## NAME

postfix - Postfix control program

## SYNOPSIS

postfix [-Dv] [-c config_dir] command

## DESCRIPTION

This command is reserved for the superuser. To submit mail, use the Postfix sendmail(1) command.

The postfix(1) command controls the operation of the Postfix mail system: start or stop the master(8) daemon, do a health check, and other maintenance.

By default, the postfix(1) command sets up a standardized environment and runs the postfix-script shell script to do the actual work.

However, when support for multiple Postfix instances is configured, postfix(1) executes the command specified with the multi_instance_wrapper configuration parameter. This command will execute the command for each applicable Postfix instance.

The following commands are implemented:

\fBcheck\fR

Warn about bad directory/file ownership or permissions, and create missing directories.

\fBstart\fR

Start the Postfix mail system. This also runs the configuration check described above.

\fBstop\fR

Stop the Postfix mail system in an orderly fashion. If possible, running processes are allowed to terminate at their earliest convenience.

Note: in order to refresh the Postfix mail system after a configuration change, do not use the start and stop commands in succession. Use the reload command instead.

\fBabort\fR

Stop the Postfix mail system abruptly. Running processes are signaled to stop immediately.

\fBflush\fR

Force delivery: attempt to deliver every message in the deferred mail queue. Normally, attempts to deliver delayed mail happen at regular intervals, the interval doubling after each failed attempt.

Warning: flushing undeliverable mail frequently will result in poor delivery performance of all other mail.

\fBreload\fR

Re-read configuration files. Running processes terminate at their earliest convenience.

\fBstatus\fR

Indicate if the Postfix mail system is currently running.

\fBset-permissions\fR \fB[\fIname\fR=\fIvalue ...\fB]\fR

Set the ownership and permissions of Postfix related files and directories, as specified in the postfix-files file.

Specify name=value to override and update specific main.cf configuration parameters. Use this, for example, to change the mail_owner or setgid_group setting for an already installed Postfix system.

This feature is available in Postfix 2.1 and later. With Postfix 2.0 and earlier, use "$config_directory/post-install set-permissions".

\fBupgrade-configuration\fR \fB[\fIname\fR=\fIvalue ...\fB]\fR

Update the main.cf and master.cf files with information that Postfix needs in order to run: add or update services, and add or update configuration parameter settings.

Specify name=value to override and update specific main.cf configuration parameters.

This feature is available in Postfix 2.1 and later. With Postfix 2.0 and earlier, use "$config_directory/post-install upgrade-configuration".

The following options are implemented:

\fB-c \fIconfig_dir\fR

Read the main.cf and master.cf configuration files in the named directory instead of the default configuration directory. Use this to distinguish between multiple Postfix instances on the same host.

With Postfix 2.6 and later, this option forces the postfix(1) command to operate on the specified Postfix instance only. This behavior is inherited by postfix(1) commands that run as a descendant of the current process.

\fB-D\fR (with \fBpostfix start\fR only)

Run each Postfix daemon under control of a debugger as specified via the debugger_command configuration parameter.

\fB-v\fR

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

## ENVIRONMENT

The postfix(1) command exports the following environment variables before executing the postfix-script file:

\fBMAIL_CONFIG\fR

This is set when the -c command-line option is present.

With Postfix 2.6 and later, this environment variable forces the postfix(1) command to operate on the specified Postfix instance only. This behavior is inherited by postfix(1) commands that run as a descendant of the current process.

\fBMAIL_VERBOSE\fR

This is set when the -v command-line option is present.

\fBMAIL_DEBUG\fR

This is set when the -D command-line option is present.

## CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS

The following main.cf configuration parameters are exported as environment variables with the same names:

\fBcommand_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)\fR

The location of all postfix administrative commands.

\fBdaemon_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)\fR

The directory with Postfix support programs and daemon programs.

\fBconfig_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)\fR

The default location of the Postfix main.cf and master.cf configuration files.

\fBqueue_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)\fR

The location of the Postfix top-level queue directory.

\fBmail_owner (postfix)\fR

The UNIX system account that owns the Postfix queue and most Postfix daemon processes.

\fBsetgid_group (postdrop)\fR

The group ownership of set-gid Postfix commands and of group-writable Postfix directories.

\fBsendmail_path (see 'postconf -d' output)\fR

A Sendmail compatibility feature that specifies the location of the Postfix sendmail(1) command.

\fBnewaliases_path (see 'postconf -d' output)\fR

Sendmail compatibility feature that specifies the location of the newaliases(1) command.

\fBmailq_path (see 'postconf -d' output)\fR

Sendmail compatibility feature that specifies where the Postfix mailq(1) command is installed.

\fBhtml_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)\fR

The location of Postfix HTML files that describe how to build, configure or operate a specific Postfix subsystem or feature.

\fBmanpage_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)\fR

Where the Postfix manual pages are installed.

\fBreadme_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)\fR

The location of Postfix README files that describe how to build, configure or operate a specific Postfix subsystem or feature.

Available in Postfix version 2.5 and later:

\fBdata_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)\fR

The directory with Postfix-writable data files (for example: caches, pseudo-random numbers).

Other configuration parameters:

\fBconfig_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)\fR

The default location of the Postfix main.cf and master.cf configuration files.

\fBimport_environment (see 'postconf -d' output)\fR

The list of environment parameters that a Postfix process will import from a non-Postfix parent process.

\fBsyslog_facility (mail)\fR

The syslog facility of Postfix logging.

\fBsyslog_name (see 'postconf -d' output)\fR

The mail system name that is prepended to the process name in syslog records, so that "smtpd" becomes, for example, "postfix/smtpd".

Available in Postfix version 2.6 and later:

\fBmulti_instance_directories (empty)\fR

An optional list of non-default Postfix configuration directories; these directories belong to additional Postfix instances that share the Postfix executable files and documentation with the default Postfix instance, and that are started, stopped, etc., together with the default Postfix instance.

\fBmulti_instance_wrapper (empty)\fR

The pathname of a multi-instance manager command that the postfix(1) command invokes when the multi_instance_directories parameter value is non-empty.

\fBmulti_instance_group (empty)\fR

The optional instance group name of this Postfix instance.

\fBmulti_instance_name (empty)\fR

The optional instance name of this Postfix instance.

\fBmulti_instance_enable (no)\fR

Allow this Postfix instance to be started, stopped, etc., by a multi-instance manager.

## FILES

Prior to Postfix version 2.6, all of the following files were in $config_directory. Some files are now in $daemon_directory so that they can be shared among multiple instances that run the same Postfix version.

Use the command "postconf config_directory" or "postconf daemon_directory" to expand the names into their actual values.

    $config_directory/main.cf, Postfix configuration parameters
    $config_directory/master.cf, Postfix daemon processes
    $daemon_directory/postfix-files, file/directory permissions
    $daemon_directory/postfix-script, administrative commands
    $daemon_directory/post-install, post-installation configuration

## SEE ALSO

    Commands:
    postalias(1), create/update/query alias database
    postcat(1), examine Postfix queue file
    postconf(1), Postfix configuration utility
    postfix(1), Postfix control program
    postkick(1), trigger Postfix daemon
    postlock(1), Postfix-compatible locking
    postlog(1), Postfix-compatible logging
    postmap(1), Postfix lookup table manager
    postmulti(1), Postfix multi-instance manager
    postqueue(1), Postfix mail queue control
    postsuper(1), Postfix housekeeping
    mailq(1), Sendmail compatibility interface
    newaliases(1), Sendmail compatibility interface
    sendmail(1), Sendmail compatibility interface

    Postfix configuration:
    bounce(5), Postfix bounce message templates
    master(5), Postfix master.cf file syntax
    postconf(5), Postfix main.cf file syntax
    postfix-wrapper(5), Postfix multi-instance API

    Table-driven mechanisms:
    access(5), Postfix SMTP access control table
    aliases(5), Postfix alias database
    canonical(5), Postfix input address rewriting
    generic(5), Postfix output address rewriting
    header_checks(5), body_checks(5), Postfix content inspection
    relocated(5), Users that have moved
    transport(5), Postfix routing table
    virtual(5), Postfix virtual aliasing

    Table lookup mechanisms:
    cidr_table(5), Associate CIDR pattern with value
    ldap_table(5), Postfix LDAP client
    lmdb_table(5), Postfix LMDB database driver
    memcache_table(5), Postfix memcache client
    mysql_table(5), Postfix MYSQL client
    nisplus_table(5), Postfix NIS+ client
    pcre_table(5), Associate PCRE pattern with value
    pgsql_table(5), Postfix PostgreSQL client
    regexp_table(5), Associate POSIX regexp pattern with value
    socketmap_table(5), Postfix socketmap client
    sqlite_table(5), Postfix SQLite database driver
    tcp_table(5), Postfix client-server table lookup

    Daemon processes:
    anvil(8), Postfix connection/rate limiting
    bounce(8), defer(8), trace(8), Delivery status reports
    cleanup(8), canonicalize and enqueue message
    discard(8), Postfix discard delivery agent
    dnsblog(8), DNS black/whitelist logger
    error(8), Postfix error delivery agent
    flush(8), Postfix fast ETRN service
    local(8), Postfix local delivery agent
    master(8), Postfix master daemon
    oqmgr(8), old Postfix queue manager
    pickup(8), Postfix local mail pickup
    pipe(8), deliver mail to non-Postfix command
    postscreen(8), Postfix zombie blocker
    proxymap(8), Postfix lookup table proxy server
    qmgr(8), Postfix queue manager
    qmqpd(8), Postfix QMQP server
    scache(8), Postfix connection cache manager
    showq(8), list Postfix mail queue
    smtp(8), lmtp(8), Postfix SMTP+LMTP client
    smtpd(8), Postfix SMTP server
    spawn(8), run non-Postfix server
    tlsmgr(8), Postfix TLS cache and randomness manager
    tlsproxy(8), Postfix TLS proxy server
    trivial-rewrite(8), Postfix address rewriting
    verify(8), Postfix address verification
    virtual(8), Postfix virtual delivery agent

    Other:
    syslogd(8), system logging

## README FILES

Use "postconf readme_directory" or "postconf html_directory" to locate this information.

    OVERVIEW, overview of Postfix commands and processes
    BASIC_CONFIGURATION_README, Postfix basic configuration
    ADDRESS_REWRITING_README, Postfix address rewriting
    SMTPD_ACCESS_README, SMTP relay/access control
    CONTENT_INSPECTION_README, Postfix content inspection
    QSHAPE_README, Postfix queue analysis

## 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

    TLS support by:
    Lutz Jaenicke
    Brandenburg University of Technology
    Cottbus, Germany

    Victor Duchovni
    Morgan Stanley

    SASL support originally by:
    Till Franke
    SuSE Rhein/Main AG
    65760 Eschborn, Germany

    LMTP support originally by:
    Philip A. Prindeville
    Mirapoint, Inc.
    USA.

    Amos Gouaux
    University of Texas at Dallas
    P.O. Box 830688, MC34
    Richardson, TX 75083, USA

    IPv6 support originally by:
    Mark Huizer, Eindhoven University, The Netherlands
    Jun-ichiro 'itojun' Hagino, KAME project, Japan
    The Linux PLD project
    Dean Strik, Eindhoven University, The Netherlands