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qmgr(8) - phpMan
QMGR(8postfix) QMGR(8postfix)
NAME
qmgr - Postfix queue manager
SYNOPSIS
qmgr [generic Postfix daemon options]
DESCRIPTION
The qmgr(8) daemon awaits the arrival of incoming mail and arranges for its delivery via
Postfix delivery processes. The actual mail routing strategy is delegated to the trivial-
rewrite(8) daemon. This program expects to be run from the master(8) process manager.
Mail addressed to the local double-bounce address is logged and discarded. This stops
potential loops caused by undeliverable bounce notifications.
MAIL QUEUES
The qmgr(8) daemon maintains the following queues:
incoming
Inbound mail from the network, or mail picked up by the local pickup(8) daemon from
the maildrop directory.
active Messages that the queue manager has opened for delivery. Only a limited number of
messages is allowed to enter the active queue (leaky bucket strategy, for a fixed
delivery rate).
deferred
Mail that could not be delivered upon the first attempt. The queue manager imple‐
ments exponential backoff by doubling the time between delivery attempts.
corrupt
Unreadable or damaged queue files are moved here for inspection.
hold Messages that are kept "on hold" are kept here until someone sets them free.
DELIVERY STATUS REPORTS
The qmgr(8) daemon keeps an eye on per-message delivery status reports in the following
directories. Each status report file has the same name as the corresponding message file:
bounce Per-recipient status information about why mail is bounced. These files are main‐
tained by the bounce(8) daemon.
defer Per-recipient status information about why mail is delayed. These files are main‐
tained by the defer(8) daemon.
trace Per-recipient status information as requested with the Postfix "sendmail -v" or
"sendmail -bv" command. These files are maintained by the trace(8) daemon.
The qmgr(8) daemon is responsible for asking the bounce(8), defer(8) or trace(8) daemons
to send delivery reports.
STRATEGIES
The queue manager implements a variety of strategies for either opening queue files
(input) or for message delivery (output).
leaky bucket
This strategy limits the number of messages in the active queue and prevents the
queue manager from running out of memory under heavy load.
fairness
When the active queue has room, the queue manager takes one message from the incom‐
ing queue and one from the deferred queue. This prevents a large mail backlog from
blocking the delivery of new mail.
slow start
This strategy eliminates "thundering herd" problems by slowly adjusting the number
of parallel deliveries to the same destination.
round robin
The queue manager sorts delivery requests by destination. Round-robin selection
prevents one destination from dominating deliveries to other destinations.
exponential backoff
Mail that cannot be delivered upon the first attempt is deferred. The time inter‐
val between delivery attempts is doubled after each attempt.
destination status cache
The queue manager avoids unnecessary delivery attempts by maintaining a short-term,
in-memory list of unreachable destinations.
preemptive message scheduling
The queue manager attempts to minimize the average per-recipient delay while still
preserving the correct per-message delays, using a sophisticated preemptive message
scheduling.
TRIGGERS
On an idle system, the queue manager waits for the arrival of trigger events, or it waits
for a timer to go off. A trigger is a one-byte message. Depending on the message
received, the queue manager performs one of the following actions (the message is followed
by the symbolic constant used internally by the software):
D (QMGR_REQ_SCAN_DEFERRED)
Start a deferred queue scan. If a deferred queue scan is already in progress, that
scan will be restarted as soon as it finishes.
I (QMGR_REQ_SCAN_INCOMING)
Start an incoming queue scan. If an incoming queue scan is already in progress,
that scan will be restarted as soon as it finishes.
A (QMGR_REQ_SCAN_ALL)
Ignore deferred queue file time stamps. The request affects the next deferred queue
scan.
F (QMGR_REQ_FLUSH_DEAD)
Purge all information about dead transports and destinations.
W (TRIGGER_REQ_WAKEUP)
Wakeup call, This is used by the master server to instantiate servers that should
not go away forever. The action is to start an incoming queue scan.
The qmgr(8) daemon reads an entire buffer worth of triggers. Multiple identical trigger
requests are collapsed into one, and trigger requests are sorted so that A and F precede D
and I. Thus, in order to force a deferred queue run, one would request A F D; in order to
notify the queue manager of the arrival of new mail one would request I.
STANDARDS
RFC 3463 (Enhanced status codes)
RFC 3464 (Delivery status notifications)
SECURITY
The qmgr(8) daemon is not security sensitive. It reads single-character messages from
untrusted local users, and thus may be susceptible to denial of service attacks. The
qmgr(8) daemon does not talk to the outside world, and it can be run at fixed low privi‐
lege in a chrooted environment.
DIAGNOSTICS
Problems and transactions are logged to the syslog daemon. Corrupted message files are
saved to the corrupt queue for further inspection.
Depending on the setting of the notify_classes parameter, the postmaster is notified of
bounces and of other trouble.
BUGS
A single queue manager process has to compete for disk access with multiple front-end pro‐
cesses such as cleanup(8). A sudden burst of inbound mail can negatively impact outbound
delivery rates.
CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS
Changes to main.cf are not picked up automatically as qmgr(8) is a persistent process. Use
the "postfix reload" command after a configuration change.
The text below provides only a parameter summary. See postconf(5) for more details includ‐
ing examples.
In the text below, transport is the first field in a master.cf entry.
COMPATIBILITY CONTROLS
Available before Postfix version 2.5:
allow_min_user (no)
Allow a sender or recipient address to have `-' as the first character.
Available with Postfix version 2.7 and later:
default_filter_nexthop (empty)
When a content_filter or FILTER request specifies no explicit next-hop destination,
use $default_filter_nexthop instead; when that value is empty, use the domain in
the recipient address.
ACTIVE QUEUE CONTROLS
qmgr_clog_warn_time (300s)
The minimal delay between warnings that a specific destination is clogging up the
Postfix active queue.
qmgr_message_active_limit (20000)
The maximal number of messages in the active queue.
qmgr_message_recipient_limit (20000)
The maximal number of recipients held in memory by the Postfix queue manager, and
the maximal size of the short-term, in-memory "dead" destination status cache.
qmgr_message_recipient_minimum (10)
The minimal number of in-memory recipients for any message.
default_recipient_limit (20000)
The default per-transport upper limit on the number of in-memory recipients.
transport_recipient_limit ($default_recipient_limit)
Idem, for delivery via the named message transport.
default_extra_recipient_limit (1000)
The default value for the extra per-transport limit imposed on the number of in-
memory recipients.
transport_extra_recipient_limit ($default_extra_recipient_limit)
Idem, for delivery via the named message transport.
Available in Postfix version 2.4 and later:
default_recipient_refill_limit (100)
The default per-transport limit on the number of recipients refilled at once.
transport_recipient_refill_limit ($default_recipient_refill_limit)
Idem, for delivery via the named message transport.
default_recipient_refill_delay (5s)
The default per-transport maximum delay between recipients refills.
transport_recipient_refill_delay ($default_recipient_refill_delay)
Idem, for delivery via the named message transport.
DELIVERY CONCURRENCY CONTROLS
initial_destination_concurrency (5)
The initial per-destination concurrency level for parallel delivery to the same
destination.
default_destination_concurrency_limit (20)
The default maximal number of parallel deliveries to the same destination.
transport_destination_concurrency_limit ($default_destination_concurrency_limit)
Idem, for delivery via the named message transport.
Available in Postfix version 2.5 and later:
transport_initial_destination_concurrency ($initial_destination_concurrency)
Initial concurrency for delivery via the named message transport.
default_destination_concurrency_failed_cohort_limit (1)
How many pseudo-cohorts must suffer connection or handshake failure before a spe‐
cific destination is considered unavailable (and further delivery is suspended).
transport_destination_concurrency_failed_cohort_limit ($default_destination_concur‐
rency_failed_cohort_limit)
Idem, for delivery via the named message transport.
default_destination_concurrency_negative_feedback (1)
The per-destination amount of delivery concurrency negative feedback, after a
delivery completes with a connection or handshake failure.
transport_destination_concurrency_negative_feedback ($default_destination_concurrency_neg‐
ative_feedback)
Idem, for delivery via the named message transport.
default_destination_concurrency_positive_feedback (1)
The per-destination amount of delivery concurrency positive feedback, after a
delivery completes without connection or handshake failure.
transport_destination_concurrency_positive_feedback ($default_destination_concurrency_pos‐
itive_feedback)
Idem, for delivery via the named message transport.
destination_concurrency_feedback_debug (no)
Make the queue manager's feedback algorithm verbose for performance analysis pur‐
poses.
RECIPIENT SCHEDULING CONTROLS
default_destination_recipient_limit (50)
The default maximal number of recipients per message delivery.
transport_destination_recipient_limit ($default_destination_recipient_limit)
Idem, for delivery via the named message transport.
MESSAGE SCHEDULING CONTROLS
default_delivery_slot_cost (5)
How often the Postfix queue manager's scheduler is allowed to preempt delivery of
one message with another.
transport_delivery_slot_cost ($default_delivery_slot_cost)
Idem, for delivery via the named message transport.
default_minimum_delivery_slots (3)
How many recipients a message must have in order to invoke the Postfix queue man‐
ager's scheduling algorithm at all.
transport_minimum_delivery_slots ($default_minimum_delivery_slots)
Idem, for delivery via the named message transport.
default_delivery_slot_discount (50)
The default value for transport-specific _delivery_slot_discount settings.
transport_delivery_slot_discount ($default_delivery_slot_discount)
Idem, for delivery via the named message transport.
default_delivery_slot_loan (3)
The default value for transport-specific _delivery_slot_loan settings.
transport_delivery_slot_loan ($default_delivery_slot_loan)
Idem, for delivery via the named message transport.
OTHER RESOURCE AND RATE CONTROLS
minimal_backoff_time (300s)
The minimal time between attempts to deliver a deferred message; prior to Postfix
2.4 the default value was 1000s.
maximal_backoff_time (4000s)
The maximal time between attempts to deliver a deferred message.
maximal_queue_lifetime (5d)
Consider a message as undeliverable, when delivery fails with a temporary error,
and the time in the queue has reached the maximal_queue_lifetime limit.
queue_run_delay (300s)
The time between deferred queue scans by the queue manager; prior to Postfix 2.4
the default value was 1000s.
transport_retry_time (60s)
The time between attempts by the Postfix queue manager to contact a malfunctioning
message delivery transport.
Available in Postfix version 2.1 and later:
bounce_queue_lifetime (5d)
Consider a bounce message as undeliverable, when delivery fails with a temporary
error, and the time in the queue has reached the bounce_queue_lifetime limit.
Available in Postfix version 2.5 and later:
default_destination_rate_delay (0s)
The default amount of delay that is inserted between individual deliveries to the
same destination; the resulting behavior depends on the value of the corresponding
per-destination recipient limit.
transport_destination_rate_delay $default_destination_rate_delay
Idem, for delivery via the named message transport.
SAFETY CONTROLS
qmgr_daemon_timeout (1000s)
How much time a Postfix queue manager process may take to handle a request before
it is terminated by a built-in watchdog timer.
qmgr_ipc_timeout (60s)
The time limit for the queue manager to send or receive information over an inter‐
nal communication channel.
MISCELLANEOUS CONTROLS
config_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
The default location of the Postfix main.cf and master.cf configuration files.
defer_transports (empty)
The names of message delivery transports that should not deliver mail unless some‐
one issues "sendmail -q" or equivalent.
delay_logging_resolution_limit (2)
The maximal number of digits after the decimal point when logging sub-second delay
values.
helpful_warnings (yes)
Log warnings about problematic configuration settings, and provide helpful sugges‐
tions.
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)
The mail system name that is prepended to the process name in syslog records, so
that "smtpd" becomes, for example, "postfix/smtpd".
FILES
/var/spool/postfix/incoming, incoming queue
/var/spool/postfix/active, active queue
/var/spool/postfix/deferred, deferred queue
/var/spool/postfix/bounce, non-delivery status
/var/spool/postfix/defer, non-delivery status
/var/spool/postfix/trace, delivery status
SEE ALSO
trivial-rewrite(8), address routing
bounce(8), delivery status reports
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.
SCHEDULER_README, scheduling algorithm
QSHAPE_README, Postfix queue analysis
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
Preemptive scheduler enhancements:
Patrik Rak
Modra 6
155 00, Prague, Czech Republic
QMGR(8postfix)
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