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
              The absolute path to a directory with Postfix  con-
              figuration  files.  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
              parameter.




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POSTFIX(1)                                             POSTFIX(1)


       -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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