POSTMULTI(1) | POSTMULTI(1) |
postmulti -e init [-v]
ITERATOR MODE:
postmulti -l [-aRv] [-g group] [ -i name]
postmulti -p [-av] [-g group] [ -i name] command...
postmulti -x [-aRv] [-g group] [ -i name] command...
LIFE-CYCLE MANAGEMENT:
postmulti -e create [-av] [ -g group] [-i name] [-G group] [ -I name] [param=value ...]
postmulti -e import [-av] [ -g group] [-i name] [-G group] [ -I name] [config_directory=/path]
postmulti -e destroy [-v] -i name
postmulti -e deport [-v] -i name
postmulti -e enable [-v] -i name
postmulti -e disable [-v] -i name
postmulti -e assign [-v] -i name [ -I name] [-G group]
postmulti(1) implements two fundamental modes of operation. In iterator mode, it executes the same command for multiple Postfix instances. In life-cycle management mode, it adds or deletes one instance, or changes the multi-instance status of one instance.
Each mode of operation has its own command syntax. For this reason, each mode is documented in separate sections below.
Currently, only the default Postfix instance can be used as primary instance in a multi-instance configuration. The postmulti(1) command does not currently support a -c option to select an alternative primary instance, and exits with a fatal error if the MAIL_CONFIG environment variable is set to a non-default configuration directory.
See the MULTI_INSTANCE_README tutorial for a more detailed discussion of multi-instance management with postmulti(1).
If multi-instance support is not enabled, the requested command is performed just for the primary instance.
Iterator mode implements the following command options:
-a | Perform the operation on all instances. This is the default. |
-g group | Perform the operation only for members of the named group. |
-i name | Perform the operation only for the instance with the specified name. You can specify either the instance name or the absolute pathname of the instance's configuration directory. Specify "-" to select the primary Postfix instance. |
-R |
Reverse the iteration order. This may be appropriate when updating a multi-instance system, where "sink" instances are started before "source" instances. |
-l | List Postfix instances with their instance name, instance group name, enable/disable status and configuration directory. |
-p | Invoke postfix(1) to execute the specified command. This option implements the postfix-wrapper(5) interface. |
• | With "start"-like commands, "postfix check" is executed for instances that are not enabled. The full list of commands is specified with the postmulti_start_commands parameter. |
• | With "stop"-like commands, the iteration order is reversed, and disabled instances are skipped. The full list of commands is specified with the postmulti_stop_commands parameter. |
• | With "reload" and other commands that require a started instance, disabled instances are skipped. The full list of commands is specified with the postmulti_control_commands parameter. |
• | With "status" and other commands that don't require a started instance, the command is executed for all instances. |
The -p option can also be used interactively to start/stop/etc. a named instance or instance group. For example, to start just the instances in the group "msa", invoke postmulti(1) as follows: |
# postmulti -g msa -p start |
-x | Execute the specified command for all Postfix instances. The command runs with appropriate environment settings for MAIL_CONFIG, command_directory, daemon_directory, config_directory, queue_directory, data_directory, multi_instance_name, multi_instance_group and multi_instance_enable. |
-v | Enable verbose logging for debugging purposes. Multiple -v options make the software increasingly verbose. |
The following options are implemented:
-a | When creating or importing an instance, place the new instance at the front of the secondary instance list. |
-g group | When creating or importing an instance, place the new instance before the first secondary instance that is a member of the specified group. |
-i name |
When creating or importing an instance, place the new instance before the matching secondary instance. |
-I name | Assign the specified instance name to an existing instance, newly-created instance, or imported instance. Instance names other than "-" (which makes the instance "nameless") must start with "postfix-". This restriction reduces the likelihood of name collisions with system files. |
-G group | Assign the specified group name to an existing instance or to a newly created or imported instance. |
-e action | "Edit" managed instances. The following actions are supported: |
init | This command is required before postmulti(1) can be used to manage Postfix instances. The "postmulti -e init" command updates the primary instance's main.cf file by setting: |
multi_instance_wrapper = ${command_directory}/postmulti -p -- multi_instance_enable = yes |
You can set these by other means if you prefer. |
create |
Create a new Postfix instance and add it to the multi_instance_directories parameter of the primary instance. The " -I name" option is recommended to give the instance a short name that is used to construct default values for the private directories of the new instance. The " -G group" option may be specified to assign the instance to a group, otherwise, the new instance is not a member of any groups. |
# postmulti -I postfix-mumble \ -G mygroup -e create \ config_directory=/my/config/dir \ queue_directory=/my/queue/dir \ data_directory=/my/data/dir |
If any of these pathnames is not supplied, the program attempts to generate the pathname by taking the corresponding primary instance pathname, and by replacing the last pathname component by the value of the -I option. |
import | Import an existing instance into the list of instances managed by the postmulti(1) multi-instance manager. This adds the instance to the multi_instance_directories list of the primary instance. If the " -I name" option is provided it specifies the new name for the instance and is used to define a default location for the instance configuration directory (as with create above). The " -G group" option may be used to assign the instance to a group. Add a " config_directory=/path" argument to override a default pathname based on " -I name". |
destroy |
Destroy a secondary Postfix instance. To be a candidate for destruction an instance must be disabled, stopped and its queue must not contain any messages. Attempts to destroy the primary Postfix instance trigger a fatal error, without destroying the instance. |
deport | Deport a secondary instance from the list of managed instances. This deletes the instance configuration directory from the primary instance's multi_instance_directories list, but does not remove any files or directories. |
assign | Assign a new instance name or a new group name to the selected instance. Use " -G -" to specify "no group" and " -I -" to specify "no name". If you choose to make an instance "nameless", set a suitable syslog_name in the corresponding main.cf file. |
enable | Mark the selected instance as enabled. This just sets the multi_instance_enable parameter to "yes" in the instance's main.cf file. |
disable | Mark the selected instance as disabled. This means that the instance will not be started etc. with "postfix start", "postmulti -p start" and so on. The instance can still be started etc. with "postfix -c config-directory start". |
-v | Enable verbose logging for debugging purposes. Multiple -v options make the software increasingly verbose. |
MAIL_VERBOSE | This is set when the -v command-line option is present. |
MAIL_CONFIG | The location of the configuration directory of the instance. |
config_directory (see 'postconf -d' output) | The default location of the Postfix main.cf and master.cf configuration files. |
daemon_directory (see 'postconf -d' output) | The directory with Postfix support programs and daemon programs. |
import_environment (see 'postconf -d' output) | The list of environment parameters that a Postfix process will import from a non-Postfix parent process. |
multi_instance_directories (empty) | An optional list of non-default Postfix configuration directories; these directories belong to additional Postfix instances that share the Postfix executable files and documentation with the default Postfix instance, and that are started, stopped, etc., together with the default Postfix instance. |
multi_instance_group (empty) | The optional instance group name of this Postfix instance. |
multi_instance_name (empty) | The optional instance name of this Postfix instance. |
multi_instance_enable (no) | Allow this Postfix instance to be started, stopped, etc., by a multi-instance manager. |
postmulti_start_commands (start) | The postfix(1) commands that the postmulti(1) instance manager treats as "start" commands. |
postmulti_stop_commands (see 'postconf -d' output) | The postfix(1) commands that the postmulti(1) instance manager treats as "stop" commands. |
postmulti_control_commands (reload flush) | The postfix(1) commands that the postmulti(1) instance manager treats as "control" commands, that operate on running instances. |
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". |
Wietse Venema
IBM T.J. Watson Research
P.O. Box 704
Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA
August 25, 2011 |