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 (mostly) 14 client commands that are invoked by users, and by a larger number of 15 services that run in the background. 16 17 Postfix services are implemented by daemon processes. These run in the 18 background under control of the <a href="master.8.html"><b>master</b>(8)</a> process. The <a href="master.5.html">master.cf</a> con- 19 figuration file defines how a client program connects to a service, and 20 what daemon program runs when a service is requested. Most daemon pro- 21 cesses are short-lived and terminate voluntarily after serving <b><a href="postconf.5.html#max_use">max_use</a></b> 22 clients, or after inactivity for <b><a href="postconf.5.html#max_idle">max_idle</a></b> or more units of time. 23 24 All daemons specified here must speak a Postfix-internal protocol. In 25 order to execute non-Postfix software use the <a href="local.8.html"><b>local</b>(8)</a>, <a href="pipe.8.html"><b>pipe</b>(8)</a> or 26 <a href="spawn.8.html"><b>spawn</b>(8)</a> services, or run the server under control by <b>inetd</b>(8) or 27 equivalent. 28 29 After changing <a href="master.5.html">master.cf</a> you must execute "<b>postfix reload</b>" to reload 30 the configuration. 31 32<b>SYNTAX</b> 33 The general format of the <a href="master.5.html">master.cf</a> file is as follows: 34 35 <b>o</b> Empty lines and whitespace-only lines are ignored, as are lines 36 whose first non-whitespace character is a `#'. 37 38 <b>o</b> A logical line starts with non-whitespace text. A line that 39 starts with whitespace continues a logical line. 40 41 <b>o</b> Each logical line defines a single Postfix service. Each ser- 42 vice is identified by its name and type as described below. 43 When multiple lines specify the same service name and type, only 44 the last one is remembered. Otherwise, the order of <a href="master.5.html">master.cf</a> 45 service definitions does not matter. 46 47 Each logical line consists of eight fields separated by whitespace. 48 These are described below in the order as they appear in the <a href="master.5.html">master.cf</a> 49 file. 50 51 Where applicable a field of "-" requests that the built-in default 52 value be used. For boolean fields specify "y" or "n" to override the 53 default value. 54 55 <b>Service name</b> 56 The service name syntax depends on the service type as described 57 next. 58 59 <b>Service type</b> 60 Specify one of the following service types: 61 62 <b>inet</b> The service listens on a TCP/IP socket and is accessible 63 via the network. 64 65 The service name is specified as <i>host:port</i>, denoting the 66 host and port on which new connections should be 67 accepted. The host part (and colon) may be omitted. 68 Either host or port may be given in symbolic form (host 69 or service name) or in numeric form (IP address or port 70 number). Host information may be enclosed inside "[]"; 71 this form is necessary only with IPv6 addresses. 72 73 Examples: a service named <b>127.0.0.1:smtp</b> or <b>::1:smtp</b> 74 receives mail via the loopback interface only; and a ser- 75 vice named <b>10025</b> accepts connections on TCP port 10025 76 via all interfaces configured with the <b><a href="postconf.5.html#inet_interfaces">inet_interfaces</a></b> 77 parameter. 78 79 Note: with Postfix version 2.2 and later specify 80 "<b><a href="postconf.5.html#inet_interfaces">inet_interfaces</a> = loopback-only</b>" in <a href="postconf.5.html">main.cf</a>, instead of 81 hard-coding loopback IP address information in <a href="master.5.html">master.cf</a> 82 or in <a href="postconf.5.html">main.cf</a>. 83 84 <b>unix</b> The service listens on a UNIX-domain socket and is acces- 85 sible for local clients only. 86 87 The service name is a pathname relative to the Postfix 88 queue directory (pathname controlled with the 89 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#queue_directory">queue_directory</a></b> configuration parameter in <a href="postconf.5.html">main.cf</a>). 90 91 On Solaris 8 and earlier systems the <b>unix</b> type is imple- 92 mented with streams sockets. 93 94 <b>fifo</b> The service listens on a FIFO (named pipe) and is acces- 95 sible for local clients only. 96 97 The service name is a pathname relative to the Postfix 98 queue directory (pathname controlled with the 99 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#queue_directory">queue_directory</a></b> configuration parameter in <a href="postconf.5.html">main.cf</a>). 100 101 <b>pass</b> The service listens on a UNIX-domain socket, and is 102 accessible to local clients only. It receives one open 103 connection (file descriptor passing) per connection 104 request. 105 106 The service name is a pathname relative to the Postfix 107 queue directory (pathname controlled with the 108 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#queue_directory">queue_directory</a></b> configuration parameter in <a href="postconf.5.html">main.cf</a>). 109 110 On Solaris 8 and earlier systems the <b>pass</b> type is imple- 111 mented with streams sockets. 112 113 This feature is available as of Postfix version 2.5. 114 115 <b>Private (default: y)</b> 116 Whether or not access is restricted to the mail system. Inter- 117 net (type <b>inet</b>) services can't be private. 118 119 <b>Unprivileged (default: y)</b> 120 Whether the service runs with root privileges or as the owner of 121 the Postfix system (the owner name is controlled by the 122 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#mail_owner">mail_owner</a></b> configuration variable in the <a href="postconf.5.html">main.cf</a> file). 123 124 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> daemons require 125 privileges. 126 127 <b>Chroot (default: y)</b> 128 Whether or not the service runs chrooted to the mail queue 129 directory (pathname is controlled by the <b><a href="postconf.5.html#queue_directory">queue_directory</a></b> config- 130 uration variable in the <a href="postconf.5.html">main.cf</a> file). 131 132 Chroot should not be used with 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>, 133 and <a href="virtual.8.html"><b>virtual</b>(8)</a> daemons. Although the <a href="proxymap.8.html"><b>proxymap</b>(8)</a> server can run 134 chrooted, doing so defeats most of the purpose of having that 135 service in the first place. 136 137 The files in the examples/chroot-setup subdirectory of the Post- 138 fix source archive show set up a Postfix chroot environment on a 139 variety of systems. See also <a href="BASIC_CONFIGURATION_README.html">BASIC_CONFIGURATION_README</a> for 140 issues related to running daemons chrooted. 141 142 <b>Wake up time (default: 0)</b> 143 Automatically wake up the named service after the specified num- 144 ber of seconds. The wake up is implemented by connecting to the 145 service and sending a wake up request. A ? at the end of the 146 wake-up time field requests that no wake up events be sent 147 before the first time a service is used. Specify 0 for no auto- 148 matic wake up. 149 150 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 a wake up 151 timer. 152 153 <b>Process limit (default: $<a href="postconf.5.html#default_process_limit">default_process_limit</a>)</b> 154 The maximum number of processes that may execute this service 155 simultaneously. Specify 0 for no process count limit. 156 157 NOTE: Some Postfix services must be configured as a single- 158 process service (for example, <a href="qmgr.8.html"><b>qmgr</b>(8)</a>) and some services must be 159 configured with no process limit (for example, <a href="cleanup.8.html"><b>cleanup</b>(8)</a>). 160 These limits must not be changed. 161 162 <b>Command name + arguments</b> 163 The command to be executed. Characters that are special to the 164 shell such as ">" or "|" have no special meaning here, and 165 quotes cannot be used to protect arguments containing white- 166 space. 167 168 The command name is relative to the Postfix daemon directory 169 (pathname is controlled by the <b><a href="postconf.5.html#daemon_directory">daemon_directory</a></b> configuration 170 variable). 171 172 The command argument syntax for specific commands is specified 173 in the respective daemon manual page. 174 175 The following command-line options have the same effect for all 176 daemon programs: 177 178 <b>-D</b> Run the daemon under control by the command specified 179 with the <b><a href="postconf.5.html#debugger_command">debugger_command</a></b> variable in the <a href="postconf.5.html">main.cf</a> config- 180 uration file. See <a href="DEBUG_README.html">DEBUG_README</a> for hints and tips. 181 182 <b>-o</b> <i>name</i>=<i>value</i> 183 Override the named <a href="postconf.5.html">main.cf</a> configuration parameter. The 184 parameter value can refer to other parameters as <i>$name</i> 185 etc., just like in <a href="postconf.5.html">main.cf</a>. See <a href="postconf.5.html"><b>postconf</b>(5)</a> for syntax. 186 187 NOTE 1: do not specify whitespace around the "=" or in 188 parameter values. To specify a parameter value that con- 189 tains whitespace, use commas instead of spaces, or spec- 190 ify the value in <a href="postconf.5.html">main.cf</a>. Example: 191 192 /etc/postfix/<a href="master.5.html">master.cf</a>: 193 submission inet .... smtpd 194 -o smtpd_mumble=$submission_mumble 195 196 /etc/postfix/<a href="postconf.5.html">main.cf</a> 197 submission_mumble = text with whitespace... 198 199 NOTE 2: Over-zealous use of parameter overrides makes the 200 Postfix configuration hard to understand and maintain. 201 At a certain point, it might be easier to configure mul- 202 tiple instances of Postfix, instead of configuring multi- 203 ple personalities via <a href="master.5.html">master.cf</a>. 204 205 <b>-v</b> Increase the verbose logging level. Specify multiple <b>-v</b> 206 options to make a Postfix daemon process increasingly 207 verbose. 208 209<b>SEE ALSO</b> 210 <a href="master.8.html">master(8)</a>, process manager 211 <a href="postconf.5.html">postconf(5)</a>, configuration parameters 212 213<b>README FILES</b> 214 <a href="BASIC_CONFIGURATION_README.html">BASIC_CONFIGURATION_README</a>, basic configuration 215 <a href="DEBUG_README.html">DEBUG_README</a>, Postfix debugging 216 217<b>LICENSE</b> 218 The Secure Mailer license must be distributed with this software. 219 220<b>AUTHOR(S)</b> 221 Initial version by 222 Magnus Baeck 223 Lund Institute of Technology 224 Sweden 225 226 Wietse Venema 227 IBM T.J. Watson Research 228 P.O. Box 704 229 Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA 230 231 MASTER(5) 232</pre> </body> </html> 233