xref: /netbsd-src/external/ibm-public/postfix/dist/proto/virtual (revision 059c16a85b0b39d60ad6d18f53c09510815afa2b)
1#++
2# NAME
3#	virtual 5
4# SUMMARY
5#	Postfix virtual alias table format
6# SYNOPSIS
7#	\fBpostmap /etc/postfix/virtual\fR
8#
9#	\fBpostmap -q "\fIstring\fB" /etc/postfix/virtual\fR
10#
11#	\fBpostmap -q - /etc/postfix/virtual <\fIinputfile\fR
12# DESCRIPTION
13#	The optional \fBvirtual\fR(5) alias table rewrites recipient
14#	addresses for all local, all virtual, and all remote mail
15#	destinations.
16#	This is unlike the \fBaliases\fR(5) table which is used
17#	only for \fBlocal\fR(8) delivery. This feature is implemented
18#	in the Postfix \fBcleanup\fR(8) daemon before mail is queued.
19#
20#	Virtual aliasing is recursive; to terminate recursion for
21#	a specific address, alias that address to itself.
22#
23#	The main applications of virtual aliasing are:
24# .IP \(bu
25#	To redirect mail for one address to one or more addresses.
26# .IP \(bu
27#	To implement virtual alias domains where all addresses are aliased
28#	to addresses in other domains.
29# .sp
30#	Virtual alias domains are not to be confused with the virtual mailbox
31#	domains that are implemented with the Postfix \fBvirtual\fR(8) mail
32#	delivery agent. With virtual mailbox domains, each recipient address
33#	can have its own mailbox.
34# .PP
35#	Virtual aliasing is applied only to recipient
36#	envelope addresses, and does not affect message headers.
37#	Use \fBcanonical\fR(5)
38#	mapping to rewrite header and envelope addresses in general.
39#
40#	Normally, the \fBvirtual\fR(5) alias table is specified as a text file
41#	that serves as input to the \fBpostmap\fR(1) command.
42#	The result, an indexed file in \fBdbm\fR or \fBdb\fR format,
43#	is used for fast searching by the mail system. Execute the command
44#	"\fBpostmap /etc/postfix/virtual\fR" to rebuild an indexed
45#	file after changing the corresponding text file.
46#
47#	When the table is provided via other means such as NIS, LDAP
48#	or SQL, the same lookups are done as for ordinary indexed files.
49#
50#	Alternatively, the table can be provided as a regular-expression
51#	map where patterns are given as regular expressions, or lookups
52#	can be directed to a TCP-based server. In those case, the lookups
53#	are done in a slightly different way as described below under
54#	"REGULAR EXPRESSION TABLES" or "TCP-BASED TABLES".
55# CASE FOLDING
56# .ad
57# .fi
58#	The search string is folded to lowercase before database
59#	lookup. As of Postfix 2.3, the search string is not case
60#	folded with database types such as regexp: or pcre: whose
61#	lookup fields can match both upper and lower case.
62# TABLE FORMAT
63# .ad
64# .fi
65#	The input format for the \fBpostmap\fR(1) command is as follows:
66# .IP "\fIpattern address, address, ...\fR"
67#	When \fIpattern\fR matches a mail address, replace it by the
68#	corresponding \fIaddress\fR.
69# .IP "blank lines and comments"
70#	Empty lines and whitespace-only lines are ignored, as
71#	are lines whose first non-whitespace character is a `#'.
72# .IP "multi-line text"
73#	A logical line starts with non-whitespace text. A line that
74#	starts with whitespace continues a logical line.
75# TABLE SEARCH ORDER
76# .ad
77# .fi
78#	With lookups from indexed files such as DB or DBM, or from networked
79#	tables such as NIS, LDAP or SQL, each \fIuser\fR@\fIdomain\fR
80#	query produces a sequence of query patterns as described below.
81#
82#	Each query pattern is sent to each specified lookup table
83#	before trying the next query pattern, until a match is
84#	found.
85# .IP "\fIuser\fR@\fIdomain address, address, ...\fR"
86#	Redirect mail for \fIuser\fR@\fIdomain\fR to \fIaddress\fR.
87#	This form has the highest precedence.
88# .IP "\fIuser address, address, ...\fR"
89#	Redirect mail for \fIuser\fR@\fIsite\fR to \fIaddress\fR when
90#	\fIsite\fR is equal to $\fBmyorigin\fR, when \fIsite\fR is listed in
91#	$\fBmydestination\fR, or when it is listed in $\fBinet_interfaces\fR
92#	or $\fBproxy_interfaces\fR.
93#	.sp
94#	This functionality overlaps with the functionality of the local
95#	\fIaliases\fR(5) database. The difference is that \fBvirtual\fR(5)
96#	mapping can be applied to non-local addresses.
97# .IP "@\fIdomain address, address, ...\fR"
98#	Redirect mail for other users in \fIdomain\fR to \fIaddress\fR.
99#	This form has the lowest precedence.
100# .sp
101#	Note: @\fIdomain\fR is a wild-card. With this form, the
102#	Postfix SMTP server accepts
103#	mail for any recipient in \fIdomain\fR, regardless of whether
104#	that recipient exists.  This may turn your mail system into
105#	a backscatter source: Postfix first accepts mail for
106#	non-existent recipients and then tries to return that mail
107#	as "undeliverable" to the often forged sender address.
108# .sp
109#	To avoid backscatter with mail for a wild-card domain,
110#	replace the wild-card mapping with explicit 1:1 mappings,
111#	or add a reject_unverified_recipient restriction for that
112#	domain:
113#
114# .nf
115#	    smtpd_recipient_restrictions =
116#		...
117#		reject_unauth_destination
118#		check_recipient_access
119#		    inline:{example.com=reject_unverified_recipient}
120#	    unverified_recipient_reject_code = 550
121#.fi
122#
123#	In the above example, Postfix may contact a remote server
124#	if the recipient is aliased to a remote address.
125# RESULT ADDRESS REWRITING
126# .ad
127# .fi
128#	The lookup result is subject to address rewriting:
129# .IP \(bu
130#	When the result has the form @\fIotherdomain\fR, the
131#	result becomes the same \fIuser\fR in \fIotherdomain\fR.
132#	This works only for the first address in a multi-address
133#	lookup result.
134# .IP \(bu
135#	When "\fBappend_at_myorigin=yes\fR", append "\fB@$myorigin\fR"
136#	to addresses without "@domain".
137# .IP \(bu
138#	When "\fBappend_dot_mydomain=yes\fR", append
139#	"\fB.$mydomain\fR" to addresses without ".domain".
140# ADDRESS EXTENSION
141# .fi
142# .ad
143#	When a mail address localpart contains the optional recipient delimiter
144#	(e.g., \fIuser+foo\fR@\fIdomain\fR), the lookup order becomes:
145#	\fIuser+foo\fR@\fIdomain\fR, \fIuser\fR@\fIdomain\fR, \fIuser+foo\fR,
146#	\fIuser\fR, and @\fIdomain\fR.
147#
148#	The \fBpropagate_unmatched_extensions\fR parameter controls whether
149#	an unmatched address extension (\fI+foo\fR) is propagated to the
150#	result of a table lookup.
151# VIRTUAL ALIAS DOMAINS
152# .ad
153# .fi
154#	Besides virtual aliases, the virtual alias table can also be used
155#	to implement virtual alias domains. With a virtual alias domain, all
156#	recipient addresses are aliased to addresses in other domains.
157#
158#	Virtual alias domains are not to be confused with the virtual mailbox
159#	domains that are implemented with the Postfix \fBvirtual\fR(8) mail
160#	delivery agent. With virtual mailbox domains, each recipient address
161#	can have its own mailbox.
162#
163#	With a virtual alias domain, the virtual domain has its
164#	own user name space. Local (i.e. non-virtual) usernames are not
165#	visible in a virtual alias domain. In particular, local
166#	\fBaliases\fR(5) and local mailing lists are not visible as
167#	\fIlocalname@virtual-alias.domain\fR.
168#
169#	Support for a virtual alias domain looks like:
170#
171# .nf
172#	/etc/postfix/main.cf:
173#	    virtual_alias_maps = hash:/etc/postfix/virtual
174# .fi
175#
176#	Note: some systems use \fBdbm\fR databases instead of \fBhash\fR.
177#	See the output from "\fBpostconf -m\fR" for available database types.
178#
179# .nf
180#	/etc/postfix/virtual:
181#	    \fIvirtual-alias.domain	anything\fR (right-hand content does not matter)
182#	    \fIpostmaster@virtual-alias.domain	postmaster\fR
183#	    \fIuser1@virtual-alias.domain	address1\fR
184#	    \fIuser2@virtual-alias.domain	address2, address3\fR
185# .fi
186# .sp
187#	The \fIvirtual-alias.domain anything\fR entry is required for a
188#	virtual alias domain. \fBWithout this entry, mail is rejected
189#	with "relay access denied", or bounces with
190#	"mail loops back to myself".\fR
191#
192#	Do not specify virtual alias domain names in the \fBmain.cf
193#	mydestination\fR or \fBrelay_domains\fR configuration parameters.
194#
195#	With a virtual alias domain, the Postfix SMTP server
196#	accepts mail for \fIknown-user@virtual-alias.domain\fR, and rejects
197#	mail for \fIunknown-user\fR@\fIvirtual-alias.domain\fR as undeliverable.
198#
199#	Instead of specifying the virtual alias domain name via
200#	the \fBvirtual_alias_maps\fR table, you may also specify it via
201#	the \fBmain.cf virtual_alias_domains\fR configuration parameter.
202#	This latter parameter uses the same syntax as the \fBmain.cf
203#	mydestination\fR configuration parameter.
204# REGULAR EXPRESSION TABLES
205# .ad
206# .fi
207#	This section describes how the table lookups change when the table
208#	is given in the form of regular expressions. For a description of
209#	regular expression lookup table syntax, see \fBregexp_table\fR(5)
210#	or \fBpcre_table\fR(5).
211#
212#	Each pattern is a regular expression that is applied to the entire
213#	address being looked up. Thus, \fIuser@domain\fR mail addresses are not
214#	broken up into their \fIuser\fR and \fI@domain\fR constituent parts,
215#	nor is \fIuser+foo\fR broken up into \fIuser\fR and \fIfoo\fR.
216#
217#	Patterns are applied in the order as specified in the table, until a
218#	pattern is found that matches the search string.
219#
220#	Results are the same as with indexed file lookups, with
221#	the additional feature that parenthesized substrings from the
222#	pattern can be interpolated as \fB$1\fR, \fB$2\fR and so on.
223# TCP-BASED TABLES
224# .ad
225# .fi
226#	This section describes how the table lookups change when lookups
227#	are directed to a TCP-based server. For a description of the TCP
228#	client/server lookup protocol, see \fBtcp_table\fR(5).
229#	This feature is available in Postfix 2.5 and later.
230#
231#	Each lookup operation uses the entire address once.  Thus,
232#	\fIuser@domain\fR mail addresses are not broken up into their
233#	\fIuser\fR and \fI@domain\fR constituent parts, nor is
234#	\fIuser+foo\fR broken up into \fIuser\fR and \fIfoo\fR.
235#
236#	Results are the same as with indexed file lookups.
237# BUGS
238#	The table format does not understand quoting conventions.
239# CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS
240# .ad
241# .fi
242#	The following \fBmain.cf\fR parameters are especially relevant to
243#	this topic. See the Postfix \fBmain.cf\fR file for syntax details
244#	and for default values. Use the "\fBpostfix reload\fR" command after
245#	a configuration change.
246# .IP "\fBvirtual_alias_maps ($virtual_maps)\fR"
247#	Optional lookup tables that alias specific mail addresses or domains
248#	to other local or remote addresses.
249# .IP "\fBvirtual_alias_domains ($virtual_alias_maps)\fR"
250#	Postfix is the final destination for the specified list of virtual
251#	alias domains, that is, domains for which all addresses are aliased
252#	to addresses in other local or remote domains.
253# .IP "\fBpropagate_unmatched_extensions (canonical, virtual)\fR"
254#	What address lookup tables copy an address extension from the lookup
255#	key to the lookup result.
256# .PP
257#	Other parameters of interest:
258# .IP "\fBinet_interfaces (all)\fR"
259#	The network interface addresses that this mail system receives
260#	mail on.
261# .IP "\fBmydestination ($myhostname, localhost.$mydomain, localhost)\fR"
262#	The list of domains that are delivered via the $local_transport
263#	mail delivery transport.
264# .IP "\fBmyorigin ($myhostname)\fR"
265#	The domain name that locally-posted mail appears to come
266#	from, and that locally posted mail is delivered to.
267# .IP "\fBowner_request_special (yes)\fR"
268#	Enable special treatment for owner-\fIlistname\fR entries in the
269#	\fBaliases\fR(5) file, and don't split owner-\fIlistname\fR and
270#	\fIlistname\fR-request address localparts when the recipient_delimiter
271#	is set to "-".
272# .IP "\fBproxy_interfaces (empty)\fR"
273#	The network interface addresses that this mail system receives mail
274#	on by way of a proxy or network address translation unit.
275# SEE ALSO
276#	cleanup(8), canonicalize and enqueue mail
277#	postmap(1), Postfix lookup table manager
278#	postconf(5), configuration parameters
279#	canonical(5), canonical address mapping
280# README FILES
281# .ad
282# .fi
283#	Use "\fBpostconf readme_directory\fR" or
284#	"\fBpostconf html_directory\fR" to locate this information.
285# .na
286# .nf
287#	ADDRESS_REWRITING_README, address rewriting guide
288#	DATABASE_README, Postfix lookup table overview
289#	VIRTUAL_README, domain hosting guide
290# LICENSE
291# .ad
292# .fi
293#	The Secure Mailer license must be distributed with this software.
294# AUTHOR(S)
295#	Wietse Venema
296#	IBM T.J. Watson Research
297#	P.O. Box 704
298#	Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA
299#
300#	Wietse Venema
301#	Google, Inc.
302#	111 8th Avenue
303#	New York, NY 10011, USA
304#--
305