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>-Ddtvw</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>-t</b> Test mode. Return a zero exit status when the <b>master.pid</b> lock 51 file does not exist or when that file is not locked. This is 52 evidence that the <a href="master.8.html"><b>master</b>(8)</a> daemon is not running. 53 54 <b>-v</b> Enable verbose logging for debugging purposes. This option is 55 passed on to child processes. Multiple <b>-v</b> options make the soft- 56 ware increasingly verbose. 57 58 <b>-w</b> Wait in a dummy foreground process, while the real master daemon 59 initializes in a background process. The dummy foreground 60 process returns a zero exit status only if the master daemon 61 initialization is successful, and if it completes in a reason- 62 able amount of time. 63 64 This feature is available in Postfix 2.10 and later. 65 66 Signals: 67 68 <b>SIGHUP</b> Upon receipt of a <b>HUP</b> signal (e.g., after "<b>postfix reload</b>"), the 69 master process re-reads its configuration files. If a service 70 has been removed from the <a href="master.5.html"><b>master.cf</b></a> file, its running processes 71 are terminated immediately. Otherwise, running processes are 72 allowed to terminate as soon as is convenient, so that changes 73 in configuration settings affect only new service requests. 74 75 <b>SIGTERM</b> 76 Upon receipt of a <b>TERM</b> signal (e.g., after "<b>postfix abort</b>"), the 77 master process passes the signal on to its child processes and 78 terminates. This is useful for an emergency shutdown. Normally 79 one would terminate only the master ("<b>postfix stop</b>") and allow 80 running processes to finish what they are doing. 81 82<b>DIAGNOSTICS</b> 83 Problems are reported to <b>syslogd</b>(8). The exit status is non-zero in 84 case of problems, including problems while initializing as a master 85 daemon process in the background. 86 87<b>ENVIRONMENT</b> 88 <b>MAIL_DEBUG</b> 89 After initialization, start a debugger as specified with the 90 <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- 91 ration file. 92 93 <b>MAIL_CONFIG</b> 94 Directory with Postfix configuration files. 95 96<b>CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS</b> 97 Unlike most Postfix daemon processes, the <a href="master.8.html"><b>master</b>(8)</a> server does not 98 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 99 never picked up automatically. Use the "<b>postfix reload</b>" command after 100 a configuration change. 101 102<b>RESOURCE AND RATE CONTROLS</b> 103 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#default_process_limit">default_process_limit</a> (100)</b> 104 The default maximal number of Postfix child processes that pro- 105 vide a given service. 106 107 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#max_idle">max_idle</a> (100s)</b> 108 The maximum amount of time that an idle Postfix daemon process 109 waits for an incoming connection before terminating voluntarily. 110 111 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#max_use">max_use</a> (100)</b> 112 The maximal number of incoming connections that a Postfix daemon 113 process will service before terminating voluntarily. 114 115 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#service_throttle_time">service_throttle_time</a> (60s)</b> 116 How long the Postfix <a href="master.8.html"><b>master</b>(8)</a> waits before forking a server 117 that appears to be malfunctioning. 118 119 Available in Postfix version 2.6 and later: 120 121 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#master_service_disable">master_service_disable</a> (empty)</b> 122 Selectively disable <a href="master.8.html"><b>master</b>(8)</a> listener ports by service type or 123 by service name and type. 124 125<b>MISCELLANEOUS CONTROLS</b> 126 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#config_directory">config_directory</a> (see 'postconf -d' output)</b> 127 The default location of the Postfix <a href="postconf.5.html">main.cf</a> and <a href="master.5.html">master.cf</a> con- 128 figuration files. 129 130 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#daemon_directory">daemon_directory</a> (see 'postconf -d' output)</b> 131 The directory with Postfix support programs and daemon programs. 132 133 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#debugger_command">debugger_command</a> (empty)</b> 134 The external command to execute when a Postfix daemon program is 135 invoked with the -D option. 136 137 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#inet_interfaces">inet_interfaces</a> (all)</b> 138 The network interface addresses that this mail system receives 139 mail on. 140 141 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#inet_protocols">inet_protocols</a> (all)</b> 142 The Internet protocols Postfix will attempt to use when making 143 or accepting connections. 144 145 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#import_environment">import_environment</a> (see 'postconf -d' output)</b> 146 The list of environment parameters that a Postfix process will 147 import from a non-Postfix parent process. 148 149 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#mail_owner">mail_owner</a> (postfix)</b> 150 The UNIX system account that owns the Postfix queue and most 151 Postfix daemon processes. 152 153 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#process_id">process_id</a> (read-only)</b> 154 The process ID of a Postfix command or daemon process. 155 156 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#process_name">process_name</a> (read-only)</b> 157 The process name of a Postfix command or daemon process. 158 159 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#queue_directory">queue_directory</a> (see 'postconf -d' output)</b> 160 The location of the Postfix top-level queue directory. 161 162 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#syslog_facility">syslog_facility</a> (mail)</b> 163 The syslog facility of Postfix logging. 164 165 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#syslog_name">syslog_name</a> (see 'postconf -d' output)</b> 166 The mail system name that is prepended to the process name in 167 syslog records, so that "smtpd" becomes, for example, "post- 168 fix/smtpd". 169 170<b>FILES</b> 171 To expand the directory names below into their actual values, use the 172 command "<b>postconf <a href="postconf.5.html#config_directory">config_directory</a></b>" etc. 173 174 $<a href="postconf.5.html#config_directory">config_directory</a>/<a href="postconf.5.html">main.cf</a>, global configuration file. 175 $<a href="postconf.5.html#config_directory">config_directory</a>/<a href="master.5.html">master.cf</a>, master server configuration file. 176 $<a href="postconf.5.html#queue_directory">queue_directory</a>/pid/master.pid, master lock file. 177 $<a href="postconf.5.html#data_directory">data_directory</a>/master.lock, master lock file. 178 179<b>SEE ALSO</b> 180 <a href="qmgr.8.html">qmgr(8)</a>, queue manager 181 <a href="verify.8.html">verify(8)</a>, address verification 182 <a href="master.5.html">master(5)</a>, <a href="master.5.html">master.cf</a> configuration file syntax 183 <a href="postconf.5.html">postconf(5)</a>, <a href="postconf.5.html">main.cf</a> configuration file syntax 184 syslogd(8), system logging 185 186<b>LICENSE</b> 187 The Secure Mailer license must be distributed with this software. 188 189<b>AUTHOR(S)</b> 190 Wietse Venema 191 IBM T.J. Watson Research 192 P.O. Box 704 193 Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA 194 195 MASTER(8) 196</pre> </body> </html> 197