Postfix manual - postfix(1)

    POSTFIX(1)                                                          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.

           start-fg
                  Like start, but keep the master(8) daemon running in  the  fore-
                  ground,  and enable master(8) "init" mode when running as PID 1.
                  This command requires that multi-instance  support  is  disabled
                  (i.e.  the  multi_instance_directories  parameter  value must be
                  empty). When running Postfix inside a container, mount the  con-
                  tainer  host's  /dev/log  socket  inside the container (example:
                  "docker run -v /dev/log:/dev/log ...")  and specify  a  distinct
                  Postfix  "syslog_name"  prefix  that identifies logging from the
                  Postfix instance.

           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".

           tls subcommand
                  Enable  opportunistic  TLS in the Postfix SMTP client or server,
                  and manage Postfix SMTP server TLS  private  keys  and  certifi-
                  cates.  See postfix-tls(1) for documentation.

                  This feature is available in Postfix 3.1 and later.

           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:

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

           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.

           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.

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

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

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

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

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

           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.

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

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

           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).

           Available in Postfix version 3.0 and later:

           meta_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
                  The  location of non-executable files that are shared among mul-
                  tiple Postfix instances, such as postfix-files,  dynamicmaps.cf,
                  and  the  multi-instance  template  files main.cf.proto and mas-
                  ter.cf.proto.

           shlib_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
                  The location of Postfix dynamically-linked  libraries  (libpost-
                  fix-*.so),  and the default location of Postfix database plugins
                  (postfix-*.so) that have  a  relative  pathname  in  the  dynam-
                  icmaps.cf file.

           Available in Postfix version 3.1 and later:

           openssl_path (openssl)
                  The location of the OpenSSL command line program openssl(1).

           Other configuration parameters:

           import_environment (see 'postconf -d' output)
                  The  list  of  environment  parameters that a privileged Postfix
                  process will  import  from  a  non-Postfix  parent  process,  or
                  name=value environment overrides.

           syslog_facility (mail)
                  The syslog facility of Postfix logging.

           syslog_name (see 'postconf -d' output)
                  A  prefix  that  is  prepended  to  the  process  name in syslog
                  records, so that, for example, "smtpd" becomes "prefix/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
           $daemon_directory/dynamicmaps.cf, plug-in database clients

    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
           postfix-tls(1), Postfix TLS management
           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
           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

           Wietse Venema
           Google, Inc.
           111 8th Avenue
           New York, NY 10011, 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)