ERROR(8) System Manager's Manual ERROR(8)
NAME
error - Postfix error/retry mail delivery agent
SYNOPSIS
error [generic Postfix daemon options]
DESCRIPTION
The Postfix error(8) delivery agent processes delivery requests from the
queue manager. Each request specifies a queue file, a sender address,
the reason for non-delivery (specified as the next-hop destination), and
recipient information. The reason may be prefixed with an RFC 3463-com-
patible detail code; if none is specified a default 4.0.0 or 5.0.0 code
is used instead. This program expects to be run from the master(8)
process manager.
Depending on the service name in master.cf, error or retry, the server
bounces or defers all recipients in the delivery request using the
"next-hop" information as the reason for non-delivery. The retry service
name is supported as of Postfix 2.4.
Delivery status reports are sent to the bounce(8), defer(8) or trace(8)
daemon as appropriate.
SECURITY
The error(8) mailer is not security-sensitive. It does not talk to the
network, and can be run chrooted at fixed low privilege.
STANDARDS
RFC 3463 (Enhanced Status Codes)
DIAGNOSTICS
Problems and transactions are logged to syslogd(8) or postlogd(8).
Depending on the setting of the notify_classes parameter, the postmaster
is notified of bounces and of other trouble.
CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS
Changes to main.cf are picked up automatically as error(8) processes run
for only a limited amount of time. Use the command "postfix reload" to
speed up a change.
The text below provides only a parameter summary. See postconf(5) for
more details including examples.
2bounce_notice_recipient (postmaster)
The recipient of undeliverable mail that cannot be returned to
the sender.
bounce_notice_recipient (postmaster)
The recipient of postmaster notifications with the message head-
ers of mail that Postfix did not deliver and of SMTP conversation
transcripts of mail that Postfix did not receive.
config_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
The default location of the Postfix main.cf and master.cf config-
uration files.
daemon_timeout (18000s)
How much time a Postfix daemon process may take to handle a re-
quest before it is terminated by a built-in watchdog timer.
delay_logging_resolution_limit (2)
The maximal number of digits after the decimal point when logging
sub-second delay values.
double_bounce_sender (double-bounce)
The sender address of postmaster notifications that are generated
by the mail system.
ipc_timeout (3600s)
The time limit for sending or receiving information over an in-
ternal communication channel.
max_idle (100s)
The maximum amount of time that an idle Postfix daemon process
waits for an incoming connection before terminating voluntarily.
max_use (100)
The maximal number of incoming connections that a Postfix daemon
process will service before terminating voluntarily.
notify_classes (resource, software)
The list of error classes that are reported to the postmaster.
process_id (read-only)
The process ID of a Postfix command or daemon process.
process_name (read-only)
The process name of a Postfix command or daemon process.
queue_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
The location of the Postfix top-level queue directory.
syslog_facility (mail)
The syslog facility of Postfix logging.
syslog_name (see 'postconf -d' output)
A prefix that is prepended to the process name in syslog records,
so that, for example, "smtpd" becomes "prefix/smtpd".
Available in Postfix 3.3 and later:
service_name (read-only)
The master.cf service name of a Postfix daemon process.
SEE ALSO
qmgr(8), queue manager
bounce(8), delivery status reports
discard(8), Postfix discard delivery agent
postconf(5), configuration parameters
master(5), generic daemon options
master(8), process manager
postlogd(8), Postfix logging
syslogd(8), system logging
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
Wietse Venema
Google, Inc.
111 8th Avenue
New York, NY 10011, USA
ERROR(8)
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