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)