<html> <head> </head> <body> <pre> POSTFIX(1) POSTFIX(1) <b>NAME</b> postfix - Postfix control program <b>SYNOPSIS</b> <b>postfix</b> [<b>-Dv</b>] [<b>-c</b> <i>config_dir</i>] <i>command</i> <b>DESCRIPTION</b> This command is reserved for the superuser. To submit mail, use the Postfix <b>sendmail</b> command. The <b>postfix</b> command controls the operation of the Postfix mail system: start or stop the <b>master</b> daemon, do a health check, and other maintenance. The <b>postfix</b> command sets up a standardized environment and runs the <b>postfix-script</b> shell script to do the actual work. The following commands are implemented: <b>check</b> Validate the Postfix mail system configuration. Warn about bad directory/file ownership or permis- sions, and create missing directories. <b>start</b> Start the Postfix mail system. This also runs the configuration check described above. <b>stop</b> 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 <b>start</b> and <b>stop</b> commands in succession. Use the <b>reload</b> command instead. <b>abort</b> Stop the Postfix mail system abruptly. Running pro- cesses are signaled to stop immediately. <b>flush</b> 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. <b>reload</b> Re-read configuration files. Running processes ter- minate at their earliest convenience. The following options are implemented: <b>-c</b> <i>config_dir</i> Read the <b>main.cf</b> and <b>master.cf</b> 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. <b>-D</b> (with <b>postfix</b> <b>start</b> only) Run each Postfix daemon under control of a debugger as specified via the <b>debugger</b><i>_</i><b>command</b> configuration parameter. <b>-v</b> Enable verbose logging for debugging purposes. Mul- tiple <b>-v</b> options make the software increasingly verbose. <b>ENVIRONMENT</b> The <b>postfix</b> command exports the following environment variables before executing the <b>postfix-script</b> file: <b>MAIL</b><i>_</i><b>CONFIG</b> This is set when the -c command-line option is pre- sent. <b>MAIL</b><i>_</i><b>VERBOSE</b> This is set when the -v command-line option is pre- sent. <b>MAIL</b><i>_</i><b>DEBUG</b> This is set when the -D command-line option is pre- sent. The following <b>main.cf</b> configuration parameters are exported as environment variables with the same names: <b>command</b><i>_</i><b>directory</b> Directory with Postfix administrative commands. <b>daemon</b><i>_</i><b>directory</b> Directory with Postfix daemon programs. <b>config</b><i>_</i><b>directory</b> Directory with Postfix configuration files and with administrative shell scripts. <b>queue</b><i>_</i><b>directory</b> 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. <b>mail</b><i>_</i><b>owner</b> The owner of Postfix queue files and of most Post- fix processes. <b>setgid</b><i>_</i><b>group</b> The group for mail submission and queue management commands. <b>sendmail</b><i>_</i><b>path</b> The full pathname for the Postfix <b>sendmail</b> command. <b>newaliases</b><i>_</i><b>path</b> The full pathname for the Postfix <b>newaliases</b> com- mand. <b>mailq</b><i>_</i><b>path</b> The full pathname for the Postfix <b>mailq</b> command. <b>manpage</b><i>_</i><b>directory</b> The directory for the Postfix on-line manual pages. <b>sample</b><i>_</i><b>directory</b> The directory for the Postfix sample configuration files. <b>readme</b><i>_</i><b>directory</b> The directory for the Postfix README files. <b>Other</b> <b>configuration</b> <b>parameters</b> <b>import</b><i>_</i><b>environment</b> List of names of environment parameters that can be imported from non-Postfix processes. <b>FILES</b> $<b>config</b><i>_</i><b>directory/postfix-script</b>, administrative commands $<b>config</b><i>_</i><b>directory/main.cf</b>, configuration parameters $<b>config</b><i>_</i><b>directory/master.cf</b>, Postfix daemon processes <b>SEE</b> <b>ALSO</b> <a href="postconf.1.html">postconf(1)</a> Postfix configuration management <a href="postsuper.1.html">postsuper(1)</a> Postfix housekeeping <a href="sendmail.1.html">sendmail(1)</a> Sendmail-compatible interface <a href="postmap.1.html">postmap(1)</a> Postfix lookup table management <a href="master.8.html">master(8)</a> Postfix master daemon The respective manual pages for the daemon processes spec- ified in the <b>master.cf</b> file, and the manual pages refer- enced by those manual pages. <b>LICENSE</b> The Secure Mailer license must be distributed with this software. <b>AUTHOR(S)</b> Wietse Venema IBM T.J. Watson Research P.O. Box 704 Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA POSTFIX(1) </pre> </body> </html>