postfix - Online in the Cloud

PROGRAM:

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".

tls subcommand
Enable opportunistic TLS in the Postfix SMTP client or server, and manage Postfix
SMTP server TLS private keys and certificates. 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 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:

config_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
The default location of the Postfix main.cf and master.cf configuration 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 multiple Postfix
instances, such as postfix-files, dynamicmaps.cf, and the multi-instance template
files main.cf.proto and master.cf.proto.

shlib_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
The location of Postfix dynamically-linked libraries (libpostfix-*.so), and the
default location of Postfix database plugins (postfix-*.so) that have a relative
pathname in the dynamicmaps.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 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, "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.

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