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postfix(1)

POSTFIX(1)General Commands ManualPOSTFIX(1)

postfix - Postfix control program

postfix [-Dv] [-c config_dir]    command

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:
Warn about bad directory/file ownership or permissions, and create missing      directories.
Start the Postfix mail system. This also runs the configuration check      described above.
Like start, but keep the master(8) daemon running in the      foreground, 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, see MAILLOG_README        for logging to stdout. Postfix logs to syslog by default, which requires        a) running a syslogd process inside the container, or b) mounting the        container host's /dev/log socket inside the container (example:        "docker run -v /dev/log:/dev/log ..."), and c) a distinct        Postfix "syslog_name" prefix that identifies logging from the        Postfix instance.
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.
Stop the Postfix mail system abruptly. Running processes are signaled to      stop immediately.
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.
Re-read configuration files. Running processes terminate at their earliest      convenience.
Indicate if the Postfix mail system is currently running.
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-installset-permissions".
Rotate the logfile specified with $maillog_file, by appending a time-stamp      suffix that is formatted according to $maillog_file_rotate_suffix, and by      compressing the file with the command specified with      $maillog_file_compressor. This will not rotate /dev/* files.    
This feature is available in Postfix 3.4 and later.
Enable opportunistic TLS in the Postfix SMTP client or server, and manage      Postfix SMTP server TLS private keys and certificates. See postfix-tls(1)      for documentation.    
This feature is available in Postfix 3.1 and later.
Update the main.cf and master.cf files with information that      Postfix needs in order to run: add or update services, and add or update      configuration parameter settings.    
Specify name=value to override and update        specific main.cf configuration parameters.
This feature is available in Postfix 2.1 and later. With        Postfix 2.0 and earlier, use "$config_directory/post-installupgrade-configuration".
The following options are implemented:
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.
Run each Postfix daemon under control of a debugger as specified via the      debugger_command configuration parameter.
Enable verbose logging for debugging purposes. Multiple -v options      make the software increasingly verbose.
The postfix(1) command exports the following environment    variables before executing the postfix-script file:
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.
This is set when the -v command-line option is present.
This is set when the -D command-line option is present.
When the internal logging service is enabled (by setting a    non-empty maillog_file parameter value) the postfix(1) command exports    settings that are used by child processes before they have processed main.cf    or command-line settings.
The name of the public postlog service endpoint.
The hostname to prepend to internal logging.
The following main.cf configuration parameters are exported    as environment variables with the same names:
The default location of the Postfix main.cf and master.cf configuration      files.
The location of all postfix administrative commands.
The directory with Postfix support programs and daemon programs.
The location of Postfix HTML files that describe how to build, configure      or operate a specific Postfix subsystem or feature.
The UNIX system account that owns the Postfix queue and most Postfix      daemon processes.
Sendmail compatibility feature that specifies where the Postfix      mailq(1) command is installed.
Where the Postfix manual pages are installed.
Sendmail compatibility feature that specifies the location of the      newaliases(1) command.
The location of the Postfix top-level queue directory.
The location of Postfix README files that describe how to build, configure      or operate a specific Postfix subsystem or feature.
A Sendmail compatibility feature that specifies the location of the      Postfix sendmail(1) command.
The group ownership of set-gid Postfix commands and of group-writable      Postfix directories.
Available in Postfix version 2.5 and later:
The directory with Postfix-writable data files (for example: caches,      pseudo-random numbers).
Available in Postfix version 3.0 and later:
A safety net that causes Postfix to run with backwards-compatible default      settings after an upgrade to a newer Postfix version.
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.
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:
The location of the OpenSSL command line program openssl(1).
Other configuration parameters:
The list of environment variables that a privileged Postfix process will      import from a non-Postfix parent process, or name=value environment      overrides.
The syslog facility of Postfix logging.
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:
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.
The pathname of a multi-instance manager command that the      postfix(1) command invokes when the multi_instance_directories      parameter value is non-empty.
The optional instance group name of this Postfix instance.
The optional instance name of this Postfix instance.
Allow this Postfix instance to be started, stopped, etc., by a      multi-instance manager.
Available in Postfix version 3.4 and later:
The name of an optional logfile that is written by the Postfix      postlogd(8) service.
The program to run after rotating $maillog_file with "postfix      logrotate".
A list of allowed prefixes for a maillog_file value.
The format of the suffix to append to $maillog_file while rotating the      file with "postfix logrotate".
The name of the postlogd(8) service entry in master.cf.
Prior to Postfix version 2.6, all of the following files were in    $config_directory. Some files are now in $daemon_directory or    $meta_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$daemon_directory/postfix-script, administrative commands$daemon_directory/post-install, post-installation configuration$meta_directory/dynamicmaps.cf, plug-in database clients$meta_directory/postfix-files, file/directory permissions
Commands:postalias(1), create/update/query alias databasepostcat(1), examine Postfix queue filepostconf(1), Postfix configuration utilitypostdrop(1), Postfix mail posting utilitypostfix(1), Postfix control programpostfix-tls(1), Postfix TLS managementpostkick(1), trigger Postfix daemonpostlock(1), Postfix-compatible lockingpostlog(1), Postfix-compatible loggingpostmap(1), Postfix lookup table managerpostmulti(1), Postfix multi-instance managerpostqueue(1), Postfix mail queue controlpostsuper(1), Postfix housekeepingmailq(1), Sendmail compatibility interfacenewaliases(1), Sendmail compatibility interfacesendmail(1), Sendmail compatibility interfacePostfix configuration:bounce(5), Postfix bounce message templatesmaster(5), Postfix master.cf file syntaxpostconf(5), Postfix main.cf file syntaxpostfix-wrapper(5), Postfix multi-instance APITable-driven mechanisms:access(5), Postfix SMTP access control tablealiases(5), Postfix alias databasecanonical(5), Postfix input address rewritinggeneric(5), Postfix output address rewritingheader_checks(5), body_checks(5), Postfix content inspectionrelocated(5), Users that have movedtransport(5), Postfix routing tablevirtual(5), Postfix virtual aliasingTable lookup mechanisms:cidr_table(5), Associate CIDR pattern with valueldap_table(5), Postfix LDAP clientlmdb_table(5), Postfix LMDB database drivermemcache_table(5), Postfix memcache clientmysql_table(5), Postfix MYSQL clientnisplus_table(5), Postfix NIS+ clientpcre_table(5), Associate PCRE pattern with valuepgsql_table(5), Postfix PostgreSQL clientregexp_table(5), Associate POSIX regexp pattern with valuesocketmap_table(5), Postfix socketmap clientsqlite_table(5), Postfix SQLite database drivertcp_table(5), Postfix client-server table lookupDaemon processes:anvil(8), Postfix connection/rate limitingbounce(8), defer(8), trace(8), Delivery status reportscleanup(8), canonicalize and enqueue messagediscard(8), Postfix discard delivery agentdnsblog(8), DNS allow/denylist loggererror(8), Postfix error delivery agentflush(8), Postfix fast ETRN servicelocal(8), Postfix local delivery agentmaster(8), Postfix master daemonoqmgr(8), old Postfix queue managerpickup(8), Postfix local mail pickuppipe(8), deliver mail to non-Postfix commandpostlogd(8), Postfix internal logging servicepostscreen(8), Postfix zombie blockerproxymap(8), Postfix lookup table proxy serverqmgr(8), Postfix queue managerqmqpd(8), Postfix QMQP serverscache(8), Postfix connection cache managershowq(8), list Postfix mail queuesmtp(8), lmtp(8), Postfix SMTP+LMTP clientsmtpd(8), Postfix SMTP serverspawn(8), run non-Postfix servertlsmgr(8), Postfix TLS cache and randomness managertlsproxy(8), Postfix TLS proxy servertrivial-rewrite(8), Postfix address rewritingverify(8), Postfix address verificationvirtual(8), Postfix virtual delivery agentOther:syslogd(8), system logging
Use "postconf readme_directory" or    "postconf html_directory" to locate this information.
OVERVIEW, overview of Postfix commands and processesBASIC_CONFIGURATION_README, Postfix basic configurationADDRESS_REWRITING_README, Postfix address rewritingSMTPD_ACCESS_README, SMTP relay/access controlCONTENT_INSPECTION_README, Postfix content inspectionQSHAPE_README, Postfix queue analysis
The Secure Mailer license must be distributed with this  software.
Wietse VenemaIBM T.J. Watson ResearchP.O. Box 704Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USAWietse VenemaGoogle, Inc.111 8th AvenueNew York, NY 10011, USATLS support by:Lutz JaenickeBrandenburg University of TechnologyCottbus, GermanyVictor DuchovniMorgan StanleySASL support originally by:Till FrankeSuSE Rhein/Main AG65760 Eschborn, GermanyLMTP support originally by:Philip A. PrindevilleMirapoint, Inc.USA.Amos GouauxUniversity of Texas at DallasP.O. Box 830688, MC34Richardson, TX 75083, USAIPv6 support originally by:Mark Huizer, Eindhoven University, The NetherlandsJun-ichiro 'itojun' Hagino, KAME project, JapanThe Linux PLD projectDean Strik, Eindhoven University, The Netherlands