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(8) </title> 6</head> <body> <pre> 7MASTER(8) MASTER(8) 8 9<b>NAME</b> 10 master - Postfix master process 11 12<b>SYNOPSIS</b> 13 <b>master</b> [<b>-Dditvw</b>] [<b>-c</b> <i>config</i><b>_</b><i>dir</i>] [<b>-e</b> <i>exit</i><b>_</b><i>time</i>] 14 15<b>DESCRIPTION</b> 16 The <a href="master.8.html"><b>master</b>(8)</a> daemon is the resident process that runs Postfix daemons 17 on demand: daemons to send or receive messages via the network, daemons 18 to deliver mail locally, etc. These daemons are created on demand up 19 to a configurable maximum number per service. 20 21 Postfix daemons terminate voluntarily, either after being idle for a 22 configurable amount of time, or after having serviced a configurable 23 number of requests. Exceptions to this rule are the resident queue man- 24 ager, address verification server, and the TLS session cache and 25 pseudo-random number server. 26 27 The behavior of the <a href="master.8.html"><b>master</b>(8)</a> daemon is controlled by the <a href="master.5.html"><b>master.cf</b></a> 28 configuration file, as described in <a href="master.5.html"><b>master</b>(5)</a>. 29 30 Options: 31 32 <b>-c</b> <i>config</i><b>_</b><i>dir</i> 33 Read the <a href="postconf.5.html"><b>main.cf</b></a> and <a href="master.5.html"><b>master.cf</b></a> configuration files in the named 34 directory instead of the default configuration directory. This 35 also overrides the configuration files for other Postfix daemon 36 processes. 37 38 <b>-D</b> After initialization, run a debugger on the master process. The 39 debugging command is specified with the <b><a href="postconf.5.html#debugger_command">debugger_command</a></b> in the 40 <a href="postconf.5.html"><b>main.cf</b></a> global configuration file. 41 42 <b>-d</b> Do not redirect stdin, stdout or stderr to /dev/null, and do not 43 discard the controlling terminal. This must be used for debug- 44 ging only. 45 46 <b>-e</b> <i>exit</i><b>_</b><i>time</i> 47 Terminate the master process after <i>exit</i><b>_</b><i>time</i> seconds. Child pro- 48 cesses terminate at their convenience. 49 50 <b>-i</b> Enable <b>init</b> mode: do not become a session or process group 51 leader; and similar to <b>-s</b>, do not redirect stdout to /dev/null, 52 so that "<a href="postconf.5.html#maillog_file">maillog_file</a> = /dev/stdout" works. This mode is 53 allowed only if the process ID equals 1. 54 55 This feature is available in Postfix 3.3 and later. 56 57 <b>-s</b> Do not redirect stdout to /dev/null, so that "<a href="postconf.5.html#maillog_file">maillog_file</a> = 58 /dev/stdout" works. 59 60 This feature is available in Postfix 3.4 and later. 61 62 <b>-t</b> Test mode. Return a zero exit status when the <b>master.pid</b> lock 63 file does not exist or when that file is not locked. This is 64 evidence that the <a href="master.8.html"><b>master</b>(8)</a> daemon is not running. 65 66 <b>-v</b> Enable verbose logging for debugging purposes. This option is 67 passed on to child processes. Multiple <b>-v</b> options make the soft- 68 ware increasingly verbose. 69 70 <b>-w</b> Wait in a dummy foreground process, while the real master daemon 71 initializes in a background process. The dummy foreground 72 process returns a zero exit status only if the master daemon 73 initialization is successful, and if it completes in a reason- 74 able amount of time. 75 76 This feature is available in Postfix 2.10 and later. 77 78 Signals: 79 80 <b>SIGHUP</b> Upon receipt of a <b>HUP</b> signal (e.g., after "<b>postfix reload</b>"), the 81 master process re-reads its configuration files. If a service 82 has been removed from the <a href="master.5.html"><b>master.cf</b></a> file, its running processes 83 are terminated immediately. Otherwise, running processes are 84 allowed to terminate as soon as is convenient, so that changes 85 in configuration settings affect only new service requests. 86 87 <b>SIGTERM</b> 88 Upon receipt of a <b>TERM</b> signal (e.g., after "<b>postfix abort</b>"), the 89 master process passes the signal on to its child processes and 90 terminates. This is useful for an emergency shutdown. Normally 91 one would terminate only the master ("<b>postfix stop</b>") and allow 92 running processes to finish what they are doing. 93 94<b>DIAGNOSTICS</b> 95 Problems are reported to <b>syslogd</b>(8) or <a href="postlogd.8.html"><b>postlogd</b>(8)</a>. The exit status is 96 non-zero in case of problems, including problems while initializing as 97 a master daemon process in the background. 98 99<b>ENVIRONMENT</b> 100 <b>MAIL_DEBUG</b> 101 After initialization, start a debugger as specified with the 102 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#debugger_command">debugger_command</a></b> configuration parameter in the <a href="postconf.5.html"><b>main.cf</b></a> configu- 103 ration file. 104 105 <b>MAIL_CONFIG</b> 106 Directory with Postfix configuration files. 107 108<b>CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS</b> 109 Unlike most Postfix daemon processes, the <a href="master.8.html"><b>master</b>(8)</a> server does not 110 automatically pick up changes to <a href="postconf.5.html"><b>main.cf</b></a>. Changes to <a href="master.5.html"><b>master.cf</b></a> are 111 never picked up automatically. Use the "<b>postfix reload</b>" command after 112 a configuration change. 113 114<b>RESOURCE AND RATE CONTROLS</b> 115 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#default_process_limit">default_process_limit</a> (100)</b> 116 The default maximal number of Postfix child processes that pro- 117 vide a given service. 118 119 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#max_idle">max_idle</a> (100s)</b> 120 The maximum amount of time that an idle Postfix daemon process 121 waits for an incoming connection before terminating voluntarily. 122 123 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#max_use">max_use</a> (100)</b> 124 The maximal number of incoming connections that a Postfix daemon 125 process will service before terminating voluntarily. 126 127 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#service_throttle_time">service_throttle_time</a> (60s)</b> 128 How long the Postfix <a href="master.8.html"><b>master</b>(8)</a> waits before forking a server 129 that appears to be malfunctioning. 130 131 Available in Postfix version 2.6 and later: 132 133 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#master_service_disable">master_service_disable</a> (empty)</b> 134 Selectively disable <a href="master.8.html"><b>master</b>(8)</a> listener ports by service type or 135 by service name and type. 136 137<b>MISCELLANEOUS CONTROLS</b> 138 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#config_directory">config_directory</a> (see 'postconf -d' output)</b> 139 The default location of the Postfix <a href="postconf.5.html">main.cf</a> and <a href="master.5.html">master.cf</a> con- 140 figuration files. 141 142 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#daemon_directory">daemon_directory</a> (see 'postconf -d' output)</b> 143 The directory with Postfix support programs and daemon programs. 144 145 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#debugger_command">debugger_command</a> (empty)</b> 146 The external command to execute when a Postfix daemon program is 147 invoked with the -D option. 148 149 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#inet_interfaces">inet_interfaces</a> (all)</b> 150 The network interface addresses that this mail system receives 151 mail on. 152 153 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#inet_protocols">inet_protocols</a> (all)</b> 154 The Internet protocols Postfix will attempt to use when making 155 or accepting connections. 156 157 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#import_environment">import_environment</a> (see 'postconf -d' output)</b> 158 The list of environment parameters that a privileged Postfix 159 process will import from a non-Postfix parent process, or 160 name=value environment overrides. 161 162 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#mail_owner">mail_owner</a> (postfix)</b> 163 The UNIX system account that owns the Postfix queue and most 164 Postfix daemon processes. 165 166 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#process_id">process_id</a> (read-only)</b> 167 The process ID of a Postfix command or daemon process. 168 169 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#process_name">process_name</a> (read-only)</b> 170 The process name of a Postfix command or daemon process. 171 172 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#queue_directory">queue_directory</a> (see 'postconf -d' output)</b> 173 The location of the Postfix top-level queue directory. 174 175 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#syslog_facility">syslog_facility</a> (mail)</b> 176 The syslog facility of Postfix logging. 177 178 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#syslog_name">syslog_name</a> (see 'postconf -d' output)</b> 179 A prefix that is prepended to the process name in syslog 180 records, so that, for example, "smtpd" becomes "prefix/smtpd". 181 182 Available in Postfix 3.3 and later: 183 184 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#service_name">service_name</a> (read-only)</b> 185 The <a href="master.5.html">master.cf</a> service name of a Postfix daemon process. 186 187<b>FILES</b> 188 To expand the directory names below into their actual values, use the 189 command "<b>postconf <a href="postconf.5.html#config_directory">config_directory</a></b>" etc. 190 191 $<a href="postconf.5.html#config_directory">config_directory</a>/<a href="postconf.5.html">main.cf</a>, global configuration file. 192 $<a href="postconf.5.html#config_directory">config_directory</a>/<a href="master.5.html">master.cf</a>, master server configuration file. 193 $<a href="postconf.5.html#queue_directory">queue_directory</a>/pid/master.pid, master lock file. 194 $<a href="postconf.5.html#data_directory">data_directory</a>/master.lock, master lock file. 195 196<b>SEE ALSO</b> 197 <a href="qmgr.8.html">qmgr(8)</a>, queue manager 198 <a href="verify.8.html">verify(8)</a>, address verification 199 <a href="master.5.html">master(5)</a>, <a href="master.5.html">master.cf</a> configuration file syntax 200 <a href="postconf.5.html">postconf(5)</a>, <a href="postconf.5.html">main.cf</a> configuration file syntax 201 <a href="postlogd.8.html">postlogd(8)</a>, Postfix logging 202 syslogd(8), system logging 203 204<b>LICENSE</b> 205 The Secure Mailer license must be distributed with this software. 206 207<b>AUTHOR(S)</b> 208 Wietse Venema 209 IBM T.J. Watson Research 210 P.O. Box 704 211 Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA 212 213 Wietse Venema 214 Google, Inc. 215 111 8th Avenue 216 New York, NY 10011, USA 217 218 MASTER(8) 219</pre> </body> </html> 220