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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:

       check  Warn about bad  directory/file  ownership  or  permissions,  and
              create 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
              configuration  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
              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".

       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
              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:

       -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
       environment variables with the same names:

       command_directory (seepostconf -doutput)
              The location of all postfix administrative commands.

       daemon_directory (seepostconf -doutput)
              The directory with Postfix support programs and daemon programs.

       config_directory (seepostconf -doutput)
              The  default  location  of  the  Postfix  main.cf  and master.cf
              configuration files.

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

       newaliases_path (seepostconf -doutput)
              Sendmail  compatibility  feature  that specifies the location of
              the newaliases(1) command.

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

       html_directory (seepostconf -doutput)
              The  location  of Postfix HTML files that describe how to build,
              configure or operate a specific Postfix subsystem or feature.

       manpage_directory (seepostconf -doutput)
              Where the Postfix manual pages are installed.

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

       Other configuration parameters:

       config_directory (seepostconf -doutput)
              The default  location  of  the  Postfix  main.cf  and  master.cf
              configuration files.

       import_environment (seepostconf -doutput)
              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 (seepostconf -doutput)
              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:

       multi_instance_directories (empty)
              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.

       multi_instance_wrapper (empty)
              The  pathname  of  a  multi-instance  manager  command  that the
              postfix(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
       $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
       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
       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
       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
       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
       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