POSTFIX(1) POSTFIX(1)
NAME
postfix - Postfix control program
SYNOPSIS
postfix [-c config_dir] [-D] [-v] command
DESCRIPTION
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 command sets up a stan-
dardized 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
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POSTFIX(1) POSTFIX(1)
parameter.
-v Enable verbose logging for debugging purposes. Mul-
tiple -v options make the software increasingly
verbose.
ENVIRONMENT
The postfix command sets the following environment vari-
ables:
MAIL_CONFIG
Directory with Postfix configuration files.
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 configuration parameters are made available
as process environment variables with the same names:
command_directory
Directory with Postfix support commands (default:
$program_directory).
daemon_directory
Directory with Postfix daemon programs (default:
$program_directory).
config_directory
Directory with Postfix configuration files and with
administrative shell scripts.
queue_directory
The directory with the Postfix queue directory (and
with some files needed for programs running in a
chrooted environment).
mail_owner
The owner of the Postfix queue and of most Postfix
processes.
FILES
$config_directory/postfix-script, administrative commands
SEE ALSO
master(8) Postfix master program
LICENSE
The Secure Mailer license must be distributed with this
software.
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POSTFIX(1) POSTFIX(1)
AUTHOR(S)
Wietse Venema
IBM T.J. Watson Research
P.O. Box 704
Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA
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