POSTFIX(1)                                             POSTFIX(1)

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 command.

       The postfix command controls the operation of the  Postfix
       mail  system: start or stop the master daemon, do a health
       check, and other maintenance.

       The postfix command sets up a standardized environment and
       runs  the  postfix-script  shell  script  to do the actual
       work.

       The following commands are implemented:

       check  Validate the  Postfix  mail  system  configuration.
              Warn  about bad directory/file ownership or permis-
              sions, 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.
              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 pro-
              cesses 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.

       reload Re-read configuration files. Running processes ter-
              minate at their earliest convenience.

       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  con-
              figuration  directory.   Use  this  to  distinguish
              between multiple  Postfix  instances  on  the  same
              host.

       -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. Mul-
              tiple -v options  make  the  software  increasingly
              verbose.

ENVIRONMENT
       The  postfix  command  exports  the  following environment
       variables before executing the postfix-script file:

       MAIL_CONFIG
              This is set when the -c command-line option is pre-
              sent.

       MAIL_VERBOSE
              This is set when the -v command-line option is pre-
              sent.

       MAIL_DEBUG
              This is set when the -D command-line option is pre-
              sent.

       The   following   main.cf   configuration  parameters  are
       exported as environment variables with the same names:

       command_directory
              Directory with Postfix administrative commands.

       daemon_directory
              Directory with Postfix daemon programs.

       config_directory
              Directory with Postfix configuration files and with
              administrative shell scripts.

       queue_directory
              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.

       mail_owner
              The owner of Postfix queue files and of most  Post-
              fix processes.

       setgid_group
              The  group for mail submission and queue management
              commands.

       sendmail_path
              The full pathname for the Postfix sendmail command.

       newaliases_path
              The  full  pathname for the Postfix newaliases com-
              mand.

       mailq_path
              The full pathname for the Postfix mailq command.

       manpage_directory
              The directory for the Postfix on-line manual pages.

       sample_directory
              The  directory for the Postfix sample configuration
              files.

       readme_directory
              The directory for the Postfix README files.

Other configuration parameters
       import_environment
              List of names of environment parameters that can be
              imported from non-Postfix processes.

FILES
       $config_directory/postfix-script, administrative commands
       $config_directory/main.cf, configuration parameters
       $config_directory/master.cf, Postfix daemon processes

SEE ALSO
       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
       The respective manual pages for the daemon processes spec-
       ified in the master.cf file, and the manual  pages  refer-
       enced by those manual pages.

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

                                                       POSTFIX(1)