Factoids for the 'knoba' bot in #postfix

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These commands are useful in the channel to control the bot:

Known factoids:

KeyValue
delete-from-mailq To remove specific mails from your huge mail queue use a script like http://www.arschkrebs.de/postfix/scripts/delete-from-mailq
2bounce_notice_recipient a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The recipient of undeliverable mail delivery error reports. This feature is enabled with the notify_classes parameter.
ChrisH the former nickname of Signum . His name was taken on another IRC network and to avoid permanent confusion he decided to rename himself.
MAAWG http://www.maawg.org/about/publishedDocuments
PEE Postfix Engineering Expert: An advanced Postfix certification. The practical portion of the exam involves causing physical harm to Dan Bernstein (DJB). See also: !PIE
PIE Postfix Integration Expert: A Postfix certification. The practical portion of the exam involves washing and waxing Dr. Venema's car. See also: !PEE
SPAM for you and SPAM for me, we'll all live together in SPAM harmony at SPAM.com
SenderID Having hotmail delivery issues? - Consider having your server added to the Microsoft Sender ID program. Get your house in order first! Add a reverse dns ptr record for the ip of the server, forward should match reverse and helo. Create a valid spf record for the domain(s) then wander on over to https://support.msn.com/eform.aspx?productKey=senderid&ct=eformts and submit your request to be added
Signum author of the workaround.org ispmail tutorials, daddy of the 'knoba' bot - formerly known as 'ChrisH'
VIRTUAL_CLASS_README http://www.postfix.org/VIRTUAL_CLASS_README.html
abh Anything But Hotmail! Alone among major freemail services, Hotmail is known to silently discard real mail. If mail is important, use a better service.
access http://www.postfix.org/SMTPD_ACCESS_README.html : An overview of access(5) controls in the Postfix smtpd(8) SMTP server.
access_map_reject_code a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The numerical Postfix SMTP server response code when a client violates an access(5) map restriction.
adaptr The smiting hand (or actually, small shell script) of #postfix. Not to be trusted.
address_classes http://www.postfix.org/ADDRESS_CLASS_README.html describes how Postfix deals with different classes of addresses: local, relay, virtual alias, virtual mailbox, and Internet.
address_verify_default_transport a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Overrides the default_transport parameter setting for address verification probes.
address_verify_local_transport a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Overrides the local_transport parameter setting for address verification probes.
address_verify_map a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional lookup table for persistent address verification status storage. The table is maintained by the verify(8) service, and is opened before the process releases privileges.
address_verify_negative_cache a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Enable caching of failed address verification probe results. When this feature is enabled, the cache may pollute quickly with garbage. When this feature is disabled, Postfix will generate an address probe for every lookup.
address_verify_negative_expire_time a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The time after which a failed probe expires from the address verification cache.
address_verify_negative_refresh_time a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The time after which a failed address verification probe needs to be refreshed.
address_verify_poll_count a configuration parameter in the main.cf: How many times to query the verify(8) service for the completion of an address verification request in progress.
address_verify_poll_delay a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The delay between queries for the completion of an address verification request in progress.
address_verify_positive_expire_time a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The time after which a successful probe expires from the address verification cache.
address_verify_positive_refresh_time a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The time after which a successful address verification probe needs to be refreshed. The address verification status is not updated when the probe fails (optimistic caching).
address_verify_relay_transport a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Overrides the relay_transport parameter setting for address verification probes.
address_verify_relayhost a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Overrides the relayhost parameter setting for address verification probes.
address_verify_sender a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The sender address to use in address verification probes. By default, the probe sender address is postmaster@$myorigin.
address_verify_service_name a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The name of the verify(8) address verification service. This service maintains the status of sender and/or recipient address verification probes, and generates probes on request by other Postfix processes.
address_verify_transport_maps a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Overrides the transport_maps parameter setting for address verification probes.
address_verify_virtual_transport a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Overrides the virtual_transport parameter setting for address verification probes.
alias ITYM !alias_maps
alias_database a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The alias databases for local(8) delivery that are updated with "newaliases" or with "sendmail -bi".
alias_maps a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The alias databases that are used for local(8) delivery. See aliases(5) for syntax details.
allow_mail_to_commands a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Restrict local(8) mail delivery to external commands. The default is to disallow delivery to "|command" in :include: files (see aliases(5) for the text that defines this terminology).
allow_mail_to_files a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Restrict local(8) mail delivery to external files. The default is to disallow "/file/name" destinations in :include: files (see aliases(5) for the text that defines this terminology).
allow_min_user a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Allow a recipient address to have `-' as the first character. By default, this is not allowed, to avoid accidents with software that passes email addresses via the command line.
allow_percent_hack a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Enable the rewriting of the form "user%domain" to "user@domain". This is enabled by default.
allow_untrusted_routing a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Forward mail with sender-specified routing (user[@%!]remote[@%!]site) from untrusted clients to destinations matching $relay_domains.
altermime an extra software to alter the mail body http://www.pldaniels.com/altermime/
alternate_config_directories a configuration parameter in the main.cf: A list of non-default Postfix configuration directories that may be specified with "-c config_directory" on the command line, or via the MAIL_CONFIG environment parameter.
always_bcc a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional address that receives a "blind carbon copy" of each message that is received by the Postfix mail system.
amavis see !amavisd-new
amavisd-new amavisd-new is a high-performance and reliable interface between mailer (MTA) and one or more content checkers. See http://www.ijs.si/software/amavisd/
amp All main.cf parameters, http://www.postfix.org/postconf.5.html
anatomy Anatomy of Postfix (Chapter 5, The Book of Postfix) http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/9454
anvil http://www.postfix.org/anvil.8.html
anyone see !poll
append_at_myorigin a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Append the string "@$myorigin" to mail addresses without domain information.
append_dot_mydomain a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Append the string ".$mydomain" to addresses that have no ".domain" information.
application_event_drain_time a configuration parameter in the main.cf: How long the postkick(1) command waits for a request to enter the server's input buffer before giving up.
ask Please regard http://workaround.org/getting-help-on-irc and don't ask to ask, just ask. (after you've read 'getting help')
attachment A bash script that encodes a file as a MIME email message attachment that can be piped into postfix's sendmail emulation binary from the command line or within scripts. http://linuxnet.ca/postfix/attachment
auth see !sasl
authorized_submit_users List of users who are authorized to submit mail with the sendmail(1) command (and with the privileged postdrop(1) helper command).
away it is a bad habit to change your nickname when you are away. Please don't do that. See http://sackheads.org/~bnaylor/spew/away_msgs.html
backscatter see http://www.postfix.org/BACKSCATTER_README.html - Basically backscatter are bounces sent to innocent systems. A spammer sent email in behalf of the victim's system. Undeliverable emails get bounced to the victim.
backwards_bounce_logfile_compatibility a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Produce additional bounce(8) logfile records that can be read by Postfix versions prior to 2.1 The current and more extensible "name = value" format is neede in order to implement more sophisticated functionality.
basic http://www.postfix.org/BASIC_CONFIGURATION_README.html : a good starting place for Postfix beginners, many common questions are answered here.
basuc !basic, plus a bit of alcohol
berkeley_db_create_buffer_size a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The per-table I/O buffer size for programs that create Berkeley DB hash or btree tables. Specify a byte count.
berkeley_db_read_buffer_size a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The per-table I/O buffer size for programs that read Berkeley DB hash or btree tables. Specify a byte count.
best_mx_transport a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Where to deliver mail when the local MTA is listed as the best mail exchanger for a destination that is not listed in $mydestination, $inet_interfaces, $proxy_interfaces, $virtual_alias_domains, or $virtual_mailbox_domains. By default, the Postfix SMTP client reports a "mail loops back to myself" error and returns the message as undeliverable.
biff a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Whether or not to use the local biff service. This service sends "new mail" notifications to users who have requested new mail notification with the UNIX command "biff y".
body_checks a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional lookup tables for content inspection as specified in the body_checks(5) manual page.
body_checks_size_limit a configuration parameter in the main.cf: How much text in a message body segment (or attachment, if you prefer to use that term) is subjected to body_checks inspection. The amount of text is limited to avoid scanning huge attachments.
body_massage http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ww3GTNv9hHk
books There are a few nice books about postfix which you could consider reading: The Book of Postfix: State-of-the-Art Message Transport , Postfix: The Definitive Guide and others ( google for it! )
bot The bot 'knoba' resides here to learn and tell about factoids. See http://workaround.org/f=postfix for the list of currently supported factoids.
botsnack Mmmm, tasty
bounce_notice_recipient a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The recipient of the message headers of mail that Postfix did not deliver and of SMTP conversation transcripts of mail that Postfix did not receive. This feature is enabled with the notify_classes parameter.
bounce_queue_lifetime a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The maximal time a bounce message is queued before it is considered undeliverable. By default, this is the same as the queue life time for regular mail.
bounce_service_name a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The name of the bounce(8) service. This service maintains a record of failed delivery attempts and generates non-delivery notifications.
bounce_size_limit a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The maximal amount of original message text that is sent in a non-delivery notification. Specify a byte count.
bounce_template_file Pathname of a configuration file with bounce message templates. These override the built-in templates of delivery status notification (DSN) messages for undeliverable mail, for delayed mail, successful delivery, or delivery verification. The bounce(5) manual page describes how to edit and test template files.
bro KB1JWQ
broken_sasl_auth_clients a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Enable inter-operability with SMTP clients that implement an obsolete version of the AUTH command (RFC 2554). Examples of such clients are MicroSoft Outlook Express version 4 and MicroSoft Exchange version 5.0.
c/r Challenge/response spam filtering, a discredited idea, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Challenge-response_spam_filtering#cite_note-2
canonical_maps a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional address mapping lookup tables for message headers and envelopes. The mapping is applied to both sender and recipient addresses, in both envelopes and in headers. This is typically used to clean up dirty addresses from legacy mail systems, or to replace login names by Firstname.Lastname. The table format and lookups are documented in canonical(5).
carnival a midget on stilts feeding a giraffe peanut butter.
catchall Sending all emails for non-existing users in domain to a special account. See man 5 virtual for the @domain syntax, which applies in virtual_*_maps and relay_recipient_maps. For local(8) delivery, unset local_recipient_maps and see luser_relay. WARNING: catchalls are rarely a good idea. Spammers will abuse them.
causemepain See KB1JWQ
cert You can generate your own (self-signed) certificates for use with Postfix using: openssl req -new -outform PEM -out smtpd.cert -newkey rsa:2048 -nodes -keyout smtpd.key -keyform PEM -days 365 -x509
cheatsheet http://jimsun.linxnet.com/misc/postfix-anti-UCE.txt : A HOWTO for pre-DATA spam control.
check_client_access Search the named access database for the client name, parent domains, client address, or networks obtained by stripping least significant octets. Reject if the result is REJECT or [45]XX text . Permit otherwise
check_helo_access check_helo_access type:table - Search the specified access(5) database for the HELO or EHLO hostname or parent domains, and execute the corresponding action.
check_recipient_access Search the specified access(5) database for the resolved RCPT TO address, domain, parent domains, or localpart@, and execute the corresponding action.
check_relay_domains check_relay_domains was a valid restriction from Postfix 1.x and earlier. For backwards compatibility it still retains functionality similar to !reject_unauth_destination, but it SHOULD NOT BE USED in a modern Postfix install.
check_sender_access Search the specified access(5) database for the MAIL FROM address, domain, parent domains, or localpart@, and execute the corresponding action.
chroot The fifth column in master.cf, if not n , means that the Postfix process described on that line runs in a chroot, see !debug , !queue_directory and files in the examples/chroot-setup subdirectory of the Postfix source archive which show examples of a Postfix chroot environment on a variety of systems
cidr cidr_table(5) - format of Postfix CIDR table. Lookup table in Classless Inter-Domain Routing form. In this case, each input is compared against a list of patterns. When a match is found, the corresponding result is returned and the search is terminated.
cidrnotation Classless Inter-Domain Routing : See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIDR
cisco_pix The Cisco PIX firewall has a SMTP proxy feature which breaks ESMTP. If your Postfix server is behind such a firewall you should disable the SMTP Fixup feature.
clamav a free (open source) virus scanner which works great with amavis. See http://www.clamav.net/
clamsmtp clamsmtp is and SMTP virus filter. Website is here: http://memberwebs.com/nielsen/software/clamsmtp//clamsmtp is an SMTP virus filter. Website is here: http://memberwebs.com/nielsen/software/clamsmtp/
cleanup_service_name a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The name of the cleanup(8) service. This service rewrites addresses and performs canonical(5) address mapping and virtual(5) aliasing.
client_event_status_update_time a configuration parameter in the main.cf: How frequently the anvil(8) connection and rate limiting server logs peak usage information.
client_rate_time_unit a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The time unit over which client connection rates and other rates are calculated.
clientsasl a way to have your Postfix authenticate at your relayhost. See: http://www.postfix.org/SASL_README.html#client_sasl
clue 'See !topic'
command_directory a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The location of all postfix administrative commands.
command_expansion_filter a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Restrict the characters that the local(8) delivery agent allows in $name expansions of $mailbox_command. Characters outside the allowed set are replaced by underscores.
command_time_limit a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Time limit for delivery to external commands. This limit is used by the local(8) delivery agent, and is the default time limit for delivery by the pipe(8) delivery agent.
compare the following can be used to compare modified settings with their defaults. useful for pruning redundant declarations as well as tracking down problems: for parameter in $(postconf -n | awk -F= '{ print $1 }'); do echo -n 'default: '; postconf -d ${parameter} ; echo -n 'current: '; postconf ${parameter} ; echo '--'; done | less
content_filter a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The name of a mail delivery transport that filters mail after it is queued.
courier an alternative MTA to Postfix. Parts of it (maildrop, IMAP server and POP3 server) are often used by Postfix users as well. See: www.courier-mta.org or #courier
cpm an operating system originally created for Intel 8080/85 based microcomputers
cyrus Cyrus-SASL See: http://asg.web.cmu.edu/sasl/
daemon_directory a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The directory with Postfix support programs and daemon programs. These should not be invoked directly by humans. The directory must be owned by root.
daemon_timeout a configuration parameter in the main.cf: How much time a Postfix daemon process may take to handle a request before it commits suicide.
dam don't ask me why someone else's server isn't accepting your mail. if your hotel key card wasn't letting you into your room, would you go around asking other guests why? if you can't figure out who you should ask, then see the !duh factoid
db Berkeley DB support in Postfix, required for hash: maps, see http://www.postfix.org/DB_README.html
debian Please see /usr/share/doc/postfix/README.Debian for Debian-specific information. This probably applies to Ubuntu and most other Debian-derivative distributions as well.
debug http://www.postfix.org/DEBUG_README.html : a good starting point for how to deal with problems and to report information to those who might help. Post your information in a pastebin such as http://pastebin.ca/ or http://dpaste.com/
debug_peer_level a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The increment in verbose logging level when a remote SMTP client or server matches a pattern in the debug_peer_list parameter.
debug_peer_list a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional list of SMTP client or server patterns that cause the verbose logging level to increase by the amount specified in $debug_peer_level.
debugger_command a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The external command to execute when a Postfix daemon program is invoked with the -D option.
dedicated_transport dedicated transports are used to control delivery behaviour for a specific domain or a user@domain pattern based on transport_maps. For an example see: http://linuxnet.ca/postfix/dedicated_transport.html
default_database_type a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The default database type for use in newaliases(1), postalias(1) and postmap(1) commands. On many UNIX systems the default type is either dbm or hash. The default setting is frozen when the Postfix system is built.
default_delivery_slot_cost a configuration parameter in the main.cf: How often the Postfix queue manager's scheduler is allowed to preempt delivery of one message with another.
default_delivery_slot_discount a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The default value for transport-specific _delivery_slot_discount settings.
default_delivery_slot_loan a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The default value for transport-specific _delivery_slot_loan settings.
default_destination_concurrency_limit a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The default maximal number of parallel deliveries to the same destination. This is the default limit for delivery via the lmtp(8), pipe(8), smtp(8) and virtual(8) delivery agents.
default_destination_recipient_limit a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The default maximal number of recipients per message delivery. This is the default limit for delivery via the lmtp(8), pipe(8), smtp(8) and virtual(8) delivery agents.
default_extra_recipient_limit a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The default value for the extra per-transport limit imposed on the number of in-memory recipients. This extra recipient space is reserved for the cases when the Postfix queue manager's scheduler preempts one message with another and suddenly needs some extra recipients slots for the chosen message in order to avoid performance degradation.
default_minimum_delivery_slots a configuration parameter in the main.cf: How many recipients a message must have in order to invoke the Postfix queue manager's scheduling algorithm at all. Messages which would never accumulate at least this many delivery slots (subject to slot cost parameter as well) are never preempted.
default_privs a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The default rights used by the local(8) delivery agent for delivery to external file or command. These rights are used when delivery is requested from an aliases(5) file that is owned by root, or when delivery is done on behalf of root. DO NOT SPECIFY A PRIVILEGED USER OR THE POSTFIX OWNER.
default_process_limit a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The default maximal number of Postfix child processes that provide a given service. This limit can be overruled for specific services in the master.cf file.
default_rbl_reply a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The default SMTP server response template for a request that is rejected by an RBL-based restriction. This template can be overruled by specific entries in the optional rbl_reply_maps lookup table.
default_recipient_limit a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The default per-transport upper limit on the number of in-memory recipients. These limits take priority over the global qmgr_message_recipient_limit after the message has been assigned to the respective transports. See also default_extra_recipient_limit and qmgr_message_recipient_minimum.
default_transport a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The default mail delivery transport for domains that do not match $mydestination, $inet_interfaces, $proxy_interfaces, $virtual_alias_domains, $virtual_mailbox_domains, or $relay_domains. This information can be overruled with the transport(5) table.
default_verp_delimiters a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The two default VERP delimiter characters. These are used when no explicit delimiters are specified with the SMTP XVERP command or with the "sendmail -V" command-line option.
defer_code a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The numerical Postfix SMTP server response code when a remote SMTP client request is rejected by the "defer" restriction.
defer_service_name a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The name of the defer(8) service. This service maintains a record of failed delivery attempts and generates non-delivery notifications.
defer_transports a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The names of message delivery transports that should not be delivered to unless someone issues "sendmail -q" or equivalent. Specify zero or more names of mail delivery transports names that appear in the first field of master.cf).
delay_notice_recipient a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The recipient of the message headers of mail that cannot be delivered within $delay_warning_time time units.
delay_warning_time a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The time after which the sender receives the message headers of mail that is still queued.
delays The format of the delays=a/b/c/d logging is as follows: a = time from message arrival to last active queue entry; b = time from last active queue entry to connection setup; # c = time in connection setup, including DNS, EHLO and TLS; d = time in message transmission
deliver dovecot's MDA
deliver_lock_attempts a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The maximal number of attempts to acquire an exclusive lock on a mailbox file or bounce(8) logfile.
deliver_lock_delay a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The time between attempts to acquire an exclusive lock on a mailbox file or bounce(8) logfile.
disable_dns_lookups Disables DNS lookups by the Postfix smtp(8) client. When disabled, disable_dns_lookups=yes, postfix uses the the gethostbyname() system library call which uses nsswitch mechanisms to look up host address information. DO NOT USE THIS on a server that needs mail routing ability.
disable_mime_input_processing a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Turn off MIME processing while receiving mail. This means that no special treatment is given to Content-Type: message headers, and that all text after the initial message headers is considered to be part of the message body.
disable_mime_output_conversion a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Disable the conversion of 8BITMIME format to 7BIT format. Mime output conversion is needed when the destination does not advertise 8BITMIME support.
disable_verp_bounces a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Disable sending one bounce report per recipient.
disable_vrfy_command a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Disable the SMTP VRFY command. This stops some techniques used to harvest email addresses.
disclaimer You want to add a disclaimer to every email because your boss wants you to do that? Try altermime (http://www.pldaniels.com/altermime/)
distro the various linux distributions often package postfix in ways that are less than reflective of the way that postfix actually ships. if you have issues or want to rant about how postfix doesn't do a good job of making the install easy , you need to direct your energy towards the package maintainer(s). it's unlikely that you'll get much sympathy from folks here. also see !wizard
dkim DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) is a method for email authentication that allows an organization to take responsibility for a message in a way that can be validated by a recipient. this is typically implemented in postfix by means of a milter. alternatively, existing content filters (e.g. amavis) may also have their own implementation mechanism.
dkimcheck You can check your spf / dkim / domain-keys settings by sending an email to check-auth@verifier.port25.com. It will auto-respond with some debug informations about your settings and spam-score. or you can use this wob site: http://www.myiptest.com/staticpages/index.php/DomainKeys-DKIM-SPF-Validator-test
dkimtest see !dkimcheck
dnsbl DNS zones that can help your mail server to determine if an IP address is trusted. It's a great way to fight spam. See http://www.spamhaus.org/ZEN/ http://www.au.sorbs.net/ http://www.dnsrbl.net/ http://www.spamcop.net/ http://www.mail-abuse.org/ http://www.rfc-ignorant.org/
docs Postfix documentation http://www.postfix.org/documentation.html
documentation Postfix documentation http://www.postfix.org/documentation.html
dont Please don't be rude and repeat questions or shout (ask in all capital letters). No one here gets paid to be here, or to help you. If we waren't busy and we have some time, we might help you if we are able to. If no one here has answered you, it's because we are either unavailable, or we don't know the answer to your question. Just wait a while, and someone might help you. Thanks.
dont_remove a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Don't remove queue files and save them to the "saved" mail queue. This is a debugging aid. To inspect the envelope information and content of a Postfix queue file, use the postcat(1) command.
double_bounce_sender a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The sender address for mail that must be discarded when it cannot be delivered, and for email notifications with SMTP protocol transcripts. This must be a unique name. All mail to this name is silently discarded, in order to terminate mail bounce loops.
dovecot http://www.dovecot.org/ : IMAP/POP3 server software with emphasis on security; recent versions can also provide SASL AUTH for Postfix 2.3+.
dsbl The list.dsbl.org RBL was discontinued in 2008. Please stop using it. See http://dsbl.org/node/7 for details.
dsn Delivery Status Notifications as described in RFC 3464, first implemented in Postfix 2.3 - See: http://www.postfix.org/DSN_README.html
duh here's an idea - why not ask the person running the mailserver why it's doing what it's doing?
duplicate_filter_limit a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The maximal number of addresses remembered by the address duplicate filter for aliases(5) or virtual(5) alias expansion.
dwim Do What I Mean
dynamic If your server is using a dynamic IP, (DHCP leased IP address), you should consider using your ISP's SMTP server to relay for you as many dynamically assigned IP address spaces are listed within DNSBLs reducing the likelihood of successfully delivering mail to many servers. See the !relayhost factoid. If your ISP requires SASL auth see the !sasl & !saslclient factoids
easy unfortunately, because there are some folks who invest the time and effort to understand things, it makes emailing very easy for lots of other people, which seems to foster the notion that it couldn't possibly be any more complex than clicking send. this, of course, is not the case. as with most things, you get what you put in. also see !maintain
echo If you want to test your mail server you may send an email to echo@fu-berlin.de and it will promptly reply to your address.
ecn Explicit Congestion Notification (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explicit_Congestion_Notification) - a bit in the IP header to notify the transmitter that the network link is congested
ehlo The domain name given in the EHLO or HELO command MUST be either a host name that is resolvable to an DNS Resource Record address, or an IP address literal.
eicar A test signature that is detected by all common virus scanners. It is not a virus and thus completely harmless. Get the file from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EICAR_test_file , or just !eicar_string
eicar_string X5O!P%@AP[4\PZX54(P^)7CC)7}$EICAR-STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE!$H+H*
ekguide http://www.purplehat.org/?page_id=4
empty_address_recipient a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The recipient of mail addressed to the null address. Postfix does not accept such addresses in SMTP commands, but they may still be created locally as the result of configuration or software error.
enable_original_recipient a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Enable support for the X-Original-To message header. This header is needed for multi-recipient mailboxes.
encyclopedia please don't treat the people here as encyclopedias. if a term or concept is introduced that you're not familiar with, then use your favorite search engine and go read about it. do *not* immediately ask what is ?
english the language spoken in this channel. Please talk in your native language privately. Thanks.
error report show a relevant log entry and postconf -n. Do not flood the channel. Do not obfuscate.
error_notice_recipient a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The recipient of error notifications. These notifications are enabled with the notify_classes parameter.
error_service_name a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The name of the error(8) pseudo delivery agent. This service always returns mail as undeliverable.
esmtp a user configurable relay-only Mail Transfer Agent (MTA) with a sendmail compatible syntax. See: http://esmtp.sourceforge.net/
esp Email Service Provider
etrn http://www.postfix.org/ETRN_README.html
evil is sysmonk
examples http://www.postfix.org/STANDARD_CONFIGURATION_README.html
expand_owner_alias a configuration parameter in the main.cf: When delivering to an alias "aliasname" that has an "owner-aliasname" companion alias, set the envelope sender address to the expansion of the "owner-aliasname" alias. Normally, Postfix sets the envelope sender address to the name of the "owner-aliasname" alias.
export_environment a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The list of environment variables that a Postfix process will export to non-Postfix processes. The TZ variable is needed for sane time keeping on System-V-ish systems.
factoid something resembling a fact; unverified and often invented information that is given credibility because it contains words that appear to be something you think you ought to know. see http://workaround.org/f=postfix for a list of knoba's factoids.
factoids see !factoid.
fallback_relay a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional list of relay hosts for destinations that can't be found or that are unreachable.
fallback_transport a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional message delivery transport that the local(8) delivery agent should use for names that are not found in the aliases(5) database or in the UNIX passwd database.
faq Your question is probably answered in the Postfix FAQ page at http://www.postfix.org/faq.html - have you looked there?
fast_flush_domains a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional list of destinations that are eligible for per-destination logfiles with mail that is queued to those destinations.
fast_flush_purge_time a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The time after which an empty per-destination "fast flush" logfile is deleted.
fast_flush_refresh_time a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The time after which a non-empty but unread per-destination "fast flush" logfile needs to be refreshed. The contents of a logfile are refreshed by requesting delivery of all messages listed in the logfile.
father Dr. Wietse Zweitze Venema, father of postfix. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wietse_Venema
fault_injection_code a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Force specific internal tests to fail, to test the handling of errors that are difficult to reproduce otherwise.
fcdd you are apparently suffering from 'Factoid Comprehension Deficit Disorder', please reread the factoid knoba provided along with any accompanying URL links
fcrdns http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forward_Confirmed_reverse_DNS : $myhostname should resolve to your IP address, which in turn should resolve to $myhostname. This is very important if you want big sites to accept your mail. If you can't have it from your ISP, see !relayhost .
fetchmail a command-line tool to fetch emails from POP3/IMAP servers and send them to a (local) mail server
filter_readme http://www.postfix.org/FILTER_README.html :: After-queue content filtering
fish Give an admin a fish and you feed them for a day. Teach an admin to fish and you feed them for life. -- All new anglers, please see the following channel factoids, !tutorial !docs !basic !standard !faq !manuals !logs !debug !lvsv !virtual !smtpd!=smtp : Use '/msg knoba whatis #postfix factoid' to get the factoid details from knoba in a private message to reduce channel noise
flush_service_name a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The name of the flush(8) service. This service maintains per-destination logfiles with the queue file names of mail that is queued for those destinations.
fork_attempts a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The maximal number of attempts to fork() a child process.
fork_delay a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The delay between attempts to fork() an external process.
forward_expansion_filter a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Restrict the characters that the local(8) delivery agent allows in $name expansions of $forward_path. Characters outside the allowed set are replaced by underscores.
forward_path a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The local(8) delivery agent search list for finding a .forward file. The first file that is found is used.
fqdn the 'Fully-Qualified Domain Name'. It consists of the hostname part and the domain part. 'www.postfix.org' is a FQDN whereas 'www' is not. Only DNS resolvable, fully-qualified domain names (FQDNs) are permitted when domain names are used in SMTP.
fussp http://www.rhyolite.com/anti-spam/you-might-be.html
generic generic(5) table specifies an address mapping that applies when mail is delivered. This is the opposite of canonical(5) mapping, which applies when mail is received. See http://www.postfix.org/generic.5.html
ghoi short for http://workaround.org/moin/GettingHelpOnIrc - please consider reading it
gmail Google Mail issues?: http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=81126
goal describe your goal, not what you think the solution is
google Those who use Google before reading the Postfix documentation, if fortunate, end up at http://www.postfix.org/ . If not, they end up in a jumble of bad questions, misleading or wrong answers, and outdated information.
google_apps see !googleapps
googleapps Google Apps - http://www.google.com/a/ - A free service provided by Google to have your email and other services hosted by them
grammar Using painfully bad grammar and ridiculous amounts of nothing but smiles generally go along with l33t speak and both practices are frowned on
greet_pause To mimic Sendmail's greetpause feature, set smtpd_delay_reject=no, then set smtpd_client_restrictions=sleep 3,reject_unauth_pipelining. Note, there can be problems with smtpd_delay_reject=no, so don't try this unless you know what they are.
grep grep searches for lines of text that match one or many regular expressions, and outputs only the matching lines
greyfix http://www.kim-minh.com/pub/greyfix/
greylist http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greylisting/Greylisting implementations for postfix: http://www.greylisting.org/implementations/postfix.shtml
gtube Generic Test for Unsolicited Bulk Email - an eicar.com like spam signature that always should trigger spam filters. See http://spamassassin.apache.org/gtube/ or get the string here: !gtube_string
gtube_string XJS*C4JDBQADN1.NSBN3*2IDNEN*GTUBE-STANDARD-ANTI-UBE-TEST-EMAIL*C.34X
hare_krishna Rumor has it that Hare Krishna means hire a consultant in Hindi.
hash_queue_depth a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The number of subdirectory levels for queue directories listed with the hash_queue_names parameter.
hash_queue_names a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The names of queue directories that are split across multiple subdirectory levels.
have2mung if you absolutely have to mung details, such as anonymizing domains, email and IP addresses etc., try to do so in a minimal, consistent and meaningful way. Keep in mind that this is our first look at your particular configuration and or log details and we do not have the benefit you posses about your existing configuration.
header_address_token_limit a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The maximal number of address tokens are allowed in an address message header. Information that exceeds the limit is discarded. The limit is enforced by the cleanup(8) server.
header_checks a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional lookup tables for content inspection of primary non-MIME message headers, as specified in the header_checks(5) manual page.
header_size_limit a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The maximal amount of memory in bytes for storing a message header. If a header is larger, the excess is descarded. The limit is enforced by the cleanup(8) server.
helo The domain name given in the HELO or EHLO command MUST be either a host name that is resolvable to an DNS Resource Record address, or an IP address literal.
helpful_warnings a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Log warnings about problematic configuration settings, and provide helpful suggestions.
holdmyhand A Hit by Hootie and the Blowfish
home http://www.postfix.org
home_mailbox a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional pathname of a mailbox file relative to a local(8) user's home directory.
hopcount_limit a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The maximal number of Received: message headers that is allowed in the primary message headers. A message that exceeds the limit is bounced, in order to stop a mailer loop.
hotmail http://www.circleid.com/posts/hotmail_running_own_smtp/ : See the !SenderID channel factoid too.
hparker is a shining example of chivalry and champaign (but still b0rk3n)
idfma Insufficient Data For Meaningful Answer
ignore_mx_lookup_error a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Ignore DNS MX lookups that produces no response. By default, Postfix defers delivery and tries again after some delay. This behavor is required by the SMTP standard.
iha i hate acronyms.
imap IMAP is an application layer Internet protocol that allows a client (MUA) to access mailboxes on a remote server (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMAP). Postfix does not provide IMAP (or POP3) service; see !courier or !dovecot for common IMAP/POP3 choices.
import_environment a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The list of environment parameters that a Postfix process will import from a non-Postfix parent process. Examples of relevant parameters:
in_flow_delay a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Implements mail input flow control. This feature is turned on by default (it's disabled on SCO UNIX due to an SCO bug).
inet_interfaces a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The network interface addresses that this mail system receives mail on. By default, the software claims all active interfaces on the machine. The parameter also controls delivery of mail to user@[ip.address]. If your server does not react to connection attempts on a certain interface you should check this setting.
inet_protocols The Internet protocols Postfix will attempt to use when making or accepting connections. Specify one or more of ipv4 or ipv6 , separated by whitespace or commas. The form all is equivalent to ipv4, ipv6 or ipv4 , depending on whether the operating system implements IPv6.
initial_destination_concurrency a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The initial per-destination concurrency level for parallel delivery to the same destination. This limit applies to delivery via smtp(8), and via the pipe(8) and virtual(8) delivery agents.
invalid_hostname_reject_code a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The numerical Postfix SMTP server response code when the client HELO or EHLO command parameter violates the reject_invalid_hostname restriction.
ipc_idle a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The time after which a client closes an idle internal communication channel. The purpose is to allow servers to terminate voluntarily after they become idle. This is used, for example, by the address resolving and rewriting clients.
ipc_timeout a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The time limit for sending or receiving information over an internal communication channel. The purpose is to break out of deadlock situations. If the time limit is exceeded the software aborts with a fatal error.
ipc_ttl a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The time after which a client closes an active internal communication channel. The purpose is to allow servers to terminate voluntarily after reaching their client limit. This is used, for example, by the address resolving and rewriting clients.
iptables_block you can use iptables to block incoming connections from a particular ip address, see http://netadmintools.com/art216.html
ipv6 Postfix 2.2 introduces support for the IPv6 protocol. See http://www.postfix.org/IPV6_README.html for details
isp-style Isp style email hosting http://workaround.org/articles/ispmail-etch/
ispmail two tutorials at http://workaround.org/ that describe how to use virtual domains with a MySQL backend on Debian systems (plus webmail, POP3, SMTP AUTH etc, anti virus, spam filtering, etc.).
jelly is really sad to see no one cares for the last word in that sentence
jhd Just Hit Delete
kill плохой контроль импульсов
knoba an informational bot in this channel (see http://workaround.org/f=postfix)
ldap a lookup method that can be used by Postfix. An introduction can be found in the LDAP_README also found at http://www.postfix.org/LDAP_README.html. A worthy project dealing with LDAP and Postfix can be found at: http://jamm.sourceforge.net/howto/html/
libsmtp a c library to send mail via smtp. see http://libsmtp.berlios.de/
line_length_limit a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The maximal amount of memory in bytes that is used for input lines. Longer lines are chopped up into pieces and are reconstructed upon delivery.
lmtp_cache_connection a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Keep Postfix LMTP client connections open for up to $max_idle seconds. When the LMTP client receives a request for the same connection the connection is reused.
lmtp_connect_timeout a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The LMTP client time limit for completing a TCP connection.
lmtp_data_done_timeout a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The LMTP client time limit for sending the LMTP ".", and for receiving the server response.
lmtp_data_init_timeout a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The LMTP client time limit for sending the LMTP DATA command, and for receiving the server response.
lmtp_data_xfer_timeout a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The LMTP client time limit for sending the LMTP message content. When the connection stalls for more than $lmtp_data_xfer_timeout the LMTP client terminates the transfer.
lmtp_lhlo_timeout a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The LMTP client time limit for receiving the LMTP greeting banner.
lmtp_mail_timeout a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The LMTP client time limit for sending the MAIL FROM command, and for receiving the server response.
lmtp_quit_timeout a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The LMTP client time limit for sending the QUIT command, and for receiving the server response.
lmtp_rcpt_timeout a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The LMTP client time limit for sending the RCPT TO command, and for receiving the server response.
lmtp_rset_timeout a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The LMTP client time limit for sending the RSET command, and for receiving the server response. The LMTP client sends RSET in order to find out if a cached connection is still alive.
lmtp_sasl_auth_enable a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Enable SASL authentication in the Postfix LMTP client.
lmtp_sasl_password_maps a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional LMTP client lookup tables with one username:password entry per host or domain. If a remote host or domain has no username:password entry, then the Postfix LMTP client will not attempt to authenticate to the remote host.
lmtp_sasl_security_options a configuration parameter in the main.cf: What authentication mechanisms the Postfix LMTP client is allowed to use. The list of available authentication mechanisms is system dependent.
lmtp_send_xforward_command a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Send an XFORWARD command to the LMTP server when the LMTP LHLO server response announces XFORWARD support. This allows an lmtp(8) delivery agent, used for content filter message injection, to forward the name, address, protocol and HELO name of the original client to the content filter and downstream queuing LMTP server. Before you change the value to yes, it is best to make sure that your content filter supports this command.
lmtp_skip_quit_response a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Wait for the response to the LMTP QUIT command.
lmtp_tcp_port a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The default TCP port that the Postfix LMTP client connects to.
lmtp_xforward_timeout a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The LMTP client time limit for sending the XFORWARD command, and for receiving the server response.
local The local(8) daemon processes delivery requests from the Postfix queue manager to deliver mail to local recipients, meaning users that exist in your /etc/passwd. This is done for domains listed in $mydestination. See !basic.
local_command_shell a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional shell program for delivery to non-Postfix command. By default, non-Postfix commands are executed directly; commands are given to given to /bin/sh only when they contain shell meta characters or shell built-in commands.
local_destination_concurrency_limit a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The maximal number of parallel deliveries to the same local recipient.
local_destination_recipient_limit a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The maximal number of recipients per local message delivery. The default limit is taken from the default_destination_recipient_limit parameter.
local_recipient_maps a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Lookup tables with all names or addresses of local recipients. A recipient address is local when its domain matches $mydestination, $inet_interfaces or $proxy_interfaces.
local_transport a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The default mail delivery transport for local destinations. A recipient address is local when its domain matches $mydestination, $inet_interfaces or $proxy_interfaces. This information can be overruled with the transport(5) table.
localhost.localdomain probably a wrong entry in your /etc/hosts. Change the line to 127.0.0.1 localhost ./probably a wrong entry in your /etc/hosts. Change the line to 127.0.0.1 localhost .
logs postfix logs to the mail facility of syslog. Something like grep -i `postconf -h syslog_facility` /etc/syslog.conf should tell you where logs are going. also see !no_logs and !have2mung
loopback 'Mail loops back to myself' means that your Postfix wanted to send out the mail to the internet but then discovered that the DNS says your mail server should be responsible. Most likely you forgot to list your domain in mydestination or virtual_(alias|mailbox)_domains
lunaphyte someone who generally does more harm than good.
lunch get your own lunch, jackass.
luser_relay a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional catch-all destination for unknown local(8) recipients. By default, mail for unknown recipients in domains that match $mydestination, $inet_interfaces or $proxy_interfaces is returned as undeliverable.
lvsv local(8) provides message delivery to local UNIX user accounts whilst virtual(8) provides message delivery to non-UNIX accounts which optionally facilitates hosting multiple domains on a single host
magic email is not a trivial concept. it's complex, with many different layers that relate to the many aspects of message handling and delivery (not to mention implementation specifics). also see !easy
maia maia mailguard is a web-based interface and management system originally based on the amavisd-new e-mail scanner and spamassassin. see http://www.maiamailguard.com for more info.
mail mail(1) (also known as mailx(1)) is not a Postfix-provided command. For help with it, see its man page. More powerful, commonly available console- and CLI-based MUAs include mutt, alpine and nail (likewise, not supported here.)
mail_name a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The mail system name that is displayed in Received: headers, in the SMTP greeting banner, and in bounced mail.
mail_owner a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The UNIX system account that owns the Postfix queue and most Postfix daemon processes. Specify the name of a user account that does not share a group with other accounts and that owns no other files or processes on the system. In particular, don't specify nobody or daemon. PLEASE USE A DEDICATED USER ID AND GROUP ID.
mail_release_date a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The Postfix release date, in "YYYYMMDD" format.
mail_spool_directory a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The directory where local(8) UNIX-style mailboxes are kept. The default setting depends on the system type. Specify a name ending in / for maildir-style delivery.
mail_version a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The version of the mail system. Stable releases are named major.minor.patchlevel. Experimental releases also include the release date. The version string can be used in, for example, the SMTP greeting banner.
mailbox_command a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional external command that the local(8) delivery agent should use for mailbox delivery. The command is run as the recipient. Exception: command delivery for root executes with $default_user privileges.
mailbox_command_maps a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional lookup tables with per-recipient external commands to use for local(8) mailbox delivery. Behavior is as with mailbox_command.
mailbox_delivery_lock a configuration parameter in the main.cf: How to lock a UNIX-style local(8) mailbox before attempting delivery. For a list of available file locking methods, use the "postconf -l" command.
mailbox_size_limit a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The maximal size of any local(8) individual mailbox or maildir file. In fact, this limits the size of any file that is written to upon local delivery, including files written by external commands that are executed by the local(8) delivery agent.
mailbox_transport a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional message delivery transport that the local(8) delivery agent should use for mailbox delivery to all local recipients, whether or not they are found in the UNIX passwd database.
maildir a mailbox format introduced by qmail where emails are saved as individual files in a directory structure rather than into a single flat text file. Postfix settings like !home_mailbox and !virtual_mailbox_maps will allow delivery to maildir if the path value returned ends in /
maildrop a delivery agent similar to 'procmail' which also works for virtual accounts. It's part of the "courier" mail server. See: http://www.flounder.net/~mrsam/maildrop/
maildrop_debian The maildrop package in Debian is not compiled with mysql support. Compile it from source http://www.xs4all.nl/~jaspersl/quota or upgrade to maildrop/courier-authlib in experimental -> http://www.xs4all.nl/~jaspersl/howto
mailgraph a graphical statistics tool for postfix. See: http://people.ee.ethz.ch/~dws/software/mailgraph/a graphical statistics tool for postfix. See: http://mailgraph.schweikert.ch/
maillog see !logs
mailman a listserv software (http://www.list.org)
mailq used to display mail currently in the postfix queues. To remove or requeue mail from the queues see the postsuper(1) command.
mailq_path a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Sendmail compatibility feature that specifies where the Postfix mailq(1) command is installed. This command can be used to list the Postfix mail queue.
mailscanner don't you dare! mailscanner uses direct manipulation of postfix queues, employing undocumented methods, which may potentially change without warning at any point. there are much better ways for this sort of thing. consider amavisd-new instead.
mailtest You can do a quick mail server check at http://www.dnsreport.com/ to see if your server accepts mail connections.
main.cf the central configuration file for Postfix. A complete description of all settings can be found at http://www.postfix.org/postconf.5.html
maintain don't be fooled into thinking that if it were just more simple to set up this mail server, that would make all the difference . the truth is that the initial installation and configuration of a mail server is as simple or complex as you want it to be, and more importantly, is going to consume nowhere near as much time as the daily care and feeding.
makeup Don't be making up settings that don't exist -- it won't work. See: http://www.postfix.org/postconf.5.html for actual postfix configuration settings
manpage_directory a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Where the Postfix manual pages are installed.
manual The official Postfix documentation is maintained at http://www.postfix.org/documentation.html
manuals Postfix manual pages. See: http://www.postfix.org/postfix-manuals.html
maps_rbl_domains a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Obsolete feature: use the reject_rbl_client for Postfix 2.x. Read smtpd(5) to learn more.
maps_rbl_reject_code a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The numerical Postfix SMTP server response code when a remote SMTP client request is blocked by an RBL-related access restriction.
masquerade_classes a configuration parameter in the main.cf: What addresses are subject to address masquerading.
masquerade_domains a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional list of domains whose subdomain structure will be stripped off in email addresses.
masquerade_exceptions a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional list of user names that are not subjected to address masquerading, even when their address matches $masquerade_domains.
master http://www.postfix.org/master.5.html
master.cf the process configuration file. Each logical line describes how a Postfix service will be run. See "man 8 pipe" for more information.
max_idle a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The maximum amount of time that an idle Postfix daemon process waits for the next service request before exiting. This parameter is ignored by the Postfix queue manager.
max_use a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The maximal number of connection requests before a Postfix daemon process terminates. This parameter is ignored by the Postfix queue manager and by other long-lived Postfix daemon processes.
maximal_backoff_time a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The maximal time between attempts to deliver a deferred message.
maximal_queue_lifetime a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The maximal time a message is queued before it is sent back as undeliverable, the default value is 5 days.
maybe possible/probable, but not sure
mda Mail Delivery Agent: software that delivers mail messages to individual recipient mailboxes after they've been accepted by an MTA. Postfix includes local(8) and virtual(8) MDAs, or can be configured to use an external one.
message_size_limit a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The maximal size in bytes of a message, including envelope information.
milter Postfix support for Sendmail milters: http://www.postfix.org/MILTER_README.html
mime_boundary_length_limit a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The maximal length of MIME multipart boundary strings. The MIME processor is unable to distinguish between boundary strings that do not differ in the first $mime_boundary_length_limit characters.
mime_header_checks a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional lookup tables for content inspection of MIME related message headers, as described in the header_checks(5) manual page.
mime_nesting_limit a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The maximal nesting level of multipart mail that the MIME processor will handle. Postfix refuses mail that is nested deeper.
minimal_backoff_time a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The minimal time between attempts to deliver a deferred message. This parameter also limits the time an unreachable destination is kept in the short-term, in-memory, destination status cache.
ml You could try asking on the postfix-users mailing list. Want to subscribe? See: http://www.postfix.org/lists.html
mpflogsumm a pflogsumm metalog howto, See: http://linuxnet.ca/postfix/pflogsumm_metalog.html
msa Message Submission Agent : a process which accepts message submissions from MUAs on port 587 known as 'message submission service' using the 'message submission protocol' defined by rfc4409. To enable message submission service in postfix uncomment the relevant lines in master.cf. also see !submission.
mta Mail Transfer Agent: software that facilitates the transfer of mail messages between hosts
mtacompare MTA Comparison : http://shearer.org/MTA_Comparison
mua Mail User Agent: software used for mail message retrieval, commonly known as an email client, such as mutt, Evolution and Thunderbird
multi_instance Managing multiple instances on a single machine: http://www.postfix.org/MULTI_INSTANCE_README.html
multi_recipient_bounce_reject_code a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The numerical Postfix SMTP server response code when a remote SMTP client request is blocked by the reject_multi_recipient_bounce restriction.
multirbl use http://www.robtex.com/rbl/ to check multiple RBLs to see if an IP address is listed on any known blacklists
mung Mash Until No Good : the art of obfuscating data which ultimately results in unintentional consequences such as making diagnostics impossible.
mutt a nifty console-based email client. URL: http://www.mutt.org/ Motto: All mail clients suck. This one just sucks less.
mwalling an alternative !basic factoid reciting bot for newly joined channel users
mx Mail eXchanger : See the !mxrecord channel factoid if you're looking for definition of MX record
mxbackup Setting up a backup MX server is described in http://www.postfix.org/faq.html#backup
mxrecord a DNS resource record specifying a host name that Internet mail for a recipients' domain is to be routed to. The host name assigned to the MX record must have a corresponding A record, not a CNAME and the MX record host name must not be expressed as an IP address literal. A domain can have multiple exchangers with multiple MX records having varying levels of priority.
mydestination a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The list of domains that Postfix delivers via the $local_transport mail delivery transport. By default, mail is given to the Postfix local(8) delivery agent that looks up all recipients in /etc/passwd and /etc/aliases, or their equivalents.
mydomain a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The internet domain name of this mail system. The default is to use $myhostname minus the first component. $mydomain is used as a default value for many other configuration parameters.
myhostname a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The internet hostname of this mail system. The default is to use the fully-qualified domain name from gethostname(). $myhostname is used as a default value for many other configuration parameters.
mynetworks a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The list of "trusted" SMTP clients that can relay email.
mynetworks_style a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The method to generate the default value for the mynetworks parameter. This is the list of trusted networks for relay access control etc.
myorigin a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The default domain name that locally-posted mail appears to come from, and that locally posted mail is delivered to. The default $myhostname, which is fine for small sites. If you run a domain with multiple machines, you should (1) change this to $mydomain and (2) set up a domain-wide alias database that aliases each user to user@that.users.mailhost.
mysql http://www.postfix.org/MYSQL_README.html is helpful in configuring postfix to talk to a mysql server.
mysqlchroot If you get "Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock'" then your Postfix is running chroot and cannot access the MySQL socket. Solutions: enable TCP networking (look for 'bind-address' in your MySQL config file) | configure MySQL to put the socket in ~postfix/var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock
namespace \"mydestination = domain.one, domain.two, domain.three\": user@domain.{one,two,three} all deliver to the local account or alias, \"user\". \"mydestination = domain.one ; virtual_alias_domains = domain.two, domain.three\": user@domain.one delivers local account or alias, \"user\". user@domain.two and user@domain.three go where virtual_alias_maps say they should go.
ndr Non-Delivery Report/Receipt (NDR), same as Delivery Status Notification (DSN), Non-Delivery Notification (NDN) or the commonly known 'bounce' is an automated message from a mail system informing the sender of a message about a delivery problem
nessus a free network vulnerability scanner (http://www.nessus.org)
nested_header_checks a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional lookup tables for content inspection of non-MIME message headers in attached messages, as described in the header_checks(5) manual page.
newaliases the command you need to run when you edited your /etc/aliases (it will usually create an aliases.db from it)
newaliases_path a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Sendmail compatibility feature that specifies the location of the newaliases(1) command. This command can be used to rebuild the local(8) aliases(5) database.
nis the Network Information Service. It can be used to have a directory service of usernames, passwords, hostnames and other information across your network.
niswarning If you get warnings about NIS lookup problems then you probably have a NIS lookup in your alias_maps. Run postconf alias_maps to see the current settings.
no No means No!
no_logs Nothing in your mail logs commonly means one of two things: either your syslogd is broken (try restarting it), or the connections are not coming to your server. Check your firewall/networking and the DNS for the domain in question. also see !logs.
non_fqdn_reject_code a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The numerical Postfix SMTP server reply code when rejecting a non-FQDN information that was received via a HELO, EHLO, MAIL FROM or RCPT TO command.
notify_classes a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The list of error classes that are reported to the postmaster. The default is to report only the most serious problems. The paranoid may wish to turn on the policy (UCE and mail relaying) and protocol error (broken mail software) reports.
null_client see !nullclient
nullclient a null client is a computer that can only send mail. it receives no mail from the network, and it does not deliver any mail locally. while postfix can be configured to fill this role, it is often unnecessary overkill, and a much simpler software package is more appropriate. see !nullclient_software for more details.
nullclient_software a program that serves as a drop in replacement for /usr/sbin/sendmail and provides a simple means to submit messages to an existing msa without the need to install and maintain a full-blown mta/msa. examples include esmtp, ssmtp and nullmailer. also see !msa
obvious look for obvious signs of trouble, egrep '(warning|error|fatal|panic):' /some/log/file See: !logs factoid if you're unsure of where your mail logs are located
openrelay An open relay is a mail server that is set up incorrectly and accepts and forwards mails for strangers. It will quickly be identified and abused by spammers, then blacklisted. Postfix has numerous protections against becoming an open relay, so it is not likely to have this problem.
osx1 postfix is used as the mta on mac os x (as of 10.3), with some deviations from a typical configuration. in it's natural state (excluding adjustments on os x server regarding the mail service), launchd watches the maildrop directory (/var/spool/postfix/maildrop). when files appear, launchd runs master directly and uses the -e argument to tell master to exit after 60 seconds have elapsed.
osx2 additionally, postfix logs via the traditional syslog mechanism, but by default syslog only logs mail.warn, which can be misleading. lastly, many parameters are listed twice in main.cf. if you adjust something, make sure it's not being clobbered further down (presumably apple's gui for their mail system is the culprit here).
outlook MS Outlook has numerous problems with TLS and AUTH support. Try using a better client to troubleshoot your Postfix server's AUTH features; then once you know it works, you can go back and break it such that Outlook will work. See the following MS KB article to enable transport logging in Outlook that may be of some help in troubleshooting, http://support.microsoft.com/kb/300479/en-us
overview Postfix Architecture Overview : http://www.postfix.org/OVERVIEW.html
owner_request_special a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Give special treatment to owner-listname and listname-request address localparts: don't don't split such addresses when the recipient_delimiter is set to "-". This feature is useful for mailing lists.
pancakerabbit I have no idea what you're talking about, so here's a rabbit with a pancake on his head. http://www.micklarkins.com/news/uploaded_images/pancake_rabbit-757968.jpg
parent_domain_matches_subdomains a configuration parameter in main.cf: What Postfix features match subdomains of domain.tld automatically, instead of requiring an explicit .domain.tld pattern. This is planned backwards compatibility: eventually, all Postfix features are expected to require explicit .domain.tld style patterns when you really want to match subdomains.
paste do not paste more than 3-4 lines in the channel. a pastebin is a way to share larger amounts of data with others, without flooding the channel with garbage. try http://pastebin.com or http://paste.debian.net (or use google and find your own). don't forget to tell us the url where you pasted the text
pastebin see !paste
pbl The Spamhaus PBL is a DNSBL database of end-user IP address ranges which should not be delivering unauthenticated SMTP email to any Internet mail server except those provided for specifically by an ISP for that customer's use. It is part of Zen as well.
pcre Perl-compatible regular expressions (pcre:) support in Postfix: http://www.postfix.org/PCRE_README.html
pebkac short for "problem exists between keyboard and chair" - taken from a cartoon at http://www.userfriendly.org
performance Having postfix performance issues? See the 'Bottleneck analysis' and 'Performance tuning' pages under the 'Problem solving' section of http://www.postfix.org/documentation.html
permit_mx_backup_networks a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Restrict the use of the permit_mx_backup SMTP access feature to only domains whose primary MX hosts match the listed networks.
permit_mynetworks Permit the request when the client IP address matches any network or network address listed in $mynetworks. Can be used in smtpd_*_restrictions.
perms To set the ownership and permissions of Postfix related files and directories, as specified in the postfix-files file, Postfix 2.1> use postfix set-permissions, for prior versions use /etc/postfix/post-install set-permissions
pflogsumm a perl script to analyse your mail log file and generate nice reports. See: http://jimsun.linxnet.com/postfix_contrib.html (metalog users see the !mpflogsumm factoid)
pfqgrep Take the output of Postfix-style mailq, and print to stdout only the messages matching a pattern. Can find patterns in sender, recipient, deferral reason text, or by status. See http://primats.org.ua/~mt/template/bin/pfqgrep.pl
pgsql http://www.postfix.org/PGSQL_README.html : PostgreSQL support in Postfix
phb a pointy-haired boss (a common abbreviation taken from the Dilbert comics)
pickup_service_name a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The name of the pickup(8) service. This service picks up local mail submissions from the Postfix maildrop queue.
pinky and the brain see world domination
pipe the pipe(8) daemon processes requests from the postfix queue manager to deliver messages to external commands. this program expects to be run from the master(8) process manager
policy Postfix smtpd(8) policy protocol, http://www.postfix.org/SMTPD_POLICY_README.html , for complex and intelligent restrictions
policyd http://www.policyd.org/ : an anti-spam Postfix policy daemon/. It also can manage throttling of email and a variety of other things not handled by postfix directly
policyd-weight http://www.policyd-weight.org/ : A Postfix policy daemon for checking multiple RBL's, HELO/rDNS/sender domain agreement. See also http://www.postfix.org/SMTPD_POLICY_README.html .
poll please do not ask if anyone uses some program or postfix feature. Instead ask your real question.
pony http://www.brainfuel.tv/wp-content/uploads/2006/03/nopony.jpg
poop See: !pop
pop postfix is not a pop or imap server
pop3 POP3 is an application layer Internet protocol that allows a client (MUA) to access email on a remote server (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_Office_Protocol ). Postfix does not provide POP3 (or IMAP) service; see !courier or !dovecot for common IMAP/POP3 choices.
popbeforesmtp SMTP-after-POP (or POP-before-SMTP) is a way to allow road-warriors to relay mail through your mail server. Look at: http://www.stahl.bau.tu-bs.de/~hildeb/postfix/postfix_pop-before-smtp_en.shtml
port25 The MAAWG recommendations on managing port 25/tcp traffic: http://www.maawg.org/port25/MAAWG_Port25rec0511.pdf
port_25_block Many consumer-grade ISPs (and some which claim to be for business, such as Godaddy) block outbound port 25/tcp traffic to prevent abuse from their network. If your ISP does this, you should see the !basic and !relayhost factoids. Or, upgrade to business-class service (or change ISP if you already had it.)
postcat a command for printing the contents of a mail in the queue. See "man postcat".
postconf the configuration management tool for postfix. See man postconf for more information.
postfix The Postfix MTA from http://www.postfix.org/. If you have no idea what Postfix is then you have probably chosen the wrong channel. :)
postfixadmin used for managing email accounts through a web interface (http://high5.net/postfixadmin/)
postmap a command to 'compile' text files to hash databases. Example: a file transport will be converted to transport.db by running 'postmap transport'. Your main.cf will contain something like transport_maps = hash:/etc/postfix/transport (without the '.db')
postmapq You can check your lookups with the postmap command. Example: if you defined "transport_maps = mysql:/etc/postfix/transport.cf" you may check this mapping by running "postmap -q domain.com mysql:/etc/postfix/transport.cf" and see if it works.
postmulti http://www.postfix.org/postmulti.1.html :: Multiple instance management support in Postfix 2.6+
postqueue The postqueue(1) command implements the Postfix user interface for queue management. It implements operations that are traditionally available via the sendmail(1) command. See the postsuper(1) command for queue operations that require super-user privileges such as deleting a message from the queue or changing the status of a message.
postsuper the queue supervision tool for postfix. Use it with the option "-d" to remove mails from the queue. See 'man postsuper' for more information.
prepend_delivered_header a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The message delivery contexts where the Postfix local(8) delivery agent prepends a Delivered-To: message header.
process_id a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The process ID of a Postfix command or daemon process. This is a read-only parameter.
process_id_directory a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The location of Postfix PID files relative to $queue_directory. This is a read-only parameter.
process_name a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The process name of a Postfix command or daemon process. This is a read-only parameter.
procmail a frequently used mail filter for e.g. distributing mails to different folders (like for mailing lists). See http://www.procmail.org/
propagate_unmatched_extensions a configuration parameter in the main.cf: What address lookup tables copy an address extension from the lookup key to the lookup result.
proxy_interfaces a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The network interface addresses that this mail system receives mail on by way of a proxy or network address translation unit. This setting extends the address list specified with the inet_interfaces parameter.
proxy_read_maps a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The lookup tables that the proxymap(8) server is allowed to access. Table references that don't begin with proxy: are ignored. The proxymap(8) table accesses are read-only.
proxymap A way of proxying expensive database and LDAP connections. See proxymap(8) OR http://www.postfix.org/proxymap.8.html
ptr A PTR record or pointer record, maps an IPv4 address to the canonical name for that host. Setting up a PTR record for a hostname in the in-addr.arpa domain that corresponds to an IP address implements reverse DNS lookup for that address
qmail i wonder where i'd be if i were still running qmail...
qmgr Postfix queue manager: http://www.postfix.org/qmgr.8.html
qmgr_clog_warn_time a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The minimal delay between warnings that a specific destination is clogging up the Postfix active queue. Specify 0 to disable.
qmgr_fudge_factor a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Obsolete feature: the percentage of delivery resources that a busy mail system will use up for delivery of a large mailing list message.
qmgr_message_active_limit a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The maximal number of messages in the active queue.
qmgr_message_recipient_limit a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The maximal number of recipients held in memory by the Postfix queue manager.
qmgr_message_recipient_minimum a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The minimal number of in-memory recipients for any message. This takes priority over any other in-memory recipient limits (i.e., the global qmgr_message_recipient_limit and the per transport _recipient_limit) if necessary. The minimum value allowed for this parameter is 1.
qmqpd_authorized_clients a configuration parameter in the main.cf: What clients are allowed to connect to the QMQP server port.
qmqpd_error_delay a configuration parameter in the main.cf: How long the QMQP server will pause before sending a negative reply to the client. The purpose is to slow down confused or malicious clients.
qmqpd_timeout a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The time limit for sending or receiving information over the network. If a read or write operation blocks for more than $qmqpd_timeout seconds the QMQP server gives up and disconnects.
qshape qshape(1) - The qshape program helps the administrator understand the Postfix queue message distribution in time and by sender domain or recipient domain.
qstrdel delete messages from postfix queues by string pattern match, find `postconf -h queue_directory` -type f | xargs fgrep -l 'YOUR_SEARCH_STRING' | sed 's,.*/,,' | postsuper -d -
questions see !ghoi
queue_directory a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The location of the Postfix top-level queue directory. This is the root directory of Postfix daemon processes that run chrooted.
queue_file_attribute_count_limit a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The maximal number of (name=value) attributes that may be stored in a Postfix queue file. The limit is enforced by the cleanup(8) server.
queue_minfree a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The minimal amount of free space in bytes in the queue file system that is needed to receive mail. This is currently used by the SMTP server to decide if it will accept any mail at all.
queue_run_delay a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The time between deferred queue scans by the queue manager.
queue_service_name a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The name of the qmgr(8) service. This service manages the Postfix queue and schedules delivery requests.
quieteyes a seemingly nice guy, until his veins pop out and he hits !standard
quotedprintable a way to encode non-ASCII (non 7-bit) characters by using base64 in mail headers. See the RFC1522 and search for quoted printable .
rants anyone, ask, away, dam, distro, dont, duh, easy, english, fcdd, fish, ghoi, goal, google, hare_krishna, have2mung, iha, magic, mailscanner, maintain, makeup, mung, no, poop, rtfm, stfw, sweet, tias, try, tutorial, vague, wait, welcome, why, wizard
rbl short for "realtime black list". RBLs are DNS zones that can help your mail server to determine if an IP address is trusted. It's a great way to fight spam. See http://www.au.sorbs.net/ http://www.dnsrbl.net/ http://www.spamcop.net/ http://www.mail-abuse.org/ http://www.rfc-ignorant.org/
rbl_reply_maps a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional lookup tables with RBL response templates. The tables are indexed by the RBL domain name. By default, Postfix uses the default template as specified with the default_rbl_reply configuration parameter. See there for a discussion of the syntax of RBL reply templates.
rbllist See http://spamlinks.net/filter-dnsbl-lists.htm
rdns A reverse lookup is often referred to as reverse resolving, or more specifically reverse DNS lookup, and is accomplished using the in-addr.arpa domain in the form of a PTR record. See the !ptr factoid as well as http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RDNS
readme_directory a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The location of Postfix README files that describe how to build, configure or operate a specific Postfix subsystem or feature.
receive_override_options (default: empty) - Enable or disable recipient validation, built-in content filtering, or address mapping. Typically, these are specified in master.cf as arguments for the smtpd(8), qmqpd(8) or pickup(8) daemons. See: http://www.postfix.org/postconf.5.html#receive_override_options
recipient_bcc_maps a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional BCC (blind carbon-copy) address lookup tables, indexed by recipient address. The BCC address (multiple results are not supported) is added when mail enters from outside of Postfix.
recipient_canonical_maps a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional address mapping lookup tables for envelope and header recipient addresses. The table format and lookups are documented in canonical(5).
recipient_delimiter a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The separator between user names and address extensions (user+foo). See canonical(5), local(8), relocated(5) and virtual(5) for the effects this has on aliases, canonical, virtual, relocated and on .forward file lookups. Basically, the software tries user+foo and .forward+foo before trying user and .forward.
regex some people, when confronted with a problem, think i know, i'll use regular expressions. now they have two problems. (jamie zawinski)
reject_code a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The numerical Postfix SMTP server response code when a remote SMTP client request is rejected by the "reject" restriction.
reject_multi_recipient_bounce Reject the request when the envelope sender is the null address, and the message has multiple envelope recipients.
reject_sender_login_mismatch Reject the request when $smtpd_sender_login_maps specifies an owner for the MAIL FROM address, but the client is not (SASL) logged in as that MAIL FROM address owner; or when the client is (SASL) logged in, but the client login name doesn't own the MAIL FROM address according to $smtpd_sender_login_maps.
reject_unknown_sender_domain a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Checks the domain name in the MAIL FROM: address, to make sure it exists.
reject_unlisted_recipient (with postfix version 2.0: check_recipient_maps) reject the request when the rcpt to address is not listed in the list of valid recipients for its domain class. see the smtpd_reject_unlisted_recipient parameter description for details. this feature is available in postfix 2.1 and later.
reject_unverified_recipient An smtpd(8) restriction which probes a recipient address by using RCPT TO and QUIT. No actual message is sent. See http://www.postfix.org/ADDRESS_VERIFICATION_README.html#recipient
relay_access see !relay_denied
relay_denied NOQUEUE: reject: RCPT from CLIENT_HOST[CLIENT_IP]: 554 5.7.1 : Relay access denied; from= to= proto=ESMTP helo=: This typically means that CLIENT_IP is not in mynetworks (and did not AUTH), and that RCPT_DOMAIN was not recognized as one of this Postfix's domains (not listed in mydestination, relay_domains or virtual_*_domains).
relay_domains A configuration parameter in the main.cf: What destination domains (and subdomains thereof) this system will receive mail for and will relay mail to. Subdomain matching is controlled with the parent_domain_matches_subdomains parameter. See also !address_classes
relay_domains_reject_code a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The numerical Postfix SMTP server response code when a client request violates the mail relay policy.
relay_recipient_maps a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional lookup tables with all valid addresses in the domains that match $relay_domains. Specify @domain as a wild-card for domains that do not have a valid recipient list.
relay_transport a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The default mail delivery transport and next-hop information for domains that match the $relay_domains parameter value. This information can be overruled with the transport(5) table.
relaydenied see !relay_denied
relayhost a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The default host to send non-local mail to when no entry is matched in the optional transport(5) table. When no relayhost is given, mail is routed directly to the destination. If your relay host requires authentication see the !saslclient channel factoid.
relaying happens when a mail server forwards emails to another mail server. It must only be allowed for authenticated users or trusted local users so you don't get abused by spammers (see: http://www.postfix.org/SMTPD_ACCESS_README.html)
relaytest a public service to test if your mail server is an open relay. Just run "telnet relay-test.mail-abuse.org" or visit http://www.abuse.net/relay.html
relevant Please pastebin the relevant mail log excerpts for your issue. See the !logs channel factoid if you do not know where your mail logs are located. See the !relevant_logs factoid if you do not know which logs are relevant. See the !pastebin factoid if you do not know what a pastebin is.
relevant_logs Relevant logs are mail.* syslog entries which show the entire handling of a single mail which illustrates the problem you are seeing. Random selections from your mail log might not do. IMAP/POP3 daemons and external delivery agents typically log to the same facility (mail); those are usually not relevant here.
reload 'See !restart'
relocated_maps a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional lookup tables with new contact information for users or domains that no longer exist. The table format and lookups are documented in relocated(5).
require_home_directory a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Whether or not a local(8) recipient's home directory must exist before mail delivery is attempted. By default this test is disabled. It can be useful for environments that import home directories to the mail server (NOT RECOMMENDED).
resolve_dequoted_address a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Resolve a recipient address safely instead of correctly.
restart When edit thou thine master.cf, restarteth thou thins Postfix, lest ye die!/There is no postfix restart command. There is postfix stop, postfix start, or postfix reload. Changes made to master.cf and some functional changes to main.cf will require a stop and a start in order to take effect
restriction_class postfix per-client/user/etc. access control http://www.postfix.org/RESTRICTION_CLASS_README.html
restriction_class_readme postfix per-client/user/etc. access control http://www.postfix.org/RESTRICTION_CLASS_README.html
restriction_classes see !restriction_class
rewrite Postfix Address Rewriting features, see http://www.postfix.org/ADDRESS_REWRITING_README.html
rewrite_service_name a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The name of the address rewriting service. This service rewrites addresses and resolves them to a (delivery method, next-hop host, recipient) triple.
rfc1149 Standard for the transmission of IP datagrams on avian carriers
rhs a common acronym for right-hand side . If you use mappings there is a left-hand and a right-hand side
rhsbl Right-Hand Side Block List: a DNS-based list of domain names which can work with Postfix features such as reject_rhsbl_sender.
rob0 a pathetic bot that reacts to newly joined users with reciting the !basic factoid :)
rob0t A loonie fight that dost not rob/A loonie fight that dost not rob
robtone The author of policyd-weight, a spam-blocking policy daemon for Postfix written in Perl. See http://policyd-weight.org/ for details.
robtone_ sucks at advising
rootbeer any popular domestic ale or lager consumed while logged into the super user account
rtfm Please read the fine manual. People in this channel do not like to explain issues that you easily find in the documentation at http://www.postfix.org
s_client see !tlstest
sample_directory a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The name of the directory with example Postfix configuration files.
sandwich http://www.xkcd.com/c149.html
sanitize to see sanitized output of your non-default main.cf parameters use the following: comm -13 <(postconf -d) <(postconf)
sasl SASL is 'Simple Authentication and Security Layer', necessary for SMTP AUTH, and provided to Postfix by addin software. Cyrus SASL and/or Dovecot IMAP/POP3 can provide SASL. See http://www.postfix.org/SASL_README.html for details.
sasl_client www.postfix.org/SASL_README.html#client_sasl
sasl_readme www.postfix.org/SASL_README.html
sasl_test http://www.postfix.org/SASL_README.html#server_test
saslchroot If you get cannot connect to saslauthd server: permission denied it could be that you are running Postfix chroot'ed. Make sure you set the saslauthd to put its socket into the ~postfix chroot directory.
saslclient See http://www.postfix.org/SASL_README.html#client_sasl when you need client-side SASL authentication to deliver mail to another server
saslfinger SASL authentication debugging tool for Postfix: http://postfix.state-of-mind.de/patrick.koetter/saslfinger/
seekwill the guy you wanna chat with when you have postfix related question!
selinux To test if selinux is enabled, as root, /usr/sbin/sestatus -v | to test if selinux is your problem temporarily disable it with setenforce 0, try running postfix again, setenforce 1 to restore selinux. If postfix ran with selinux mode off, try fixfiles restore /etc/postfix, if no joy after that consult your system documentation.
sender_access http://www.postfix.org/ADDRESS_VERIFICATION_README.html
sender_based_routing a configuration parameter in the main.cf: This parameter should not be used.
sender_bcc_maps a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional BCC (blind carbon-copy) address lookup tables, indexed by sender address. The BCC address (multiple results are not supported) is added when mail enters from outside of Postfix.
sender_canonical_maps a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional address mapping lookup tables for envelope and header sender addresses. The table format and lookups are documented in canonical(5).
sender_dependent_relayhost_maps a configuration directive in main.cf for sender based message routing. See http://www.postfix.org/postconf.5.html#sender_dependent_relayhost_maps
sendmail a pretty cryptic MTA that was famous in the ancient days of UNIX and still runs on a lot of mail servers. Don't confuse it with the "sendmail" command that is offered by Postfix to send emails (for compatibility reasons).
sendmail_path a configuration parameter in the main.cf: A Sendmail compatibility feature that specifies the location of the Postfix sendmail(1) command. This command can be used to submit mail into the Postfix queue.
serversasl To allow relaying for authenticated users from the internet see http://www.postfix.org/SASL_README.html#server_sasl
service_throttle_time a configuration parameter in the main.cf: How long the Postfix master(8) waits before forking a server that appears to be malfunctioning.
setgid_group The group ownership of setgid Postfix commands and of group-writable Postfix directories. When this parameter value is changed you need to re-run postfix set-permissions . This group must have no users.
show_user_unknown_table_name a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Display the name of the recipient table in the "User unknown" responses. The extra detail makes trouble shooting easier but also reveals information that is nobody elses business.
showme Please pastebin the output from the following as root, uname -a;postconf -h mail_owner mail_version;echo;postconf -n;echo;cat `postconf -h config_directory`/master.cf - also, show some logs (see !logs).
showq_service_name a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The name of the showq(8) service. This service produces mail queue status reports.
sieve sieve is a language that can be used to create filters for email. see http://sieve.info/ , rfc 5228, or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sieve_(mail_filtering_language) for more info
smarthost you may need to set a smarthost to send outgoing mail through your isp smtp server, add relayhost to main.cf and then restart postfix
smtp!=smtpd Postfix smtp_* and smtpd_* configuration parameters have different meanings. smtp_ = client and smtpd_ = server, the client-side sends mail whilst the server-side receives mail. (smtp = client = sends mail) (smtpd = server = receives mail)
smtp_always_send_ehlo a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Always send EHLO at the start of an SMTP session.
smtp_bind_address a configuration parameter in the main.cf: An optional numerical network address that the SMTP client should bind to when making a connection.
smtp_connect_timeout a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The SMTP client time limit for completing a TCP connection.
smtp_data_done_timeout a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The SMTP client time limit for sending the SMTP ".", and for receiving the server response.
smtp_data_init_timeout a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The SMTP client time limit for sending the SMTP DATA command, and for receiving the server response.
smtp_data_xfer_timeout a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The SMTP client time limit for sending the SMTP message content. When the connection makes no progress for more than $smtp_data_xfer_timeout seconds the SMTP client terminates the transfer.
smtp_defer_if_no_mx_address_found a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Defer mail delivery when no MX record resolves to an IP address.
smtp_destination_concurrency_limit a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The maximal number of parallel deliveries to the same destination via the smtp(8) delivery agent. This limit is enforced by the queue manager.
smtp_destination_recipient_limit a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The maximal number of recipients per delivery via the smtp(8) delivery agent. This limit is enforced by the queue manager.
smtp_fallback_relay a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional list of relay hosts for destinations that can't be found or that are unreachable.
smtp_generic_maps Optional lookup tables that perform address rewriting in the SMTP client, typically to transform a locally valid address into a globally valid address when sending mail across the Internet. This is needed when the local machine does not have its own Internet domain name, but uses something like localdomain.local instead.
smtp_helo_name a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The hostname to send in the SMTP EHLO or HELO command. The default is $myhostname.
smtp_helo_timeout a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The SMTP client time limit for sending the HELO or EHLO command, and for receiving the server response.
smtp_host_lookup a configuration parameter in the main.cf: What mechanisms when the SMTP client uses to look up a host's IP address. This parameter is ignored when DNS lookups are disabled.
smtp_line_length_limit a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The maximal length of message header and body lines that Postfix will send via SMTP. Longer lines are longer are broken by inserting "". This minimizes the damage to MIME formatted mail.
smtp_mail_timeout a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The SMTP client time limit for sending the MAIL FROM command, and for receiving the server response.
smtp_mx_address_limit a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The maximal number of MX (mail exchanger) IP addresses that can result from mail exchanger lookups.
smtp_mx_session_limit a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The maximal number of SMTP sessions per delivery request before giving up or delivering to a fall-back relay host. This restriction ignores IP addresses that fail to complete the SMTP initial handshake.
smtp_never_send_ehlo a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Never send EHLO at the start of an SMTP session. See also the smtp_always_send_ehlo parameter.
smtp_pix_workaround_delay_time a configuration parameter in the main.cf: How long the Postfix SMTP client pauses before sending "." in order to work around the PIX firewall "." bug.
smtp_pix_workaround_threshold_time a configuration parameter in the main.cf: How long a message must be queued before the PIX firewall "." bug workaround is turned on.
smtp_quit_timeout a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The SMTP client time limit for sending the QUIT command, and for receiving the server response.
smtp_quote_rfc821_envelope a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Quote addresses in SMTP MAIL FROM and RCPT TO commands as required by RFC 821. This includes putting quotes around an address localpart that ends in ".".
smtp_randomize_addresses a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Randomize the order of equal-preference MX host addresses. This is a performance feature of the Postfix SMTP client.
smtp_rcpt_timeout a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The SMTP client time limit for sending the SMTP RCPT TO command, and for receiving the server response.
smtp_rset_timeout a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The time limit for sending the RSET command.
smtp_sasl_auth_enable a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Enable SASL authentication in the Postfix SMTP client. By default, the Postfix SMTP client uses no authentication.
smtp_sasl_password_maps a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional SMTP client lookup tables with one username:password entry per remote hostname or domain. If a remote host or domain has no username:password entry, then the Postfix SMTP client will not attempt to authenticate to the remote host.
smtp_sasl_security_options a configuration parameter in the main.cf: What authentication mechanisms the Postfix SMTP client is allowed to use. The list of available authentication mechanisms is system dependent.
smtp_send_xforward_command a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Send the non-standard XFORWARD command when the Postfix SMTP server EHLO response announces XFORWARD support.
smtp_sender_dependent_authentication enable sender-dependent authentication in the postfix smtp client; this is available only with sasl authentication, and disables smtp connection caching to ensure that mail from different senders will use the appropriate credentials. this feature is available in postfix 2.3 and later.
smtp_skip_4xx_greeting a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Skip SMTP servers that greet with a 4XX status code (go away, try again later).
smtp_skip_5xx_greeting a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Skip SMTP servers that greet with a 5XX status code (go away, do not try again later).
smtp_skip_quit_response a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Do not wait for the response to the SMTP QUIT command.
smtp_tls_policy_maps optional lookup tables with the Postfix SMTP client TLS security policy by next-hop destination. The lookup result is a security level (none, may, encrypt, fingerprint, verify, secure), followed by an optional list of whitespace and/or comma separated name=value attributes that override related main.cf settings. Available in Postfix 2.3 and later.
smtp_tls_security_level The default SMTP TLS security level for the Postfix SMTP client; when a non-empty value is specified, this overrides the obsolete parameters smtp_use_tls, smtp_enforce_tls, and smtp_tls_enforce_peername. Specify one of the following security levels: none, may, encrypt, fingerprint, verify, secure. Available in Postfix 2.3 and later.
smtp_xforward_timeout a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The SMTP client time limit for sending the XFORWARD command, and for receiving the server response.
smtpauth a feature that allows road-warriors (trusted users which are outside your network) to send mail via your mail server. The user needs to send a username and password which allows him/her to relay email. See: http://www.postfix.org/SASL_README.html
smtpd!=smtp Postfix smtpd_* and smtp_* configuration parameters have different meanings. smtpd_ = server and smtp_ = client, the server-side receives mail whilst the client-side sends mail. (smtpd = server = receives mail) (smtp = client = sends mail)
smtpd_access see http://www.postfix.org/SMTPD_ACCESS_README.html for info on controling what SMTP mail postfix will and won't accept
smtpd_authorized_verp_clients a configuration parameter in the main.cf: What SMTP clients are allowed to specify the XVERP command. This command requests that mail be delivered one recipient at a time with a per recipient return address.
smtpd_authorized_xclient_hosts a configuration parameter in the main.cf: What SMTP clients are allowed to use the XCLIENT feature.
smtpd_authorized_xforward_hosts a configuration parameter in the main.cf: What SMTP clients are allowed to use the XFORWARD feature.
smtpd_banner a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The text that follows the 220 status code in the SMTP greeting banner. Some people like to see the mail version advertised. By default, Postfix shows no version.
smtpd_client_connection_count_limit a configuration parameter in the main.cf: How many simultaneous connections any SMTP client is allowed to make to the SMTP service. By default, the limit is set it to half the default process limit value.
smtpd_client_connection_limit_exceptions a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Clients that are excluded from connection count or connection rate restrictions.
smtpd_client_connection_rate_limit a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The maximal number of connection attempts any client is allowed to make to this service per time unit. The time unit is specified with the client_rate_time_unit configuration parameter, and defaults to one minute.
smtpd_client_event_limit_exceptions Clients that are excluded from connection count, connection rate, or SMTP request rate restrictions.
smtpd_client_restrictions a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional SMTP server access restrictions in the context of a client SMTP connection request.
smtpd_data_restrictions a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional access restrictions that the Postfix SMTP server applies in the context of the SMTP DATA command. See smtpd(5) for an overview of access restriction features.
smtpd_delay_reject a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Wait until the RCPT TO command before evaluating $smtpd_client_restrictions, $smtpd_helo_restrictions and $smtpd_sender_restrictions.
smtpd_error_sleep_time a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Postfix 2.1: the SMTP server response delay when a client makes more than $smtpd_soft_error_limit and fewer than $smtpd_hard_error_limit errors without delivering mail. Postfix 2.0 and earlier: the SMTP server delay before sending a reject (4xx or 5xx) response, when the client has made fewer than $smtpd_soft_error_limit errors without delivering mail.
smtpd_etrn_restrictions a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional SMTP server access restrictions in the context of a client ETRN request.
smtpd_expansion_filter a configuration parameter in the main.cf: What characters are allowed in $name expansions of RBL reply templates. Characters not in the allowed set are replaced by "_". Use C like escapes to specify special characters such as whitespace.
smtpd_hard_error_limit a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The maximal number of errors a remote SMTP client is allowed to make without delivering mail. The Postfix SMTP server disconnects when the limit is exceeded.
smtpd_helo_required a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Require that a remote SMTP client introduces itself at the beginning of an SMTP session with the HELO or EHLO command.
smtpd_helo_restrictions a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional restrictions that the Postfix SMTP server applies in the context of the SMTP HELO command. See smtpd(5) for an overview of access restriction features.
smtpd_history_flush_threshold a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The maximal number of lines in the Postfix SMTP server command history before it is flushed upon receipt of EHLO, RSET, or end of DATA.
smtpd_junk_command_limit a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The maximal number of junk commands (NOOP, VRFY, ETRN or RSET) that a remote SMTP client can send without delivering mail before the Postfix SMTP server starts to increment the error counter.
smtpd_milters A list of Milter (mail filter) applications for new mail that arrives via the Postfix smtpd(8) server. See http://www.postfix.org/MILTER_README.html for details.
smtpd_noop_commands a configuration parameter in the main.cf: List of commands that the Postfix SMTP server replies to with "250 Ok", without doing any syntax checks and without changing state. This list overrides any commands built into the Postfix SMTP server.
smtpd_null_access_lookup_key a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The lookup key to be used in SMTP access(5) tables instead of the null sender address.
smtpd_policy http://www.postfix.org/SMTPD_POLICY_README.html
smtpd_policy_service_max_idle a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The time after which an idle SMTPD policy service connection is closed.
smtpd_policy_service_max_ttl a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The time after which an active SMTPD policy service connection is closed.
smtpd_policy_service_timeout a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The time limit for connecting to, writing to or receiving from a delegated SMTPD policy server.
smtpd_proxy Postfix before-queue content filter : http://www.postfix.org/SMTPD_PROXY_README.html
smtpd_proxy_ehlo a configuration parameter in the main.cf: How the Postfix SMTP server announces itself to the proxy filter. By default, the Postfix hostname is used.
smtpd_proxy_filter a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The hostname and TCP port of the mail filtering filter proxy server. The proxy receives all mail from the Postfix SMTP server, and is supposed to give the result to another Postfix SMTP server process.
smtpd_proxy_timeout a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The time limit for connecting to a proxy filter and for sending or receiving information. When a connection fails the client gets a generic error message while more detailed information is logged to the maillog file.
smtpd_recipient_limit a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The maximal number of recipients that the Postfix SMTP server accepts per message delivery request.
smtpd_recipient_restrictions A configuration parameter in the main.cf: The access restrictions that the Postfix smtpd(8) applies in the context of the SMTP RCPT TO command. See access(5) for an overview of access restriction features. These restrictions control relaying to external domains. Default is to relay only for client IP addresses in $mynetworks; see also !sasl if SMTP AUTH is needed.
smtpd_reject_unlisted_recipient a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Request that the Postfix SMTP server always rejects mail for unknown recipient addresses. This prevents the Postfix queue from filling up with undeliverable MAILER-DAEMON messages. This feature is not available prior to Postfix 2.1./(default: yes) - request that the postfix smtp server rejects mail for unknown recipient addresses, even when no explicit reject_unlisted_recipient access restriction is specified. this prevents the postfix queue from filling up with undeliverable mailer-daemon messages.
smtpd_reject_unlisted_sender a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Request that the Postfix SMTP server always rejects mail from unknown sender addresses. This can slow down an explosion of forged mail from worms or viruses. This feature is not available prior to Postfix 2.1.
smtpd_restriction_classes a configuration parameter in the main.cf: User-defined aliases for groups of access restrictions. The aliases can be specified in smtpd_recipient_restrictions etc., and on the right-hand side of a Postfix access(5) table.
smtpd_sasl_application_name a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The application name used for SASL server initialization. This controls the name of the SASL configuration file. The default value is smtpd, corresponding to a SASL configuration file named smtpd.conf.
smtpd_sasl_auth_enable a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Enable SASL authentication in the Postfix SMTP server. By default, the Postfix SMTP server does not use authentication.
smtpd_sasl_authenticated_header a configuration parameter in main.cf: Report the SASL authenticated user name in the smtpd(8) Received message header (default: no). This feature is available in Postfix 2.3 and later.
smtpd_sasl_exceptions_networks a configuration parameter in the main.cf: What SMTP clients Postfix will not offer AUTH support to.
smtpd_sasl_local_domain a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The name of the local SASL authentication realm.
smtpd_sasl_path Implementation-specific information that the Postfix SMTP server passes through to the SASL plug-in implementation that is selected with smtpd_sasl_type. Typically this specifies the name of a configuration file or rendezvous point. Default is smtpd
smtpd_sasl_security_options a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Restrict what authentication mechanisms the Postfix SMTP server will offer to the client. The list of available authentication mechanisms is system dependent.
smtpd_sasl_tls_security_options The SASL authentication security options that the Postfix SMTP server uses for TLS encrypted SMTP sessions. This feature is available in Postfix 2.2 and later. See also smtpd_sasl_security_options
smtpd_sender_login_maps a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional lookup table with the SASL login names that own sender (MAIL FROM) addresses./optional lookup table with the sasl login names that own sender (mail from) addresses. specify zero or more type:table lookup tables. with lookups from indexed files such as db or dbm, or from networked tables such as nis, ldap or sql, the following search operations are done with a sender address of user@domain
smtpd_sender_restrictions a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional restrictions that the Postfix SMTP server applies in the context of the SMTP MAIL FROM command. See access(5) for an overview of access restriction features.
smtpd_soft_error_limit a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The number of errors a remote SMTP client is allowed to make without delivering mail before the Postfix SMTP server slows down all its responses.
smtpd_timeout a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The time limit for sending a Postfix SMTP server response and for receiving a remote SMTP client request.
smtpd_tls_auth_only When TLS encryption is optional in the Postfix SMTP server, do not announce or accept SASL authentication over unencrypted connections.
smtpd_tls_loglevel enable additional postfix smtp server logging of tls activity. each logging level also includes the information that is logged at a lower logging level.
smtpd_tls_mandatory_ciphers the minimum tls cipher grade that the postfix smtp server will use with mandatory tls encryption. cipher types listed in smtpd_tls_mandatory_exclude_ciphers or smtpd_tls_exclude_ciphers are excluded from the base definition of the selected cipher grade. See smtpd_tls_ciphers for cipher controls that apply to opportunistic tls
smtpd_tls_mandatory_exclude_ciphers additional list of ciphers or cipher types to exclude from the smtp server cipher list at mandatory tls security levels. This list works in addition to the exclusions listed with smtpd_tls_exclude_ciphers (see there for syntax details). this feature is available in postfix 2.3 and later.
smtpd_tls_mandatory_protocols the ssl/tls protocols accepted by the postfix smtp server with mandatory tls encryption. if the list is empty, the server supports all available ssl/tls protocol versions. a non-empty value is a list of protocol names separated by whitespace, commas or colons. The supported protocol names are sslv2 , sslv3 and tlsv1 , and are not case sensitive
smtpd_tls_protocols list of tls protocols that the postfix smtp server will exclude or include with opportunistic tls encryption. this parameter SHOULD be left at its default empty value, allowing all protocols to be used with opportunistic tls. this feature is available in Postfix 2.6 and later
smtpd_tls_security_level the smtp tls security level for the postfix smtp server; when a non-empty value is specified, this overrides the obsolete parameters smtpd_use_tls and smtpd_enforce_tls. this parameter is ignored with smtpd_tls_wrappermode = yes . this feature is available in postfix 2.3 and later
smtpd_use_tls Opportunistic TLS: announce STARTTLS support to SMTP clients, but do not require that clients use TLS encryption.
smtps Port 465 is smtps, SMTP over SSL, a deprecated means of submission. Postfix can implement smtps with a separate smtpd(8) listener with \"-o smtpd_tls_wrappermode=yes\". See the commented example in master.cf.
smtps_client See !tls for a means of implementing a Postfix SMTPS client, using stunnel.
snafu situation normal, all fscked up!
soft_bounce a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Safety net to keep mail queued that would otherwise be returned to the sender. This parameter disables locally-generated bounces, and prevents the Postfix SMTP server from rejecting mail permanently, by changing 5xx reply codes into 4xx. However, soft_bounce is no cure for address rewriting mistakes or mail routing mistakes.
softbounce see !soft_bounce
soho Small/home office hints and tips: http://www.postfix.org/SOHO_README.html
spf sender policy framework - an extension to SMTP that allows to identify and reject emails from spoofed/forged email senders. SPF is just a TXT record in your DNS zone in a special format. See: http://www.openspf.org//Sender Policy Framework - an extension to SMTP that allows to identify and reject emails from spoofed/forged email senders. SPF is a SPF or TXT record in your DNS zone in a special format. See: http://www.openspf.org/
spfmilter SPF support is also available via MILTER plugins, such as sid-milter at http://sourceforge.net/projects/sid-milter/ which implements both SenderID and SPF
spfpolicy SPF policy daemon for Postfix. See: http://www.openspf.org/Software for the current version
squirrelmail an easy to set up and use webmail client. It can be extended using various plugins. See http://www.squirrelmail.org/ see also the installation guide at http://www.tenon.com/support/itools7/sqmail.shtml
stale_lock_time a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The time after which a stale exclusive mailbox lockfile is removed. This is used for delivery to file or mailbox.
standard Your question is probably answered in http://www.postfix.org/STANDARD_CONFIGURATION_README.html
stfw Search the fine web. Try http://www.google.com and you will likely find what you need.
stress Postfix stress features: http://www.postfix.org/STRESS_README.html
strict_7bit_headers a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Reject mail with 8-bit text in message headers. This blocks mail from poorly written applications.
strict_8bitmime a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Enable both strict_7bit_headers and strict_8bitmime_body.
strict_8bitmime_body a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Reject 8-bit message body text without 8-bit MIME content encoding information. This blocks mail from poorly written applications.
strict_mime_encoding_domain a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Reject mail with invalid Content-Transfer-Encoding: information for the message/* or multipart/* MIME content types. This blocks mail from poorly written software.
strict_rfc821_envelopes a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Require that addresses received in SMTP MAIL FROM and RCPT TO commands are enclosed with <>, and that those addresses do not contain RFC 822 style comments or phrases. This stops mail from poorly written software.
stupid Stupid is as stupid does, my mama always told me.
stupidbot heh, more like dumb ass human!
submission Port 587 is submission, for user submission of mail, NOT suitable for mail exchange. See the commented example in master.cf. also see !msa, and rfc 2476 and 4409. Also read http://www.maawg.org/port25
sun_mailtool_compatibility a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Obsolete SUN mailtool compatibility feature. Instead, use "mailbox_delivery_lock = dotlock".
super_basic Setting up an 'Email Server' has many moving parts. If you don't understand what you are doing, start here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-mail#Operation_overview
swaks Swiss Army Knife SMTP - The SMTP transaction testing tool - http://jetmore.org/john/code/#swaks
swap_bangpath a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Enable the rewriting of "site!user" into "user@site". This is necessary if your machine is connected to UUCP networks. It is enabled by default.
sweet http://sweet.nodns4.us/
syn ack
syslog_facility a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The syslog facility of Postfix logging. Specify a facility as defined in syslog.conf(5). The default facility is "mail".
syslog_name a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The mail system name that is prepended to the process name in syslog records, so that "smtpd" becomes, for example, "postfix/smtpd".
sysmonk evil
telnet Have you tried to reach your mail server from outside your local network? Try telnet [server] 25 and see if you get Connected to... . See also: http://www.metaconsultancy.com/whitepapers/smtp.htm#s1
thumbs an insignicifant snippet of C#. also known as the asshole op from httpd
tias Try It And See
timeouts getting 'timed out while sending end of data' or 'lost connection after DATA' see http://www.postfix.org/faq.html#timeouts
tls Short for Transport Layer Security (RFC2246). It adds an additional layer of encryption to protocols such as SMTP, POP3 or IMAP to improve security during transmission over the Internet. TLS features in Postfix are documented here: http://www.postfix.org/TLS_README.html
tls_readme http://www.postfix.org/TLS_README.html : Transport Layer Security (TLS/SSL) features in Postfix
tlstest starting with OpenSSL 0.9.7, you can test the server-side TLS with the following: openssl s_client -starttls smtp -connect localhost:25
tmi TOO MUCH INFORMATION!
too_many_hops In brewing, it means you should add more barley. In Postfix it means you have a mail routing loop. No machine in the loop considers itself the final destination for the looping mail.
topic The Postfix MTA || Wiki: postfixwiki.org || On using IRC: workaround.org/moin/GettingHelpOnIrc || Bot info: workaround.org/f=postfix || post postconf -n and relevant logs to a pastebin when asking questions / check your logs / know your unix basics || http://code.google.com/p/mail-trends/ || Channel log: http://echelog.matzon.dk/?postfix || http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.mail.postfix.announce/110
trace_service_name a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The name of the trace(8) service. This service maintains a record of mail deliveries and produces a mail delivery report when verbose delivery is requested with "sendmail -v".
transport transport(5) The optional transport(5) table specifies a mapping from email addresses to message delivery transports and next- hop destinations. Look at: http://www.postfix.org/transport.5.html
transport_maps a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional lookup tables with mappings from recipient address to (message delivery transport, next-hop destination). See transport(5) for details.
transport_retry_time a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The time between attempts by the Postfix queue manager to contact a malfunctioning message delivery transport.
trigger_timeout a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The time limit for sending a trigger to a Postfix daemon (for example, the pickup(8) or qmgr(8) daemon). This time limit prevents programs from getting stuck when the mail system is under heavy load.
troubleshoot http://www.listaholic.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/flowchart-2007.png
try Do, or do not. There is no 'try'.
tse Translate server error
ttbomk short for: to the best of my knowledge
tune Postfix performance tuning: See http://www.postfix.org/TUNING_README.html
tutorial A very common problem is that some people prefer to follow a step-by-step tutorial that shows them how to setup their server w/out reading the documentation or understanding what they are doing. If something goes wrong, they have no clue whatsoever about where to find hints, and they sometimes decide to start from scratch using a different tutorial. This is not The Proper Way.
undisclosed_recipients_header a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Text that the Postfix cleanup(8) server inserts when the message contains no To: or Cc: message header.
unknown_address_reject_code a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The numerical Postfix SMTP server response code when a sender or recipient address is rejected by the reject_unknown_sender_domain or reject_unknown_recipient_domain restriction.
unknown_client_reject_code a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The numerical Postfix SMTP server response code when a client without valid address <=> name mapping is rejected by the reject_unknown_client restriction. The SMTP server always replies with 450 when the mapping failed due to a temporary error condition.
unknown_hostname_reject_code a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The numerical Postfix SMTP server response code when the hostname specified with the HELO or EHLO command is rejected by the reject_unknown_hostname restriction.
unknown_local User unknown in local recipient table means that the recipient domain was found in $mydestination but the username was not found in local_recipient_maps (by default: users in /etc/passwd and aliases(5) in /etc/aliases).
unknown_local_recipient_reject_code a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The numerical Postfix SMTP server response code when a recipient address is local, and $local_recipient_maps specifies a list of lookup tables that does not match the recipient. A recipient address is local when its domain matches $mydestination, ${proxy_interfaces or $inet_interfaces.
unknown_relay_recipient_reject_code a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The numerical Postfix SMTP server reply code when a recipient address matches $relay_domains, and relay_recipient_maps specifies a list of lookup tables that does not match the recipient address.
unknown_virtual \"User unknown in virtual $X table\" means that the recipient domain was found in $virtual_$X_domains but the username@domain was not found in $virtual_$X_maps. ("$X" can be either alias or mailbox .)
unknown_virtual_alias_reject_code a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The SMTP server reply code when a recipient address matches $virtual_alias_domains, and $virtual_alias_maps specifies a list of lookup tables that does not match the recipient address.
unknown_virtual_mailbox_reject_code a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The SMTP server reply code when a recipient address matches $virtual_mailbox_domains, and$virtual_mailbox_maps specifies a list of lookup tables that does not match the recipient address.
unverified_recipient_reject_code a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The numerical Postfix SMTP server response when a recipient address is rejected by the reject_unverified_recipient restriction.
unverified_sender_reject_code a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The numerical Postfix SMTP server response code when a recipient address is rejected by the reject_unverified_sender restriction.
vague Your description and or question is very vague. Please try to describe the problem more precisely. See also: http://workaround.org/moin/GettingHelpOnIrc
valiaswoes Having virtual alias woes? Check if you're using no_address_mappings in receive_override_options. This will disable virtual alias map expansion, see the !receive_override_options channel factoid for more details
vda a patch for Postfix that adds quota functionality (see http://vda.sf.net)
verbose You probably do not need verbose logging, but in rare cases the extra detail can assist in debugging. To set verbose logging add a -v after the command name (such as smtpd) in master.cf, then 'postfix reload' after that.
verification http://www.postfix.org/ADDRESS_VERIFICATION_README.html : the Postfix verify(8) server
verify Sender or recipient address verification features: http://www.postfix.org/ADDRESS_VERIFICATION_README.html
verp http://www.postfix.org/VERP_README.html
verp_delimiter_filter a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The characters Postfix accepts as VERP delimiter characters on the sendmail(1) command line and in SMTP commands.
vice-versa adv : with the order reversed; on the contrary; on opposite sides. eg: 'rob0 loathes cpm and vice-versa'
virtual a way to configure additional domains and user accounts (that do not need to exist in your /etc/passwd). See: http://www.postfix.org/VIRTUAL_README.html
virtual alias ... Mail loops back to myself means that your Postfix wanted to send out the mail to the internet but then discovered that the DNS says your mail server should be responsible. Most likely you forgot to list your domain in mydestination or virtual_(alias|mailbox)_domains
virtual pipe Want to send email for virtual domains through a pipe command? Then forward the address (hint: virtual_alias_maps) to your local domain and use /etc/aliases for the pipe
virtual2local virtual(8) to local(8) aliases(5) : Create a local alias as usual, name: value1, value2, ... then add the virtual alias as, user@domain.tld name@localhost (localhost can be substituted for any domain listed in mydestination)
virtual_alias_domains a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional list of names of virtual alias domains, that is, domains for which all addresses are aliased to addresses in other local or remote domains.
virtual_alias_expansion_limit a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The maximal number of addresses that virtual alias expansion produces from each original recipient.
virtual_alias_maps A configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional lookup tables that alias specific mail addresses or domains to other local or remote addresses. The table format and lookups are documented in virtual(5).
virtual_alias_recursion_limit a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The maximal nesting depth of virtual alias expansion. Currently the recursion limit is applied only to the left branch of the expansion graph, so the depth of the tree can in the worst case reach the sum of the expansion and recursion limits. This may change in the future.
virtual_class http://www.postfix.org/VIRTUAL_CLASS_README.html
virtual_gid_maps a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Lookup tables with the per-recipient group ID for virtual(8) mailbox delivery. In a lookup table, specify a left-hand side of "@domain.tld" to match any user in the specified domain that does not have a specific "user@domain.tld" entry.
virtual_mailbox_base a configuration parameter in the main.cf: A prefix that the virtual(8) delivery agent prepends to all pathname results from $virtual_mailbox_maps table lookups. This is a safety measure to ensure that an out of control map doesn't litter the filesystem with mailboxes. While virtual_mailbox_base could be set to "/", this setting isn't recommended.
virtual_mailbox_domains a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The list of domains that are by default delivered via the $virtual_transport mail delivery transport. This list uses the same syntax as the mydestination configuration parameter.
virtual_mailbox_limit a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The maximal size in bytes of an individual mailbox or maildir file. Specify a value of zero to disable the limit.
virtual_mailbox_lock a configuration parameter in the main.cf: How to lock a UNIX-style virtual(8) mailbox before attempting delivery. For a list of available file locking methods, use the "postconf -l" command.
virtual_mailbox_maps a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Optional lookup tables with all valid addresses in the domains that match $virtual_mailbox_domains.
virtual_maps The virtual_maps postconf(5) parameter has been deprecated since Postfix 2.0. If you're using virtual_maps, you're probably following old, outdated information. See !virtual_alias_maps and !virtual_alias_domains for the replacements. See also !google.
virtual_minimum_uid a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The minimum user ID value that the virtual(8) delivery agent accpets as a result from $virtual_uid_maps table lookup. Returned values less than this will be rejected, and the message will be deferred.
virtual_transport a configuration parameter in the main.cf: The default mail delivery transport for domains that match the $virtual_mailbox_domains parameter value. This information can be overruled with the transport(5) table.
virtual_uid_maps a configuration parameter in the main.cf: Lookup tables with the per-recipient user ID that the virtual(8) delivery agent uses while writing to the recipient's mailbox.
virtually-unknown vice-versa
vmail a commonly used system account with no shell access which is the owner of the virtual(8) per-recipient file system mailboxes, the UID/GID is set to that of the vmail user within packages used to access the virtual mailboxes such as the postfix virtual_gid_maps and virtual_uid_maps main.cf parameters
wag WAG: Wild-assed guess ... rarely, if ever, of much use in debugging problems. See !welcome and /topic and !debug.
wait Thank you for choosing #postfix for your postfix related issue. All our knowledgeable volunteers are currently busy or have more important things to take care of. Your inquiries are very important to us, please wait until the next knowledgeable volunteer becomes available. (knoba queues admin waiting music)
waiting we would love to help you further, but there are outstanding questions that need answering. If you don't know that we are waiting for more information from you, scroll up to find out.
warn_if_reject a parameter that means: Change the meaning of the next restriction, so that it logs a warning instead of rejecting a request (look for logfile records that contain "reject_warning"). This is useful for testing new restrictions in a "live" environment without risking unnecessary loss of mail.
welcome welcome to #postfix! if you're joining for the first time, or are new to irc, the first thing you'll want to do is read the channel topic (/topic). it includes crucial instructions on how to effectively ask for help here, and what data you should include with your questions. the degree of success you'll have is directly related to how effectively you're able to follow those guidelines.
why are you sure that installing, configuring and maintaining a mailserver is really what you want to do here? it's not something that's for the faint of heart, and definitely not something for folks that are still just learning the basics of linux or unix. also see !nullclient
wietse venema the primary author of Postfix
wiki http://postfixwiki.org/ - a sort of unofficial de facto postfix wiki.
wildcard see !catchall
winner winner winner chicken dinner
wizard there is no configuration wizard for postfix. if you are looking to be handheld through the configuration process, you might consider that postfix may not be the best choice. however, the docs that ship with postfix are complete, and well-written. see both !basic and !examples for far more insight and value than a wizard could ever hope to provide. also see !distro
world domination see pinky and the brain
wysiwtf short for: what you see is what the fuck (as brought up by userfriendly.org)
xmail XMail is an Internet and intranet mail server. http://www.xmailserver.org/
xpoint #postfix's yoda
yadda 'Yet another damn delivery agent' which can serve as a replacement for 'procmail'. (Sorry, I don't know where to find it on the web.)
yahoo Yahoo and other providers throttle inbound connections in an attempt to reduce spam. If you're a big operator, talk to them about whitelisting. If not, just wait for the retry, your mail eventually goes through. For bulk mail issues this contact is helpful:
yes Yes, it is.
yespony http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss46/Uncle_Tractor/pony.jpg
yw you're welcome
zen http://www.spamhaus.org/zen/ : A composite of all Spamhaus DNSBLs: SBL, XBL and PBL
StevenSeagal The CockPuncher

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