Minix Man Pages

Man Page or Keyword Search:
Man Architecture
Apropos Keyword Search (all sections) Output format
home | help
x minix x
x minixx
POSTSUPER(1)                General Commands Manual               POSTSUPER(1)

NAME
       postsuper - Postfix superintendent

SYNOPSIS
       postsuper [-psSv] [-c config_dir] [-d queue_id]
               [-h queue_id] [-H queue_id]
               [-r queue_id] [directory ...]

DESCRIPTION
       The  postsuper(1)  command  does maintenance jobs on the Postfix queue.
       Use  of  the  command  is  restricted  to  the  superuser.    See   the
       postqueue(1)  command for unprivileged queue operations such as listing
       or flushing the mail queue.

       By default, postsuper(1) performs the operations requested with the  -s
       and -p command-line options on all Postfix queue directories - this in-
       cludes the incoming, active and deferred directories  with  mail  files
       and the bounce, defer, trace and flush directories with log files.

       Options:

       -c config_dir
              The main.cf configuration file is in the named directory instead
              of the default configuration directory. See also the MAIL_CONFIG
              environment setting below.

       -d queue_id
              Delete  one  message with the named queue ID from the named mail
              queue(s) (default: hold, incoming, active and deferred).

              To delete multiple files, specify the -d option multiple  times,
              or  specify  a queue_id of - to read queue IDs from standard in-
              put. For example, to delete all mail with exactly one  recipient
              user@example.com:

              mailq | tail -n +2 | grep -v '^ *(' | awk  'BEGIN { RS = "" }
                  # $7=sender, $8=recipient1, $9=recipient2
                  { if ($8 == "user@example.com" && $9 == "")
                        print $1 }
               ' | tr -d '*!' | postsuper -d -

              Specify  "-d  ALL"  to remove all messages; for example, specify
              "-d ALL deferred" to delete all mail in the deferred queue.   As
              a safety measure, the word ALL must be specified in upper case.

              Warning:  Postfix  queue  IDs are reused (always with Postfix <=
              2.8; and with Postfix  >=  2.9  when  enable_long_queue_ids=no).
              There  is  a  very  small possibility that postsuper deletes the
              wrong message file when it is executed while  the  Postfix  mail
              system is delivering mail.

              The scenario is as follows:

              1)     The  Postfix queue manager deletes the message that post-
                     super(1) is asked to delete, because Postfix is  finished
                     with  the  message (it is delivered, or it is returned to
                     the sender).

              2)     New mail arrives, and the new message is given  the  same
                     queue  ID as the message that postsuper(1) is supposed to
                     delete.  The probability for reusing a deleted  queue  ID
                     is  about 1 in 2**15 (the number of different microsecond
                     values that the system clock  can  distinguish  within  a
                     second).

              3)     postsuper(1)  deletes the new message, instead of the old
                     message that it should have deleted.

       -h queue_id
              Put mail "on hold" so that no attempt is  made  to  deliver  it.
              Move  one  message  with  the named queue ID from the named mail
              queue(s) (default: incoming, active and deferred)  to  the  hold
              queue.

              To hold multiple files, specify the -h option multiple times, or
              specify a queue_id of - to read queue IDs from standard input.

              Specify "-h ALL" to hold all messages; for example, specify  "-h
              ALL  deferred"  to  hold  all  mail in the deferred queue.  As a
              safety measure, the word ALL must be specified in upper case.

              Note: while mail is "on hold" it will not expire when  its  time
              in    the    queue   exceeds   the   maximal_queue_lifetime   or
              bounce_queue_lifetime setting. It becomes subject to  expiration
              after it is released from "hold".

              This feature is available in Postfix 2.0 and later.

       -H queue_id
              Release  mail that was put "on hold".  Move one message with the
              named queue ID from the named mail queue(s) (default:  hold)  to
              the deferred queue.

              To release multiple files, specify the -H option multiple times,
              or specify a queue_id of - to read queue IDs from  standard  in-
              put.

              Note:  specify  "postsuper  -r" to release mail that was kept on
              hold for a significant fraction  of  $maximal_queue_lifetime  or
              $bounce_queue_lifetime, or longer.

              Specify  "-H  ALL"  to release all mail that is "on hold".  As a
              safety measure, the word ALL must be specified in upper case.

              This feature is available in Postfix 2.0 and later.

       -p     Purge old temporary files that are left  over  after  system  or
              software crashes.

       -r queue_id
              Requeue  the message with the named queue ID from the named mail
              queue(s) (default: hold, incoming, active and deferred).

              To requeue multiple files, specify the -r option multiple times,
              or  specify  a queue_id of - to read queue IDs from standard in-
              put.

              Specify "-r ALL" to requeue all messages. As a  safety  measure,
              the word ALL must be specified in upper case.

              A requeued message is moved to the maildrop queue, from where it
              is copied by the pickup(8) and cleanup(8) daemons to a new queue
              file.  In  many respects its handling differs from that of a new
              local submission.

              o      The message is not  subjected  to  the  smtpd_milters  or
                     non_smtpd_milters settings.  When mail has passed through
                     an external content filter, this would produce  incorrect
                     results  with Milter applications that depend on original
                     SMTP connection state information.

              o      The message is subjected again to mail address  rewriting
                     and substitution.  This is useful when rewriting rules or
                     virtual mappings have changed.

                     The address rewriting context (local or  remote)  is  the
                     same as when the message was received.

              o      The  message is subjected to the same content_filter set-
                     tings (if any) as used for new  local  mail  submissions.
                     This is useful when content_filter settings have changed.

              Warning:  Postfix  queue  IDs are reused (always with Postfix <=
              2.8; and with Postfix  >=  2.9  when  enable_long_queue_ids=no).
              There is a very small possibility that postsuper(1) requeues the
              wrong message file when it is executed while  the  Postfix  mail
              system is running, but no harm should be done.

              This feature is available in Postfix 1.1 and later.

       -s     Structure  check and structure repair.  This should be done once
              before Postfix startup.

              o      Rename files whose name does not match the  message  file
                     inode number. This operation is necessary after restoring
                     a mail queue from a different  machine  or  from  backup,
                     when queue files were created with Postfix <= 2.8 or with
                     "enable_long_queue_ids = no".

              o      Move queue files that are in the wrong place in the  file
                     system  hierarchy  and  remove subdirectories that are no
                     longer needed.  File position rearrangements  are  neces-
                     sary  after  a  change  in  the  hash_queue_names  and/or
                     hash_queue_depth configuration parameters.

              o      Rename queue files created with "enable_long_queue_ids  =
                     yes"  to  short  names,  for migration to Postfix <= 2.8.
                     The procedure is as follows:

                     # postfix stop
                     # postconf enable_long_queue_ids=no
                     # postsuper

                     Run postsuper(1) repeatedly until it stops reporting file
                     name changes.

       -S     A  redundant  version  of  -s that requires that long file names
              also match the message file inode number. This option exists for
              testing purposes, and is available with Postfix 2.9 and later.

       -v     Enable  verbose  logging for debugging purposes. Multiple -v op-
              tions make the software increasingly verbose.

DIAGNOSTICS
       Problems are reported to the standard error stream and to syslogd(8) or
       postlogd(8).

       postsuper(1) reports the number of messages deleted with -d, the number
       of messages requeued with -r, and the number of  messages  whose  queue
       file  name was fixed with -s. The report is written to the standard er-
       ror stream and to syslogd(8) or postlogd(8).

ENVIRONMENT
       MAIL_CONFIG
              Directory with the main.cf file.

BUGS
       Mail that is not sanitized by Postfix (i.e. mail in the maildrop queue)
       cannot be placed "on hold".

CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS
       The  following  main.cf parameters are especially relevant to this pro-
       gram.  The text below provides only  a  parameter  summary.  See  post-
       conf(5) for more details including examples.

       config_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
              The  default  location of the Postfix main.cf and master.cf con-
              figuration files.

       hash_queue_depth (1)
              The number of subdirectory levels for queue  directories  listed
              with the hash_queue_names parameter.

       hash_queue_names (deferred, defer)
              The  names  of  queue directories that are split across multiple
              subdirectory levels.

       import_environment (see 'postconf -d' output)
              The list of environment parameters  that  a  privileged  Postfix
              process  will  import  from  a  non-Postfix  parent  process, or
              name=value environment overrides.

       queue_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
              The location of the Postfix top-level queue directory.

       syslog_facility (mail)
              The syslog facility of Postfix logging.

       syslog_name (see 'postconf -d' output)
              A prefix that  is  prepended  to  the  process  name  in  syslog
              records, so that, for example, "smtpd" becomes "prefix/smtpd".

       Available in Postfix version 2.9 and later:

       enable_long_queue_ids (no)
              Enable long, non-repeating, queue IDs (queue file names).

SEE ALSO
       sendmail(1), Sendmail-compatible user interface
       postqueue(1), unprivileged queue operations
       postlogd(8), Postfix logging
       syslogd(8), system logging

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

       Wietse Venema
       Google, Inc.
       111 8th Avenue
       New York, NY 10011, USA

                                                                  POSTSUPER(1)

NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | DIAGNOSTICS | ENVIRONMENT | BUGS | CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS | SEE ALSO | LICENSE | AUTHOR(S)