POSTSUPER(1)                General Commands Manual               POSTSUPER(1)



NAME
       postsuper - Postfix superintendent

SYNOPSIS
       postsuper [-psSv] [-c config_dir] [-d queue_id]
               [-h queue_id] [-H queue_id]
               [-r queue_id] [directory ...]

DESCRIPTION
       The  postsuper(1)  command  does maintenance jobs on the Postfix queue.
       Use  of  the  command  is  restricted  to  the  superuser.    See   the
       postqueue(1)  command for unprivileged queue operations such as listing
       or flushing the mail queue.

       By default, postsuper(1) performs the operations requested with the  -s
       and  -p  command-line  options  on all Postfix queue directories - this
       includes the incoming, active and deferred directories with mail  files
       and the bounce, defer, trace and flush directories with log files.

       Options:

       -c config_dir
              The main.cf configuration file is in the named directory instead
              of the default configuration directory. See also the MAIL_CONFIG
              environment setting below.

       -d queue_id
              Delete  one  message with the named queue ID from the named mail
              queue(s) (default: hold, incoming, active and deferred).

              If a queue_id of - is specified, the  program  reads  queue  IDs
              from  standard  input.  For  example,  to  delete  all mail with
              exactly one recipient user@example.com:

              mailq | tail +2 | grep -v '^ *(' | awk  'BEGIN { RS = "" }
                  # $7=sender, $8=recipient1, $9=recipient2
                  { if ($8 == "user@example.com" && $9 == "")
                        print $1 }
              ' | tr -d '*!' | postsuper -d -

              Specify "-d ALL" to remove all messages;  for  example,  specify
              "-d  ALL deferred" to delete all mail in the deferred queue.  As
              a safety measure, the word ALL must be specified in upper case.

              Warning: Postfix queue IDs are reused (always  with  Postfix  <=
              2.8;  and  with  Postfix  >= 2.9 when enable_long_queue_ids=no).
              There is a very small possibility  that  postsuper  deletes  the
              wrong  message  file  when it is executed while the Postfix mail
              system is delivering mail.

              The scenario is as follows:

              1)     The Postfix queue manager deletes the message that  post-
                     super(1)  is asked to delete, because Postfix is finished
                     with the message (it is delivered, or it is  returned  to
                     the sender).

              2)     New  mail  arrives, and the new message is given the same
                     queue ID as the message that postsuper(1) is supposed  to
                     delete.   The  probability for reusing a deleted queue ID
                     is about 1 in 2**15 (the number of different  microsecond
                     values  that  the  system  clock can distinguish within a
                     second).

              3)     postsuper(1) deletes the new message, instead of the  old
                     message that it should have deleted.

       -h queue_id
              Put  mail  "on  hold"  so that no attempt is made to deliver it.
              Move one message with the named queue ID  from  the  named  mail
              queue(s)  (default:  incoming,  active and deferred) to the hold
              queue.

              If a queue_id of - is specified, the  program  reads  queue  IDs
              from standard input.

              Specify  "-h ALL" to hold all messages; for example, specify "-h
              ALL deferred" to hold all mail in  the  deferred  queue.   As  a
              safety measure, the word ALL must be specified in upper case.

              Note:  while  mail is "on hold" it will not expire when its time
              in   the   queue   exceeds   the    maximal_queue_lifetime    or
              bounce_queue_lifetime  setting. It becomes subject to expiration
              after it is released from "hold".

              This feature is available in Postfix 2.0 and later.

       -H queue_id
              Release mail that was put "on hold".  Move one message with  the
              named  queue  ID from the named mail queue(s) (default: hold) to
              the deferred queue.

              If a queue_id of - is specified, the  program  reads  queue  IDs
              from standard input.

              Note:  specify  "postsuper  -r" to release mail that was kept on
              hold for a significant fraction  of  $maximal_queue_lifetime  or
              $bounce_queue_lifetime, or longer.

              Specify  "-H  ALL"  to release all mail that is "on hold".  As a
              safety measure, the word ALL must be specified in upper case.

              This feature is available in Postfix 2.0 and later.

       -p     Purge old temporary files that are left  over  after  system  or
              software crashes.

       -r queue_id
              Requeue  the message with the named queue ID from the named mail
              queue(s) (default: hold, incoming,  active  and  deferred).   To
              requeue  multiple  messages,  specify  multiple  -r command-line
              options.

              Alternatively, if a queue_id of  -  is  specified,  the  program
              reads queue IDs from standard input.

              Specify  "-r  ALL" to requeue all messages. As a safety measure,
              the word ALL must be specified in upper case.

              A requeued message is moved to the maildrop queue, from where it
              is copied by the pickup(8) and cleanup(8) daemons to a new queue
              file. In many respects its handling differs from that of  a  new
              local submission.

              o      The  message  is  not  subjected  to the smtpd_milters or
                     non_smtpd_milters settings.  When mail has passed through
                     an  external content filter, this would produce incorrect
                     results with Milter applications that depend on  original
                     SMTP connection state information.

              o      The  message is subjected again to mail address rewriting
                     and substitution.  This is useful when rewriting rules or
                     virtual mappings have changed.

                     The  address  rewriting  context (local or remote) is the
                     same as when the message was received.

              o      The message is subjected to the same content_filter  set-
                     tings  (if  any)  as used for new local mail submissions.
                     This is useful when content_filter settings have changed.

              Warning: Postfix queue IDs are reused (always  with  Postfix  <=
              2.8;  and  with  Postfix  >= 2.9 when enable_long_queue_ids=no).
              There is a very small possibility that postsuper(1) requeues the
              wrong  message  file  when it is executed while the Postfix mail
              system is running, but no harm should be done.

              This feature is available in Postfix 1.1 and later.

       -s     Structure check and structure repair.  This should be done  once
              before Postfix startup.

              o      Rename  files  whose name does not match the message file
                     inode number. This operation is necessary after restoring
                     a  mail  queue  from  a different machine or from backup,
                     when queue files were created with Postfix <= 2.8 or with
                     "enable_long_queue_ids = no".

              o      Move  queue files that are in the wrong place in the file
                     system hierarchy and remove subdirectories  that  are  no
                     longer  needed.   File position rearrangements are neces-
                     sary  after  a  change  in  the  hash_queue_names  and/or
                     hash_queue_depth configuration parameters.

              o      Rename  queue files created with "enable_long_queue_ids =
                     yes" to short names, for migration  to  Postfix  <=  2.8.
                     The procedure is as follows:

                     # postfix stop
                     # postconf enable_long_queue_ids=no
                     # postsuper

                     Run postsuper(1) repeatedly until it stops reporting file
                     name changes.

       -S     A redundant version of -s that requires  that  long  file  names
              also match the message file inode number. This option exists for
              testing purposes, and is available with Postfix 2.9 and later.

       -v     Enable verbose  logging  for  debugging  purposes.  Multiple  -v
              options make the software increasingly verbose.

DIAGNOSTICS
       Problems are reported to the standard error stream and to syslogd(8).

       postsuper(1) reports the number of messages deleted with -d, the number
       of messages requeued with -r, and the number of  messages  whose  queue
       file  name  was  fixed  with  -s. The report is written to the standard
       error stream and to syslogd(8).

ENVIRONMENT
       MAIL_CONFIG
              Directory with the main.cf file.

BUGS
       Mail that is not sanitized by Postfix (i.e. mail in the maildrop queue)
       cannot be placed "on hold".

CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS
       The  following  main.cf parameters are especially relevant to this pro-
       gram.  The text below provides only  a  parameter  summary.  See  post-
       conf(5) for more details including examples.

       config_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
              The  default  location of the Postfix main.cf and master.cf con-
              figuration files.

       hash_queue_depth (1)
              The number of subdirectory levels for queue  directories  listed
              with the hash_queue_names parameter.

       hash_queue_names (deferred, defer)
              The  names  of  queue directories that are split across multiple
              subdirectory levels.

       queue_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
              The location of the Postfix top-level queue directory.

       syslog_facility (mail)
              The syslog facility of Postfix logging.

       syslog_name (see 'postconf -d' output)
              The mail system name that is prepended to the  process  name  in
              syslog  records,  so  that  "smtpd" becomes, for example, "post-
              fix/smtpd".

       Available in Postfix version 2.9 and later:

       enable_long_queue_ids (no)
              Enable long, non-repeating, queue IDs (queue file names).

SEE ALSO
       sendmail(1), Sendmail-compatible user interface
       postqueue(1), unprivileged queue operations

LICENSE
       The Secure Mailer license must be distributed with this software.

AUTHOR(S)
       Wietse Venema
       IBM T.J. Watson Research
       P.O. Box 704
       Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA



                                                                  POSTSUPER(1)
