sendmail

SENDMAIL(1)                                                        SENDMAIL(1)



NAME
       sendmail - Postfix to Sendmail compatibility interface

SYNOPSIS
       sendmail [option ...] [recipient ...]

       mailq
       sendmail -bp

       newaliases
       sendmail -I

DESCRIPTION
       The Postfix sendmail(1) command implements the Postfix to Sendmail com‐
       patibility interface.  For the  sake  of  compatibility  with  existing
       applications,  some  Sendmail  command-line  options are recognized but
       silently ignored.

       By default, Postfix sendmail(1) reads a  message  from  standard  input
       until  EOF  or  until  it  reads  a  line  with only a . character, and
       arranges for delivery.  Postfix sendmail(1) relies on  the  postdrop(1)
       command to create a queue file in the maildrop directory.

       Specific  command aliases are provided for other common modes of opera‐
       tion:

       mailq  List the mail queue. Each entry shows the queue file ID, message
              size,  arrival  time, sender, and the recipients that still need
              to be delivered.  If mail could not be delivered upon  the  last
              attempt, the reason for failure is shown. The queue ID string is
              followed by an optional status character:

              *      The message is in the active queue, i.e. the  message  is
                     selected for delivery.

              !      The  message is in the hold queue, i.e. no further deliv‐
                     ery attempt will be made until  the  mail  is  taken  off
                     hold.

              This   mode   of  operation  is  implemented  by  executing  the
              postqueue(1) command.

       newaliases
              Initialize the alias database.  If no input  file  is  specified
              (with  the  -oA  option,  see  below), the program processes the
              file(s) specified with the alias_database configuration  parame‐
              ter.   If  no alias database type is specified, the program uses
              the type specified with the default_database_type  configuration
              parameter.  This mode of operation is implemented by running the
              postalias(1) command.

              Note: it may take a minute or so before an alias database update
              becomes  visible.  Use the "postfix reload" command to eliminate
              this delay.

       These and other features can be selected by specifying the  appropriate
       combination  of  command-line  options. Some features are controlled by
       parameters in the main.cf configuration file.

       The following options are recognized:

       -Am (ignored)

       -Ac (ignored)
              Postfix sendmail uses the same configuration file regardless  of
              whether or not a message is an initial submission.

       -B body_type
              The message body MIME type: 7BIT or 8BITMIME.

       -bd    Go  into  daemon  mode. This mode of operation is implemented by
              executing the "postfix start" command.

       -bh (ignored)

       -bH (ignored)
              Postfix has no persistent host status database.

       -bi    Initialize alias database. See the newaliases command above.

       -bm    Read mail from standard input and arrange for delivery.  This is
              the default mode of operation.

       -bp    List the mail queue. See the mailq command above.

       -bs    Stand-alone  SMTP  server mode. Read SMTP commands from standard
              input, and write responses to standard output.   In  stand-alone
              SMTP  server  mode,  mail relaying and other access controls are
              disabled by default. To enable them,  run  the  process  as  the
              mail_owner user.

              This  mode  of  operation is implemented by running the smtpd(8)
              daemon.

       -bv    Do not collect or deliver a  message.  Instead,  send  an  email
              report  after  verifying each recipient address.  This is useful
              for testing address rewriting and routing configurations.

              This feature is available in Postfix version 2.1 and later.

       -C config_file

       -C config_dir
              The path name of the Postfix main.cf  file,  or  of  its  parent
              directory.  This  information  is  ignored with Postfix versions
              before 2.3.

              With all Postfix versions, you can specify a directory  pathname
              with  the MAIL_CONFIG environment variable to override the loca‐
              tion of configuration files.

       -F full_name
              Set the sender full name. This overrides  the  NAME  environment
              variable, and is used only with messages that have no From: mes‐
              sage header.

       -f sender
              Set the envelope sender  address.  This  is  the  address  where
              delivery problems are sent to. With Postfix versions before 2.1,
              the  Errors-To:  message  header  overrides  the  error   return
              address.

       -G     Gateway  (relay)  submission, as opposed to initial user submis‐
              sion.  Either do not rewrite addresses at all, or update  incom‐
              plete  addresses  with  the  domain  information  specified with
              remote_header_rewrite_domain.

              This option is ignored before Postfix version 2.3.

       -h hop_count (ignored)
              Hop count limit. Use the hopcount_limit configuration  parameter
              instead.

       -I     Initialize alias database. See the newaliases command above.

       -i     When  reading  a message from standard input, don´t treat a line
              with only a . character as the end of input.

       -L label (ignored)
              The logging label. Use the syslog_name  configuration  parameter
              instead.

       -m (ignored)
              Backwards compatibility.

       -N dsn (default: 'delay, failure')
              Delivery  status  notification  control. Specify either a comma-
              separated list with one or more of  failure  (send  notification
              when  delivery fails), delay (send notification when delivery is
              delayed), or success (send  notification  when  the  message  is
              delivered);  or  specify  never (don't send any notifications at
              all).

              This feature is available in Postfix 2.3 and later.

       -n (ignored)
              Backwards compatibility.

       -oAalias_database
              Non-default alias database. Specify pathname  or  type:pathname.
              See postalias(1) for details.

       -O option=value (ignored)
              Backwards compatibility.

       -o7 (ignored)

       -o8 (ignored)
              To  send 8-bit or binary content, use an appropriate MIME encap‐
              sulation and specify the appropriate -B command-line option.

       -oi    When reading a message from standard input, don´t treat  a  line
              with only a . character as the end of input.

       -om (ignored)
              The sender is never eliminated from alias etc. expansions.

       -o x value (ignored)
              Set  option x to value. Use the equivalent configuration parame‐
              ter in main.cf instead.

       -r sender
              Set the envelope sender  address.  This  is  the  address  where
              delivery problems are sent to. With Postfix versions before 2.1,
              the  Errors-To:  message  header  overrides  the  error   return
              address.

       -R return_limit (ignored)
              Limit  the  size of bounced mail. Use the bounce_size_limit con‐
              figuration parameter instead.

       -q     Attempt to deliver all queued mail. This is implemented by  exe‐
              cuting the postqueue(1) command.

              Warning:  flushing  undeliverable mail frequently will result in
              poor delivery performance of all other mail.

       -qinterval (ignored)
              The interval between queue runs. Use the queue_run_delay config‐
              uration parameter instead.

       -qIqueueid
              Schedule immediate delivery of mail with the specified queue ID.
              This option is implemented by executing  the  postqueue(1)  com‐
              mand, and is available with Postfix version 2.4 and later.

       -qRsite
              Schedule  immediate  delivery of all mail that is queued for the
              named site. This option accepts only site names that are  eligi‐
              ble  for the "fast flush" service, and is implemented by execut‐
              ing the postqueue(1) command.  See flush(8) for more information
              about the "fast flush" service.

       -qSsite
              This  command  is  not implemented. Use the slower "sendmail -q"
              command instead.

       -t     Extract recipients from message headers. These are added to  any
              recipients specified on the command line.

              With Postfix versions prior to 2.1, this option requires that no
              recipient addresses are specified on the command line.

       -U (ignored)
              Initial user submission.

       -V envid
              Specify the envelope ID for notification by servers that support
              DSN.

              This feature is available in Postfix 2.3 and later.

       -XV (Postfix 2.2 and earlier: -V)
              Variable  Envelope Return Path. Given an envelope sender address
              of the form owner-listname@origin,  each  recipient  user@domain
              receives mail with a personalized envelope sender address.

              By  default,  the personalized envelope sender address is owner-
              listname+user=domain@origin. The default + and = characters  are
              configurable   with  the  default_verp_delimiters  configuration
              parameter.

       -XVxy (Postfix 2.2 and earlier: -Vxy)
              As -XV, but uses x and  y  as  the  VERP  delimiter  characters,
              instead of the characters specified with the default_verp_delim‐
              iters configuration parameter.

       -v     Send an email report of the first delivery attempt (Postfix ver‐
              sions  2.1 and later). Mail delivery always happens in the back‐
              ground. When multiple -v options are given, enable verbose  log‐
              ging for debugging purposes.

       -X log_file (ignored)
              Log mailer traffic. Use the debug_peer_list and debug_peer_level
              configuration parameters instead.

SECURITY
       By design, this program is not set-user (or group) id. However, it must
       handle  data  from  untrusted, possibly remote, users.  Thus, the usual
       precautions need to be taken against malicious inputs.

DIAGNOSTICS
       Problems are logged to syslogd(8) and to the standard error stream.

ENVIRONMENT
       MAIL_CONFIG
              Directory with Postfix configuration files.

       MAIL_VERBOSE (value does not matter)
              Enable verbose logging for debugging purposes.

       MAIL_DEBUG (value does not matter)
              Enable debugging with an external command, as specified with the
              debugger_command configuration parameter.

       NAME   The  sender full name. This is used only with messages that have
              no From: message header. See also the -F option above.

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.

TROUBLE SHOOTING CONTROLS
       The DEBUG_README file gives examples of how to trouble shoot a  Postfix
       system.

       debugger_command (empty)
              The external command to execute when a Postfix daemon program is
              invoked with the -D option.

       debug_peer_level (2)
              The increment in verbose logging level when a remote  client  or
              server matches a pattern in the debug_peer_list parameter.

       debug_peer_list (empty)
              Optional  list  of  remote  client or server hostname or network
              address  patterns  that  cause  the  verbose  logging  level  to
              increase by the amount specified in $debug_peer_level.

ACCESS CONTROLS
       Available in Postfix version 2.2 and later:

       authorized_flush_users (static:anyone)
              List of users who are authorized to flush the queue.

       authorized_mailq_users (static:anyone)
              List of users who are authorized to view the queue.

       authorized_submit_users (static:anyone)
              List  of  users who are authorized to submit mail with the send‐
              mail(1) command (and with the privileged postdrop(1) helper com‐
              mand).

RESOURCE AND RATE CONTROLS
       bounce_size_limit (50000)
              The  maximal  amount  of original message text that is sent in a
              non-delivery notification.

       fork_attempts (5)
              The maximal number of attempts to fork() a child process.

       fork_delay (1s)
              The delay between attempts to fork() a child process.

       hopcount_limit (50)
              The maximal number of Received:  message headers that is allowed
              in the primary message headers.

       queue_run_delay (300s)
              The  time  between  deferred  queue  scans by the queue manager;
              prior to Postfix 2.4 the default value was 1000s.

FAST FLUSH CONTROLS
       The ETRN_README file describes configuration and operation details  for
       the Postfix "fast flush" service.

       fast_flush_domains ($relay_domains)
              Optional list of destinations that are eligible for per-destina‐
              tion logfiles with mail that is queued to those destinations.

VERP CONTROLS
       The VERP_README file describes configuration and operation  details  of
       Postfix support for variable envelope return path addresses.

       default_verp_delimiters (+=)
              The two default VERP delimiter characters.

       verp_delimiter_filter (-=+)
              The  characters  Postfix accepts as VERP delimiter characters on
              the Postfix sendmail(1) command line and in SMTP commands.

MISCELLANEOUS CONTROLS
       alias_database (see 'postconf -d' output)
              The alias databases for local(8) delivery that are updated  with
              "newaliases" or with "sendmail -bi".

       command_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
              The location of all postfix administrative commands.

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

       daemon_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
              The directory with Postfix support programs and daemon programs.

       default_database_type (see 'postconf -d' output)
              The default database type for use in newaliases(1), postalias(1)
              and postmap(1) commands.

       delay_warning_time (0h)
              The  time after which the sender receives the message headers of
              mail that is still queued.

       enable_errors_to (no)
              Report mail delivery errors to the address  specified  with  the
              non-standard  Errors-To: message header, instead of the envelope
              sender address (this feature is  removed  with  Postfix  version
              2.2,  is  turned off by default with Postfix version 2.1, and is
              always turned on with older Postfix versions).

       mail_owner (postfix)
              The UNIX system account that owns the  Postfix  queue  and  most
              Postfix daemon processes.

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

       remote_header_rewrite_domain (empty)
              Don't  rewrite  message  headers from remote clients at all when
              this parameter is empty; otherwise, rewrite message headers  and
              append the specified domain name to incomplete addresses.

       syslog_facility (mail)
              The syslog facility of Postfix logging.

       syslog_name (see 'postconf -d' output)
              The  mail  system  name that is prepended to the process name in
              syslog records, so that "smtpd"  becomes,  for  example,  "post‐
              fix/smtpd".

FILES
       /var/spool/postfix, mail queue
       /etc/postfix, configuration files

SEE ALSO
       pickup(8), mail pickup daemon
       qmgr(8), queue manager
       smtpd(8), SMTP server
       flush(8), fast flush service
       postsuper(1), queue maintenance
       postalias(1), create/update/query alias database
       postdrop(1), mail posting utility
       postfix(1), mail system control
       postqueue(1), mail queue control
       syslogd(8), system logging

README_FILES
       Use  "postconf readme_directory" or "postconf html_directory" to locate
       this information.
       DEBUG_README, Postfix debugging howto
       ETRN_README, Postfix ETRN howto
       VERP_README, Postfix VERP howto

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



                                                                   SENDMAIL(1)