.TH POSTFIX 1 .ad .fi .SH NAME postfix \- Postfix control program .SH SYNOPSIS .na .nf .fi \fBpostfix\fR [\fB-Dv\fR] [\fB-c \fIconfig_dir\fR] \fIcommand\fR .SH DESCRIPTION .ad .fi This command is reserved for the superuser. To submit mail, use the Postfix \fBsendmail\fR command. The \fBpostfix\fR command controls the operation of the Postfix mail system: start or stop the \fBmaster\fR daemon, do a health check, and other maintenance. The \fBpostfix\fR command sets up a standardized environment and runs the \fBpostfix-script\fR shell script to do the actual work. The following commands are implemented: .IP \fBcheck\fR Validate the Postfix mail system configuration. Warn about bad directory/file ownership or permissions, and create missing directories. .IP \fBstart\fR Start the Postfix mail system. This also runs the configuration check described above. .IP \fBstop\fR Stop the Postfix mail system in an orderly fashion. Running processes are allowed to terminate at their earliest convenience. .sp Note: in order to refresh the Postfix mail system after a configuration change, do not use the \fBstart\fR and \fBstop\fR commands in succession. Use the \fBreload\fR command instead. .IP \fBabort\fR Stop the Postfix mail system abruptly. Running processes are signaled to stop immediately. .IP \fBflush\fR 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. .IP \fBreload\fR Re-read configuration files. Running processes terminate at their earliest convenience. .PP The following options are implemented: .IP "\fB-c \fIconfig_dir\fR" Read the \fBmain.cf\fR and \fBmaster.cf\fR configuration files in the named directory instead of the default configuration directory. Use this to distinguish between multiple Postfix instances on the same host. .IP "\fB-D\fR (with \fBpostfix start\fR only)" Run each Postfix daemon under control of a debugger as specified via the \fBdebugger_command\fR configuration parameter. .IP \fB-v\fR Enable verbose logging for debugging purposes. Multiple \fB-v\fR options make the software increasingly verbose. .SH ENVIRONMENT .na .nf .ad .fi The \fBpostfix\fR command exports the following environment variables before executing the \fBpostfix-script\fR file: .IP \fBMAIL_CONFIG\fR This is set when the -c command-line option is present. .IP \fBMAIL_VERBOSE\fR This is set when the -v command-line option is present. .IP \fBMAIL_DEBUG\fR This is set when the -D command-line option is present. .PP The following \fBmain.cf\fR configuration parameters are exported as environment variables with the same names: .IP \fBcommand_directory\fR Directory with Postfix administrative commands. .IP \fBdaemon_directory\fR Directory with Postfix daemon programs. .IP \fBconfig_directory\fR Directory with Postfix configuration files and with administrative shell scripts. .IP \fBqueue_directory\fR The directory with Postfix queue files, with local inter-process communication endpoints, and with files needed for daemon programs that run in the optional chrooted environment. .IP \fBmail_owner\fR The owner of Postfix queue files and of most Postfix processes. .IP \fBsetgid_group\fR The group for mail submission and queue management commands. .IP \fBsendmail_path The full pathname for the Postfix \fBsendmail\fR command. .IP \fBnewaliases_path The full pathname for the Postfix \fBnewaliases\fR command. .IP \fBmailq_path The full pathname for the Postfix \fBmailq\fR command. .IP \fBmanpage_directory The directory for the Postfix on-line manual pages. .IP \fBsample_directory The directory for the Postfix sample configuration files. .IP \fBreadme_directory The directory for the Postfix README files. .SH Other configuration parameters .ad .fi .IP \fBimport_environment\fR List of names of environment parameters that can be imported from non-Postfix processes. .SH FILES .na .nf $\fBconfig_directory/postfix-script\fR, administrative commands $\fBconfig_directory/main.cf\fR, configuration parameters $\fBconfig_directory/master.cf\fR, Postfix daemon processes .SH SEE ALSO .na .nf postconf(1) Postfix configuration management postsuper(1) Postfix housekeeping sendmail(1) Sendmail-compatible interface postmap(1) Postfix lookup table management master(8) Postfix master daemon .ad .fi The respective manual pages for the daemon processes specified in the \fBmaster.cf\fR file, and the manual pages referenced by those manual pages. .SH LICENSE .na .nf .ad .fi The Secure Mailer license must be distributed with this software. .SH AUTHOR(S) .na .nf Wietse Venema IBM T.J. Watson Research P.O. Box 704 Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA