1<!doctype html public "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" 2 "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> 3<html> <head> 4<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"> 5<title> Postfix manual - master(5) </title> 6</head> <body> <pre> 7MASTER(5) MASTER(5) 8 9<b>NAME</b> 10 master - Postfix master process configuration file format 11 12<b>DESCRIPTION</b> 13 The Postfix mail system is implemented by small number of 14 (mostly) client commands that are invoked by users, and by 15 a larger number of services that run in the background. 16 17 Postfix services are implemented by daemon processes. 18 These run in the background under control of the <a href="master.8.html"><b>master</b>(8)</a> 19 process. The <a href="master.5.html">master.cf</a> configuration file defines how a 20 client program connects to a service, and what daemon pro- 21 gram runs when a service is requested. Most daemon pro- 22 cesses are short-lived and terminate voluntarily after 23 serving <b><a href="postconf.5.html#max_use">max_use</a></b> clients, or after inactivity for <b><a href="postconf.5.html#max_idle">max_idle</a></b> 24 or more units of time. 25 26 All daemons specified here must speak a Postfix-internal 27 protocol. In order to execute non-Postfix software use the 28 <a href="local.8.html"><b>local</b>(8)</a>, <a href="pipe.8.html"><b>pipe</b>(8)</a> or <a href="spawn.8.html"><b>spawn</b>(8)</a> services, or run the server 29 under control by <b>inetd</b>(8) or equivalent. 30 31 After changing <a href="master.5.html">master.cf</a> you must execute "<b>postfix reload</b>" 32 to reload the configuration. 33 34<b>SYNTAX</b> 35 The general format of the <a href="master.5.html">master.cf</a> file is as follows: 36 37 <b>o</b> Empty lines and whitespace-only lines are ignored, 38 as are lines whose first non-whitespace character 39 is a `#'. 40 41 <b>o</b> A logical line starts with non-whitespace text. A 42 line that starts with whitespace continues a logi- 43 cal line. 44 45 <b>o</b> Each logical line defines a single Postfix service. 46 Each service is identified by its name and type as 47 described below. When multiple lines specify the 48 same service name and type, only the last one is 49 remembered. Otherwise, the order of <a href="master.5.html">master.cf</a> ser- 50 vice definitions does not matter. 51 52 Each logical line consists of eight fields separated by 53 whitespace. These are described below in the order as 54 they appear in the <a href="master.5.html">master.cf</a> file. 55 56 Where applicable a field of "-" requests that the built-in 57 default value be used. For boolean fields specify "y" or 58 "n" to override the default value. 59 60 <b>Service name</b> 61 The service name syntax depends on the service type 62 as described next. 63 64 <b>Service type</b> 65 Specify one of the following service types: 66 67 <b>inet</b> The service listens on a TCP/IP socket and 68 is accessible via the network. 69 70 The service name is specified as <i>host:port</i>, 71 denoting the host and port on which new con- 72 nections should be accepted. The host part 73 (and colon) may be omitted. Either host or 74 port may be given in symbolic form (host or 75 service name) or in numeric form (IP address 76 or port number). Host information may be 77 enclosed inside "[]", but this form is not 78 necessary. 79 80 Examples: a service named <b>127.0.0.1:smtp</b> or 81 <b>::1:smtp</b> receives mail via the loopback 82 interface only; and a service named <b>10025</b> 83 accepts connections on TCP port 10025 via 84 all interfaces configured with the 85 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#inet_interfaces">inet_interfaces</a></b> parameter. 86 87 Note: with Postfix version 2.2 and later 88 specify "<b><a href="postconf.5.html#inet_interfaces">inet_interfaces</a> = loopback-only</b>" in 89 <a href="postconf.5.html">main.cf</a>, instead of hard-coding loopback IP 90 address information in <a href="master.5.html">master.cf</a> or in 91 <a href="postconf.5.html">main.cf</a>. 92 93 <b>unix</b> The service listens on a UNIX-domain socket 94 and is accessible for local clients only. 95 96 The service name is a pathname relative to 97 the Postfix queue directory (pathname con- 98 trolled with the <b><a href="postconf.5.html#queue_directory">queue_directory</a></b> configura- 99 tion parameter in <a href="postconf.5.html">main.cf</a>). 100 101 On Solaris systems the <b>unix</b> type is imple- 102 mented with streams sockets. 103 104 <b>fifo</b> The service listens on a FIFO (named pipe) 105 and is accessible for local clients only. 106 107 The service name is a pathname relative to 108 the Postfix queue directory (pathname con- 109 trolled with the <b><a href="postconf.5.html#queue_directory">queue_directory</a></b> configura- 110 tion parameter in <a href="postconf.5.html">main.cf</a>). 111 112 <b>pass</b> The service listens on a UNIX-domain socket, 113 and is accessible to local clients only. It 114 receives one open connection (file descrip- 115 tor passing) per connection request. 116 117 The service name is a pathname relative to 118 the Postfix queue directory (pathname con- 119 trolled with the <b><a href="postconf.5.html#queue_directory">queue_directory</a></b> configura- 120 tion parameter in <a href="postconf.5.html">main.cf</a>). 121 122 On Solaris systems the <b>pass</b> type is imple- 123 mented with streams sockets. 124 125 This feature is available as of Postfix ver- 126 sion 2.5. 127 128 <b>Private (default: y)</b> 129 Whether or not access is restricted to the mail 130 system. Internet (type <b>inet</b>) services can't be 131 private. 132 133 <b>Unprivileged (default: y)</b> 134 Whether the service runs with root privileges or as 135 the owner of the Postfix system (the owner name is 136 controlled by the <b><a href="postconf.5.html#mail_owner">mail_owner</a></b> configuration variable 137 in the <a href="postconf.5.html">main.cf</a> file). 138 139 The <a href="local.8.html"><b>local</b>(8)</a>, <a href="pipe.8.html"><b>pipe</b>(8)</a>, <a href="spawn.8.html"><b>spawn</b>(8)</a>, and <a href="virtual.8.html"><b>virtual</b>(8)</a> 140 daemons require privileges. 141 142 <b>Chroot (default: y)</b> 143 Whether or not the service runs chrooted to the 144 mail queue directory (pathname is controlled by the 145 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#queue_directory">queue_directory</a></b> configuration variable in the 146 <a href="postconf.5.html">main.cf</a> file). 147 148 Chroot should not be used with the <a href="local.8.html"><b>local</b>(8)</a>, 149 <a href="pipe.8.html"><b>pipe</b>(8)</a>, <a href="spawn.8.html"><b>spawn</b>(8)</a>, and <a href="virtual.8.html"><b>virtual</b>(8)</a> daemons. 150 Although the <a href="proxymap.8.html"><b>proxymap</b>(8)</a> server can run chrooted, 151 doing so defeats most of the purpose of having that 152 service in the first place. 153 154 The files in the examples/chroot-setup subdirectory 155 of the Postfix source archive show set up a Postfix 156 chroot environment on a variety of systems. See 157 also <a href="BASIC_CONFIGURATION_README.html">BASIC_CONFIGURATION_README</a> for issues related 158 to running daemons chrooted. 159 160 <b>Wake up time (default: 0)</b> 161 Automatically wake up the named service after the 162 specified number of seconds. The wake up is imple- 163 mented by connecting to the service and sending a 164 wake up request. A ? at the end of the wake-up 165 time field requests that no wake up events be sent 166 before the first time a service is used. Specify 0 167 for no automatic wake up. 168 169 The <a href="pickup.8.html"><b>pickup</b>(8)</a>, <a href="qmgr.8.html"><b>qmgr</b>(8)</a> and <a href="flush.8.html"><b>flush</b>(8)</a> daemons require 170 a wake up timer. 171 172 <b>Process limit (default: $<a href="postconf.5.html#default_process_limit">default_process_limit</a>)</b> 173 The maximum number of processes that may execute 174 this service simultaneously. Specify 0 for no 175 process count limit. 176 177 NOTE: Some Postfix services must be configured as a 178 single-process service (for example, <a href="qmgr.8.html"><b>qmgr</b>(8)</a>) and 179 some services must be configured with no process 180 limit (for example, <a href="cleanup.8.html"><b>cleanup</b>(8)</a>). These limits must 181 not be changed. 182 183 <b>Command name + arguments</b> 184 The command to be executed. Characters that are 185 special to the shell such as ">" or "|" have no 186 special meaning here, and quotes cannot be used to 187 protect arguments containing whitespace. 188 189 The command name is relative to the Postfix daemon 190 directory (pathname is controlled by the <b><a href="postconf.5.html#daemon_directory">dae</a>-</b> 191 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#daemon_directory">mon_directory</a></b> configuration variable). 192 193 The command argument syntax for specific commands 194 is specified in the respective daemon manual page. 195 196 The following command-line options have the same 197 effect for all daemon programs: 198 199 <b>-D</b> Run the daemon under control by the command 200 specified with the <b><a href="postconf.5.html#debugger_command">debugger_command</a></b> variable 201 in the <a href="postconf.5.html">main.cf</a> configuration file. See 202 <a href="DEBUG_README.html">DEBUG_README</a> for hints and tips. 203 204 <b>-o</b> <i>name</i>=<i>value</i> 205 Override the named <a href="postconf.5.html">main.cf</a> configuration 206 parameter. The parameter value can refer to 207 other parameters as <i>$name</i> etc., just like in 208 <a href="postconf.5.html">main.cf</a>. See <a href="postconf.5.html"><b>postconf</b>(5)</a> for syntax. 209 210 NOTE 1: do not specify whitespace around the 211 "=" or in parameter values. To specify a 212 parameter value that contains whitespace, 213 use commas instead of spaces, or specify the 214 value in <a href="postconf.5.html">main.cf</a>. Example: 215 216 /etc/postfix/<a href="master.5.html">master.cf</a>: 217 submission inet .... smtpd 218 -o smtpd_mumble=$submission_mumble 219 220 /etc/postfix/<a href="postconf.5.html">main.cf</a> 221 submission_mumble = text with whitespace... 222 223 NOTE 2: Over-zealous use of parameter over- 224 rides makes the Postfix configuration hard 225 to understand and maintain. At a certain 226 point, it might be easier to configure mul- 227 tiple instances of Postfix, instead of con- 228 figuring multiple personalities via mas- 229 ter.cf. 230 231 <b>-v</b> Increase the verbose logging level. Specify 232 multiple <b>-v</b> options to make a Postfix daemon 233 process increasingly verbose. 234 235<b>SEE ALSO</b> 236 <a href="master.8.html">master(8)</a>, process manager 237 <a href="postconf.5.html">postconf(5)</a>, configuration parameters 238 239<b>README FILES</b> 240 <a href="BASIC_CONFIGURATION_README.html">BASIC_CONFIGURATION_README</a>, basic configuration 241 <a href="DEBUG_README.html">DEBUG_README</a>, Postfix debugging 242 243<b>LICENSE</b> 244 The Secure Mailer license must be distributed with this 245 software. 246 247<b>AUTHOR(S)</b> 248 Initial version by 249 Magnus Baeck 250 Lund Institute of Technology 251 Sweden 252 253 Wietse Venema 254 IBM T.J. Watson Research 255 P.O. Box 704 256 Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA 257 258 MASTER(5) 259</pre> </body> </html> 260