postfix-master/PACKAGE_README.html

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   8 <title>Guidelines for Package Builders</title>
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  16 <h1><img src="postfix-logo.jpg" width="203" height="98" ALT="">Guidelines for Package Builders</h1>
  17
  18 <hr>
  19
  20 <h2>Purpose of this document</h2>
  21
  22 <p> This document has hints and tips for those who manage their
  23 own Postfix distribution for internal use, and for those who maintain
  24 Postfix distributions for general use.  </p>
  25
  26 <h2>General distributions: please provide a small default main.cf
  27 file</h2>
  28
  29 <p> The installed <a href="postconf.5.html">main.cf</a> file must be small. PLEASE resist the
  30 temptation to list all parameters in the <a href="postconf.5.html">main.cf</a> file.  Postfix
  31 is supposed to be easy to configure. Listing all parameters in <a href="postconf.5.html">main.cf</a>
  32 defeats the purpose. It is an invitation for hobbyists to make
  33 random changes without understanding what they do, and gets them
  34 into endless trouble.  </p>
  35
  36 <h2>General distributions: please include README or HTML files</h2>
  37
  38 <p> Please provide the applicable README or HTML files. They are
  39 referenced by the Postfix manual pages and by other files.  Without
  40 README or HTML files, Postfix will be difficult if not impossible
  41 to configure. </p>
  42
  43 <h2>Postfix Installation parameters</h2>
  44
  45 <p> Postfix installation is controlled by a dozen installation
  46 parameters.  See the postfix-install and post-install files for
  47 details.  Most parameters have system-dependent default settings
  48 that are configurable at compile time, as described in the <a href="INSTALL.html">INSTALL</a>
  49 file. </p>
  50
  51 <h2>Preparing a pre-built package for distribution to other
  52 systems</h2>
  53
  54 <p> You can build a Postfix package on a machine that does not have
  55 Postfix installed on it. All you need is Postfix source code and
  56 a compilation environment that is compatible with the target system.
  57 </p>
  58
  59 <p> You can build a pre-built Postfix package as an unprivileged
  60 user. </p>
  61
  62 <p> First compile Postfix. After successful compilation, execute:
  63 </p>
  64
  65 <blockquote> <pre> % <b>make package</b> </pre>
  66 </blockquote>
  67
  68 <p> With Postfix versions before 2.2 you must invoke the post-install
  69 script directly (<tt>% <b>sh post-install</b></tt>). </p>
  70
  71 <p> You will be prompted for installation parameters.  Specify an
  72 install_root directory other than /.  The <a href="postconf.5.html#mail_owner">mail_owner</a> and <a href="postconf.5.html#setgid_group">setgid_group</a>
  73 installation parameter settings will be recorded in the <a href="postconf.5.html">main.cf</a>
  74 file, but they won't take effect until the package is unpacked and
  75 installed on the destination machine. </p>
  76
  77 <p> If you want to fully automate this process, specify all the
  78 non-default installation parameters on the command line: </p>
  79
  80 <blockquote>
  81 <pre> % <b>make non-interactive-package install_root=/some/where</b>...
  82 </pre> </blockquote>
  83
  84 <p> With Postfix versions before 2.2 you must invoke the post-install
  85 script directly (<tt>% <b>sh post-install -non-interactive
  86 install_root...</b></tt>). </p>
  87
  88 <h2>Begin Security Alert</h2>
  89
  90 <p> <b> When building an archive for distribution, be sure to
  91 archive only files and symbolic links, not their parent directories.
  92 Otherwise, unpacking a pre-built Postfix package may mess up
  93 permission and/or ownership of system directories such as / /etc
  94 /usr /usr/bin /var /var/spool and so on. This is especially an
  95 issue if you executed postfix-install (see above) as an unprivileged
  96 user. </b> </p>
  97
  98 <h2>End Security Alert</h2>
  99
 100 <p> Thus, to tar up the pre-built package, take the following steps:
 101 </p>
 102
 103 <blockquote> <pre>
 104 % cd INSTALL_ROOT
 105 % rm -f SOMEWHERE/outputfile
 106 % find . \! -type d -print | xargs tar rf SOMEWHERE/outputfile
 107 % gzip SOMEWHERE/outputfile </pre> </blockquote>
 108
 109 <p>This way you will not include any directories that might cause
 110 trouble upon extraction. </p>
 111
 112 <h2>Installing a pre-built Postfix package</h2>
 113
 114 <ul>
 115
 116 <li> <p> To unpack a pre-built Postfix package, execute the equivalent
 117 of: </p>
 118
 119 <pre>
 120 # umask 022
 121 # gzip -d &lt;outputfile.tar.gz | (cd / ; tar xvpf -) </pre>
 122
 123 <p> The umask command is necessary for getting the correct permissions
 124 on non-Postfix directories that need to be created in the process.
 125 </p>
 126
 127 <li> <p> Create the necessary <a href="postconf.5.html#mail_owner">mail_owner</a> account and <a href="postconf.5.html#setgid_group">setgid_group</a>
 128 group for exclusive use by Postfix. </p>
 129
 130 <li> <p> Execute the postfix command to set ownership and permission
 131 of Postfix files and directories, and to update Postfix configuration
 132 files. If necessary, specify any non-default settings for <a href="postconf.5.html#mail_owner">mail_owner</a>
 133 or <a href="postconf.5.html#setgid_group">setgid_group</a> on the postfix command line: </p>
 134
 135 <pre>
 136 # postfix set-permissions upgrade-configuration \
 137        <a href="postconf.5.html#setgid_group">setgid_group</a>=xxx <a href="postconf.5.html#mail_owner">mail_owner</a>=yyy
 138 </pre>
 139
 140 <p> With Postfix versions before 2.1 you achieve the same result
 141 by invoking the post-install script directly. </p>
 142
 143 </ul>
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