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NAME

       mimedefang-protocol  - Conventions used by mimedefang(8) to communicate
       with filter programs.

DESCRIPTION

       mimedefang(8)  and  mimedefang-multiplexor(8)  provide   a   simplified
       mechanism  for hooking scripts and programs into Sendmail’s milter API.

       The milter API is multi-threaded and written in C; mimedefang lets  you
       write  single-threaded  filters written in the language of your choice.
       Some of the flexibility and speed of milter is sacrificed, but the ease
       of writing filters more than compensates for this slight loss.

       This  manual  describes  how  mimedefang  communicates  with the filter
       program, and gives you enough information  to  write  your  own  filter
       program as a replacement for mimedefang.pl if you wish.

PROTOCOL OVERVIEW

       The protocol is a simple file-based protocol.  For each invocation of a
       filter, mimedefang creates a unique working directory and populates  it
       with  files.   It  calls  the filter, which is expected to populate the
       working directory with more files, which communicate the  scan  results
       back  to  mimedefang.  This simple mechanism allows you to easily write
       filters in scripting languages without worrying about C-level  details.

FILTER INVOCATION

       The filter program may be invoked in one of five ways:

       filter_prog directory
              If  the  program  is  invoked with a single argument which is an
              absolute path name (called the working directory, the program is
              expected to perform filtering in that directory and then exit.

       filter_prog -server
              If  the  program is invoked with the single argument -server, it
              is expected to run as a server.  See SERVER MODE for details.

       filter_prog -serveru
              If the program is invoked with the single argument -serveru,  it
              is expected to run as a server.  In addition, anything it prints
              to file descriptor 3 is used to update the "slave status"  field
              in  the multiplexor.  This lets the filter inform administrators
              exactly what it is doing.  (See the  -Z  option  to  mimedefang-
              multiplexor.)

       filter_prog -embserver
              Similar  to  -server,  but  used by the embedded Perl code.  The
              program should run any initialization routines  and  then  exit.
              The   multiplexor   will  subsequently  call  the  Perl  routine
              do_main_loop when it is time for the slave to begin  running  in
              server mode.

       filter_prog -embserveru
              Similar  to -embserver with the additional magic of updating the
              slave status from data written to file descriptor 3.

INITIAL FILE LAYOUT

       When the filter begins a scan, it  should  change  directories  to  the
       working  directory.   In  that  directory,  it  will find the following
       files.

       INPUTMSG
              A file containing the complete input e-mail  message,  including
              headers.

       HEADERS
              A file containing just the headers, one per line.  Headers which
              are continued over several lines in  the  original  message  are
              collapsed into a single line in this file.

       COMMANDS
              A  file containing a list of commands.  Each command is a single
              letter and may be followed by arguments.  Each command is on its
              own line.

THE COMMANDS FILE

       All  commands  have  their arguments encoded as follows: All characters
       outside the range 33 to 126 ASCII, as well as the characters "%",  "\",
       "’"  and  double-quote,  are replaced by a percent sign followed by two
       hex digits specifying the character’s numerical value.  The filter must
       un-escape the arguments when it reads the COMMANDS file.

       The commands from the C to Perl filters are:

       Ssender
              The sender of the message.

       sesmtp_arg
              An   ESMTP   argument   associated  with  the  sender  (such  as
              SIZE=54432).  There is one s line for each ESMTP argument.

       Usubject
              The message subject.

       Xmessage_id
              The Message-ID.

       Rrecipient mailer host addr
              A recipient.  There is one  R  line  for  each  recipient.   The
              mailer,  host  and  addr parts of the line are the values of the
              Sendmail {rcpt_mailer}, {rcpt_host} and  {rcpt_addr}  macros  if
              they are available, or "?" if not.

       resmtp_arg
              An  ESMTP  argument  associated  with  the most recent recipient
              (such as NOTIFY=never).  There is  one  r  line  for  each  SMTP
              argument.

       !      If  this  command is present, there are suspicious characters in
              the message headers.

       ?      If this command is present, there are suspicious  characters  in
              the message body.

       Ihost_addr
              The SMTP relay host’s IP address in dotted-quad notation.

       iidentifier
              An  identifier  generated  by MIMEDefang.  On a given host, this
              identifier is very likely to be unique over a timespan of  about
              24 years.

       Jhost_addr
              The "real" SMTP relay host’s IP address in dotted-quad notation.
              Multi-stage MIMEDefang relays can use a  special  IP  validation
              header  so  that even the innermost MIMEDefang relay can see the
              "original" relay’s IP address.

       Hhost_name
              The SMTP relay host name.

       Eargument
              The argument to the SMTP "EHLO" or "HELO" command.

       Qqid   The message’s Sendmail queue-ID.

       =macro val
              Set the value of the specified  Sendmail  macro  to  val.   Both
              macro   and  val  are  percent-encoded,  but  the  single  space
              character between them is not.

FILTER OPERATION

       When the filter performs a scan, it can make use of all the information
       in  the  files  mentioned  previously.   If  the filter needs temporary
       working files, it  should  create  a  subdirectory  under  the  working
       directory  for  its own use.  In this case, you do not have to clean up
       your working files, because mimedefang deletes  the  working  directory
       when the filter returns.

FINAL FILE LAYOUT

       The  filter  communicates the results of the scan back to mimedefang by
       creating additional files in the working directory.  The most important
       file  is called RESULTS, and it contains a list of one-letter, one-line
       commands back to the filter.  As usual, command arguments are  percent-
       escaped.  The commands from the filter back to mimedefang are:

       Bcode dsn reply_text
              Bounce  (reject) the message with the specified SMTP reply code,
              DSN code and reply text.

       D      Silently discard the message and pretend it was delivered.

       Tcode dsn reply_text
              Return an SMTP temporary failure code with  the  specified  SMTP
              code, DSN and reply text.

       C      Replace  the message body.  If this command is present, the file
              NEWBODY must contain the new message body.

       Mheader_val
              Replace the MIME Content-Type header with a new value.  Used  to
              change MIME boundaries or convert non-MIME to MIME messages.

       Hheader val
              Add  a  new header header with value val.  The header should not
              contain a colon.  Each of header and val is percent-escaped, but
              the single space between them is not.

       Nheader index val
              Adds  a  new header header with value val in position index.  An
              index of zero specifies that the new header should be  prepended
              before all existing headers.

       Iheader index val
              Replace  the  indexth occurrence of header with value val.  The
              index is 1-based.  The header should not contain a colon.   Each
              of  header,  index  and  val  is percent-escaped, but the single
              space between them is not.

       Jheader index
              Delete the index’th occurrence of header.

       Rrecip Add a new recipient recip to the message.

       Srecip Delete recip from the list of message recipients.

       fsender
              Change the envelope sender to sender.  This is only supported by
              Sendmail 8.14.0 and higher.

       F      Indicate that we have finished issuing commands.  Anything after
              an F line is ignored.

SERVER MODE

       In  server  mode,  mimedefang-multiplexor  runs  the   filter   program
       continuously  in a server loop.  The filter program reads commands from
       standard input, and writes results  to  standard  output.   The  filter
       program  must exit shortly after it sees EOF on its standard input.  If
       it does not exit within 10 seconds, it will be terminated with SIGTERM.
       If  that  still  does  not work, then after a further 10 seconds, it is
       killed with SIGKILL.

       SERVER COMMANDS

              All server commands are single line commands.  Each  command  is
              followed  by  a space-separated list of arguments; each argument
              is percent-encoded.  The commands defined are:

       ping   Elicits a reply of "PONG" from the server.

       scan dir
              Run a scan in the directory dir.  The command is terminated with
              a  newline.   The server must write a newline-terminated "ok" if
              the scan completed successfully, or "error:  msg"  if  something
              went wrong.

       relayok ip_addr hostname
              Test  whether  or  not to accept a connection from the specified
              host.  The server must write  "ok  1"  if  we  will  accept  the
              connection,  or  "ok  0  error_message code dsn" if not.  It can
              indicate a temporary failure by  writing  "ok  -1  error_message
              code  dsn".   Note  that  even  if the connection is accepted, a
              later scan can still reject the message based on other criteria.
              "ip_addr"  is  the IP address of the relay and "hostname" is the
              hostname (if it could be determined; otherwise, the  IP  address
              in square brackets).

       senderok   sender_addr   ip_addr   hostname  helo_string  dir  queue_id
       [esmtp_args...]

              Test  whether  or  not to accept mail from the specified sender.
              The server must write "ok 1" if we will accept the mail attempt,
              or  "ok  0 error_message code dsn" if not.  "ok -1 error_message
              code dsn" indicates a temporary failure.  Note that even if  the
              sender  is  accepted,  a later scan can still reject the message
              based on other criteria.  "sender_addr" is the  sender’s  e-mail
              address.  The  "ip_addr"  and  "hostname"  arguments  are  as in
              relayok. "helo_string" is the argument  to  the  SMTP  HELO/EHLO
              command. "dir" is the MIMEDefang spool directory, and "queue_id"
              is the Sendmail queue identifier.

              The optional "esmtp_args" are  space-separated,  percent-encoded
              ESMTP arguments supplied with the MAIL FROM: command.

       recipok recip_addr sender_addr ip_addr hostname first_recip helo_string
       dir queue_id [esmtp_args...]
              Test  whether or not to accept mail for the specified recipient.
              The server must write "ok 1" if we will  accept  it,  or  "ok  0
              error_message  code  dsn" if not.  ok -1 error_message code dsn"
              indicates a temporary-failure.

              "recip_addr" is the  argument  to  the  RCPT  TO:  command,  and
              "first_recip"  is the argument to the first RCPT TO: command for
              this message.  Other arguments are as in senderok.

       map map_name key
              If you are using a map socket  (the  -N  option  to  mimedefang-
              multiplexor),  then the server should look up the key key in the
              map map_name.  The server should print a single line to standard
              output.   The  first  word  on  the  line  should  be one of OK,
              NOTFOUND, TEMP, TIMEOUT or PERM, indicating a successful lookup,
              absence  of  the  key,  a  temporary  failure,  a  timeout  or a
              permanent failure, respectively.  This should be followed  by  a
              space and a percent-encoded string representing the value of the
              key (if it was found) or an optional error message (if something
              went wrong.)

       tick band
              The  filter  should  run  filter_tick  with  the  specified band
              argument.  It should print a single line to standard output:

              tock band

       Additional Commands
              The filter can define a  function  filter_unknown_cmd  that  can
              extend  the  list of server commands.  If you do this, make sure
              all of your commands start with an upper-case  letter  to  avoid
              conflicts if more built-in commands are defined in the future.

       SERVER REPLIES

              The reply codes are:

       ok [return_code] [parameters]
              The  operation  completed successfully.  Some operations have an
              associated return code, and possibly other parameters  as  well.
              See the source code for the gory details.

       error: Message
              The operation failed.  Message may give additional details.

       In server mode, you should not write anything to standard output except
       reply codes, or the multiplexor will become confused.  You  should  not
       terminate  the  program in server mode; simply echo an error: reply and
       return to the server loop.

       When you send a  reply  code  back  to  the  multiplexor,  be  sure  to
       terminate  it  with  a  newline, and to flush standard output.  If your
       program uses the Standard I/O  library,  standard  output  may  not  be
       flushed  immediately,  and mimedefang-multiplexor will wait forever for
       the filter’s reply, and eventually kill the filter on the assumption it
       has hung up.

       In server mode, if the filter program receives a SIGINT signal, it must
       terminate.  This is used by mimedefang-multiplexor to terminate  slaves
       after they have processed a given number of e-mail messages.

AUTHOR

       mimedefang was written by David F. Skoll <dfs@roaringpenguin.com>.  The
       mimedefang home page is http://www.mimedefang.org/.

SEE ALSO

       mimedefang.pl(8), mimedefang(8), mimedefang-multiplexor(8), mimedefang-
       filter(5)