SENDMAIL(8) SENDMAIL(8)
NNAAMMEE
sendmail - an electronic mail transport agent
SSYYNNOOPPSSIISS
sseennddmmaaiill [_f_l_a_g_s] [_a_d_d_r_e_s_s _._._.]
nneewwaalliiaasseess
mmaaiillqq [--vv]
hhoossttssttaatt
ppuurrggeessttaatt
ssmmttppdd
DDEESSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONN
SSeennddmmaaiill sends a message to one or more _r_e_c_i_p_i_e_n_t_s_, routing the message
over whatever networks are necessary. SSeennddmmaaiill does internetwork for-
warding as necessary to deliver the message to the correct place.
SSeennddmmaaiill is not intended as a user interface routine; other programs
provide user-friendly front ends; sseennddmmaaiill is used only to deliver pre-
formatted messages.
With no flags, sseennddmmaaiill reads its standard input up to an end-of-file
or a line consisting only of a single dot and sends a copy of the mes-
sage found there to all of the addresses listed. It determines the
network(s) to use based on the syntax and contents of the addresses.
Local addresses are looked up in a file and aliased appropriately.
Aliasing can be prevented by preceding the address with a backslash.
Beginning with 8.10, the sender is included in any alias expansions,
e.g., if `john' sends to `group', and `group' includes `john' in the
expansion, then the letter will also be delivered to `john'.
PPaarraammeetteerrss
--AAcc Use submit.cf even if the operation mode does not indicate an
initial mail submission.
--AAmm Use sendmail.cf even if the operation mode indicates an initial
mail submission.
--BB_t_y_p_e Set the body type to _t_y_p_e. Current legal values are 7BIT or
8BITMIME.
--bbaa Go into ARPANET mode. All input lines must end with a CR-LF,
and all messages will be generated with a CR-LF at the end.
Also, the ``From:'' and ``Sender:'' fields are examined for the
name of the sender.
--bbdd Run as a daemon. SSeennddmmaaiill will fork and run in background lis-
tening on socket 25 for incoming SMTP connections. This is nor-
mally run from /etc/rc.
--bbDD Same as --bbdd except runs in foreground.
--bbhh Print the persistent host status database.
--bbHH Purge expired entries from the persistent host status database.
--bbii Initialize the alias database.
--bbmm Deliver mail in the usual way (default).
--bbpp Print a listing of the queue(s).
--bbPP Print number of entries in the queue(s); only available with
shared memory support.
--bbss Use the SMTP protocol as described in RFC821 on standard input
and output. This flag implies all the operations of the --bbaa
flag that are compatible with SMTP.
--bbtt Run in address test mode. This mode reads addresses and shows
the steps in parsing; it is used for debugging configuration
tables.
--bbvv Verify names only - do not try to collect or deliver a message.
Verify mode is normally used for validating users or mailing
lists.
--CC_f_i_l_e Use alternate configuration file. SSeennddmmaaiill gives up any
enhanced (set-user-ID or set-group-ID) privileges if an alter-
nate configuration file is specified.
--DD _l_o_g_f_i_l_e
Send debugging output to the indicated log file instead of std-
out.
--dd_c_a_t_e_g_o_r_y.._l_e_v_e_l_._._.
Set the debugging flag for _c_a_t_e_g_o_r_y to _l_e_v_e_l. _C_a_t_e_g_o_r_y is
either an integer or a name specifying the topic, and _l_e_v_e_l an
integer specifying the level of debugging output desired.
Higher levels generally mean more output. More than one flag
can be specified by separating them with commas. A list of
numeric debugging categories can be found in the TRACEFLAGS file
in the sendmail source distribution.
The option --dd00..11 prints the version of sseennddmmaaiill and the options
it was compiled with.
Most other categories are only useful with, and documented in,
sseennddmmaaiill's source code.
--FF_f_u_l_l_n_a_m_e
Set the full name of the sender.
--ff_n_a_m_e Sets the name of the ``from'' person (i.e., the envelope sender
of the mail). This address may also be used in the From: header
if that header is missing during initial submission. The enve-
lope sender address is used as the recipient for delivery status
notifications and may also appear in a Return-Path: header. --ff
should only be used by ``trusted'' users (normally _r_o_o_t, _d_a_e_m_o_n,
and _n_e_t_w_o_r_k) or if the person you are trying to become is the
same as the person you are. Otherwise, an X-Authentication-
Warning header will be added to the message.
--GG Relay (gateway) submission of a message, e.g., when rrmmaaiill calls
sseennddmmaaiill ..
--hh_N Set the hop count to _N. The hop count is incremented every time
the mail is processed. When it reaches a limit, the mail is
returned with an error message, the victim of an aliasing loop.
If not specified, ``Received:'' lines in the message are
counted.
--ii Do not strip a leading dot from lines in incoming messages, and
do not treat a dot on a line by itself as the end of an incoming
message. This should be set if you are reading data from a
file.
--LL _t_a_g Set the identifier used in syslog messages to the supplied _t_a_g.
--NN _d_s_n Set delivery status notification conditions to _d_s_n, which can be
`never' for no notifications or a comma separated list of the
values `failure' to be notified if delivery failed, `delay' to
be notified if delivery is delayed, and `success' to be notified
when the message is successfully delivered.
--nn Don't do aliasing.
--OO _o_p_t_i_o_n=_v_a_l_u_e
Set option _o_p_t_i_o_n to the specified _v_a_l_u_e. This form uses long
names. See below for more details.
--oo_x _v_a_l_u_e
Set option _x to the specified _v_a_l_u_e. This form uses single
character names only. The short names are not described in this
manual page; see the _S_e_n_d_m_a_i_l _I_n_s_t_a_l_l_a_t_i_o_n _a_n_d _O_p_e_r_a_t_i_o_n _G_u_i_d_e
for details.
--pp_p_r_o_t_o_c_o_l
Set the name of the protocol used to receive the message. This
can be a simple protocol name such as ``UUCP'' or a protocol and
hostname, such as ``UUCP:ucbvax''.
--qq[_t_i_m_e]
Process saved messages in the queue at given intervals. If _t_i_m_e
is omitted, process the queue once. _T_i_m_e is given as a tagged
number, with `s' being seconds, `m' being minutes (default), `h'
being hours, `d' being days, and `w' being weeks. For example,
`-q1h30m' or `-q90m' would both set the timeout to one hour
thirty minutes. By default, sseennddmmaaiill will run in the back-
ground. This option can be used safely with --bbdd.
--qqpp[_t_i_m_e]
Similar to --qq_t_i_m_e, except that instead of periodically forking a
child to process the queue, sendmail forks a single persistent
child for each queue that alternates between processing the
queue and sleeping. The sleep time is given as the argument; it
defaults to 1 second. The process will always sleep at least 5
seconds if the queue was empty in the previous queue run.
--qqf Process saved messages in the queue once and do not fork(), but
run in the foreground.
--qqG_n_a_m_e
Process jobs in queue group called _n_a_m_e only.
--qq[_!]I_s_u_b_s_t_r
Limit processed jobs to those containing _s_u_b_s_t_r as a substring
of the queue id or not when _! is specified.
--qq[_!]Q_s_u_b_s_t_r
Limit processed jobs to quarantined jobs containing _s_u_b_s_t_r as a
substring of the quarantine reason or not when _! is specified.
--qq[_!]R_s_u_b_s_t_r
Limit processed jobs to those containing _s_u_b_s_t_r as a substring
of one of the recipients or not when _! is specified.
--qq[_!]S_s_u_b_s_t_r
Limit processed jobs to those containing _s_u_b_s_t_r as a substring
of the sender or not when _! is specified.
--QQ[reason]
Quarantine a normal queue items with the given reason or unquar-
antine quarantined queue items if no reason is given. This
should only be used with some sort of item matching using as
described above.
--RR _r_e_t_u_r_n
Set the amount of the message to be returned if the message
bounces. The _r_e_t_u_r_n parameter can be `full' to return the
entire message or `hdrs' to return only the headers. In the
latter case also local bounces return only the headers.
--rr_n_a_m_e An alternate and obsolete form of the --ff flag.
--tt Read message for recipients. To:, Cc:, and Bcc: lines will be
scanned for recipient addresses. The Bcc: line will be deleted
before transmission.
--VV _e_n_v_i_d
Set the original envelope id. This is propagated across SMTP to
servers that support DSNs and is returned in DSN-compliant error
messages.
--vv Go into verbose mode. Alias expansions will be announced, etc.
--XX _l_o_g_f_i_l_e
Log all traffic in and out of mailers in the indicated log file.
This should only be used as a last resort for debugging mailer
bugs. It will log a lot of data very quickly.
---- Stop processing command flags and use the rest of the arguments
as addresses.
OOppttiioonnss
There are also a number of processing options that may be set. Nor-
mally these will only be used by a system administrator. Options may
be set either on the command line using the --oo flag (for short names),
the --OO flag (for long names), or in the configuration file. This is a
partial list limited to those options that are likely to be useful on
the command line and only shows the long names; for a complete list
(and details), consult the _S_e_n_d_m_a_i_l _I_n_s_t_a_l_l_a_t_i_o_n _a_n_d _O_p_e_r_a_t_i_o_n _G_u_i_d_e.
The options are:
AliasFile=_f_i_l_e
Use alternate alias file.
HoldExpensive
On mailers that are considered ``expensive'' to connect to,
don't initiate immediate connection. This requires queueing.
CheckpointInterval=_N
Checkpoint the queue file after every _N successful deliveries
(default 10). This avoids excessive duplicate deliveries when
sending to long mailing lists interrupted by system crashes.
DeliveryMode=_x
Set the delivery mode to _x. Delivery modes are `i' for interac-
tive (synchronous) delivery, `b' for background (asynchronous)
delivery, `q' for queue only - i.e., actual delivery is done the
next time the queue is run, and `d' for deferred - the same as
`q' except that database lookups for maps which have set the -D
option (default for the host map) are avoided.
ErrorMode=_x
Set error processing to mode _x. Valid modes are `m' to mail
back the error message, `w' to ``write'' back the error message
(or mail it back if the sender is not logged in), `p' to print
the errors on the terminal (default), `q' to throw away error
messages (only exit status is returned), and `e' to do special
processing for the BerkNet. If the text of the message is not
mailed back by modes `m' or `w' and if the sender is local to
this machine, a copy of the message is appended to the file
_d_e_a_d_._l_e_t_t_e_r in the sender's home directory.
SaveFromLine
Save UNIX-style From lines at the front of messages.
MaxHopCount=_N
The maximum number of times a message is allowed to ``hop''
before we decide it is in a loop.
IgnoreDots
Do not take dots on a line by themselves as a message termina-
tor.
SendMimeErrors
Send error messages in MIME format. If not set, the DSN (Deliv-
ery Status Notification) SMTP extension is disabled.
ConnectionCacheTimeout=_t_i_m_e_o_u_t
Set connection cache timeout.
ConnectionCacheSize=_N
Set connection cache size.
LogLevel=_n
The log level.
MeToo=_F_a_l_s_e
Don't send to ``me'' (the sender) if I am in an alias expansion.
CheckAliases
Validate the right hand side of aliases during a newaliases(1)
command.
OldStyleHeaders
If set, this message may have old style headers. If not set,
this message is guaranteed to have new style headers (i.e., com-
mas instead of spaces between addresses). If set, an adaptive
algorithm is used that will correctly determine the header for-
mat in most cases.
QueueDirectory=_q_u_e_u_e_d_i_r
Select the directory in which to queue messages.
StatusFile=_f_i_l_e
Save statistics in the named file.
Timeout.queuereturn=_t_i_m_e
Set the timeout on undelivered messages in the queue to the
specified time. After delivery has failed (e.g., because of a
host being down) for this amount of time, failed messages will
be returned to the sender. The default is five days.
UserDatabaseSpec=_u_s_e_r_d_a_t_a_b_a_s_e
If set, a user database is consulted to get forwarding informa-
tion. You can consider this an adjunct to the aliasing mecha-
nism, except that the database is intended to be distributed;
aliases are local to a particular host. This may not be avail-
able if your sendmail does not have the USERDB option compiled
in.
ForkEachJob
Fork each job during queue runs. May be convenient on memory-
poor machines.
SevenBitInput
Strip incoming messages to seven bits.
EightBitMode=_m_o_d_e
Set the handling of eight bit input to seven bit destinations to
_m_o_d_e: m (mimefy) will convert to seven-bit MIME format, p (pass)
will pass it as eight bits (but violates protocols), and s
(strict) will bounce the message.
MinQueueAge=_t_i_m_e_o_u_t
Sets how long a job must ferment in the queue between attempts
to send it.
DefaultCharSet=_c_h_a_r_s_e_t
Sets the default character set used to label 8-bit data that is
not otherwise labelled.
DialDelay=_s_l_e_e_p_t_i_m_e
If opening a connection fails, sleep for _s_l_e_e_p_t_i_m_e seconds and
try again. Useful on dial-on-demand sites.
NoRecipientAction=_a_c_t_i_o_n
Set the behaviour when there are no recipient headers (To:, Cc:
or Bcc:) in the message to _a_c_t_i_o_n: none leaves the message
unchanged, add-to adds a To: header with the envelope recipi-
ents, add-apparently-to adds an Apparently-To: header with the
envelope recipients, add-bcc adds an empty Bcc: header, and add-
to-undisclosed adds a header reading `To: undisclosed-recipi-
ents:;'.
MaxDaemonChildren=_N
Sets the maximum number of children that an incoming SMTP daemon
will allow to spawn at any time to _N.
ConnectionRateThrottle=_N
Sets the maximum number of connections per second to the SMTP
port to _N.
In aliases, the first character of a name may be a vertical bar to
cause interpretation of the rest of the name as a command to pipe the
mail to. It may be necessary to quote the name to keep sseennddmmaaiill from
suppressing the blanks from between arguments. For example, a common
alias is:
msgs: "|/usr/bin/msgs -s"
Aliases may also have the syntax ``:include:_f_i_l_e_n_a_m_e'' to ask sseennddmmaaiill
to read the named file for a list of recipients. For example, an alias
such as:
poets: ":include:/usr/local/lib/poets.list"
would read _/_u_s_r_/_l_o_c_a_l_/_l_i_b_/_p_o_e_t_s_._l_i_s_t for the list of addresses making
up the group.
SSeennddmmaaiill returns an exit status describing what it did. The codes are
defined in <_s_y_s_e_x_i_t_s_._h>:
EX_OK Successful completion on all addresses.
EX_NOUSER
User name not recognized.
EX_UNAVAILABLE
Catchall meaning necessary resources were not available.
EX_SYNTAX
Syntax error in address.
EX_SOFTWARE
Internal software error, including bad arguments.
EX_OSERR
Temporary operating system error, such as ``cannot fork''.
EX_NOHOST
Host name not recognized.
EX_TEMPFAIL
Message could not be sent immediately, but was queued.
If invoked as nneewwaalliiaasseess, sseennddmmaaiill will rebuild the alias database. If
invoked as mmaaiillqq, sseennddmmaaiill will print the contents of the mail queue.
If invoked as hhoossttssttaatt, sseennddmmaaiill will print the persistent host status
database. If invoked as ppuurrggeessttaatt, sseennddmmaaiill will purge expired entries
from the persistent host status database. If invoked as ssmmttppdd, sseenndd--
mmaaiill will act as a daemon, as if the --bbdd option were specified.
NNOOTTEESS
sseennddmmaaiill often gets blamed for many problems that are actually the
result of other problems, such as overly permissive modes on directo-
ries. For this reason, sseennddmmaaiill checks the modes on system directories
and files to determine if they can be trusted. Although these checks
can be turned off and your system security reduced by setting the DDoonntt--
BBllaammeeSSeennddmmaaiill option, the permission problems should be fixed. For
more information, see:
_h_t_t_p_:_/_/_w_w_w_._s_e_n_d_m_a_i_l_._o_r_g_/_t_i_p_s_/_D_o_n_t_B_l_a_m_e_S_e_n_d_m_a_i_l_._h_t_m_l
FFIILLEESS
Except for the file _/_e_t_c_/_m_a_i_l_/_s_e_n_d_m_a_i_l_._c_f itself the following path-
names are all specified in _/_e_t_c_/_m_a_i_l_/_s_e_n_d_m_a_i_l_._c_f. Thus, these values
are only approximations.
raw data for alias names
data base of alias names
configuration file
help file
collected statistics
temp files
SSEEEE AALLSSOO
binmail(1), mail(1), rmail(1), syslog(3), aliases(5), mailaddr(7),
rc(8)
DARPA Internet Request For Comments _R_F_C_8_1_9, _R_F_C_8_2_1, _R_F_C_8_2_2. _S_e_n_d_m_a_i_l
_I_n_s_t_a_l_l_a_t_i_o_n _a_n_d _O_p_e_r_a_t_i_o_n _G_u_i_d_e, No. 8, SMM.
US Patent Numbers 6865671, 6986037.
HHIISSTTOORRYY
The sseennddmmaaiill command appeared in 4.2BSD.
$Date: 2013-11-22 20:51:56 $ SENDMAIL(8)