qmgr - Unix, Linux Command
NAME
qmgr
-
Postfix queue manager
SYNOPSIS
qmgr [generic Postfix daemon options]
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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
trivial-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 potential loops caused by
undeliverable bounce notifications.
MAIL QUEUES
The
qmgr(8) daemon maintains the following queues:
| Tag | Description |
|---|
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incoming
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Inbound mail from the network, or mail picked up by the
local pickup(8) daemon from the maildrop directory.
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active
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Messages that the queue manager has opened for delivery. Only
a limited number of messages is allowed to enter the active
queue (leaky bucket strategy, for a fixed delivery rate).
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deferred
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Mail that could not be delivered upon the first attempt. The queue
manager implements exponential backoff by doubling the time between
delivery attempts.
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corrupt
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Unreadable or damaged queue files are moved here for inspection.
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hold
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Messages that are kept "on hold" are kept here until someone
sets them free.
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DELIVERY STATUS REPORTS
The
qmgr(8) daemon keeps an eye on per-message delivery status
reports in the following directories. Each status report file has
the same name as the corresponding message file:
| Tag | Description |
|---|
|
bounce
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Per-recipient status information about why mail is bounced.
These files are maintained by the bounce(8) daemon.
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defer
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Per-recipient status information about why mail is delayed.
These files are maintained by the defer(8) daemon.
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trace
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Per-recipient status information as requested with the
Postfix "sendmail -v" or "sendmail -bv" command.
These files are maintained by the trace(8) daemon.
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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).
| Tag | Description |
|---|
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leaky bucket
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This strategy limits the number of messages in the active queue
and prevents the queue manager from running out of memory under
heavy load.
|
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fairness
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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 blocking the delivery
of new mail.
|
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slow start
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This strategy eliminates "thundering herd" problems by slowly
adjusting the number of parallel deliveries to the same destination.
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round
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The queue manager sorts delivery requests by destination.
Round-robin selection prevents one destination from dominating
deliveries to other destinations.
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exponential backoff
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Mail that cannot be delivered upon the first attempt is deferred.
The time interval between delivery attempts is doubled after each
attempt.
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destination status cache
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The queue manager avoids unnecessary delivery attempts by
maintaining a short-term, in-memory list of unreachable destinations.
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preemptive message scheduling
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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.
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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):
| Tag | Description |
|---|
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D (QMGR_REQ_SCAN_DEFERRED)
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Start a deferred queue scan. If a deferred queue scan is already
in progress, that scan will be restarted as soon as it finishes.
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I (QMGR_REQ_SCAN_INCOMING)
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Start an incoming queue scan. If an incoming queue scan is already
in progress, that scan will be restarted as soon as it finishes.
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A (QMGR_REQ_SCAN_ALL)
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Ignore deferred queue file time stamps. The request affects
the next deferred queue scan.
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F (QMGR_REQ_FLUSH_DEAD)
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Purge all information about dead transports and destinations.
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W (TRIGGER_REQ_WAKEUP)
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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.
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The
qmgr(8) daemon reads an entire buffer worth of triggers.
Multiple identical trigger requests 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)
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SECURITY
The
qmgr(8) daemon is not security sensitive. It reads
single-character messages from untrusted 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 chrooted environment.
DIAGNOSTICS
Problems and transactions are logged to the syslog daemon.
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
| Tag | Description |
|---|
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allow_min_user (no)
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Allow a recipient address to have ‘-’ as the first character.
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ACTIVE QUEUE CONTROLS
| Tag | Description |
|---|
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qmgr_clog_warn_time (300s)
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The minimal delay between warnings that a specific destination is
clogging up the Postfix active queue.
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qmgr_message_active_limit (20000)
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The maximal number of messages in the active queue.
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qmgr_message_recipient_limit (20000)
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The maximal number of recipients held in memory by the Postfix
queue manager, and the maximal size of the size of the short-term,
in-memory "dead" destination status cache.
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qmgr_message_recipient_minimum (10)
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The minimal number of in-memory recipients for any message.
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default_recipient_limit (10000)
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The default per-transport upper limit on the number of in-memory
recipients.
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transport_recipient_limit ($default_recipient_limit)
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Idem, for delivery via the named message transport.
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default_extra_recipient_limit (1000)
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The default value for the extra per-transport limit imposed on the
number of in-memory recipients.
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transport_extra_recipient_limit ($default_extra_recipient_limit)
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Idem, for delivery via the named message transport.
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DELIVERY CONCURRENCY CONTROLS
| Tag | Description |
|---|
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initial_destination_concurrency (5)
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The initial per-destination concurrency level for parallel delivery
to the same destination.
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default_destination_concurrency_limit (20)
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The default maximal number of parallel deliveries to the same
destination.
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transport_destination_concurrency_limit ($default_destination_concurrency_limit)
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Idem, for delivery via the named message transport.
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RECIPIENT SCHEDULING CONTROLS
| Tag | Description |
|---|
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default_destination_recipient_limit (50)
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The default maximal number of recipients per message delivery.
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transport_destination_recipient_limit ($default_destination_recipient_limit)
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Idem, for delivery via the named message transport.
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MESSAGE SCHEDULING CONTROLS
| Tag | Description |
|---|
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default_delivery_slot_cost (5)
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How often the Postfix queue manager’s scheduler is allowed to
preempt delivery of one message with another.
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transport_delivery_slot_cost ($default_delivery_slot_cost)
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Idem, for delivery via the named message transport.
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default_minimum_delivery_slots (3)
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How many recipients a message must have in order to invoke the
Postfix queue manager’s scheduling algorithm at all.
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transport_minimum_delivery_slots ($default_minimum_delivery_slots)
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Idem, for delivery via the named message transport.
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default_delivery_slot_discount (50)
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The default value for transport-specific _delivery_slot_discount
settings.
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transport_delivery_slot_discount ($default_delivery_slot_discount)
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Idem, for delivery via the named message transport.
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default_delivery_slot_loan (3)
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The default value for transport-specific _delivery_slot_loan
settings.
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transport_delivery_slot_loan ($default_delivery_slot_loan)
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Idem, for delivery via the named message transport.
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OTHER RESOURCE AND RATE CONTROLS
| Tag | Description |
|---|
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minimal_backoff_time (1000s)
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The minimal time between attempts to deliver a deferred message.
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maximal_backoff_time (4000s)
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The maximal time between attempts to deliver a deferred message.
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maximal_queue_lifetime (5d)
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The maximal time a message is queued before it is sent back as
undeliverable.
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queue_run_delay (1000s)
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The time between deferred queue scans by the queue manager.
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transport_retry_time (60s)
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The time between attempts by the Postfix queue manager to contact
a malfunctioning message delivery transport.
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Available in Postfix version 2.1 and later:
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bounce_queue_lifetime (5d)
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The maximal time a bounce message is queued before it is considered
undeliverable.
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MISCELLANEOUS CONTROLS
| Tag | Description |
|---|
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config_directory (see ’postconf -d’ output)
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The default location of the Postfix main.cf and master.cf
configuration files.
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daemon_timeout (18000s)
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How much time a Postfix daemon process may take to handle a
request before it is terminated by a built-in watchdog timer.
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defer_transports (empty)
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The names of message delivery transports that should not deliver mail
unless someone issues "sendmail -q" or equivalent.
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delay_logging_resolution_limit (2)
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The maximal number of digits after the decimal point when logging
sub-second delay values.
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helpful_warnings (yes)
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Log warnings about problematic configuration settings, and provide
helpful suggestions.
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ipc_timeout (3600s)
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The time limit for sending or receiving information over an internal
communication channel.
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process_id (read-only)
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The process ID of a Postfix command or daemon process.
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process_name (read-only)
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The process name of a Postfix command or daemon process.
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queue_directory (see ’postconf -d’ output)
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The location of the Postfix top-level queue directory.
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syslog_facility (mail)
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The syslog facility of Postfix logging.
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syslog_name (postfix)
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The mail system name that is prepended to the process name in syslog
records, so that "smtpd" becomes, for example, "postfix/smtpd".
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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
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SEE ALSO
README FILES
Use "
postconf readme_directory" or
"
postconf html_directory" to locate this information.
SCHEDULER_README, scheduling algorithm
QSHAPE_README, Postfix queue analysis
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LICENSET
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
Scheduler enhancements:
Patrik Rak
Modra 6
155 00, Prague, Czech Republic
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