.TH ALIASES 5
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.SH NAME
aliases
\-
Postfix local alias database format
.SH "SYNOPSIS"
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\fBnewaliases\fR
.SH DESCRIPTION
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The \fBaliases\fR(5) table provides a system-wide mechanism to
redirect mail for local recipients. The redirections are
processed by the Postfix \fBlocal\fR(8) delivery agent.
Normally, the \fBaliases\fR(5) table is specified as a text file
that serves as input to the \fBpostalias\fR(1) command. The
result, an indexed file in \fBdbm\fR or \fBdb\fR format, is
used for fast lookup by the mail system. Execute the command
\fBnewaliases\fR in order to rebuild the indexed file after
changing the Postfix alias database.
The input and output file formats are expected to be compatible
with Sendmail version 8, and are expected to be suitable for the
use as NIS maps.
Users can control delivery of their own mail by setting
up \fB.forward\fR files in their home directory.
Lines in per-user \fB.forward\fR files have the same syntax
as the right-hand side of \fBaliases\fR(5) entries.
The format of the alias database input file is as follows:
.IP \(bu
An alias definition has the form
.sp
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\fIname\fR: \fIvalue1\fR, \fIvalue2\fR, \fI...\fR
.fi
.IP \(bu
Empty lines and whitespace-only lines are ignored, as
are lines whose first non-whitespace character is a `#'.
.IP \(bu
A logical line starts with non-whitespace text. A line that
starts with whitespace continues a logical line.
.PP
The \fIname\fR is a local address (no domain part).
Use double quotes when the name contains any special characters
such as whitespace, `#', `:', or `@'. The \fIname\fR is folded to
lowercase, in order to make database lookups case insensitive.
.PP
In addition, when an alias exists for \fBowner-\fIname\fR, delivery
diagnostics are directed to that address, instead of to the originator
of the message.
This is typically used to direct delivery errors to the maintainer of
a mailing list, who is in a better position to deal with mailing
list delivery problems than the originator of the undelivered mail.
.PP
The \fIvalue\fR contains one or more of the following:
.IP \fIaddress\fR
Mail is forwarded to \fIaddress\fR, which is compatible
with the RFC 822 standard.
.IP \fI/file/name\fR
Mail is appended to \fI/file/name\fR. See \fBlocal\fR(8)
for details of delivery to file.
Delivery is not limited to regular files. For example, to dispose
of unwanted mail, deflect it to \fB/dev/null\fR.
.IP "|\fIcommand\fR"
Mail is piped into \fIcommand\fR. Commands that contain special
characters, such as whitespace, should be enclosed between double
quotes. See \fBlocal\fR(8) for details of delivery to command.
.sp
When the command fails, a limited amount of command output is
mailed back to the sender. The file \fB/usr/include/sysexits.h\fR
defines the expected exit status codes. For example, use
\fB"|exit 67"\fR to simulate a "user unknown" error, and
\fB"|exit 0"\fR to implement an expensive black hole.
.IP \fB:include:\fI/file/name\fR
Mail is sent to the destinations listed in the named file.
Lines in \fB:include:\fR files have the same syntax
as the right-hand side of alias entries.
.sp
A destination can be any destination that is described in this
manual page. However, delivery to "|\fIcommand\fR" and
\fI/file/name\fR is disallowed by default. To enable, edit the
\fBallow_mail_to_commands\fR and \fBallow_mail_to_files\fR
configuration parameters.
.SH "ADDRESS EXTENSION"
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When alias database search fails, and the recipient localpart
contains the optional recipient delimiter (e.g., \fIuser+foo\fR),
the search is repeated for the unextended address (e.g., \fIuser\fR).
The \fBpropagate_unmatched_extensions\fR parameter controls
whether an unmatched address extension (\fI+foo\fR) is
propagated to the result of table lookup.
.SH "CASE FOLDING"
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The local(8) delivery agent always folds the search string
to lowercase before database lookup.
.SH "SECURITY"
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The \fBlocal\fR(8) delivery agent disallows regular expression
substitution of $1 etc. in \fBalias_maps\fR, because that
would open a security hole.
The \fBlocal\fR(8) delivery agent will silently ignore
requests to use the \fBproxymap\fR(8) server within
\fBalias_maps\fR. Instead it will open the table directly.
Before Postfix version 2.2, the \fBlocal\fR(8) delivery
agent will terminate with a fatal error.
.SH "CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS"
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The following \fBmain.cf\fR parameters are especially relevant.
The text below provides only a parameter summary. See
\fBpostconf\fR(5) for more details including examples.
.IP \fBalias_database\fR
List of alias databases that are updated by the
\fBnewaliases\fR(1) command.
.IP \fBalias_maps\fR
List of alias databases queried by the \fBlocal\fR(8) delivery agent.
.IP \fBallow_mail_to_commands\fR
Restrict the usage of mail delivery to external command.
.IP \fBallow_mail_to_files\fR
Restrict the usage of mail delivery to external file.
.IP \fBexpand_owner_alias\fR
When delivering to an alias that has an \fBowner-\fR companion alias,
set the envelope sender address to the right-hand side of the
owner alias, instead using of the left-hand side address.
.IP \fBpropagate_unmatched_extensions\fR
A list of address rewriting or forwarding mechanisms that
propagate an address extension from the original address
to the result. Specify zero or more of \fBcanonical\fR,
\fBvirtual\fR, \fBalias\fR, \fBforward\fR, \fBinclude\fR,
or \fBgeneric\fR.
.IP \fBowner_request_special\fR
Give special treatment to \fBowner-\fIlistname\fR and
\fIlistname\fB-request\fR
addresses.
.IP \fBrecipient_delimiter\fR
Delimiter that separates recipients from address extensions.
.PP
Available in Postfix version 2.3 and later:
.IP \fBfrozen_delivered_to\fR
Update the local(8) delivery agent's Delivered-To: address
(see prepend_delivered_header) only once, at the start of
a delivery; do not update the Delivered-To: address while
expanding aliases or .forward files.
.SH "STANDARDS"
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RFC 822 (ARPA Internet Text Messages)
.SH "SEE ALSO"
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local(8), local delivery agent
newaliases(1), create/update alias database
postalias(1), create/update alias database
postconf(5), configuration parameters
.SH "README FILES"
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Use "\fBpostconf readme_directory\fR" or
"\fBpostconf html_directory\fR" to locate this information.
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DATABASE_README, Postfix lookup table overview
.SH "LICENSE"
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The Secure Mailer license must be distributed with this software.
.SH "AUTHOR(S)"
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Wietse Venema
IBM T.J. Watson Research
P.O. Box 704
Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA