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NAME

       postfix-wrapper - Postfix multi-instance API

DESCRIPTION

       Support  for  managing  multiple  Postfix  instances is available as of
       version 2.6. Instances share executable files  and  documentation,  but
       have their own directories for configuration, queue and data files.

       This  document  describes  how  the  familiar "postfix start" etc. user
       interface can be used to manage one or multiple Postfix instances,  and
       gives details of an API to coordinate activities between the postfix(1)
       command and a multi-instance manager program.

       With multi-instance support, the default  Postfix  instance  is  always
       required.   This   instance   is  identified  by  the  config_directory
       parameter’s default value.

GENERAL OPERATION

       Multi-instance support is backwards compatible: when you run  only  one
       Postfix  instance,  commands  such  as  "postfix start" will not change
       behavior at all.

       Even with multiple Postfix instances,  you  can  keep  using  the  same
       postfix commands in boot scripts, upgrade procedures, and other places.
       The commands do more work, but humans  are  not  forced  to  learn  new
       tricks.

       For example, to start all Postfix instances, use:

              # postfix start

       Other  postfix(1)  commands also work as expected. For example, to find
       out what Postfix instances exist  in  a  multi-instance  configuration,
       use:

              # postfix status

       This  enumerates  the  status  of all Postfix instances within a multi-
       instance configuration.

MANAGING AN INDIVIDUAL POSTFIX INSTANCE

       To manage  a  specific  Postfix  instance,  specify  its  configuration
       directory on the postfix(1) command line:

              # postfix -c /path/to/config_directory command

       Alternatively,   the   postfix(1)   command   accepts   the  instance’s
       configuration directory via the MAIL_CONFIG environment  variable  (the
       -c command-line option has higher precedence).

       Otherwise,   the   postfix(1)  command  will  operate  on  all  Postfix
       instances.

ENABLING POSTFIX(1) MULTI-INSTANCE MODE

       By default, the postfix(1) command operates in single-instance mode. In
       this   mode  the  command  invokes  the  postfix-script  file  directly
       (currently installed in the daemon directory).  This file contains  the
       commands  that  start  or  stop  one Postfix instance, that upgrade the
       configuration of one Postfix instance, and so on.

       When  the  postfix(1)  command  operates  in  multi-instance  mode   as
       discussed  below,  the  command  needs  to  execute  start,  stop, etc.
       commands for each Postfix instance.  This multiplication of commands is
       handled by a multi-instance manager program.

       Turning  on  postfix(1)  multi-instance  mode  goes  as follows: in the
       default Postfix instance’s main.cf file, 1) specify the pathname  of  a
       multi-instance   manager   program   with   the  multi_instance_wrapper
       parameter; 2) populate the  multi_instance_directories  parameter  with
       the  configuration directory pathnames of additional Postfix instances.
       For example:

              /etc/postfix/main.cf:
                  multi_instance_wrapper = $daemon_directory/postfix-wrapper
                  multi_instance_directories = /etc/postfix-test

       The $daemon_directory/postfix-wrapper file implements a simple  manager
       and  contains instructions for creating Postfix instances by hand.  The
       postmulti(1) command provides a more extensive implementation including
       support for life-cycle management.

       The  multi_instance_directories and other main.cf parameters are listed
       below in the CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS section.

       In  multi-instance   mode,   the   postfix(1)   command   invokes   the
       $multi_instance_wrapper  command  instead  of  the postfix-script file.
       This multi-instance manager in turn executes the postfix(1) command  in
       single-instance mode for each Postfix instance.

       To  illustrate the main ideas behind multi-instance operation, below is
       an  example   of   a   simple   but   useful   multi-instance   manager
       implementation:

              #!/bin/sh

              : ${command_directory?"do not invoke this command directly"}

              POSTCONF=$command_directory/postconf
              POSTFIX=$command_directory/postfix
              instance_dirs=`$POSTCONF -h multi_instance_directories |
                              sed ’s/,/ /’` || exit 1

              err=0
              for dir in $config_directory $instance_dirs
              do
                  case "$1" in
                  stop|abort|flush|reload|drain)
                      test "`$POSTCONF -c $dir -h multi_instance_enable`" \
                          = yes || continue;;
                  start)
                      test "`$POSTCONF -c $dir -h multi_instance_enable`" \
                          = yes || {
                          $POSTFIX -c $dir check || err=$?
                          continue
                      };;
                  esac
                  $POSTFIX -c $dir "$@" || err=$?
              done

              exit $err

PER-INSTANCE MULTI-INSTANCE MANAGER CONTROLS

       Each  Postfix  instance  has  its own main.cf file with parameters that
       control how the multi-instance manager operates on that instance.  This
       section discusses the most important settings.

       The  setting  "multi_instance_enable  =  yes" allows the multi-instance
       manager to start (stop, etc.) the corresponding Postfix  instance.  For
       safety reasons, this setting is not the default.

       The  default  setting "multi_instance_enable = no" is useful for manual
       testing with "postfix -c /path/name  start"  etc.   The  multi-instance
       manager will not start such an instance, and it will skip commands such
       as "stop" or "flush" that require  a  running  Postfix  instance.   The
       multi-instance  manager  will  execute  commands such as "check", "set-
       permissions" or "upgrade-configuration", and it will replace "start" by
       "check"  so  that  problems  will be reported even when the instance is
       disabled.

MAINTAINING SHARED AND NON-SHARED FILES

       Some files are shared between Postfix instances,  such  as  executables
       and  manpages,  and  some files are per-instance, such as configuration
       files, mail queue files, and data  files.   See  the  NON-SHARED  FILES
       section below for a list of per-instance files.

       Before Postfix multi-instance support was implemented, the executables,
       manpages, etc., have always been maintained  as  part  of  the  default
       Postfix instance.

       With   multi-instance   support,   we   simply  continue  to  do  this.
       Specifically, a Postfix instance will not check or update shared  files
       when  that instance’s config_directory value is listed with the default
       main.cf file’s multi_instance_directories parameter.

       The consequence of this approach is that the default  Postfix  instance
       should be checked and updated before any other instances.

MULTI-INSTANCE API SUMMARY

       Only   the   multi-instance   manager   implements   support   for  the
       multi_instance_enable  configuration  parameter.   The   multi-instance
       manager  will  start  only  Postfix  instances  whose  main.cf file has
       "multi_instance_enable = yes". A  setting  of  "no"  allows  a  Postfix
       instance to be tested by hand.

       The  postfix(1)  command operates on only one Postfix instance when the
       -c option is specified, or when MAIL_CONFIG is present in  the  process
       environment. This is necessary to terminate recursion.

       Otherwise,  when the multi_instance_directories parameter value is non-
       empty, the postfix(1) command executes the command specified  with  the
       multi_instance_wrapper  parameter, instead of executing the commands in
       postfix-script.

       The multi-instance manager skips commands such as  "stop"  or  "reload"
       that require a running Postfix instance, when an instance does not have
       "multi_instance_enable = yes".  This avoids false error messages.

       The multi-instance manager replaces a "start" command by "check" when a
       Postfix  instance’s main.cf file does not have "multi_instance_enable =
       yes". This substitution ensures that problems  will  be  reported  even
       when the instance is disabled.

       No Postfix command or script will update or check shared files when its
       config_directory   value   is   listed   in   the   default   main.cf’s
       multi_instance_directories  parameter  value.   Therefore,  the default
       instance should be checked and updated  before  any  Postfix  instances
       that depend on it.

       Set-gid  commands  such  as  postdrop(1)  and  postqueue(1) effectively
       append the multi_instance_directories parameter  value  to  the  legacy
       alternate_config_directories  parameter  value.  The  commands use this
       information to determine whether a -c option or MAIL_CONFIG environment
       setting specifies a legitimate value.

       The legacy alternate_config_directories parameter remains necessary for
       non-default Postfix instances that are running  different  versions  of
       Postfix,  or  that  are  not  managed together with the default Postfix
       instance.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

       MAIL_CONFIG
              When present, this forces the postfix(1) command to operate only
              on  the specified Postfix instance. This environment variable is
              exported  by  the  postfix(1)  -c  option,  so  that  postfix(1)
              commands in descendant processes will work correctly.

CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS

       The  text  below provides only a parameter summary. See postconf(5) for
       more details.

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

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

       multi_instance_enable (no)
              Allow  this  Postfix instance to be started, stopped, etc., by a
              multi-instance manager.

NON-SHARED FILES

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

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

       queue_directory (seepostconf -doutput)
              The location of the Postfix top-level queue directory.

SEE ALSO

       postfix(1) Postfix control program
       postmulti(1) full-blown multi-instance manager
       $daemon_directory/postfix-wrapper simple multi-instance manager

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