Difference between revisions of "Postfix"

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<hide>
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[[page type::article]]
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[[thing type::software]]
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[[software type::mail transfer agent]]
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[[architecture::server]]
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[[license::open source]]
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[[category:software]]
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</hide>
 
==About==
 
==About==
[[category:software]][[Postfix]] is an [[open-source]] [[mail transfer agent]] (MTA) for [[POSIX]] systems. It is fully supported by [[Webmin]] and is part of the [[Dovecot]] stack.
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[[Postfix]] is an [[open source]] [[mail transfer agent]] (MTA) for [[POSIX]] systems. It is fully supported by [[Webmin]]/[[VirtualMin]] and is part of the [[Dovecot]] stack.
==Notes==
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===Pages===
After making changes to the Postfix configuration files, you don't actually have to stop and restart Postfix to load the changes; you can just type (as root) "postfix reload".
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* [[/aliasing]]: managing email redirects/aliases
===flow===
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* [[/fixing]]: diagnosis of installations that aren't working right
There are multiple stages inside Postfix, and each stage can be affected by configuration parameters. I have not yet found a clear documentation of the data flow, but it seems to go like this (only much more complicated) under normal circumstances:
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* see also: [[DKIM]], [[DMARC]], [[Sender Policy Framework]] (SPF)
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* [[/chroot]]: running Postfix in a [[chroot]]ed environment
  
: [[SMTP]] &rarr; Postfix delivery queue &rarr; user alias mappings &rarr; [[mail delivery agent|local delivery]] (MDA, e.g. [[Dovecot]])
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===Files===
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* [[/main.cf]]
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* [[/master.cf]]: formatted list of transport helper applications
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* [[/mail.log]] (typically found in /var/log)
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===Internal Apps===
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* [[/aliases]] ([http://www.postfix.org/aliases.5.html reference])
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* [[/cleanup]] ([http://postfix.org/cleanup.8.html reference])
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* [[/lmtp]] ([http://postfix.org/lmtp.8.html reference])
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* [[/local]] ([http://postfix.org/local.8.html reference])
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* [[/pickup]] ([http://postfix.org/pickup.8.html reference])
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* [[/qmgr]] ([http://postfix.org/qmgr.8.html reference])
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* [[/smtpd]] ([http://postfix.org/smtpd.8.html reference])
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* [[/transport]] ([http://www.postfix.org/transport.5.html reference])
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* [[/trivial-rewrite]] ([http://postfix.org/trivial-rewrite.8.html reference]))
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===User Applets===
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* [[/newaliases]]
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===Other Applets===
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These are installed as part of the postfix package; not sure how they should be classified:
 +
{|
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|-
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| valign=top |
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* '''/usr/bin''':
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** [[/mailq]]
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** [[/newaliases]] - user utility
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** [[/rmail]]
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* '''/usr/lib''':
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** [[/postfix_groups.pl]]
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** [[/sendmail]]
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| valign=top |
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* '''/usr/lib/postfix''':
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** [[/anvil]]
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** [[/bounce]]
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** [[/cleanup]]
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** [[/discard]]
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** [[/error]]
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** [[/flush]]
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** [[/fsstone]]
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** [[/lmtp]]
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** [[/local]]
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** [[/master]]
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** [[/oqmgr]]
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** [[/pickup]]
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** [[/pipe]]
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** [[/post-install]]
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** [[/postfix-files]]
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** [[/postfix-script]]
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** [[/postfix-wrapper]]
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** [[/postmulti-script]]
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** [[/proxymap]]
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** [[/qmgr]]
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** [[/qmqpd]]
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** [[/scache]]
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** [[/showq]]
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** [[/smtp]]
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** [[/smtpd]]
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** [[/spawn]]
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** [[/tlsmgr]]
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** [[/trivial-rewrite]]
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** [[/verify]]
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** [[/virtual]]
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| valign=top |
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* '''/usr/sbin''':
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** [[/postalias]]
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** [[/postcat]]
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** [[/postconf]]
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** [[/postdrop]]
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** [[/postfix]] - core binary
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** [[/postfix-add-filter]]
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** [[/postfix-add-policy]]
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** [[/postkick]]
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** [[/postlock]]
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** [[/postlog]]
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** [[/postmap]]
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** [[/postmulti]]
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** [[/postqueue]]
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** [[/postsuper]]
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** [[/qmqp-sink]]
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** [[/qmqp-source]]
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** [[/qshape]]
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** [[/rmail]]
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** [[/sendmail]]
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** [[/smtp-sink]]
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** [[/smtp-source]]
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|}
  
However, when using virtual (non-system) users, internally-generated emails (e.g. mail from [[cron]] or [[PHP]]'s mail() function) seem to bypass the alias mappings, which the MDA then rejects if they are addressed to an alias instead of a user.
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===Error Messages===
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* [[503 5.5.1 Error: authentication not enabled]]
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* [[Connect to private/dovecot-auth failed: No such file or directory]]
  
A table from the official documentation is more detailed, if perhaps less clear (where does the message ''end up''? qmgr? how does it get delivered?):
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===Other Subpages===
<table align=center>
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* [[/flow]]: the flow of messages across the various helper programs that make up Postfix
<tr>
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* [[/SSL]]: Postfix and SSL
<td colspan="2"> </td>
 
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0ff"> [http://postfix.org/trivial-rewrite.8.html trivial-<br>rewrite(8)]<br>(std
 
form) </td>
 
<td colspan="5"> </td>
 
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0ff"> [http://postfix.org/trivial-rewrite.8.html trivial-<br>rewrite(8)]<br>(resolve)
 
</td>
 
</tr>
 
<tr>
 
<td colspan="2"> </td>
 
<td align="center"><table><tr><td align="center"> ^<br> <tt> |
 
</tt> </td><td align="center"> <tt> |<br>v </tt> </td></tr></table>
 
</td><td colspan="5"> </td>
 
<td align="center"><table><tr><td align="center"> ^<br> <tt> |
 
</tt> </td><td align="center"> <tt> |<br>v </tt> </td></tr></table>
 
</td><td colspan="2"> </td>
 
</tr>
 
<tr>
 
<td valign="middle" align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0ff"> [http://postfix.org/smtpd.8.html smtpd(8)]
 
</td>
 
<td rowspan="3" valign="middle" align="center"> <tt> &gt;- </tt>
 
</td>
 
<td rowspan="3" align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0ff"> [http://postfix.org/cleanup.8.html cleanup(8)] </td>
 
<td rowspan="3" valign="middle" align="center"> <tt> -&gt; </tt>
 
</td>
 
<td rowspan="3" align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0ff"> [http://postfix.org/QSHAPE_README.html#incoming_queue incoming] </td>
 
<td rowspan="3" valign="middle" align="center"> <tt> -&gt; </tt>
 
</td>
 
<td rowspan="3" align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0ff"> [http://postfix.org/QSHAPE_README.html#active_queue active] </td>
 
<td rowspan="3" valign="middle" align="center"> <tt> -&gt; </tt>
 
</td>
 
<td rowspan="3" align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0ff"> [http://postfix.org/qmgr.8.html qmgr(8)]</td>
 
<td rowspan="3" valign="middle" align="center"> <tt> -&lt; </tt>
 
</td>
 
<td valign="middle" align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0ff">
 
[http://postfix.org/smtp.8.html smtp(8)]</td>
 
</tr>
 
<tr>
 
<td valign="middle" align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0ff">
 
[http://postfix.org/qmqpd.8.html qmqpd(8)]</td>
 
<td valign="middle" align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0ff"> [http://postfix.org/lmtp.8.html lmtp(8)]</td>
 
</tr>
 
<tr>
 
<td valign="middle" align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0ff"> [http://postfix.org/pickup.8.html pickup(8)]
 
</td>
 
<td valign="middle" align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0ff"> [http://postfix.org/local.8.html local(8)]
 
</td>
 
</tr>
 
<tr>
 
<td colspan="2"> </td>
 
<td align="center"> ^<br> <tt> | </tt> </td>
 
<td colspan="3"> </td>
 
<td align="center"><table><tr><td align="center"> ^<br> <tt> |
 
</tt> </td><td align="center"> <tt> |<br>v </tt> </td></tr></table>
 
</td><td colspan="4"> </td>
 
</tr>
 
<tr>
 
<td colspan="2"> </td>
 
<td align="center"> bounces<br> forwarding<br> notices</td>
 
<td colspan="3"> </td>
 
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0ff"> [http://postfix.org/QSHAPE_README.html#deferred_queue deferred]
 
</td><td colspan="2"> </td>
 
</tr>
 
</table>
 
===aliases===
 
To set up aliases, either edit the file specified by the [[/main.cf/alias_maps|alias_maps]] setting in [[/main.cf|main.cf]] ([[etc/aliases|/etc/aliases]] by default) and then run [[newaliases]] (or "postalias /etc/aliases") to update the database, or else use [[Webmin]] ("Mail Aliases" icon, then click on the "Create a new alias" link).
 
  
'''Notes''':
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==Notes==
* Webmin seems to automatically run newaliases when you add or modify an individual alias, but ''not'' when you use it to edit the [[etc/aliases|/etc/aliases]] file directly. Changes made to /etc/aliases will not take effect until the database is updated.
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After making changes to the Postfix configuration files, you don't actually have to stop and restart Postfix to load the changes; you can just type (as root) "postfix reload".
* Stopping and starting the postfix daemon does ''not'' update from the aliases file; you still have to run newaliases.
 
 
 
===catch-all===
 
To set up a catch-all address, edit [[/main.cf|main.cf]] and set the following parameters:
 
* local_recipient_maps =
 
* luser_relay = <u>whereToSend</u>
 
 
 
The syntax for <u>whereToSend</u> is explained [http://www.postfix.org/postconf.5.html#luser_relay here].
 
  
Examples:
 
* luser_relay = $user@anotherdomain.org
 
** forwards all email addressed to "invaliduser@firstdomain.org" to "invaliduser@anotherdomain.org"
 
* luser_relay = youraddress@anotherdomain.org
 
** forwards all email addressed to invalid users to "youraddress@anotherdomain.org".
 
 
===automatic BCC===
 
===automatic BCC===
 
To automatically [[blind carbon copy|BCC]] outgoing mail ''from'' any given set of users, set [[/main.cf/sender_bcc_maps|sender_bcc_maps]] in [[/main.cf]] to <u>hash:/etc/postfix/sender_bcc</u>. (In [[Webmin]]: BCC Mapping: Sender BCC mapping lookup tables)
 
To automatically [[blind carbon copy|BCC]] outgoing mail ''from'' any given set of users, set [[/main.cf/sender_bcc_maps|sender_bcc_maps]] in [[/main.cf]] to <u>hash:/etc/postfix/sender_bcc</u>. (In [[Webmin]]: BCC Mapping: Sender BCC mapping lookup tables)
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Each line in the [[/sender_bcc]] file will contain the ''sender'' (which can be user@domain, user, or @domain), one or more blanks, then the ''recipient'' (which can be one address or multiple addresses separated by commas).
 
Each line in the [[/sender_bcc]] file will contain the ''sender'' (which can be user@domain, user, or @domain), one or more blanks, then the ''recipient'' (which can be one address or multiple addresses separated by commas).
  
Example -- BCCs all mail sent by somedomain.com users to an archive address:
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Example -- BCCs all mail sent by vbz.com users to an archive address:
 
  @vbz.com archive{{CURRENTYEAR}}@vbz.com
 
  @vbz.com archive{{CURRENTYEAR}}@vbz.com
 
===pages to index===
 
===pages to index===
I have these open in tabs, so they are probably relevant to something:
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Possibly useful pages:
 +
* [https://www.howtoforge.com/postfix_backup_mx Setting Up Postfix As A Backup MX]
 
* [http://www.postfix.org/ADDRESS_REWRITING_README.html Postfix Address Rewriting]
 
* [http://www.postfix.org/ADDRESS_REWRITING_README.html Postfix Address Rewriting]
 
* [http://www.postfix.org/trivial-rewrite.8.html trivial-rewrite] (manpage)
 
* [http://www.postfix.org/trivial-rewrite.8.html trivial-rewrite] (manpage)
 
* [http://www.postfix.org/postconf.5.html Postfix Configuration Parameters] (includes [[/main.cf]] parameters)
 
* [http://www.postfix.org/postconf.5.html Postfix Configuration Parameters] (includes [[/main.cf]] parameters)
 +
* [http://www.postfix.org/FILTER_README.html Postfix After-Queue Content Filter]
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* [http://www.group-office.com/wiki/Mailserver Group-Office Mailserver] plugin: helps administer Postfix
 +
* [http://en.gentoo-wiki.com/wiki/Mail_server_using_Postfix_and_Dovecot Mail server using Postfix and Dovecot] on [[Gentoo Linux]]
 +
 
==Links==
 
==Links==
 
===Official===
 
===Official===
* [http://www.postfix.org/ postfix.org]
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* [http://www.postfix.org/ home page]
 +
* {{link/manpage/only|Postfix|manpage}}
 +
 
 
===Reference===
 
===Reference===
 
* {{wikipedia|Postfix (software)}}
 
* {{wikipedia|Postfix (software)}}
* [http://www.postfix.org/ home page]
 
* [http://postfix.wiki.xs4all.nl/ wiki]
 
** [http://postfix.wiki.xs4all.nl/index.php?title=Relay_recipient_maps_using_LDAP_against_Active_Directory Relay recipient maps using LDAP against Active Directory]
 

Latest revision as of 16:00, 17 September 2021

About

Postfix is an open source mail transfer agent (MTA) for POSIX systems. It is fully supported by Webmin/VirtualMin and is part of the Dovecot stack.

Pages

Files

Internal Apps

User Applets

Other Applets

These are installed as part of the postfix package; not sure how they should be classified:

Error Messages

Other Subpages

  • /flow: the flow of messages across the various helper programs that make up Postfix
  • /SSL: Postfix and SSL

Notes

After making changes to the Postfix configuration files, you don't actually have to stop and restart Postfix to load the changes; you can just type (as root) "postfix reload".

automatic BCC

To automatically BCC outgoing mail from any given set of users, set sender_bcc_maps in /main.cf to hash:/etc/postfix/sender_bcc. (In Webmin: BCC Mapping: Sender BCC mapping lookup tables)

Each line in the /sender_bcc file will contain the sender (which can be user@domain, user, or @domain), one or more blanks, then the recipient (which can be one address or multiple addresses separated by commas).

Example -- BCCs all mail sent by vbz.com users to an archive address:

@vbz.com archive2024@vbz.com

pages to index

Possibly useful pages:

Links

Official

Reference