man > QMGR(8postfix)

QMGR(8postfix)                                                                        QMGR(8postfix)

NAME
       qmgr - Postfix queue manager

SYNOPSIS
       qmgr [generic Postfix daemon options]

DESCRIPTION
       The  qmgr(8)  daemon  awaits  the  arrival of incoming mail and arranges for its delivery via
       Postfix delivery processes.  The actual mail routing  strategy  is  delegated  to  the  triv‐
       ial-rewrite(8) daemon.  This program expects to be run from the master(8) process manager.

       Mail addressed to the local double-bounce address is logged and discarded.  This stops poten‐
       tial loops caused by undeliverable bounce notifications.

MAIL QUEUES
       The qmgr(8) daemon maintains the following queues:

       incoming
              Inbound  mail  from  the network, or mail picked up by the local pickup(8) daemon from
              the maildrop directory.

       active Messages that the queue manager has opened for delivery. Only a limited number of mes‐
              sages is allowed to enter the active queue (leaky bucket strategy, for a fixed  deliv‐
              ery rate).

       deferred
              Mail  that could not be delivered upon the first attempt. The queue manager implements
              exponential backoff by doubling the time between delivery attempts.

       corrupt
              Unreadable or damaged queue files are moved here for inspection.

       hold   Messages that are kept "on hold" are kept here until someone sets them free.

DELIVERY STATUS REPORTS
       The qmgr(8) daemon keeps an eye on per-message delivery status reports in the  following  di‐
       rectories. Each status report file has the same name as the corresponding message file:

       bounce Per-recipient  status  information  about  why mail is bounced.  These files are main‐
              tained by the bounce(8) daemon.

       defer  Per-recipient status information about why mail is delayed.   These  files  are  main‐
              tained by the defer(8) daemon.

       trace  Per-recipient status information as requested with the Postfix "sendmail -v" or "send‐
              mail -bv" command.  These files are maintained by the trace(8) daemon.

       The  qmgr(8)  daemon is responsible for asking the bounce(8), defer(8) or trace(8) daemons to
       send delivery reports.

STRATEGIES
       The queue manager implements a variety of strategies for either opening queue  files  (input)
       or for message delivery (output).

       leaky bucket
              This strategy limits the number of messages in the active queue and prevents the queue
              manager from running out of memory under heavy load.

       fairness
              When  the active queue has room, the queue manager takes one message from the incoming
              queue and one from the deferred queue. This prevents a large mail backlog from  block‐
              ing the delivery of new mail.

       slow start
              This  strategy eliminates "thundering herd" problems by slowly adjusting the number of
              parallel deliveries to the same destination.

       round robin
              The queue manager sorts delivery requests by destination.  Round-robin selection  pre‐
              vents one destination from dominating deliveries to other destinations.

       exponential backoff
              Mail  that  cannot be delivered upon the first attempt is deferred.  The time interval
              between delivery attempts is doubled after each attempt.

       destination status cache
              The queue manager avoids unnecessary delivery attempts by  maintaining  a  short-term,
              in-memory list of unreachable destinations.

       preemptive message scheduling
              The  queue  manager  attempts  to minimize the average per-recipient delay while still
              preserving the correct per-message delays, using a  sophisticated  preemptive  message
              scheduling.

TRIGGERS
       On an idle system, the queue manager waits for the arrival of trigger events, or it waits for
       a  timer  to go off. A trigger is a one-byte message.  Depending on the message received, the
       queue manager performs one of the following actions (the message is followed by the  symbolic
       constant used internally by the software):

       D (QMGR_REQ_SCAN_DEFERRED)
              Start  a  deferred  queue scan.  If a deferred queue scan is already in progress, that
              scan will be restarted as soon as it finishes.

       I (QMGR_REQ_SCAN_INCOMING)
              Start an incoming queue scan. If an incoming queue scan is already in  progress,  that
              scan will be restarted as soon as it finishes.

       A (QMGR_REQ_SCAN_ALL)
              Ignore  deferred  queue  file time stamps. The request affects the next deferred queue
              scan.

       F (QMGR_REQ_FLUSH_DEAD)
              Purge all information about dead transports and destinations.

       W (TRIGGER_REQ_WAKEUP)
              Wakeup call, This is used by the master server to instantiate servers that should  not
              go away forever. The action is to start an incoming queue scan.

       The  qmgr(8) daemon reads an entire buffer worth of triggers.  Multiple identical trigger re‐
       quests are collapsed into one, and trigger requests are sorted so that A and F precede D  and
       I.  Thus, in order to force a deferred queue run, one would request A F D; in order to notify
       the queue manager of the arrival of new mail one would request I.

STANDARDS
       RFC 3463 (Enhanced status codes)
       RFC 3464 (Delivery status notifications)

SECURITY
       The qmgr(8) daemon is not security sensitive. It reads  single-character  messages  from  un‐
       trusted  local  users,  and thus may be susceptible to denial of service attacks. The qmgr(8)
       daemon does not talk to the outside world, and it can be run at fixed low privilege in a  ch‐
       rooted environment.

DIAGNOSTICS
       Problems  and  transactions are logged to syslogd(8) or postlogd(8).  Corrupted message files
       are saved to the corrupt queue for further inspection.

       Depending on the setting of the notify_classes  parameter,  the  postmaster  is  notified  of
       bounces and of other trouble.

BUGS
       A  single  queue  manager  process  has  to  compete  for disk access with multiple front-end
       processes such as cleanup(8). A sudden burst of inbound mail can negatively  impact  outbound
       delivery rates.

CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS
       Changes  to  main.cf  are not picked up automatically as qmgr(8) is a persistent process. Use
       the "postfix reload" command after a configuration change.

       The text below provides only a parameter summary. See postconf(5) for more details  including
       examples.

       In the text below, transport is the first field in a master.cf entry.

COMPATIBILITY CONTROLS
       Available before Postfix version 2.5:

       allow_min_user (no)
              Allow a sender or recipient address to have `-' as the first character.

       Available with Postfix version 2.7 and later:

       default_filter_nexthop (empty)
              When  a  content_filter  or FILTER request specifies no explicit next-hop destination,
              use $default_filter_nexthop instead; when that value is empty, use the domain  in  the
              recipient address.

ACTIVE QUEUE CONTROLS
       qmgr_clog_warn_time (300s)
              The  minimal  delay  between  warnings  that a specific destination is clogging up the
              Postfix active queue.

       qmgr_message_active_limit (20000)
              The maximal number of messages in the active queue.

       qmgr_message_recipient_limit (20000)
              The maximal number of recipients held in memory by the Postfix queue manager, and  the
              maximal size of the short-term, in-memory "dead" destination status cache.

       qmgr_message_recipient_minimum (10)
              The minimal number of in-memory recipients for any message.

       default_recipient_limit (20000)
              The default per-transport upper limit on the number of in-memory recipients.

       transport_recipient_limit ($default_recipient_limit)
              A  transport-specific  override for the default_recipient_limit parameter value, where
              transport is the master.cf name of the message delivery transport.

       default_extra_recipient_limit (1000)
              The default value for the extra per-transport limit imposed on the number of in-memory
              recipients.

       transport_extra_recipient_limit ($default_extra_recipient_limit)
              A transport-specific override for the default_extra_recipient_limit  parameter  value,
              where transport is the master.cf name of the message delivery transport.

       Available in Postfix version 2.4 and later:

       default_recipient_refill_limit (100)
              The default per-transport limit on the number of recipients refilled at once.

       transport_recipient_refill_limit ($default_recipient_refill_limit)
              A  transport-specific override for the default_recipient_refill_limit parameter value,
              where transport is the master.cf name of the message delivery transport.

       default_recipient_refill_delay (5s)
              The default per-transport maximum delay between recipients refills.

       transport_recipient_refill_delay ($default_recipient_refill_delay)
              A transport-specific override for the default_recipient_refill_delay parameter  value,
              where transport is the master.cf name of the message delivery transport.

DELIVERY CONCURRENCY CONTROLS
       initial_destination_concurrency (5)
              The initial per-destination concurrency level for parallel delivery to the same desti‐
              nation.

       default_destination_concurrency_limit (20)
              The default maximal number of parallel deliveries to the same destination.

       transport_destination_concurrency_limit ($default_destination_concurrency_limit)
              A  transport-specific override for the default_destination_concurrency_limit parameter
              value, where transport is the master.cf name of the message delivery transport.

       Available in Postfix version 2.5 and later:

       transport_initial_destination_concurrency ($initial_destination_concurrency)
              A transport-specific override for the initial_destination_concurrency parameter value,
              where transport is the master.cf name of the message delivery transport.

       default_destination_concurrency_failed_cohort_limit (1)
              How many pseudo-cohorts must suffer connection or handshake failure before a  specific
              destination is considered unavailable (and further delivery is suspended).

       transport_destination_concurrency_failed_cohort_limit ($default_destination_concur‐
       rency_failed_cohort_limit)
              A   transport-specific  override  for  the  default_destination_concurrency_failed_co‐
              hort_limit parameter value, where transport is the master.cf name of the  message  de‐
              livery transport.

       default_destination_concurrency_negative_feedback (1)
              The per-destination amount of delivery concurrency negative feedback, after a delivery
              completes with a connection or handshake failure.

       transport_destination_concurrency_negative_feedback ($default_destination_concurrency_nega‐
       tive_feedback)
              A  transport-specific  override for the default_destination_concurrency_negative_feed‐
              back parameter value, where transport is the master.cf name of  the  message  delivery
              transport.

       default_destination_concurrency_positive_feedback (1)
              The per-destination amount of delivery concurrency positive feedback, after a delivery
              completes without connection or handshake failure.

       transport_destination_concurrency_positive_feedback ($default_destination_concurrency_posi‐
       tive_feedback)
              A  transport-specific  override for the default_destination_concurrency_positive_feed‐
              back parameter value, where transport is the master.cf name of  the  message  delivery
              transport.

       destination_concurrency_feedback_debug (no)
              Make the queue manager's feedback algorithm verbose for performance analysis purposes.

RECIPIENT SCHEDULING CONTROLS
       default_destination_recipient_limit (50)
              The default maximal number of recipients per message delivery.

       transport_destination_recipient_limit ($default_destination_recipient_limit)
              A  transport-specific  override  for the default_destination_recipient_limit parameter
              value, where transport is the master.cf name of the message delivery transport.

MESSAGE SCHEDULING CONTROLS
       default_delivery_slot_cost (5)
              How often the Postfix queue manager's scheduler is allowed to preempt delivery of  one
              message with another.

       transport_delivery_slot_cost ($default_delivery_slot_cost)
              A  transport-specific  override  for  the  default_delivery_slot_cost parameter value,
              where transport is the master.cf name of the message delivery transport.

       default_minimum_delivery_slots (3)
              How many recipients a message must have in order to invoke the Postfix queue manager's
              scheduling algorithm at all.

       transport_minimum_delivery_slots ($default_minimum_delivery_slots)
              A transport-specific override for the default_minimum_delivery_slots parameter  value,
              where transport is the master.cf name of the message delivery transport.

       default_delivery_slot_discount (50)
              The default value for transport-specific _delivery_slot_discount settings.

       transport_delivery_slot_discount ($default_delivery_slot_discount)
              A  transport-specific override for the default_delivery_slot_discount parameter value,
              where transport is the master.cf name of the message delivery transport.

       default_delivery_slot_loan (3)
              The default value for transport-specific _delivery_slot_loan settings.

       transport_delivery_slot_loan ($default_delivery_slot_loan)
              A transport-specific override  for  the  default_delivery_slot_loan  parameter  value,
              where transport is the master.cf name of the message delivery transport.

OTHER RESOURCE AND RATE CONTROLS
       minimal_backoff_time (300s)
              The  minimal time between attempts to deliver a deferred message; prior to Postfix 2.4
              the default value was 1000s.

       maximal_backoff_time (4000s)
              The maximal time between attempts to deliver a deferred message.

       maximal_queue_lifetime (5d)
              Consider a message as undeliverable, when delivery fails with a temporary  error,  and
              the time in the queue has reached the maximal_queue_lifetime limit.

       queue_run_delay (300s)
              The  time  between deferred queue scans by the queue manager; prior to Postfix 2.4 the
              default value was 1000s.

       transport_retry_time (60s)
              The time between attempts by the Postfix queue manager  to  contact  a  malfunctioning
              message delivery transport.

       Available in Postfix version 2.1 and later:

       bounce_queue_lifetime (5d)
              Consider  a  bounce message as undeliverable, when delivery fails with a temporary er‐
              ror, and the time in the queue has reached the bounce_queue_lifetime limit.

       Available in Postfix version 2.5 and later:

       default_destination_rate_delay (0s)
              The default amount of delay that is inserted between individual message deliveries  to
              the same destination and over the same message delivery transport.

       transport_destination_rate_delay ($default_destination_rate_delay)
              A  transport-specific override for the default_destination_rate_delay parameter value,
              where transport is the master.cf name of the message delivery transport.

       Available in Postfix version 3.1 and later:

       default_transport_rate_delay (0s)
              The default amount of delay that is inserted  between  individual  message  deliveries
              over the same message delivery transport, regardless of destination.

       transport_transport_rate_delay ($default_transport_rate_delay)
              A  transport-specific  override  for the default_transport_rate_delay parameter value,
              where the initial transport in the parameter name is the master.cf name of the message
              delivery transport.

SAFETY CONTROLS
       qmgr_daemon_timeout (1000s)
              How much time a Postfix queue manager process may take to handle a request  before  it
              is terminated by a built-in watchdog timer.

       qmgr_ipc_timeout (60s)
              The  time  limit for the queue manager to send or receive information over an internal
              communication channel.

       Available in Postfix version 3.1 and later:

       address_verify_pending_request_limit (see 'postconf -d' output)
              A safety limit that prevents address verification requests from overwhelming the Post‐
              fix queue.

MISCELLANEOUS CONTROLS
       config_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
              The default location of the Postfix main.cf and master.cf configuration files.

       defer_transports (empty)
              The names of message delivery transports that should not deliver mail  unless  someone
              issues "sendmail -q" or equivalent.

       delay_logging_resolution_limit (2)
              The  maximal  number  of  digits after the decimal point when logging sub-second delay
              values.

       helpful_warnings (yes)
              Log warnings about problematic configuration settings,  and  provide  helpful  sugges‐
              tions.

       process_id (read-only)
              The process ID of a Postfix command or daemon process.

       process_name (read-only)
              The process name of a Postfix command or daemon process.

       queue_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
              The location of the Postfix top-level queue directory.

       syslog_facility (mail)
              The syslog facility of Postfix logging.

       syslog_name (see 'postconf -d' output)
              A  prefix  that is prepended to the process name in syslog records, so that, for exam‐
              ple, "smtpd" becomes "prefix/smtpd".

       Available in Postfix version 3.0 and later:

       confirm_delay_cleared (no)
              After sending a "your message is delayed" notification, inform the sender when the de‐
              lay clears up.

       Available in Postfix 3.3 and later:

       service_name (read-only)
              The master.cf service name of a Postfix daemon process.

       Available in Postfix 3.5 and later:

       info_log_address_format (external)
              The email address form that will be used in non-debug logging (info, warning, etc.).

FILES
       /var/spool/postfix/incoming, incoming queue
       /var/spool/postfix/active, active queue
       /var/spool/postfix/deferred, deferred queue
       /var/spool/postfix/bounce, non-delivery status
       /var/spool/postfix/defer, non-delivery status
       /var/spool/postfix/trace, delivery status

SEE ALSO
       trivial-rewrite(8), address routing
       bounce(8), delivery status reports
       postconf(5), configuration parameters
       master(5), generic daemon options
       master(8), process manager
       postlogd(8), Postfix logging
       syslogd(8), system logging

README FILES
       Use "postconf readme_directory" or "postconf html_directory" to locate this information.
       SCHEDULER_README, scheduling algorithm
       QSHAPE_README, Postfix queue analysis

LICENSE
       The Secure Mailer license must be distributed with this software.

AUTHOR(S)
       Wietse Venema
       IBM T.J. Watson Research
       P.O. Box 704
       Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA

       Preemptive scheduler enhancements:
       Patrik Rak
       Modra 6
       155 00, Prague, Czech Republic

       Wietse Venema
       Google, Inc.
       111 8th Avenue
       New York, NY 10011, USA

                                                                                      QMGR(8postfix)
QMGR(8postfix)
NAME SYNOPSIS DESCRIPTION MAIL QUEUES
incoming deferred corrupt
DELIVERY STATUS REPORTS STRATEGIES
leaky bucket fairness slow start round robin exponential backoff destination status cache preemptive message scheduling
TRIGGERS
D (QMGR_REQ_SCAN_DEFERRED) I (QMGR_REQ_SCAN_INCOMING) A (QMGR_REQ_SCAN_ALL) F (QMGR_REQ_FLUSH_DEAD) W (TRIGGER_REQ_WAKEUP)
STANDARDS SECURITY DIAGNOSTICS BUGS CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS COMPATIBILITY CONTROLS
allow_min_user (no) default_filter_nexthop (empty)
ACTIVE QUEUE CONTROLS
qmgr_clog_warn_time (300s) qmgr_message_active_limit (20000) qmgr_message_recipient_limit (20000) qmgr_message_recipient_minimum (10) default_recipient_limit (20000) transport_recipient_limit ($default_recipient_limit) default_extra_recipient_limit (1000) transport_extra_recipient_limit ($default_extra_recipient_limit) default_recipient_refill_limit (100) transport_recipient_refill_limit ($default_recipient_refill_limit) default_recipient_refill_delay (5s) transport_recipient_refill_delay ($default_recipient_refill_delay)
DELIVERY CONCURRENCY CONTROLS
initial_destination_concurrency (5) default_destination_concurrency_limit (20) transport_destination_concurrency_limit ($default_destination_concurrency_limit) transport_initial_destination_concurrency ($initial_destination_concurrency) default_destination_concurrency_failed_cohort_limit (1) transport_destination_concurrency_failed_cohort_limit ($default_destination_concur‐ rency_failed_cohort_limit) default_destination_concurrency_negative_feedback (1) transport_destination_concurrency_negative_feedback ($default_destination_concurrency_nega‐ tive_feedback) default_destination_concurrency_positive_feedback (1) transport_destination_concurrency_positive_feedback ($default_destination_concurrency_posi‐ tive_feedback) destination_concurrency_feedback_debug (no)
RECIPIENT SCHEDULING CONTROLS
default_destination_recipient_limit (50) transport_destination_recipient_limit ($default_destination_recipient_limit)
MESSAGE SCHEDULING CONTROLS
default_delivery_slot_cost (5) transport_delivery_slot_cost ($default_delivery_slot_cost) default_minimum_delivery_slots (3) transport_minimum_delivery_slots ($default_minimum_delivery_slots) default_delivery_slot_discount (50) transport_delivery_slot_discount ($default_delivery_slot_discount) default_delivery_slot_loan (3) transport_delivery_slot_loan ($default_delivery_slot_loan)
OTHER RESOURCE AND RATE CONTROLS
minimal_backoff_time (300s) maximal_backoff_time (4000s) maximal_queue_lifetime (5d) queue_run_delay (300s) transport_retry_time (60s) bounce_queue_lifetime (5d) default_destination_rate_delay (0s) transport_destination_rate_delay ($default_destination_rate_delay) default_transport_rate_delay (0s) transport_transport_rate_delay ($default_transport_rate_delay)
SAFETY CONTROLS
qmgr_daemon_timeout (1000s) qmgr_ipc_timeout (60s) address_verify_pending_request_limit (see 'postconf -d' output)
MISCELLANEOUS CONTROLS
config_directory (see 'postconf -d' output) defer_transports (empty) delay_logging_resolution_limit (2) helpful_warnings (yes) process_id (read-only) process_name (read-only) queue_directory (see 'postconf -d' output) syslog_facility (mail) syslog_name (see 'postconf -d' output) confirm_delay_cleared (no) service_name (read-only) info_log_address_format (external)
FILES SEE ALSO README FILES LICENSE

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