to view the queue.
373 authorized_submit_users (static:anyone)
375 List of users who are authorized to submit mail with the send‐
376 mail(1) command (and with the privileged postdrop(1) helper com‐
377 mand).
378
380 bounce_size_limit (50000)
381 The maximal amount of original message text that is sent in a
382 non-delivery notification.
383 fork_attempts (5)
385 The maximal number of attempts to fork() a child process.
386 fork_delay (1s)
388 The delay between attempts to fork() a child process.
389 hopcount_limit (50)
391 The maximal number of Received: message headers that is allowed
392 in the primary message headers.
393 queue_run_delay (300s)
395 The time between deferred queue scans by the queue manager;
396 prior to Postfix 2.4 the default value was 1000s.
397
399 The ETRN_README file describes configuration and operation details for
400 the Postfix "fast flush" service.
401 fast_flush_domains ($relay_domains)
403 Optional list of destinations that are eligible for per-destina‐
404 tion logfiles with mail that is queued to those destinations.
405
407 The VERP_README file describes configuration and operation details of
408 Postfix support for variable envelope return path addresses.
409 default_verp_delimiters (+=)
411 The two default VERP delimiter characters.
412 verp_delimiter_filter (-=+)
414 The characters Postfix accepts as VERP delimiter characters on
415 the Postfix sendmail(1) command line and in SMTP commands.
416
418 alias_database (see 'postconf -d' output)
419 The alias databases for local(8) delivery that are updated with
420 "newaliases" or with "sendmail -bi".
421 command_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
423 The location of all postfix administrative commands.
424 config_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
426 The default location of the Postfix main.cf and master.cf con‐
427 figuration files.
428 daemon_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
430 The directory with Postfix support programs and daemon programs.
431 default_database_type (see 'postconf -d' output)
433 The default database type for use in newaliases(1), postalias(1)
434 and postmap(1) commands.
435 delay_warning_time (0h)
437 The time after which the sender receives a copy of the message
438 headers of mail that is still queued.
439 import_environment (see 'postconf -d' output)
441 The list of environment variables that a privileged Postfix
442 process will import from a non-Postfix parent process, or
443 name=value environment overrides.
444 mail_owner (postfix)
446 The UNIX system account that owns the Postfix queue and most
447 Postfix daemon processes.
448 queue_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
450 The location of the Postfix top-level queue directory.
451 remote_header_rewrite_domain (empty)
453 Don't rewrite message headers from remote clients at all when
454 this parameter is empty; otherwise, rewrite message headers and
455 append the specified domain name to incomplete addresses.
456 syslog_facility (mail)
458 The syslog facility of Postfix logging.
459 syslog_name (see 'postconf -d' output)
461 A prefix that is prepended to the process name in syslog
462 records, so that, for example, "smtpd" becomes "prefix/smtpd".
463 Postfix 3.2 and later:
465 alternate_config_directories (empty)
467 A list of non-default Postfix configuration directories that may
468 be specified with "-c config_directory" on the command line (in
469 the case of sendmail(1), with the "-C" option), or via the
470 MAIL_CONFIG environment parameter.
471 multi_instance_directories (empty)
473 An optional list of non-default Postfix configuration directo‐
474 ries; these directories belong to additional Postfix instances
475 that share the Postfix executable files and documentation with
476 the default Postfix instance, and that are started, stopped,
477 etc., together with the default Postfix instance.
478
480 /var/spool/postfix, mail queue
481 /etc/postfix, configuration files
482
484 pickup(8), mail pickup daemon
485 qmgr(8), queue manager
486 smtpd(8), SMTP server
487 flush(8), fast flush service
488 postsuper(1), queue maintenance
489 postalias(1), create/update/query alias database
490 postdrop(1), mail posting utility
491 postfix(1), mail system control
492 postqueue(1), mail queue control
493 postlogd(8), Postfix logging
494 syslogd(8), system logging
495
497 Use "postconf readme_directory" or "postconf html_directory" to locate
498 this information.
499 DEBUG_README, Postfix debugging howto
500 ETRN_README, Postfix ETRN howto
501 VERP_README, Postfix VERP howto
502
504 The Secure Mailer license must be distributed with this software.
505
507 Wietse Venema
508 IBM T.J. Watson Research
509 P.O. Box 704
510 Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA
511 Wietse Venema
513 Google, Inc.
514 111 8th Avenue
515 New York, NY 10011, USA
516 SENDMAIL(1)