# phpman > man > error(8postfix) [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)