    POSTFIX(1)                                             POSTFIX(1)

    NAME
           postfix - Postfix control program

    SYNOPSIS
           postfix [-Dv] [-c config_dir] command

    DESCRIPTION
           This  command  is  reserved  for  the superuser. To submit
           mail, use the Postfix sendmail command.

           The postfix command controls the operation of the  Postfix
           mail  system: start or stop the master daemon, do a health
           check, and other maintenance.

           The postfix command sets up a standardized environment and
           runs  the  postfix-script  shell  script  to do the actual
           work.

           The following commands are implemented:

           check  Validate the  Postfix  mail  system  configuration.
                  Warn  about bad directory/file ownership or permis-
                  sions, and create missing directories.

           start  Start the Postfix mail system. This also  runs  the
                  configuration check described above.

           stop   Stop the Postfix mail system in an orderly fashion.
                  Running processes are allowed to terminate at their
                  earliest convenience.

                  Note:  in  order to refresh the Postfix mail system
                  after a configuration change, do not use the  start
                  and  stop  commands  in  succession. Use the reload
                  command instead.

           abort  Stop the Postfix mail system abruptly. Running pro-
                  cesses are signaled to stop immediately.

           flush  Force delivery: attempt to deliver every message in
                  the deferred  mail  queue.  Normally,  attempts  to
                  deliver  delayed  mail happen at regular intervals,
                  the interval doubling after each failed attempt.

           reload Re-read configuration files. Running processes ter-
                  minate at their earliest convenience.

           The following options are implemented:

           -c config_dir
                  Read  the main.cf and master.cf configuration files
                  in the named directory instead of the default  con-
                  figuration  directory.   Use  this  to  distinguish
                  between multiple  Postfix  instances  on  the  same
                  host.

           -D (with postfix start only)
                  Run each Postfix daemon under control of a debugger
                  as specified via the debugger_command configuration
                  parameter.

           -v     Enable verbose logging for debugging purposes. Mul-
                  tiple -v options  make  the  software  increasingly
                  verbose.

    ENVIRONMENT
           The  postfix  command  exports  the  following environment
           variables before executing the postfix-script file:

           MAIL_CONFIG
                  This is set when the -c command-line option is pre-
                  sent.

           MAIL_VERBOSE
                  This is set when the -v command-line option is pre-
                  sent.

           MAIL_DEBUG
                  This is set when the -D command-line option is pre-
                  sent.

           The   following   main.cf   configuration  parameters  are
           exported as environment variables with the same names:

           command_directory
                  Directory with Postfix administrative commands.

           daemon_directory
                  Directory with Postfix daemon programs.

           config_directory
                  Directory with Postfix configuration files and with
                  administrative shell scripts.

           queue_directory
                  The  directory with Postfix queue files, with local
                  inter-process  communication  endpoints,  and  with
                  files  needed  for  daemon programs that run in the
                  optional chrooted environment.

           mail_owner
                  The owner of Postfix queue files and of most  Post-
                  fix processes.

           setgid_group
                  The  group for mail submission and queue management
                  commands.

           sendmail_path
                  The full pathname for the Postfix sendmail command.

           newaliases_path
                  The  full  pathname for the Postfix newaliases com-
                  mand.

           mailq_path
                  The full pathname for the Postfix mailq command.

           manpage_directory
                  The directory for the Postfix on-line manual pages.

           sample_directory
                  The  directory for the Postfix sample configuration
                  files.

           readme_directory
                  The directory for the Postfix README files.

    Other configuration parameters
           import_environment
                  List of names of environment parameters that can be
                  imported from non-Postfix processes.

    FILES
           $config_directory/postfix-script, administrative commands
           $config_directory/main.cf, configuration parameters
           $config_directory/master.cf, Postfix daemon processes

    SEE ALSO
           postconf(1) Postfix configuration management
           postsuper(1) Postfix housekeeping
           sendmail(1) Sendmail-compatible interface
           postmap(1) Postfix lookup table management
           master(8) Postfix master daemon
           The respective manual pages for the daemon processes spec-
           ified in the master.cf file, and the manual  pages  refer-
           enced by those manual pages.

    LICENSE
           The  Secure  Mailer  license must be distributed with this
           software.

    AUTHOR(S)
           Wietse Venema
           IBM T.J. Watson Research
           P.O. Box 704
           Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA

                                                           POSTFIX(1)