postfix-master/aliases.5.html

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   7 ALIASES(5)                                                          ALIASES(5)
   8
   9 <b>NAME</b>
  10        aliases - Postfix local alias database format
  11
  12 <b>SYNOPSIS</b>
  13        <b>newaliases</b>
  14
  15 <b>DESCRIPTION</b>
  16        The  <a href="aliases.5.html"><b>aliases</b>(5)</a>  table provides a system-wide mechanism to
  17        redirect mail for local recipients. The  redirections  are
  18        processed by the Postfix <a href="local.8.html"><b>local</b>(8)</a> delivery agent.
  19
  20        Normally, the <a href="aliases.5.html"><b>aliases</b>(5)</a> table is specified as a text file
  21        that serves as input  to  the  <a href="postalias.1.html"><b>postalias</b>(1)</a>  command.  The
  22        result,  an  indexed file in <b>dbm</b> or <b>db</b> format, is used for
  23        fast lookup  by  the  mail  system.  Execute  the  command
  24        <b>newaliases</b>  in  order  to  rebuild  the indexed file after
  25        changing the Postfix alias database.
  26
  27        The input and output file formats are expected to be  com-
  28        patible  with  Sendmail  version 8, and are expected to be
  29        suitable for the use as NIS maps.
  30
  31        Users can control delivery of their own mail by setting up
  32        <b>.forward</b> files in their home directory.  Lines in per-user
  33        <b>.forward</b> files have the same syntax as the right-hand side
  34        of <a href="aliases.5.html"><b>aliases</b>(5)</a> entries.
  35
  36        The format of the alias database input file is as follows:
  37
  38        <b>o</b>      An alias definition has the form
  39
  40                    <i>name</i>: <i>value1</i>, <i>value2</i>, <i>...</i>
  41
  42        <b>o</b>      Empty lines and whitespace-only lines are  ignored,
  43               as  are  lines whose first non-whitespace character
  44               is a `#'.
  45
  46        <b>o</b>      A logical line starts with non-whitespace  text.  A
  47               line  that starts with whitespace continues a logi-
  48               cal line.
  49
  50        The <i>name</i> is a local address (no domain part).  Use  double
  51        quotes  when the name contains any special characters such
  52        as whitespace, `#', `:', or `@'. The  <i>name</i>  is  folded  to
  53        lowercase, in order to make database lookups case insensi-
  54        tive.
  55
  56        In addition, when an alias exists for <b>owner-</b><i>name</i>, delivery
  57        diagnostics  are  directed  to that address, instead of to
  58        the originator of the message.  This is typically used  to
  59        direct  delivery  errors  to  the  maintainer of a mailing
  60        list, who is in a better position  to  deal  with  mailing
  61        list delivery problems than the originator of the undeliv-
  62        ered mail.
  63
  64        The <i>value</i> contains one or more of the following:
  65
  66        <i>address</i>
  67               Mail is forwarded to <i>address</i>, which  is  compatible
  68               with the <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC 822</a> standard.
  69
  70        <i>/file/name</i>
  71               Mail  is  appended  to <i>/file/name</i>. See <a href="local.8.html"><b>local</b>(8)</a> for
  72               details of delivery to file.  Delivery is not  lim-
  73               ited  to regular files.  For example, to dispose of
  74               unwanted mail, deflect it to <b>/dev/null</b>.
  75
  76        |<i>command</i>
  77               Mail is piped into <i>command</i>. Commands  that  contain
  78               special  characters,  such as whitespace, should be
  79               enclosed between double quotes.  See  <a href="local.8.html"><b>local</b>(8)</a>  for
  80               details of delivery to command.
  81
  82               When the command fails, a limited amount of command
  83               output is mailed back  to  the  sender.   The  file
  84               <b>/usr/include/sysexits.h</b>  defines  the expected exit
  85               status codes. For example, use <b>"|exit 67"</b> to  simu-
  86               late  a  "user  unknown"  error,  and  <b>"|exit 0"</b> to
  87               implement an expensive black hole.
  88
  89        <b>:include:</b><i>/file/name</i>
  90               Mail is sent to  the  destinations  listed  in  the
  91               named file.  Lines in <b>:include:</b> files have the same
  92               syntax as the right-hand side of alias entries.
  93
  94               A  destination  can  be  any  destination  that  is
  95               described in this manual page. However, delivery to
  96               "|<i>command</i>" and <i>/file/name</i> is disallowed by default.
  97               To  enable,  edit  the  <b><a href="postconf.5.html#allow_mail_to_commands">allow_mail_to_commands</a></b>  and
  98               <b><a href="postconf.5.html#allow_mail_to_files">allow_mail_to_files</a></b> configuration parameters.
  99
 100 <b>ADDRESS EXTENSION</b>
 101        When alias database search fails, and the recipient local-
 102        part  contains  the  optional  recipient  delimiter (e.g.,
 103        <i>user+foo</i>), the  search  is  repeated  for  the  unextended
 104        address (e.g., <i>user</i>).
 105
 106        The   <b><a href="postconf.5.html#propagate_unmatched_extensions">propagate_unmatched_extensions</a></b>   parameter  controls
 107        whether an unmatched address extension  (<i>+foo</i>)  is  propa-
 108        gated to the result of table lookup.
 109
 110 <b>CASE FOLDING</b>
 111        The <a href="local.8.html">local(8)</a> delivery agent always folds the search string
 112        to lowercase before database lookup.
 113
 114 <b>SECURITY</b>
 115        The <a href="local.8.html"><b>local</b>(8)</a> delivery agent disallows  regular  expression
 116        substitution  of $1 etc. in <b><a href="postconf.5.html#alias_maps">alias_maps</a></b>, because that would
 117        open a security hole.
 118
 119        The <a href="local.8.html"><b>local</b>(8)</a> delivery agent will silently ignore  requests
 120        to  use  the <a href="proxymap.8.html"><b>proxymap</b>(8)</a> server within <b><a href="postconf.5.html#alias_maps">alias_maps</a></b>. Instead
 121        it will open the table directly.  Before  Postfix  version
 122        2.2,  the  <a href="local.8.html"><b>local</b>(8)</a>  delivery  agent will terminate with a
 123        fatal error.
 124
 125 <b>CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS</b>
 126        The following <a href="postconf.5.html"><b>main.cf</b></a> parameters are especially  relevant.
 127        The  text  below  provides  only  a parameter summary. See
 128        <a href="postconf.5.html"><b>postconf</b>(5)</a> for more details including examples.
 129
 130        <b><a href="postconf.5.html#alias_database">alias_database</a></b>
 131               List of alias databases that  are  updated  by  the
 132               <a href="newaliases.1.html"><b>newaliases</b>(1)</a> command.
 133
 134        <b><a href="postconf.5.html#alias_maps">alias_maps</a></b>
 135               List  of  alias  databases  queried by the <a href="local.8.html"><b>local</b>(8)</a>
 136               delivery agent.
 137
 138        <b><a href="postconf.5.html#allow_mail_to_commands">allow_mail_to_commands</a></b>
 139               Restrict the usage of  mail  delivery  to  external
 140               command.
 141
 142        <b><a href="postconf.5.html#allow_mail_to_files">allow_mail_to_files</a></b>
 143               Restrict  the  usage  of  mail delivery to external
 144               file.
 145
 146        <b><a href="postconf.5.html#expand_owner_alias">expand_owner_alias</a></b>
 147               When delivering to an alias that has an <b>owner-</b> com-
 148               panion  alias,  set  the envelope sender address to
 149               the right-hand side of  the  owner  alias,  instead
 150               using of the left-hand side address.
 151
 152        <b><a href="postconf.5.html#propagate_unmatched_extensions">propagate_unmatched_extensions</a></b>
 153               A  list  of  address rewriting or forwarding mecha-
 154               nisms that propagate an address extension from  the
 155               original  address  to  the  result. Specify zero or
 156               more  of  <b>canonical</b>,   <b>virtual</b>,   <b>alias</b>,   <b>forward</b>,
 157               <b>include</b>, or <b>generic</b>.
 158
 159        <b><a href="postconf.5.html#owner_request_special">owner_request_special</a></b>
 160               Give  special treatment to <b>owner-</b><i>listname</i> and <i>list-</i>
 161               <i>name</i><b>-request</b> addresses.
 162
 163        <b><a href="postconf.5.html#recipient_delimiter">recipient_delimiter</a></b>
 164               Delimiter that separates  recipients  from  address
 165               extensions.
 166
 167        Available in Postfix version 2.3 and later:
 168
 169        <b><a href="postconf.5.html#frozen_delivered_to">frozen_delivered_to</a></b>
 170               Update  the <a href="local.8.html">local(8)</a> delivery agent's Delivered-To:
 171               address (see <a href="postconf.5.html#prepend_delivered_header">prepend_delivered_header</a>)  only  once,
 172               at  the  start  of  a  delivery;  do not update the
 173               Delivered-To: address while  expanding  aliases  or
 174               .forward files.
 175
 176 <b>STANDARDS</b>
 177        <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC 822</a> (ARPA Internet Text Messages)
 178
 179 <b>SEE ALSO</b>
 180        <a href="local.8.html">local(8)</a>, local delivery agent
 181        <a href="newaliases.1.html">newaliases(1)</a>, create/update alias database
 182        <a href="postalias.1.html">postalias(1)</a>, create/update alias database
 183        <a href="postconf.5.html">postconf(5)</a>, configuration parameters
 184
 185 <b>README FILES</b>
 186        <a href="DATABASE_README.html">DATABASE_README</a>, Postfix lookup table overview
 187
 188 <b>LICENSE</b>
 189        The Secure Mailer license must be  distributed  with  this
 190        software.
 191
 192 <b>AUTHOR(S)</b>
 193        Wietse Venema
 194        IBM T.J. Watson Research
 195        P.O. Box 704
 196        Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA
 197
 198                                                                     ALIASES(5)
 199 </pre> </body> </html>