FLUSH
Section: Maintenance Commands (8)
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NAME
flush
-
Postfix fast flush server
SYNOPSIS
flush [generic Postfix daemon options]
DESCRIPTION
The
flush(8) server maintains a record of deferred
mail by destination.
This information is used to improve the performance of the SMTP
ETRN request, and of its command-line equivalent,
"
sendmail -qR" or "
postqueue -f".
This program expects to be run from the
master(8) process
manager.
The record is implemented as a per-destination logfile with
as contents the queue IDs of deferred mail. A logfile is
append-only, and is truncated when delivery is requested
for the corresponding destination. A destination is the
part on the right-hand side of the right-most @ in
an email address.
Per-destination logfiles of deferred mail are maintained only for
eligible destinations. The list of eligible destinations is
specified with the fast_flush_domains configuration parameter,
which defaults to $relay_domains.
This server implements the following requests:
- add sitename queueid
-
Inform the flush(8) server that the message with the specified
queue ID is queued for the specified destination.
- send_site sitename
-
Request delivery of mail that is queued for the specified
destination.
- send_file queueid
-
Request delivery of the specified deferred message.
- refresh
-
Refresh non-empty per-destination logfiles that were not read in
$fast_flush_refresh_time hours, by simulating
send requests (see above) for the corresponding destinations.
Delete empty per-destination logfiles that were not updated in
$fast_flush_purge_time days.
This request completes in the background.
- purge
-
Do a refresh for all per-destination logfiles.
SECURITY
The
flush(8) server is not security-sensitive. It does not
talk to the network, and it does not talk to local users.
The fast flush server can run chrooted at fixed low privilege.
DIAGNOSTICS
Problems and transactions are logged to
syslogd(8).
BUGS
Fast flush logfiles are truncated only after a "send"
request, not when mail is actually delivered, and therefore can
accumulate outdated or redundant data. In order to maintain sanity,
"refresh" must be executed periodically. This can
be automated with a suitable wakeup timer setting in the
master.cf configuration file.
Upon receipt of a request to deliver mail for an eligible
destination, the flush(8) server requests delivery of all messages
that are listed in that destination's logfile, regardless of the
recipients of those messages. This is not an issue for mail
that is sent to a relay_domains destination because
such mail typically only has recipients in one domain.
CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS
Changes to
main.cf are picked up automatically as
flush(8)
processes run for only a limited amount of time. Use the command
"
postfix reload" to speed up a change.
The text below provides only a parameter summary. See
postconf(5) for more details including examples.
- config_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
-
The default location of the Postfix main.cf and master.cf
configuration files.
- daemon_timeout (18000s)
-
How much time a Postfix daemon process may take to handle a
request before it is terminated by a built-in watchdog timer.
- fast_flush_domains ($relay_domains)
-
Optional list of destinations that are eligible for per-destination
logfiles with mail that is queued to those destinations.
- fast_flush_refresh_time (12h)
-
The time after which a non-empty but unread per-destination "fast
flush" logfile needs to be refreshed.
- fast_flush_purge_time (7d)
-
The time after which an empty per-destination "fast flush" logfile
is deleted.
- ipc_timeout (3600s)
-
The time limit for sending or receiving information over an internal
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.
- parent_domain_matches_subdomains (see 'postconf -d' output)
-
A list of Postfix features where the pattern "example.com" also
matches subdomains of example.com,
instead of requiring an explicit ".example.com" pattern.
- 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".
FILES
/var/spool/postfix/flush, "fast flush" logfiles.
SEE ALSO
smtpd(8), SMTP server
qmgr(8), queue manager
postconf(5), configuration parameters
master(5), generic daemon options
master(8), process manager
syslogd(8), system logging
README FILES
Use "
postconf readme_directory" or
"
postconf html_directory" to locate this information.
ETRN_README, Postfix ETRN howto
LICENSE
The Secure Mailer license must be distributed with this software.
HISTORY
This service was introduced with Postfix version 1.0.
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
Index
- NAME
-
- SYNOPSIS
-
- DESCRIPTION
-
- SECURITY
-
- DIAGNOSTICS
-
- BUGS
-
- CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS
-
- FILES
-
- SEE ALSO
-
- README FILES
-
- LICENSE
-
- HISTORY
-
- AUTHOR(S)
-
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