# error - Postfix error/retry mail delivery agent - man(8postfix) - [phpMan] [_ERROR_(8postfix)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/ERROR/8postfix/markdown) [_ERROR_(8postfix)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/ERROR/8postfix/markdown) ## NAME error - Postfix error/retry mail delivery agent ## SYNOPSIS **error **[generic Postfix daemon options] ## DESCRIPTION The Postfix [**error**(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/error/8/markdown) delivery agent processes delivery requests from the queue manager. Each request specifies a queue file, a sender address, the reason for non-delivery (specified as the next-hop destination), and recipient information. The reason may be prefixed with an RFC 3463-compatible detail code; if none is specified a default 4.0.0 or 5.0.0 code is used in‐ stead. This program expects to be run from the [**master**(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/master/8/markdown) process manager. Depending on the service name in master.cf, **error **or **retry**, the server bounces or defers all recipients in the delivery request using the "next-hop" information as the reason for non-de‐ livery. The **retry **service name is supported as of Postfix 2.4. Delivery status reports are sent to the [**bounce**(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/bounce/8/markdown), [**defer**(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/defer/8/markdown) or [**trace**(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/trace/8/markdown) daemon as appropri‐ ate. ## SECURITY The [**error**(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/error/8/markdown) mailer is not security-sensitive. It does not talk to the network, and can be run chrooted at fixed low privilege. ## STANDARDS RFC 3463 (Enhanced Status Codes) ## DIAGNOSTICS Problems and transactions are logged to [**syslogd**(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/syslogd/8/markdown) or [**postlogd**(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/postlogd/8/markdown). Depending on the setting of the **notify_classes **parameter, the postmaster is notified of bounces and of other trouble. ## CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS Changes to **main.cf **are picked up automatically as [**error**(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/error/8/markdown) processes run for only a limited amount of time. Use the command "**postfix reload**" to speed up a change. The text below provides only a parameter summary. See [**postconf**(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/postconf/5/markdown) for more details including examples. ### 2bounce_notice_recipient (postmaster) The recipient of undeliverable mail that cannot be returned to the sender. ### bounce_notice_recipient (postmaster) The recipient of postmaster notifications with the message headers of mail that Post‐ fix did not deliver and of SMTP conversation transcripts of mail that Postfix did not receive. ### config_directory (see 'postconf -d' output) The default location of the Postfix main.cf and master.cf configuration files. ### daemon_timeout (18000s) How much time a Postfix daemon process may take to handle a request before it is ter‐ minated by a built-in watchdog timer. ### delay_logging_resolution_limit (2) The maximal number of digits after the decimal point when logging sub-second delay values. ### double_bounce_sender (double-bounce) The sender address of postmaster notifications that are generated by the mail system. ### ipc_timeout (3600s) The time limit for sending or receiving information over an internal communication channel. ### max_idle (100s) The maximum amount of time that an idle Postfix daemon process waits for an incoming connection before terminating voluntarily. ### max_use (100) The maximal number of incoming connections that a Postfix daemon process will service before terminating voluntarily. ### notify_classes (resource, software) The list of error classes that are reported to the postmaster. ### 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 3.3 and later: ### service_name (read-only) The master.cf service name of a Postfix daemon process. ## SEE ALSO [qmgr(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/qmgr/8/markdown), queue manager [bounce(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/bounce/8/markdown), delivery status reports [discard(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/discard/8/markdown), Postfix discard delivery agent [postconf(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/postconf/5/markdown), configuration parameters [master(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/master/5/markdown), generic daemon options [master(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/master/8/markdown), process manager [postlogd(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/postlogd/8/markdown), Postfix logging [syslogd(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/syslogd/8/markdown), system logging ## 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 [_ERROR_(8postfix)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/ERROR/8postfix/markdown)