POSTFIX(1)                  General Commands Manual                 POSTFIX(1)



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  sys-
       tem:  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_wrap-
       per configuration parameter.  This command will execute the command for
       each applicable Postfix instance.

       The following commands are implemented:

       check  Warn about bad directory/file ownership or permissions, and cre-
              ate missing directories.

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

       stop   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  con-
              figuration  change,  do  not  use the start and stop commands in
              succession. Use the reload command instead.

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

       flush  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.

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

       status Indicate if the Postfix mail system is currently running.

       set-permissions [name=value ...]
              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 con-
              figuration 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  Post-
              fix  2.0  and  earlier, use "$config_directory/post-install set-
              permissions".

       upgrade-configuration [name=value ...]
              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  con-
              figuration parameters.

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

       The following options are implemented:

       -c config_dir
              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.

       -D (with postfix start only)
              Run each Postfix daemon under control of a debugger as specified
              via the debugger_command configuration parameter.

       -v     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:

       MAIL_CONFIG
              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.

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

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

CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS
       The following main.cf configuration parameters are exported as environ-
       ment variables with the same names:

       command_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
              The location of all postfix administrative commands.

       daemon_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
              The directory with Postfix support programs and daemon programs.

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

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

       mail_owner (postfix)
              The  UNIX  system  account  that owns the Postfix queue and most
              Postfix daemon processes.

       setgid_group (postdrop)
              The group ownership of set-gid Postfix commands  and  of  group-
              writable Postfix directories.

       sendmail_path (see 'postconf -d' output)
              A  Sendmail compatibility feature that specifies the location of
              the Postfix sendmail(1) command.

       newaliases_path (see 'postconf -d' output)
              Sendmail compatibility feature that specifies  the  location  of
              the newaliases(1) command.

       mailq_path (see 'postconf -d' output)
              Sendmail  compatibility feature that specifies where the Postfix
              mailq(1) command is installed.

       html_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
              The location of Postfix HTML files that describe how  to  build,
              configure or operate a specific Postfix subsystem or feature.

       manpage_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
              Where the Postfix manual pages are installed.

       readme_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
              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:

       data_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
              The directory with Postfix-writable  data  files  (for  example:
              caches, pseudo-random numbers).

       Other configuration parameters:

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

       import_environment (see 'postconf -d' output)
              The list of environment parameters that a Postfix  process  will
              import from a non-Postfix parent process.

       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 2.6 and later:

       multi_instance_directories (empty)
              An  optional  list of non-default Postfix configuration directo-
              ries; 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.

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

       multi_instance_group (empty)
              The optional instance group name of this Postfix instance.

       multi_instance_name (empty)
              The optional instance name of this Postfix instance.

       multi_instance_enable (no)
              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  $con-
       fig_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_direc-
       tory" 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



                                                                    POSTFIX(1)
