1. SENDMAIL

SENDMAIL-General Commands Manual 

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NAME
  - sendmail - Postfix to Sendmail compatibility interface

SYNOPSIS

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sendmail [option ...] [recipient ...]

mailq
sendmail -bp

newaliases
sendmail -I

DESCRIPTION

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The Postfix sendmail(1) command implements the Postfix to Sendmail com‐
patibility interface.  For the  sake  of  compatibility  with  existing
applications,  some  Sendmail  command-line  options are recognized but
silently ignored.

By default, Postfix sendmail(1) reads a  message  from  standard  input
until  EOF  or  until  it  reads  a  line  with only a . character, and
arranges for delivery.  Postfix sendmail(1) relies on  the  postdrop(1)
command to create a queue file in the maildrop directory.

Specific  command aliases are provided for other common modes of opera‐
tion:

mailq  List the mail queue. Each entry shows the queue file ID, message
       size,  arrival  time, sender, and the recipients that still need
       to be delivered.  If mail could not be delivered upon  the  last
       attempt, the reason for failure is shown. The queue ID string is
       followed by an optional status character:

       *      The message is in the active queue, i.e. the  message  is
              selected for delivery.

       !      The  message is in the hold queue, i.e. no further deliv‐
              ery attempt will be made until  the  mail  is  taken  off
              hold.

       This   mode   of  operation  is  implemented  by  executing  the
       postqueue(1) command.

newaliases
       Initialize the alias database.  If no input  file  is  specified
       (with  the  -oA  option,  see  below), the program processes the
       file(s) specified with the alias_database configuration  parame‐
       ter.   If  no alias database type is specified, the program uses
       the type specified with the default_database_type  configuration
       parameter.  This mode of operation is implemented by running the
       postalias(1) command.

       Note: it may take a minute or so before an alias database update
       becomes  visible.  Use the "postfix reload" command to eliminate
       this delay.

These and other features can be selected by specifying the  appropriate
combination  of  command-line  options. Some features are controlled by
parameters in the main.cf configuration file.

The following options are recognized:

-Am (ignored)

-Ac (ignored)
       Postfix sendmail uses the same configuration file regardless  of
       whether or not a message is an initial submission.

-B body_type
       The message body MIME type: 7BIT or 8BITMIME.

-bd    Go  into  daemon  mode. This mode of operation is implemented by
       executing the "postfix start" command.

-bh (ignored)

-bH (ignored)
       Postfix has no persistent host status database.

-bi    Initialize alias database. See the newaliases command above.

-bl    Go into daemon mode. To accept only local  connections  as  with
       Sendmail´s  -bl  option, specify "inet_interfaces = loopback" in
       the Postfix main.cf configuration file.

-bm    Read mail from standard input and arrange for delivery.  This is
       the default mode of operation.

-bp    List the mail queue. See the mailq command above.

-bs    Stand-alone  SMTP  server mode. Read SMTP commands from standard
       input, and write responses to standard output.   In  stand-alone
       SMTP  server  mode,  mail relaying and other access controls are
       disabled by default. To enable them,  run  the  process  as  the
       mail_owner user.

       This  mode  of  operation is implemented by running the smtpd(8)
       daemon.

-bv    Do not collect or deliver a  message.  Instead,  send  an  email
       report  after  verifying each recipient address.  This is useful
       for testing address rewriting and routing configurations.

       This feature is available in Postfix version 2.1 and later.

-C config_file

-C config_dir
       The path name of the Postfix main.cf  file,  or  of  its  parent
       directory.  This  information  is  ignored with Postfix versions
       before 2.3.

       With Postfix version 3.2 and later, a non-default directory must
       be  authorized  in  the default main.cf file, through the alter‐
       nate_config_directories  or  multi_instance_directories  parame‐
       ters.

       With  all Postfix versions, you can specify a directory pathname
       with the MAIL_CONFIG environment variable to override the  loca‐
       tion of configuration files.

-F full_name
       Set  the  sender  full name. This overrides the NAME environment
       variable, and is used only with messages that have no From: mes‐
       sage header.

-f sender
       Set  the  envelope  sender  address.  This  is the address where
       delivery problems are sent to. With Postfix versions before 2.1,
       the   Errors-To:  message  header  overrides  the  error  return
       address.

-G     Gateway (relay) submission, as opposed to initial  user  submis‐
       sion.   Either do not rewrite addresses at all, or update incom‐
       plete addresses  with  the  domain  information  specified  with
       remote_header_rewrite_domain.

       This option is ignored before Postfix version 2.3.

-h hop_count (ignored)
       Hop  count limit. Use the hopcount_limit configuration parameter
       instead.

-I     Initialize alias database. See the newaliases command above.

-i     When reading a message from standard input, don´t treat  a  line
       with only a . character as the end of input.

-L label (ignored)
       The  logging  label. Use the syslog_name configuration parameter
       instead.

-m (ignored)
       Backwards compatibility.

-N dsn (default: 'delay, failure')
       Delivery  status  notification   control.   Specify   either   a
       comma-separated list with one or more of failure (send notifica‐
       tion when delivery fails), delay (send notification when  deliv‐
       ery  is delayed), or success (send notification when the message
       is delivered); or specify never (don't send any notifications at
       all).

       This feature is available in Postfix 2.3 and later.

-n (ignored)
       Backwards compatibility.

-oAalias_database
       Non-default  alias  database. Specify pathname or type:pathname.
       See postalias(1) for details.

-O option=value (ignored)
       Set the named option to value. Use the equivalent  configuration
       parameter in main.cf instead.

-o7 (ignored)

-o8 (ignored)
       To  send 8-bit or binary content, use an appropriate MIME encap‐
       sulation and specify the appropriate -B command-line option.

-oi    When reading a message from standard input, don´t treat  a  line
       with only a . character as the end of input.

-om (ignored)
       The sender is never eliminated from alias etc. expansions.

-o x value (ignored)
       Set  option x to value. Use the equivalent configuration parame‐
       ter in main.cf instead.

-r sender
       Set the envelope sender  address.  This  is  the  address  where
       delivery problems are sent to. With Postfix versions before 2.1,
       the  Errors-To:  message  header  overrides  the  error   return
       address.

-R return
       Delivery  status notification control.  Specify "hdrs" to return
       only the header when a message bounces, "full" to return a  full
       copy (the default behavior).

       The -R option specifies an upper bound; Postfix will return only
       the header, when a full copy would exceed the  bounce_size_limit
       setting.

       This option is ignored before Postfix version 2.10.

-q     Attempt  to deliver all queued mail. This is implemented by exe‐
       cuting the postqueue(1) command.

       Warning: flushing undeliverable mail frequently will  result  in
       poor delivery performance of all other mail.

-qinterval (ignored)
       The interval between queue runs. Use the queue_run_delay config‐
       uration parameter instead.

-qIqueueid
       Schedule immediate delivery of mail with the specified queue ID.
       This  option  is  implemented by executing the postqueue(1) com‐
       mand, and is available with Postfix version 2.4 and later.

-qRsite
       Schedule immediate delivery of all mail that is queued  for  the
       named  site. This option accepts only site names that are eligi‐
       ble for the "fast flush" service, and is implemented by  execut‐
       ing the postqueue(1) command.  See flush(8) for more information
       about the "fast flush" service.

-qSsite
       This command is not implemented. Use the  slower  "sendmail  -q"
       command instead.

-t     Extract  recipients from message headers. These are added to any
       recipients specified on the command line.

       With Postfix versions prior to 2.1, this option requires that no
       recipient addresses are specified on the command line.

-U (ignored)
       Initial user submission.

-V envid
       Specify the envelope ID for notification by servers that support
       DSN.

       This feature is available in Postfix 2.3 and later.

-XV (Postfix 2.2 and earlier: -V)
       Variable Envelope Return Path. Given an envelope sender  address
       of  the  form  owner-listname@origin, each recipient user@domain
       receives mail with a personalized envelope sender address.

       By  default,  the  personalized  envelope  sender   address   is
       owner-listname+user=domain@origin.  The  default + and = charac‐
       ters are configurable with the default_verp_delimiters  configu‐
       ration parameter.

-XVxy (Postfix 2.2 and earlier: -Vxy)
       As  -XV,  but  uses  x  and  y as the VERP delimiter characters,
       instead of the characters specified with the default_verp_delim‐
       iters configuration parameter.

-v     Send an email report of the first delivery attempt (Postfix ver‐
       sions 2.1 and later). Mail delivery always happens in the  back‐
       ground.  When multiple -v options are given, enable verbose log‐
       ging for debugging purposes.

-X log_file (ignored)
       Log mailer traffic. Use the debug_peer_list and debug_peer_level
       configuration parameters instead.

SECURITY

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By design, this program is not set-user (or group) id. However, it must
handle data from untrusted, possibly remote, users.   Thus,  the  usual
precautions need to be taken against malicious inputs.

DIAGNOSTICS

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Problems are logged to syslogd(8) and to the standard error stream.

ENVIRONMENT

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MAIL_CONFIG
       Directory with Postfix configuration files.

MAIL_VERBOSE (value does not matter)
       Enable verbose logging for debugging purposes.

MAIL_DEBUG (value does not matter)
       Enable debugging with an external command, as specified with the
       debugger_command configuration parameter.

NAME   The sender full name. This is used only with messages that  have
       no From: message header. See also the -F option above.

CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS

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The  following  main.cf parameters are especially relevant to this pro‐
gram.  The text below provides only  a  parameter  summary.  See  post‐
conf(5) for more details including examples.

COMPATIBILITY CONTROLS

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Available with Postfix 2.9 and later:

sendmail_fix_line_endings (always)
       Controls how the Postfix sendmail command converts email message
       line endings from <CR><LF> into UNIX format (<LF>).

TROUBLE SHOOTING CONTROLS

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The DEBUG_README file gives examples of how to trouble shoot a  Postfix
system.

debugger_command (empty)
       The external command to execute when a Postfix daemon program is
       invoked with the -D option.

debug_peer_level (2)
       The increment in verbose logging level when a remote  client  or
       server matches a pattern in the debug_peer_list parameter.

debug_peer_list (empty)
       Optional  list  of  remote  client or server hostname or network
       address  patterns  that  cause  the  verbose  logging  level  to
       increase by the amount specified in $debug_peer_level.

ACCESS CONTROLS

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Available in Postfix version 2.2 and later:

authorized_flush_users (static:anyone)
       List of users who are authorized to flush the queue.

authorized_mailq_users (static:anyone)
       List of users who are authorized to view the queue.

authorized_submit_users (static:anyone)
       List  of  users who are authorized to submit mail with the send‐
       mail(1) command (and with the privileged postdrop(1) helper com‐
       mand).

RESOURCE AND RATE CONTROLS

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bounce_size_limit (50000)
       The  maximal  amount  of original message text that is sent in a
       non-delivery notification.

fork_attempts (5)
       The maximal number of attempts to fork() a child process.

fork_delay (1s)
       The delay between attempts to fork() a child process.

hopcount_limit (50)
       The maximal number of Received:  message headers that is allowed
       in the primary message headers.

queue_run_delay (300s)
       The  time  between  deferred  queue  scans by the queue manager;
       prior to Postfix 2.4 the default value was 1000s.

FAST FLUSH CONTROLS

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The ETRN_README file describes configuration and operation details  for
the Postfix "fast flush" service.

fast_flush_domains ($relay_domains)
       Optional list of destinations that are eligible for per-destina‐
       tion logfiles with mail that is queued to those destinations.

VERP CONTROLS

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The VERP_README file describes configuration and operation  details  of
Postfix support for variable envelope return path addresses.

default_verp_delimiters (+=)
       The two default VERP delimiter characters.

verp_delimiter_filter (-=+)
       The  characters  Postfix accepts as VERP delimiter characters on
       the Postfix sendmail(1) command line and in SMTP commands.

MISCELLANEOUS CONTROLS

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alias_database (see 'postconf -d' output)
       The alias databases for local(8) delivery that are updated  with
       "newaliases" or with "sendmail -bi".

command_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
       The location of all postfix administrative commands.

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

daemon_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
       The directory with Postfix support programs and daemon programs.

default_database_type (see 'postconf -d' output)
       The default database type for use in newaliases(1), postalias(1)
       and postmap(1) commands.

delay_warning_time (0h)
       The  time  after which the sender receives a copy of the message
       headers of mail that is still queued.

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.

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

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

remote_header_rewrite_domain (empty)
       Don't  rewrite  message  headers from remote clients at all when
       this parameter is empty; otherwise, rewrite message headers  and
       append the specified domain name to incomplete addresses.

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".

Postfix 3.2 and later:

alternate_config_directories (empty)
       A list of non-default Postfix configuration directories that may
       be  specified with "-c config_directory" on the command line (in
       the case of sendmail(1), with  the  "-C"  option),  or  via  the
       MAIL_CONFIG environment parameter.

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.

FILES

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/var/spool/postfix, mail queue
/etc/postfix, configuration files

SEE ALSO

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pickup(8), mail pickup daemon
qmgr(8), queue manager
smtpd(8), SMTP server
flush(8), fast flush service
postsuper(1), queue maintenance
postalias(1), create/update/query alias database
postdrop(1), mail posting utility
postfix(1), mail system control
postqueue(1), mail queue control
syslogd(8), system logging

README_FILES

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Use  "postconf readme_directory" or "postconf html_directory" to locate
this information.
DEBUG_README, Postfix debugging howto
ETRN_README, Postfix ETRN howto
VERP_README, Postfix VERP howto

LICENSE

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The Secure Mailer license must be distributed with this software.

AUTHOR(S)

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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
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