POSTSUPER(1)						      General Commands Manual						      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 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 message that postsuper(1) is asked to delete, because Postfix is finished with the mes-
		     sage (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 maximal_queue_lifetime or bounce_queue_life-
	      time setting. It becomes subject to expiration after it is released from "hold".

	      This feature is available in Postfix 2.0 and later.

       -H queue_id
	      Release  mail  that was put "on hold".  Move one message 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.

	      This feature is available in Postfix 2.0 and later.

       -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 messages, 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
		     information.

	      o      The  message  is  subjected again to mail address rewriting and substitution.  This is useful when rewriting rules or virtual
		     mappings 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 content_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.

	      This feature is available in Postfix 1.1 and later.

       -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 subdirectories that are no longer
		     needed.  File position rearrangements are necessary after a change in the hash_queue_names and/or hash_queue_depth configura-
		     tion parameters.

       -v     Enable verbose logging for debugging purposes. Multiple -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 number 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  post-
       conf(5) for more details including examples.

       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 directories 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 directory.

       syslog_facility (mail)
	      The syslog facility of Postfix logging.

       syslog_name (see 'postconf -d' output)
	      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)