GGuuiiddeelliinneess ffoorr PPaacckkaaggee BBuuiillddeerrss
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PPuurrppoossee ooff tthhiiss ddooccuummeenntt
This document has hints and tips for those who manage their own Postfix
distribution for internal use, and for those who maintain Postfix distributions
for general use.
GGeenneerraall ddiissttrriibbuuttiioonnss:: pplleeaassee pprroovviiddee aa ssmmaallll ddeeffaauulltt mmaaiinn..ccff ffiillee
The installed main.cf file must be small. PLEASE resist the temptation to list
all 300+ parameters in the main.cf file. Postfix is supposed to be easy to
configure. Listing all 300+ in main.cf defeats the purpose. It is an invitation
for hobbyists to make random changes without understanding what they do, and
gets them into endless trouble.
GGeenneerraall ddiissttrriibbuuttiioonnss:: pplleeaassee iinncclluuddee RREEAADDMMEE oorr HHTTMMLL ffiilleess
Please provide the applicable README or HTML files. They are referenced by the
Postfix manual pages and by other files. Without README or HTML files, Postfix
will be difficult if not impossible to configure.
PPoossttffiixx IInnssttaallllaattiioonn ppaarraammeetteerrss
Postfix installation is controlled by a dozen installation parameters. See the
postfix-install and post-install files for details. Most parameters have
system-dependent default settings that are configurable at compile time, as
described in the INSTALL file.
PPrreeppaarriinngg aa pprree--bbuuiilltt ppaacckkaaggee ffoorr ddiissttrriibbuuttiioonn ttoo ootthheerr ssyysstteemmss
You can build a Postfix package on a machine that does not have Postfix
installed on it. All you need is Postfix source code and a compilation
environment that is compatible with the target system.
You can build a pre-built Postfix package as an unprivileged user.
First compile Postfix. After successful compilation, execute:
% sh postfix-install
You will be prompted for installation parameters. Specify an install_root
directory other than /. The mail_owner and setgid_group installation parameter
settings will be recorded in the main.cf file, but they won't take effect until
the package is unpacked and installed on the destination machine.
If you want to fully automate this process, specify all the non-default
installation parameters on the command line:
% sh postfix-install -non-interactive
install_root=/some/where ...
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EEnndd SSeeccuurriittyy AAlleerrtt
Thus, to tar up the pre-built package, take the following steps:
% cd INSTALL_ROOT
% rm -f SOMEWHERE/outputfile
% find . \! -type d -print | xargs tar cf SOMEWHERE/outputfile
% gzip SOMEWHERE/outputfile
This way you will not include any directories that might cause trouble upon
extraction.
IInnssttaalllliinngg aa pprree--bbuuiilltt PPoossttffiixx ppaacckkaaggee
* To unpack a pre-built Postfix package, execute the equivalent of:
# umask 022
# gzip -d <outputfile.tar.gz | (cd / ; tar xvpf -)
The umask command is necessary for getting the correct permissions on non-
Postfix directories that need to be created in the process.
* Create the necessary mail_owner account and setgid_group group for
exclusive use by Postfix.
* Execute the postfix command to set ownership and permission of Postfix
files and directories, and to update Postfix configuration files. If
necessary, specify any non-default settings for mail_owner or setgid_group
on the postfix command line:
# postfix set-permissions upgrade-configuration \
setgid_group=xxx mail_owner=yyy
With Postfix versions before 2.1 you achieve the same result by invoking
the post-install script directly.