Updated: 2022/Sep/29

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ERROR(8)                    System Manager's Manual                   ERROR(8)




NAME
       error - Postfix error/retry mail delivery agent

SYNOPSIS
       error [generic Postfix daemon options]

DESCRIPTION
       The Postfix error(8) delivery agent processes delivery requests from
       the queue manager. Each request specifies a queue file, a sender
       address, the reason for non-delivery (specified as the next-hop
       destination), and recipient information.  The reason may be prefixed
       with an RFC 3463-compatible detail code; if none is specified a default
       4.0.0 or 5.0.0 code is used instead.  This program expects to be run
       from the master(8) process manager.

       Depending on the service name in master.cf, error or retry, the server
       bounces or defers all recipients in the delivery request using the
       "next-hop" information as the reason for non-delivery. The retry
       service name is supported as of Postfix 2.4.

       Delivery status reports are sent to the bounce(8), defer(8) or trace(8)
       daemon as appropriate.

SECURITY
       The error(8) mailer is not security-sensitive. It does not talk to the
       network, and can be run chrooted at fixed low privilege.

STANDARDS
       RFC 3463 (Enhanced Status Codes)

DIAGNOSTICS
       Problems and transactions are logged to syslogd(8) or postlogd(8).

       Depending on the setting of the notify_classes parameter, the
       postmaster is notified of bounces and of other trouble.

CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS
       Changes to main.cf are picked up automatically as error(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.

       2bounce_notice_recipient (postmaster)
              The recipient of undeliverable mail that cannot be returned to
              the sender.

       bounce_notice_recipient (postmaster)
              The recipient of postmaster notifications with the message
              headers of mail that Postfix did not deliver and of SMTP
              conversation transcripts of mail that Postfix did not receive.

       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.

       delay_logging_resolution_limit (2)
              The maximal number of digits after the decimal point when
              logging sub-second delay values.

       double_bounce_sender (double-bounce)
              The sender address of postmaster notifications that are
              generated by the mail system.

       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.

       notify_classes (resource, software)
              The list of error classes that are reported to the postmaster.

       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".

       Available in Postfix 3.3 and later:

       service_name (read-only)
              The master.cf service name of a Postfix daemon process.

SEE ALSO
       qmgr(8), queue manager
       bounce(8), delivery status reports
       discard(8), Postfix discard delivery agent
       postconf(5), configuration parameters
       master(5), generic daemon options
       master(8), process manager
       postlogd(8), Postfix logging
       syslogd(8), system logging

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

       Wietse Venema
       Google, Inc.
       111 8th Avenue
       New York, NY 10011, USA



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