    POSTFIX(1)                                             POSTFIX(1)

    NAME
           postfix - Postfix control program

    SYNOPSIS
           postfix [-c config_dir] [-D] [-v] command

    DESCRIPTION
           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 command sets up a stan-
           dardized 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

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    POSTFIX(1)                                             POSTFIX(1)

                  parameter.

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

    ENVIRONMENT
           The postfix command sets the following  environment  vari-
           ables:

           MAIL_CONFIG
                  Directory with Postfix configuration files.

           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 configuration parameters are made available
           as process environment variables with the same names:

           command_directory
                  Directory with Postfix support  commands  (default:
                  $program_directory).

           daemon_directory
                  Directory  with  Postfix  daemon programs (default:
                  $program_directory).

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

           queue_directory
                  The directory with the Postfix queue directory (and
                  with some files needed for programs  running  in  a
                  chrooted environment).

           mail_owner
                  The  owner of the Postfix queue and of most Postfix
                  processes.

    FILES
           $config_directory/postfix-script, administrative commands

    SEE ALSO
           master(8) Postfix master program

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

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    POSTFIX(1)                                             POSTFIX(1)

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

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