1<!doctype html public "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" 2 "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> 3<html> <head> 4<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"> 5<title> Postfix manual - master(8) </title> 6</head> <body> <pre> 7MASTER(8) MASTER(8) 8 9<b>NAME</b> 10 master - Postfix master process 11 12<b>SYNOPSIS</b> 13 <b>master</b> [<b>-Ddtv</b>] [<b>-c</b> <i>config</i><b>_</b><i>dir</i>] [<b>-e</b> <i>exit</i><b>_</b><i>time</i>] 14 15<b>DESCRIPTION</b> 16 The <a href="master.8.html"><b>master</b>(8)</a> daemon is the resident process that runs 17 Postfix daemons on demand: daemons to send or receive mes- 18 sages via the network, daemons to deliver mail locally, 19 etc. These daemons are created on demand up to a config- 20 urable maximum number per service. 21 22 Postfix daemons terminate voluntarily, either after being 23 idle for a configurable amount of time, or after having 24 serviced a configurable number of requests. Exceptions to 25 this rule are the resident queue manager, address verifi- 26 cation server, and the TLS session cache and pseudo-random 27 number server. 28 29 The behavior of the <a href="master.8.html"><b>master</b>(8)</a> daemon is controlled by the 30 <a href="master.5.html"><b>master.cf</b></a> configuration file, as described in <a href="master.5.html"><b>master</b>(5)</a>. 31 32 Options: 33 34 <b>-c</b> <i>config</i><b>_</b><i>dir</i> 35 Read the <a href="postconf.5.html"><b>main.cf</b></a> and <a href="master.5.html"><b>master.cf</b></a> configuration files 36 in the named directory instead of the default con- 37 figuration directory. This also overrides the con- 38 figuration files for other Postfix daemon pro- 39 cesses. 40 41 <b>-D</b> After initialization, run a debugger on the master 42 process. The debugging command is specified with 43 the <b><a href="postconf.5.html#debugger_command">debugger_command</a></b> in the <a href="postconf.5.html"><b>main.cf</b></a> global configu- 44 ration file. 45 46 <b>-d</b> Do not redirect stdin, stdout or stderr to 47 /dev/null, and do not discard the controlling ter- 48 minal. This must be used for debugging only. 49 50 <b>-e</b> <i>exit</i><b>_</b><i>time</i> 51 Terminate the master process after <i>exit</i><b>_</b><i>time</i> sec- 52 onds. Child processes terminate at their conve- 53 nience. 54 55 <b>-t</b> Test mode. Return a zero exit status when the <b>mas-</b> 56 <b>ter.pid</b> lock file does not exist or when that file 57 is not locked. This is evidence that the <a href="master.8.html"><b>master</b>(8)</a> 58 daemon is not running. 59 60 <b>-v</b> Enable verbose logging for debugging purposes. This 61 option is passed on to child processes. Multiple <b>-v</b> 62 options make the software increasingly verbose. 63 64 Signals: 65 66 <b>SIGHUP</b> Upon receipt of a <b>HUP</b> signal (e.g., after "<b>postfix</b> 67 <b>reload</b>"), the master process re-reads its configu- 68 ration files. If a service has been removed from 69 the <a href="master.5.html"><b>master.cf</b></a> file, its running processes are ter- 70 minated immediately. Otherwise, running processes 71 are allowed to terminate as soon as is convenient, 72 so that changes in configuration settings affect 73 only new service requests. 74 75 <b>SIGTERM</b> 76 Upon receipt of a <b>TERM</b> signal (e.g., after "<b>postfix</b> 77 <b>abort</b>"), the master process passes the signal on to 78 its child processes and terminates. This is useful 79 for an emergency shutdown. Normally one would ter- 80 minate only the master ("<b>postfix stop</b>") and allow 81 running processes to finish what they are doing. 82 83<b>DIAGNOSTICS</b> 84 Problems are reported to <b>syslogd</b>(8). 85 86<b>ENVIRONMENT</b> 87 <b>MAIL_DEBUG</b> 88 After initialization, start a debugger as specified 89 with the <b><a href="postconf.5.html#debugger_command">debugger_command</a></b> configuration parameter 90 in the <a href="postconf.5.html"><b>main.cf</b></a> configuration file. 91 92 <b>MAIL_CONFIG</b> 93 Directory with Postfix configuration files. 94 95<b>CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS</b> 96 Unlike most Postfix daemon processes, the <a href="master.8.html"><b>master</b>(8)</a> server 97 does not automatically pick up changes to <a href="postconf.5.html"><b>main.cf</b></a>. Changes 98 to <a href="master.5.html"><b>master.cf</b></a> are never picked up automatically. Use the 99 "<b>postfix reload</b>" command after a configuration change. 100 101<b>RESOURCE AND RATE CONTROLS</b> 102 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#default_process_limit">default_process_limit</a> (100)</b> 103 The default maximal number of Postfix child pro- 104 cesses that provide a given service. 105 106 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#max_idle">max_idle</a> (100s)</b> 107 The maximum amount of time that an idle Postfix 108 daemon process waits for an incoming connection 109 before terminating voluntarily. 110 111 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#max_use">max_use</a> (100)</b> 112 The maximal number of incoming connections that a 113 Postfix daemon process will service before termi- 114 nating voluntarily. 115 116 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#service_throttle_time">service_throttle_time</a> (60s)</b> 117 How long the Postfix <a href="master.8.html"><b>master</b>(8)</a> waits before forking 118 a server that appears to be malfunctioning. 119 120 Available in Postfix version 2.6 and later: 121 122 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#master_service_disable">master_service_disable</a> (empty)</b> 123 Selectively disable <a href="master.8.html"><b>master</b>(8)</a> listener ports by 124 service type or by service name and type. 125 126<b>MISCELLANEOUS CONTROLS</b> 127 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#config_directory">config_directory</a> (see 'postconf -d' output)</b> 128 The default location of the Postfix <a href="postconf.5.html">main.cf</a> and 129 <a href="master.5.html">master.cf</a> configuration files. 130 131 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#daemon_directory">daemon_directory</a> (see 'postconf -d' output)</b> 132 The directory with Postfix support programs and 133 daemon programs. 134 135 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#debugger_command">debugger_command</a> (empty)</b> 136 The external command to execute when a Postfix dae- 137 mon program is invoked with the -D option. 138 139 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#inet_interfaces">inet_interfaces</a> (all)</b> 140 The network interface addresses that this mail sys- 141 tem receives mail on. 142 143 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#inet_protocols">inet_protocols</a> (ipv4)</b> 144 The Internet protocols Postfix will attempt to use 145 when making or accepting connections. 146 147 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#import_environment">import_environment</a> (see 'postconf -d' output)</b> 148 The list of environment parameters that a Postfix 149 process will import from a non-Postfix parent 150 process. 151 152 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#mail_owner">mail_owner</a> (postfix)</b> 153 The UNIX system account that owns the Postfix queue 154 and most Postfix daemon processes. 155 156 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#process_id">process_id</a> (read-only)</b> 157 The process ID of a Postfix command or daemon 158 process. 159 160 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#process_name">process_name</a> (read-only)</b> 161 The process name of a Postfix command or daemon 162 process. 163 164 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#queue_directory">queue_directory</a> (see 'postconf -d' output)</b> 165 The location of the Postfix top-level queue direc- 166 tory. 167 168 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#syslog_facility">syslog_facility</a> (mail)</b> 169 The syslog facility of Postfix logging. 170 171 <b><a href="postconf.5.html#syslog_name">syslog_name</a> (see 'postconf -d' output)</b> 172 The mail system name that is prepended to the 173 process name in syslog records, so that "smtpd" 174 becomes, for example, "postfix/smtpd". 175 176<b>FILES</b> 177 To expand the directory names below into their actual val- 178 ues, use the command "<b>postconf <a href="postconf.5.html#config_directory">config_directory</a></b>" etc. 179 180 $<a href="postconf.5.html#config_directory">config_directory</a>/<a href="postconf.5.html">main.cf</a>, global configuration file. 181 $<a href="postconf.5.html#config_directory">config_directory</a>/<a href="master.5.html">master.cf</a>, master server configuration file. 182 $<a href="postconf.5.html#queue_directory">queue_directory</a>/pid/master.pid, master lock file. 183 $<a href="postconf.5.html#data_directory">data_directory</a>/master.lock, master lock file. 184 185<b>SEE ALSO</b> 186 <a href="qmgr.8.html">qmgr(8)</a>, queue manager 187 <a href="verify.8.html">verify(8)</a>, address verification 188 <a href="master.5.html">master(5)</a>, <a href="master.5.html">master.cf</a> configuration file syntax 189 <a href="postconf.5.html">postconf(5)</a>, <a href="postconf.5.html">main.cf</a> configuration parameter syntax 190 syslogd(8), system logging 191 192<b>LICENSE</b> 193 The Secure Mailer license must be distributed with this 194 software. 195 196<b>AUTHOR(S)</b> 197 Wietse Venema 198 IBM T.J. Watson Research 199 P.O. Box 704 200 Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA 201 202 MASTER(8) 203</pre> </body> </html> 204