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 exam-
              ple, specify "-d ALL deferred" to delete  all  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 all 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:  specify  "postsuper -r" to release mail that
              was kept on hold  for  a  significant  fraction  of
              $maximal_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)