Postfix manual - postsuper(1)

    POSTSUPER(1)                                                      POSTSUPER(1)

    NAME
           postsuper - Postfix superintendent

    SYNOPSIS
           postsuper [-psv] [-c config_dir] [-d queue_id]
                   [-h queue_id] [-H queue_id]
                   [-r queue_id] [directory ...]

    DESCRIPTION
           The  postsuper(1)  command  does  maintenance  jobs on the
           Postfix queue. Use of the command  is  restricted  to  the
           superuser.   See the postqueue(1) command for unprivileged
           queue operations such as  listing  or  flushing  the  mail
           queue.

           By default, postsuper(1) performs the operations requested
           with the -s and -p command-line  options  on  all  Postfix
           queue directories - this includes the incoming, active and
           deferred directories  with  mail  files  and  the  bounce,
           defer, trace and flush directories with log files.

           Options:

           -c config_dir
                  The  main.cf  configuration  file  is  in the named
                  directory  instead  of  the  default  configuration
                  directory.  See  also  the  MAIL_CONFIG environment
                  setting below.

           -d queue_id
                  Delete one message with the named queue ID from the
                  named   mail  queue(s)  (default:  hold,  incoming,
                  active and deferred).

                  If a queue_id of - is specified, the program  reads
                  queue  IDs  from  standard  input.  For example, to
                  delete  all  mail  with   exactly   one   recipient
                  user@example.com:

                  mailq | tail +2 | grep -v '^ *(' | awk  'BEGIN { RS
                  = "" }
                      # $7=sender, $8=recipient1, $9=recipient2
                      { if ($8 == "user@example.com" && $9 == "")
                            print $1 }
                  ' | tr -d '*!' | postsuper -d -

                  Specify -d ALL to remove all messages; for example,
                  specify  -d  ALL  deferred  to  delete  mail in the
                  deferred queue.  As a safety measure, the word  ALL
                  must be specified in upper case.

                  Warning:  Postfix queue IDs are reused.  There is a
                  very small possibility that postsuper  deletes  the
                  wrong  message  file  when it is executed while the
                  Postfix mail system is delivering mail.

                  The scenario is as follows:

                  1)     The Postfix queue manager deletes  the  mes-
                         sage  that  postsuper(1) is asked to delete,
                         because Postfix is finished with the message
                         (it  is  delivered, or it is returned to the
                         sender).

                  2)     New mail arrives, and  the  new  message  is
                         given  the same queue ID as the message that
                         postsuper(1) is  supposed  to  delete.   The
                         probability  for  reusing a deleted queue ID
                         is about 1 in 2**15 (the number of different
                         microsecond values that the system clock can
                         distinguish within a second).

                  3)     postsuper(1)  deletes   the   new   message,
                         instead  of  the  old message that it should
                         have deleted.

           -h queue_id
                  Put mail "on hold" so that no attempt  is  made  to
                  deliver  it.  Move one message with the named queue
                  ID from the named mail queue(s) (default: incoming,
                  active and deferred) to the hold queue.

                  If  a queue_id of - is specified, the program reads
                  queue IDs from standard input.

                  Specify -h ALL to hold all messages;  for  example,
                  specify  -h  ALL  deferred  to  hold  mail  in  the
                  deferred queue.  As a safety measure, the word  ALL
                  must be specified in upper case.

                  Note:  while  mail  is "on hold" it will not expire
                  when its  time  in  the  queue  exceeds  the  maxi-
                  mal_queue_lifetime  or  bounce_queue_lifetime  set-
                  ting. It becomes subject to expiration after it  is
                  released from "hold".

           -H queue_id
                  Release mail that was put "on hold".  Move one mes-
                  sage with the named queue ID from  the  named  mail
                  queue(s) (default: hold) to the deferred queue.

                  If  a queue_id of - is specified, the program reads
                  queue IDs from standard input.

                  Note: use "postsuper -r" to release mail  that  was
                  kept  on  hold for a significant fraction of $maxi-
                  mal_queue_lifetime  or  $bounce_queue_lifetime,  or
                  longer.

                  Specify  -H  ALL  to  release  all mail that is "on
                  hold".  As a safety measure, the word ALL  must  be
                  specified in upper case.

           -p     Purge  old temporary files that are left over after
                  system or software crashes.

           -r queue_id
                  Requeue the message with the named  queue  ID  from
                  the  named  mail queue(s) (default: hold, incoming,
                  active and deferred).   To  requeue  multiple  mes-
                  sages, specify multiple -r command-line options.

                  Alternatively, if a queue_id of - is specified, the
                  program reads queue IDs from standard input.

                  Specify -r ALL to requeue all messages. As a safety
                  measure,  the  word  ALL must be specified in upper
                  case.

                  A requeued message is moved to the maildrop  queue,
                  from  where  it  is  copied  by  the  pickup(8) and
                  cleanup(8) daemons to a new  queue  file.  In  many
                  respects  its  handling  differs from that of a new
                  local submission.

                  o      The  message  is  not   subjected   to   the
                         smtpd_milters or non_smtpd_milters settings.
                         When mail has  passed  through  an  external
                         content filter, this would produce incorrect
                         results with Milter applications that depend
                         on  original  SMTP connection state informa-
                         tion.

                  o      The  message  is  subjected  again  to  mail
                         address rewriting and substitution.  This is
                         useful when rewriting rules or virtual  map-
                         pings have changed.

                         The  address  rewriting  context  (local  or
                         remote) is the same as when the message  was
                         received.

                  o      The  message  is  subjected to the same con-
                         tent_filter settings (if any)  as  used  for
                         new  local mail submissions.  This is useful
                         when content_filter settings have changed.

                  Warning: Postfix queue IDs are reused.  There is  a
                  very  small  possibility that postsuper(1) requeues
                  the wrong message file when it  is  executed  while
                  the  Postfix  mail  system  is running, but no harm
                  should be done.

           -s     Structure check and structure repair.  This  should
                  be done once before Postfix startup.

                  o      Rename  files  whose name does not match the
                         message file inode number. This operation is
                         necessary  after restoring a mail queue from
                         a different machine, or from backup media.

                  o      Move queue files that are in the wrong place
                         in the file system hierarchy and remove sub-
                         directories that are no longer needed.  File
                         position  rearrangements are necessary after
                         a  change  in  the  hash_queue_names  and/or
                         hash_queue_depth configuration parameters.

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

    DIAGNOSTICS
           Problems  are reported to the standard error stream and to
           syslogd(8).

           postsuper(1) reports the number of messages  deleted  with
           -d,  the number of messages requeued with -r, and the num-
           ber of messages whose queue file name was fixed  with  -s.
           The  report is written to the standard error stream and to
           syslogd(8).

    ENVIRONMENT
           MAIL_CONFIG
                  Directory with the main.cf file.

    BUGS
           Mail that is not sanitized by Postfix (i.e.  mail  in  the
           maildrop queue) cannot be placed "on hold".

    CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS
           The  following  main.cf parameters are especially relevant
           to this program.  The text below provides only a parameter
           summary.  See postconf(5) for more details including exam-
           ples.

           config_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
                  The default location of  the  Postfix  main.cf  and
                  master.cf configuration files.

           hash_queue_depth (1)
                  The  number of subdirectory levels for queue direc-
                  tories listed with the hash_queue_names  parameter.

           hash_queue_names (deferred, defer)
                  The  names  of  queue  directories  that  are split
                  across multiple subdirectory levels.

           queue_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
                  The location of the Postfix top-level queue  direc-
                  tory.

           syslog_facility (mail)
                  The syslog facility of Postfix logging.

           syslog_name (postfix)
                  The  mail  system  name  that  is  prepended to the
                  process name in syslog  records,  so  that  "smtpd"
                  becomes, for example, "postfix/smtpd".

    SEE ALSO
           sendmail(1), Sendmail-compatible user interface
           postqueue(1), unprivileged queue operations

    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

                                                                      POSTSUPER(1)