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access(5)
NAME SYNOPSIS DESCRIPTION CASE FOLDING TABLE FORMAT EMAIL ADDRESS PATTERNS EMAIL ADDRESS EXTENSION HOST NAME/ADDRESS PATTERNS ACCEPT ACTIONS REJECT ACTIONS OTHER ACTIONS ENHANCED STATUS CODES REGULAR EXPRESSION TABLES TCP-BASED TABLES EXAMPLE BUGS SEE ALSO README FILES LICENSE
ACCESS(5)                                File Formats Manual                               ACCESS(5)



NAME
       access - Postfix SMTP server access table

SYNOPSIS
       postmap /etc/postfix/access

       postmap -q "string" /etc/postfix/access

       postmap -q - /etc/postfix/access <inputfile

DESCRIPTION
       This document describes access control on remote SMTP client information: host names, network
       addresses, and envelope sender or recipient addresses; it is implemented by the Postfix  SMTP
       server.   See  header_checks(5)  or body_checks(5) for access control on the content of email
       messages.

       Normally, the access(5) table is specified as a  text  file  that  serves  as  input  to  the
       postmap(1)  command.   The  result,  an  indexed  file  in dbm or db format, is used for fast
       searching by the mail system. Execute the command "postmap /etc/postfix/access" to rebuild an
       indexed file after changing the corresponding text file.

       When  the  table  is  provided via other means such as NIS, LDAP or SQL, the same lookups are
       done as for ordinary indexed files.

       Alternatively, the table can be provided as a regular-expression map where patterns are given
       as  regular  expressions, or lookups can be directed to TCP-based server. In those cases, the
       lookups are done in a slightly different way as described below under "REGULAR EXPRESSION TA‐
       BLES" or "TCP-BASED TABLES".

CASE FOLDING
       The  search  string  is  folded  to  lowercase before database lookup. As of Postfix 2.3, the
       search string is not case folded with database types such as regexp: or  pcre:  whose  lookup
       fields can match both upper and lower case.

TABLE FORMAT
       The input format for the postmap(1) command is as follows:

       pattern action
              When pattern matches a mail address, domain or host address, perform the corresponding
              action.

       blank lines and comments
              Empty lines and whitespace-only lines are ignored, as are lines whose first non-white‐
              space character is a `#'.

       multi-line text
              A  logical  line  starts  with non-whitespace text. A line that starts with whitespace
              continues a logical line.

EMAIL ADDRESS PATTERNS
       With lookups from indexed files such as DB or DBM, or from networked tables such as NIS, LDAP
       or SQL, patterns are tried in the order as listed below:

       user@domain
              Matches the specified mail address.

       domain.tld
              Matches domain.tld as the domain part of an email address.

              The  pattern  domain.tld  also  matches subdomains, but only when the string smtpd_ac‐‐
              cess_maps is listed in the Postfix parent_domain_matches_subdomains configuration set‐
              ting.

       .domain.tld
              Matches  subdomains  of  domain.tld, but only when the string smtpd_access_maps is not
              listed in the Postfix parent_domain_matches_subdomains configuration setting.

       user@  Matches all mail addresses with the specified user part.

       Note: lookup of the null sender address is not possible with some types of lookup  table.  By
       default,  Postfix  uses  <> as the lookup key for such addresses. The value is specified with
       the smtpd_null_access_lookup_key parameter in the Postfix main.cf file.

EMAIL ADDRESS EXTENSION
       When a mail address localpart contains the optional recipient delimiter  (e.g.,  user+foo@domain), the lookup order becomes: user+foo@domain, user@domain, domain, user+foo@, and user@.

HOST NAME/ADDRESS PATTERNS
       With lookups from indexed files such as DB or DBM, or from networked tables such as NIS, LDAP
       or SQL, the following lookup patterns are examined in the order as listed:

       domain.tld
              Matches domain.tld.

              The pattern domain.tld also matches subdomains, but only  when  the  string  smtpd_ac‐‐
              cess_maps is listed in the Postfix parent_domain_matches_subdomains configuration set‐
              ting.

       .domain.tld
              Matches subdomains of domain.tld, but only when the string  smtpd_access_maps  is  not
              listed in the Postfix parent_domain_matches_subdomains configuration setting.

       net.work.addr.ess

       net.work.addr

       net.work

       net    Matches a remote IPv4 host address or network address range.  Specify one to four dec‐
              imal octets separated by ".". Do not specify "[]" , "/", leading zeros, or hexadecimal
              forms.

              Network  ranges  are  matched by repeatedly truncating the last ".octet" from a remote
              IPv4 host address string, until a match is found in the access table, or until further
              truncation is not possible.

              NOTE: use the cidr lookup table type to specify network/netmask patterns. See cidr_ta‐‐
              ble(5) for details.

       net:work:addr:ess

       net:work:addr

       net:work

       net    Matches a remote IPv6 host address or network address range.  Specify three  to  eight
              hexadecimal  octet  pairs  separated  by ":", using the compressed form "::" for a se‐
              quence of zero-valued octet pairs.  Do  not  specify  "[]",  "/",  leading  zeros,  or
              non-compressed forms.

              A  network  range  is  matched by repeatedly truncating the last ":octetpair" from the
              compressed-form remote IPv6 host address string, until a match is found in the  access
              table, or until further truncation is not possible.

              NOTE: use the cidr lookup table type to specify network/netmask patterns. See cidr_ta‐‐
              ble(5) for details.

              IPv6 support is available in Postfix 2.2 and later.

ACCEPT ACTIONS
       OK     Accept the address etc. that matches the pattern.

       all-numerical
              An all-numerical result is treated as OK. This format is  generated  by  address-based
              relay authorization schemes such as pop-before-smtp.

       For other accept actions, see "OTHER ACTIONS" below.

REJECT ACTIONS
       Postfix  version 2.3 and later support enhanced status codes as defined in RFC 3463.  When no
       code is specified at the beginning of the text below, Postfix inserts a default enhanced sta‐
       tus  code of "5.7.1" in the case of reject actions, and "4.7.1" in the case of defer actions.
       See "ENHANCED STATUS CODES" below.

       4NN text

       5NN text
              Reject the address etc. that matches the  pattern,  and  respond  with  the  numerical
              three-digit  code  and  text. 4NN means "try again later", while 5NN means "do not try
              again".

              The following responses have special meaning for the Postfix SMTP server:

              421 text (Postfix 2.3 and later)

              521 text (Postfix 2.6 and later)
                     After responding with the numerical three-digit code and text, disconnect imme‐
                     diately from the SMTP client.  This frees up SMTP server resources so that they
                     can be made available to another SMTP client.

                     Note: The "521" response should be used only with  botnets  and  other  malware
                     where  interoperability is of no concern.  The "send 521 and disconnect" behav‐
                     ior is NOT defined in the SMTP standard.

       REJECT optional text...
              Reject the address etc. that matches the pattern. Reply with  "$access_map_reject_code
              optional  text..." when the optional text is specified, otherwise reply with a generic
              error response message.

       DEFER optional text...
              Reject the address etc. that matches the pattern. Reply  with  "$access_map_defer_code
              optional  text..." when the optional text is specified, otherwise reply with a generic
              error response message.

              This feature is available in Postfix 2.6 and later.

       DEFER_IF_REJECT optional text...
              Defer the request if some later restriction would result in  a  REJECT  action.  Reply
              with  "$access_map_defer_code 4.7.1 optional text..." when the optional text is speci‐
              fied, otherwise reply with a generic error response message.

              Prior to Postfix 2.6, the SMTP reply code is 450.

              This feature is available in Postfix 2.1 and later.

       DEFER_IF_PERMIT optional text...
              Defer the request if some later restriction would result in a an explicit or  implicit
              PERMIT  action.   Reply with "$access_map_defer_code 4.7.1  optional text..." when the
              optional text is specified, otherwise reply with a generic error response message.

              Prior to Postfix 2.6, the SMTP reply code is 450.

              This feature is available in Postfix 2.1 and later.

       For other reject actions, see "OTHER ACTIONS" below.

OTHER ACTIONS
       restriction...
              Apply the named UCE restriction(s) (permit, reject, reject_unauth_destination, and  so
              on).

       BCC user@domain
              Send one copy of the message to the specified recipient.

              If  multiple  BCC  actions  are  specified within the same SMTP MAIL transaction, with
              Postfix 3.0 only the last action will be used.

              This feature is available in Postfix 3.0 and later.

       DISCARD optional text...
              Claim successful delivery and silently discard the message.  Log the optional text  if
              specified, otherwise log a generic message.

              Note:  this  action  currently affects all recipients of the message.  To discard only
              one recipient without discarding the entire message, use the transport(5) table to di‐
              rect mail to the discard(8) service.

              This feature is available in Postfix 2.0 and later.

       DUNNO  Pretend  that  the  lookup  key  was not found. This prevents Postfix from trying sub‐
              strings of the lookup key (such as a subdomain name, or a network address subnetwork).

              This feature is available in Postfix 2.0 and later.

       FILTER transport:destination
              After the message is queued, send the entire message through  the  specified  external
              content  filter. The transport name specifies the first field of a mail delivery agent
              definition in master.cf; the syntax of the next-hop destination is  described  in  the
              manual page of the corresponding delivery agent.  More information about external con‐
              tent filters is in the Postfix FILTER_README file.

              Note 1: do not use $number regular expression substitutions for transport or  destination unless you know that the information has a trusted origin.

              Note  2: this action overrides the main.cf content_filter setting, and affects all re‐
              cipients of the message. In the case that multiple FILTER actions fire, only the  last
              one is executed.

              Note 3: the purpose of the FILTER command is to override message routing.  To override
              the recipient's transport but not the next-hop destination, specify  an  empty  filter
              destination  (Postfix 2.7 and later), or specify a transport:destination that delivers
              through a different Postfix instance (Postfix 2.6 and earlier). Other options are  us‐
              ing  the  recipient-dependent transport_maps or the sender-dependent sender_dependent‐‐
              _default_transport_maps features.

              This feature is available in Postfix 2.0 and later.

       HOLD optional text...
              Place the message on the hold queue, where it will sit until someone either deletes it
              or  releases  it  for  delivery.   Log the optional text if specified, otherwise log a
              generic message.

              Mail that is placed on hold can be examined with the postcat(1) command,  and  can  be
              destroyed or released with the postsuper(1) command.

              Note: use "postsuper -r" to release mail that was kept on hold for a significant frac‐
              tion of $maximal_queue_lifetime or $bounce_queue_lifetime, or longer.  Use  "postsuper
              -H" only for mail that will not expire within a few delivery attempts.

              Note: this action currently affects all recipients of the message.

              This feature is available in Postfix 2.0 and later.

       PREPEND headername: headervalue
              Prepend  the  specified message header to the message.  When more than one PREPEND ac‐
              tion executes, the first prepended header appears before  the  second  etc.  prepended
              header.

              Note:  this action must execute before the message content is received; it cannot exe‐
              cute in the context of smtpd_end_of_data_restrictions.

              This feature is available in Postfix 2.1 and later.

       REDIRECT user@domain
              After the message is queued, send the message to the specified address instead of  the
              intended  recipient(s).   When multiple REDIRECT actions fire, only the last one takes
              effect.

              Note: this action overrides the FILTER action, and currently overrides all  recipients
              of the message.

              This feature is available in Postfix 2.1 and later.

       INFO optional text...
              Log  an  informational record with the optional text, together with client information
              and if available, with helo, sender, recipient and protocol information.

              This feature is available in Postfix 3.0 and later.

       WARN optional text...
              Log a warning with the optional text, together with client information and  if  avail‐
              able, with helo, sender, recipient and protocol information.

              This feature is available in Postfix 2.1 and later.

ENHANCED STATUS CODES
       Postfix  version 2.3 and later support enhanced status codes as defined in RFC 3463.  When an
       enhanced status code is specified in an access table, it is subject to modification. The fol‐
       lowing  transformations  are  needed  when  the  same  access table is used for client, helo,
       sender, or recipient access restrictions; they happen regardless of whether  Postfix  replies
       to a MAIL FROM, RCPT TO or other SMTP command.

       •      When  a sender address matches a REJECT action, the Postfix SMTP server will transform
              a recipient DSN status (e.g., 4.1.1-4.1.6) into the corresponding sender  DSN  status,
              and vice versa.

       •      When  non-address  information matches a REJECT action (such as the HELO command argu‐
              ment or the client hostname/address), the Postfix SMTP server will transform a  sender
              or recipient DSN status into a generic non-address DSN status (e.g., 4.0.0).

REGULAR EXPRESSION TABLES
       This  section  describes  how the table lookups change when the table is given in the form of
       regular expressions. For a description of regular expression lookup table  syntax,  see  reg‐‐
       exp_table(5) or pcre_table(5).

       Each  pattern  is  a regular expression that is applied to the entire string being looked up.
       Depending on the application, that string is an entire client hostname, an entire  client  IP
       address,  or an entire mail address. Thus, no parent domain or parent network search is done,
       user@domain mail addresses are not broken up into their user@ and domain  constituent  parts,
       nor is user+foo broken up into user and foo.

       Patterns  are  applied  in the order as specified in the table, until a pattern is found that
       matches the search string.

       Actions are the same as with indexed file lookups, with the additional feature that parenthe‐
       sized substrings from the pattern can be interpolated as $1, $2 and so on.

TCP-BASED TABLES
       This  section describes how the table lookups change when lookups are directed to a TCP-based
       server. For a description of the TCP client/server lookup protocol, see  tcp_table(5).   This
       feature is not available up to and including Postfix version 2.4.

       Each  lookup operation uses the entire query string once.  Depending on the application, that
       string is an entire client hostname, an entire client IP address, or an entire mail  address.
       Thus,  no  parent domain or parent network search is done, user@domain mail addresses are not
       broken up into their user@ and domain constituent parts, nor is user+foo broken up into  user
       and foo.

       Actions are the same as with indexed file lookups.

EXAMPLE
       The  following example uses an indexed file, so that the order of table entries does not mat‐
       ter. The example permits access by the client  at  address  1.2.3.4  but  rejects  all  other
       clients  in 1.2.3.0/24. Instead of hash lookup tables, some systems use dbm.  Use the command
       "postconf -m" to find out what lookup tables Postfix supports on your system.

       /etc/postfix/main.cf:
           smtpd_client_restrictions =
               check_client_access hash:/etc/postfix/access

       /etc/postfix/access:
           1.2.3   REJECT
           1.2.3.4 OK

       Execute the command "postmap /etc/postfix/access" after editing the file.

BUGS
       The table format does not understand quoting conventions.

SEE ALSO
       postmap(1), Postfix lookup table manager
       smtpd(8), SMTP server
       postconf(5), configuration parameters
       transport(5), transport:nexthop syntax

README FILES
       Use "postconf readme_directory" or "postconf html_directory" to locate this information.
       SMTPD_ACCESS_README, built-in SMTP server access control
       DATABASE_README, Postfix lookup table overview

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

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



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