POSTSUPER(1)                                                      POSTSUPER(1)

NAME
       postsuper - Postfix superintendent

SYNOPSIS
       postsuper [-psSv] [-c config_dir] [-d queue_id]
               [-h queue_id] [-H queue_id]
               [-r queue_id] [directory ...]

DESCRIPTION
       The  postsuper(1)  command  does  maintenance  jobs on the
       Postfix queue. Use of the command  is  restricted  to  the
       superuser.   See the postqueue(1) command for unprivileged
       queue operations such as  listing  or  flushing  the  mail
       queue.

       By default, postsuper(1) performs the operations requested
       with the -s and -p command-line  options  on  all  Postfix
       queue directories - this includes the incoming, active and
       deferred directories  with  mail  files  and  the  bounce,
       defer, trace and flush directories with log files.

       Options:

       -c config_dir
              The  main.cf  configuration  file  is  in the named
              directory  instead  of  the  default  configuration
              directory.  See  also  the  MAIL_CONFIG environment
              setting below.

       -d queue_id
              Delete one message with the named queue ID from the
              named   mail  queue(s)  (default:  hold,  incoming,
              active and deferred).

              If a queue_id of - is specified, the program  reads
              queue  IDs  from  standard  input.  For example, to
              delete  all  mail  with   exactly   one   recipient
              user@example.com:

              mailq | tail +2 | grep -v '^ *(' | awk  'BEGIN { RS = "" }
                  # $7=sender, $8=recipient1, $9=recipient2
                  { if ($8 == "user@example.com" && $9 == "")
                        print $1 }
              ' | tr -d '*!' | postsuper -d -

              Specify  "-d ALL" to remove all messages; for exam-
              ple, specify "-d ALL deferred" to delete  all  mail
              in  the  deferred  queue.  As a safety measure, the
              word ALL must be specified in upper case.

              Warning: Postfix queue IDs are reused (always  with
              Postfix  <=  2.8;  and  with  Postfix  >=  2.9 when
              enable_long_queue_ids=no).  There is a  very  small
              possibility  that  postsuper deletes the wrong mes-
              sage file when it is  executed  while  the  Postfix
              mail system is delivering mail.

              The scenario is as follows:

              1)     The  Postfix  queue manager deletes the mes-
                     sage that postsuper(1) is asked  to  delete,
                     because Postfix is finished with the message
                     (it is delivered, or it is returned  to  the
                     sender).

              2)     New  mail  arrives,  and  the new message is
                     given the same queue ID as the message  that
                     postsuper(1)  is  supposed  to  delete.  The
                     probability for reusing a deleted  queue  ID
                     is about 1 in 2**15 (the number of different
                     microsecond values that the system clock can
                     distinguish within a second).

              3)     postsuper(1)   deletes   the   new  message,
                     instead of the old message  that  it  should
                     have deleted.

       -h queue_id
              Put  mail  "on  hold" so that no attempt is made to
              deliver it.  Move one message with the named  queue
              ID from the named mail queue(s) (default: incoming,
              active and deferred) to the hold queue.

              If a queue_id of - is specified, the program  reads
              queue IDs from standard input.

              Specify "-h ALL" to hold all messages; for example,
              specify "-h ALL deferred" to hold all mail  in  the
              deferred  queue.  As a safety measure, the word ALL
              must be specified in upper case.

              Note: while mail is "on hold" it  will  not  expire
              when  its  time  in  the  queue  exceeds  the maxi-
              mal_queue_lifetime  or  bounce_queue_lifetime  set-
              ting.  It becomes subject to expiration after it is
              released from "hold".

              This feature is available in Postfix 2.0 and later.

       -H queue_id
              Release mail that was put "on hold".  Move one mes-
              sage with the named queue ID from  the  named  mail
              queue(s) (default: hold) to the deferred queue.

              If  a queue_id of - is specified, the program reads
              queue IDs from standard input.

              Note: specify "postsuper -r" to release  mail  that
              was  kept  on  hold  for  a significant fraction of
              $maximal_queue_lifetime or  $bounce_queue_lifetime,
              or longer.

              Specify  "-H  ALL"  to release all mail that is "on
              hold".  As a safety measure, the word ALL  must  be
              specified in upper case.

              This feature is available in Postfix 2.0 and later.

       -p     Purge old temporary files that are left over  after
              system or software crashes.

       -r queue_id
              Requeue  the  message  with the named queue ID from
              the named mail queue(s) (default:  hold,  incoming,
              active  and  deferred).   To  requeue multiple mes-
              sages, specify multiple -r command-line options.

              Alternatively, if a queue_id of - is specified, the
              program reads queue IDs from standard input.

              Specify  "-r  ALL"  to  requeue  all messages. As a
              safety measure, the word ALL must be  specified  in
              upper case.

              A  requeued message is moved to the maildrop queue,
              from where  it  is  copied  by  the  pickup(8)  and
              cleanup(8)  daemons  to  a  new queue file. In many
              respects its handling differs from that  of  a  new
              local submission.

              o      The   message   is   not  subjected  to  the
                     smtpd_milters or non_smtpd_milters settings.
                     When  mail  has  passed  through an external
                     content filter, this would produce incorrect
                     results with Milter applications that depend
                     on original SMTP connection  state  informa-
                     tion.

              o      The  message  is  subjected  again  to  mail
                     address rewriting and substitution.  This is
                     useful  when rewriting rules or virtual map-
                     pings have changed.

                     The  address  rewriting  context  (local  or
                     remote)  is the same as when the message was
                     received.

              o      The message is subjected to  the  same  con-
                     tent_filter  settings  (if  any) as used for
                     new local mail submissions.  This is  useful
                     when content_filter settings have changed.

              Warning:  Postfix queue IDs are reused (always with
              Postfix <=  2.8;  and  with  Postfix  >=  2.9  when
              enable_long_queue_ids=no).   There  is a very small
              possibility that postsuper(1)  requeues  the  wrong
              message  file when it is executed while the Postfix
              mail system is running, but no harm should be done.

              This feature is available in Postfix 1.1 and later.

       -s     Structure check and structure repair.  This  should
              be done once before Postfix startup.

              o      Rename  files  whose name does not match the
                     message file inode number. This operation is
                     necessary  after restoring a mail queue from
                     a different machine  or  from  backup,  when
                     queue files were created with Postfix <= 2.8
                     or with "enable_long_queue_ids = no".

              o      Move queue files that are in the wrong place
                     in the file system hierarchy and remove sub-
                     directories that are no longer needed.  File
                     position  rearrangements are necessary after
                     a  change  in  the  hash_queue_names  and/or
                     hash_queue_depth configuration parameters.

              o      Rename     queue    files    created    with
                     "enable_long_queue_ids  =  yes"   to   short
                     names, for migration to Postfix <= 2.8.  The
                     procedure is as follows:

                     # postfix stop
                     # postconf enable_long_queue_ids=no
                     # postsuper

                     Run postsuper(1) repeatedly until  it  stops
                     reporting file name changes.

       -S     A  redundant  version of -s that requires that long
              file names also match the message file  inode  num-
              ber.  This  option exists for testing purposes, and
              is available with Postfix 2.9 and later.

       -v     Enable verbose logging for debugging purposes. Mul-
              tiple  -v  options  make  the software increasingly
              verbose.

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

       postsuper(1)  reports  the number of messages deleted with
       -d, the number of messages requeued with -r, and the  num-
       ber  of  messages whose queue file name was fixed with -s.
       The report is written to the standard error stream and  to
       syslogd(8).

ENVIRONMENT
       MAIL_CONFIG
              Directory with the main.cf file.

BUGS
       Mail  that  is  not sanitized by Postfix (i.e. mail in the
       maildrop queue) cannot be placed "on hold".

CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS
       The following main.cf parameters are  especially  relevant
       to this program.  The text below provides only a parameter
       summary. See postconf(5) for more details including  exam-
       ples.

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

       hash_queue_depth (1)
              The number of subdirectory levels for queue  direc-
              tories  listed with the hash_queue_names parameter.

       hash_queue_names (deferred, defer)
              The names  of  queue  directories  that  are  split
              across multiple subdirectory levels.

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

       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 2.9 and later:

       enable_long_queue_ids (no)
              Enable long, non-repeating, queue IDs  (queue  file
              names).

SEE ALSO
       sendmail(1), Sendmail-compatible user interface
       postqueue(1), unprivileged queue operations

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

                                                                  POSTSUPER(1)