Import Upstream version 4.89
[hcoop/debian/exim4.git] / doc / exim.8
1 .TH EXIM 8
2 .SH NAME
3 exim \- a Mail Transfer Agent
4 .SH SYNOPSIS
5 .nf
6 .B exim [options] arguments ...
7 .B mailq [options] arguments ...
8 .B rsmtp [options] arguments ...
9 .B rmail [options] arguments ...
10 .B runq [options] arguments ...
11 .B newaliases [options] arguments ...
12 .fi
13 .
14 .SH DESCRIPTION
15 .rs
16 .sp
17 Exim is a mail transfer agent (MTA) developed at the University of Cambridge.
18 It is a large program with very many facilities. For a full specification, see
19 the reference manual. This man page contains only a description of the command
20 line options. It has been automatically generated from the reference manual
21 source, hopefully without too much mangling.
22 .P
23 Like other MTAs, Exim replaces Sendmail, and is normally called by user agents
24 (MUAs) using the path \fI/usr/sbin/sendmail\fP when they submit messages for
25 delivery (some operating systems use \fI/usr/lib/sendmail\fP). This path is
26 normally set up as a symbolic link to the Exim binary. It may also be used by
27 boot scripts to start the Exim daemon. Many of Exim's command line options are
28 compatible with Sendmail so that it can act as a drop-in replacement.
29 .
30 .SH "DEFAULT ACTION"
31 .rs
32 .sp
33 If no options are present that require a specific action (such as starting the
34 daemon or a queue runner, testing an address, receiving a message in a specific
35 format, or listing the queue), and there are no arguments on the command line,
36 Exim outputs a brief message about itself and exits.
37 .sp
38 However, if there is at least one command line argument, \fB-bm\fR (accept a
39 local message on the standard input, with the arguments specifying the
40 recipients) is assumed. Thus, for example, if Exim is installed in
41 \fI/usr/sbin\fP, you can send a message from the command line like this:
42 .sp
43 /usr/sbin/exim -i <recipient-address(es)>
44 <message content, including all the header lines>
45 CTRL-D
46 .sp
47 The \fB-i\fP option prevents a line containing just a dot from terminating
48 the message. Only an end-of-file (generated by typing CTRL-D if the input is
49 from a terminal) does so.
50 .
51 .SH "SETTING OPTIONS BY PROGRAM NAME"
52 .rs
53 .sp
54 If an Exim binary is called using one of the names listed in this section
55 (typically via a symbolic link), certain options are assumed.
56 .TP
57 \fBmailq\fR
58 Behave as if the option \fB\-bp\fP were present before any other options.
59 The \fB\-bp\fP option requests a listing of the contents of the mail queue
60 on the standard output.
61 .TP
62 \fBrsmtp\fR
63 Behaves as if the option \fB\-bS\fP were present before any other options,
64 for compatibility with Smail. The \fB\-bS\fP option is used for reading in a
65 number of messages in batched SMTP format.
66 .TP
67 \fBrmail\fR
68 Behave as if the \fB\-i\fP and \fB\-oee\fP options were present before
69 any other options, for compatibility with Smail. The name \fBrmail\fR is used
70 as an interface by some UUCP systems. The \fB\-i\fP option specifies that a
71 dot on a line by itself does not terminate a non\-SMTP message; \fB\-oee\fP
72 requests that errors detected in non\-SMTP messages be reported by emailing
73 the sender.
74 .TP
75 \fBrunq\fR
76 Behave as if the option \fB\-q\fP were present before any other options, for
77 compatibility with Smail. The \fB\-q\fP option causes a single queue runner
78 process to be started. It processes the queue once, then exits.
79 .TP
80 \fBnewaliases\fR
81 Behave as if the option \fB\-bi\fP were present before any other options,
82 for compatibility with Sendmail. This option is used for rebuilding Sendmail's
83 alias file. Exim does not have the concept of a single alias file, but can be
84 configured to run a specified command if called with the \fB\-bi\fP option.
85 .
86 .SH "OPTIONS"
87 .rs
88 .TP 10
89 \fB\-\-\fP
90 This is a pseudo\-option whose only purpose is to terminate the options and
91 therefore to cause subsequent command line items to be treated as arguments
92 rather than options, even if they begin with hyphens.
93 .TP 10
94 \fB\-\-help\fP
95 This option causes Exim to output a few sentences stating what it is.
96 The same output is generated if the Exim binary is called with no options and
97 no arguments.
98 .TP 10
99 \fB\-\-version\fP
100 This option is an alias for \fB\-bV\fP and causes version information to be
101 displayed.
102 .TP 10
103 \fB\-Ac\fP
104 \fB\-Am\fP
105 These options are used by Sendmail for selecting configuration files and are
106 ignored by Exim.
107 .TP 10
108 \fB\-B\fP<\fItype\fP>
109 This is a Sendmail option for selecting 7 or 8 bit processing. Exim is 8\-bit
110 clean; it ignores this option.
111 .TP 10
112 \fB\-bd\fP
113 This option runs Exim as a daemon, awaiting incoming SMTP connections. Usually
114 the \fB\-bd\fP option is combined with the \fB\-q\fP<\fItime\fP> option, to specify
115 that the daemon should also initiate periodic queue runs.
116 .sp
117 The \fB\-bd\fP option can be used only by an admin user. If either of the \fB\-d\fP
118 (debugging) or \fB\-v\fP (verifying) options are set, the daemon does not
119 disconnect from the controlling terminal. When running this way, it can be
120 stopped by pressing ctrl\-C.
121 .sp
122 By default, Exim listens for incoming connections to the standard SMTP port on
123 all the host's running interfaces. However, it is possible to listen on other
124 ports, on multiple ports, and only on specific interfaces.
125 .sp
126 When a listening daemon
127 is started without the use of \fB\-oX\fP (that is, without overriding the normal
128 configuration), it writes its process id to a file called exim\-daemon.pid
129 in Exim's spool directory. This location can be overridden by setting
130 PID_FILE_PATH in Local/Makefile. The file is written while Exim is still
131 running as root.
132 .sp
133 When \fB\-oX\fP is used on the command line to start a listening daemon, the
134 process id is not written to the normal pid file path. However, \fB\-oP\fP can be
135 used to specify a path on the command line if a pid file is required.
136 .sp
137 The SIGHUP signal
138 can be used to cause the daemon to re\-execute itself. This should be done
139 whenever Exim's configuration file, or any file that is incorporated into it by
140 means of the \fB.include\fP facility, is changed, and also whenever a new version
141 of Exim is installed. It is not necessary to do this when other files that are
142 referenced from the configuration (for example, alias files) are changed,
143 because these are reread each time they are used.
144 .TP 10
145 \fB\-bdf\fP
146 This option has the same effect as \fB\-bd\fP except that it never disconnects
147 from the controlling terminal, even when no debugging is specified.
148 .TP 10
149 \fB\-be\fP
150 Run Exim in expansion testing mode. Exim discards its root privilege, to
151 prevent ordinary users from using this mode to read otherwise inaccessible
152 files. If no arguments are given, Exim runs interactively, prompting for lines
153 of data. Otherwise, it processes each argument in turn.
154 .sp
155 If Exim was built with USE_READLINE=yes in Local/Makefile, it tries
156 to load the \fBlibreadline\fP library dynamically whenever the \fB\-be\fP option is
157 used without command line arguments. If successful, it uses the readline()
158 function, which provides extensive line\-editing facilities, for reading the
159 test data. A line history is supported.
160 .sp
161 Long expansion expressions can be split over several lines by using backslash
162 continuations. As in Exim's run time configuration, white space at the start of
163 continuation lines is ignored. Each argument or data line is passed through the
164 string expansion mechanism, and the result is output. Variable values from the
165 configuration file (for example, \fI$qualify_domain\fP) are available, but no
166 message\-specific values (such as \fI$message_exim_id\fP) are set, because no message
167 is being processed (but see \fB\-bem\fP and \fB\-Mset\fP).
168 .sp
169 \fBNote\fP: If you use this mechanism to test lookups, and you change the data
170 files or databases you are using, you must exit and restart Exim before trying
171 the same lookup again. Otherwise, because each Exim process caches the results
172 of lookups, you will just get the same result as before.
173 .TP 10
174 \fB\-bem\fP <\fIfilename\fP>
175 This option operates like \fB\-be\fP except that it must be followed by the name
176 of a file. For example:
177 .sp
178 exim \-bem /tmp/testmessage
179 .sp
180 The file is read as a message (as if receiving a locally\-submitted non\-SMTP
181 message) before any of the test expansions are done. Thus, message\-specific
182 variables such as \fI$message_size\fP and \fI$header_from:\fP are available. However,
183 no \fIReceived:\fP header is added to the message. If the \fB\-t\fP option is set,
184 recipients are read from the headers in the normal way, and are shown in the
185 \fI$recipients\fP variable. Note that recipients cannot be given on the command
186 line, because further arguments are taken as strings to expand (just like
187 \fB\-be\fP).
188 .TP 10
189 \fB\-bF\fP <\fIfilename\fP>
190 This option is the same as \fB\-bf\fP except that it assumes that the filter being
191 tested is a system filter. The additional commands that are available only in
192 system filters are recognized.
193 .TP 10
194 \fB\-bf\fP <\fIfilename\fP>
195 This option runs Exim in user filter testing mode; the file is the filter file
196 to be tested, and a test message must be supplied on the standard input. If
197 there are no message\-dependent tests in the filter, an empty file can be
198 supplied.
199 .sp
200 If you want to test a system filter file, use \fB\-bF\fP instead of \fB\-bf\fP. You
201 can use both \fB\-bF\fP and \fB\-bf\fP on the same command, in order to test a system
202 filter and a user filter in the same run. For example:
203 .sp
204 exim \-bF /system/filter \-bf /user/filter </test/message
205 .sp
206 This is helpful when the system filter adds header lines or sets filter
207 variables that are used by the user filter.
208 .sp
209 If the test filter file does not begin with one of the special lines
210 .sp
211 # Exim filter
212 # Sieve filter
213 .sp
214 it is taken to be a normal .forward file, and is tested for validity under
215 that interpretation.
216 .sp
217 The result of an Exim command that uses \fB\-bf\fP, provided no errors are
218 detected, is a list of the actions that Exim would try to take if presented
219 with the message for real. More details of filter testing are given in the
220 separate document entitled \fIExim's interfaces to mail filtering\fP.
221 .sp
222 When testing a filter file,
223 the envelope sender can be set by the \fB\-f\fP option,
224 or by a "From " line at the start of the test message. Various parameters
225 that would normally be taken from the envelope recipient address of the message
226 can be set by means of additional command line options (see the next four
227 options).
228 .TP 10
229 \fB\-bfd\fP <\fIdomain\fP>
230 This sets the domain of the recipient address when a filter file is being
231 tested by means of the \fB\-bf\fP option. The default is the value of
232 \fI$qualify_domain\fP.
233 .TP 10
234 \fB\-bfl\fP <\fIlocal part\fP>
235 This sets the local part of the recipient address when a filter file is being
236 tested by means of the \fB\-bf\fP option. The default is the username of the
237 process that calls Exim. A local part should be specified with any prefix or
238 suffix stripped, because that is how it appears to the filter when a message is
239 actually being delivered.
240 .TP 10
241 \fB\-bfp\fP <\fIprefix\fP>
242 This sets the prefix of the local part of the recipient address when a filter
243 file is being tested by means of the \fB\-bf\fP option. The default is an empty
244 prefix.
245 .TP 10
246 \fB\-bfs\fP <\fIsuffix\fP>
247 This sets the suffix of the local part of the recipient address when a filter
248 file is being tested by means of the \fB\-bf\fP option. The default is an empty
249 suffix.
250 .TP 10
251 \fB\-bh\fP <\fIIP address\fP>
252 This option runs a fake SMTP session as if from the given IP address, using the
253 standard input and output. The IP address may include a port number at the end,
254 after a full stop. For example:
255 .sp
256 exim \-bh 10.9.8.7.1234
257 exim \-bh fe80::a00:20ff:fe86:a061.5678
258 .sp
259 When an IPv6 address is given, it is converted into canonical form. In the case
260 of the second example above, the value of \fI$sender_host_address\fP after
261 conversion to the canonical form is
262 fe80:0000:0000:0a00:20ff:fe86:a061.5678.
263 .sp
264 Comments as to what is going on are written to the standard error file. These
265 include lines beginning with "LOG" for anything that would have been logged.
266 This facility is provided for testing configuration options for incoming
267 messages, to make sure they implement the required policy. For example, you can
268 test your relay controls using \fB\-bh\fP.
269 .sp
270 \fBWarning 1\fP:
271 You can test features of the configuration that rely on ident (RFC 1413)
272 information by using the \fB\-oMt\fP option. However, Exim cannot actually perform
273 an ident callout when testing using \fB\-bh\fP because there is no incoming SMTP
274 connection.
275 .sp
276 \fBWarning 2\fP: Address verification callouts
277 are also skipped when testing using \fB\-bh\fP. If you want these callouts to
278 occur, use \fB\-bhc\fP instead.
279 .sp
280 Messages supplied during the testing session are discarded, and nothing is
281 written to any of the real log files. There may be pauses when DNS (and other)
282 lookups are taking place, and of course these may time out. The \fB\-oMi\fP option
283 can be used to specify a specific IP interface and port if this is important,
284 and \fB\-oMaa\fP and \fB\-oMai\fP can be used to set parameters as if the SMTP
285 session were authenticated.
286 .sp
287 The \fIexim_checkaccess\fP utility is a "packaged" version of \fB\-bh\fP whose
288 output just states whether a given recipient address from a given host is
289 acceptable or not.
290 .sp
291 Features such as authentication and encryption, where the client input is not
292 plain text, cannot easily be tested with \fB\-bh\fP. Instead, you should use a
293 specialized SMTP test program such as
294 \fBswaks\fP.
295 .TP 10
296 \fB\-bhc\fP <\fIIP address\fP>
297 This option operates in the same way as \fB\-bh\fP, except that address
298 verification callouts are performed if required. This includes consulting and
299 updating the callout cache database.
300 .TP 10
301 \fB\-bi\fP
302 Sendmail interprets the \fB\-bi\fP option as a request to rebuild its alias file.
303 Exim does not have the concept of a single alias file, and so it cannot mimic
304 this behaviour. However, calls to /usr/lib/sendmail with the \fB\-bi\fP option
305 tend to appear in various scripts such as NIS make files, so the option must be
306 recognized.
307 .sp
308 If \fB\-bi\fP is encountered, the command specified by the \fBbi_command\fP
309 configuration option is run, under the uid and gid of the caller of Exim. If
310 the \fB\-oA\fP option is used, its value is passed to the command as an argument.
311 The command set by \fBbi_command\fP may not contain arguments. The command can
312 use the \fIexim_dbmbuild\fP utility, or some other means, to rebuild alias files
313 if this is required. If the \fBbi_command\fP option is not set, calling Exim with
314 \fB\-bi\fP is a no\-op.
315 .TP 10
316 \fB\-bI:help\fP
317 We shall provide various options starting \-bI: for querying Exim for
318 information. The output of many of these will be intended for machine
319 consumption. This one is not. The \fB\-bI:help\fP option asks Exim for a
320 synopsis of supported options beginning \-bI:. Use of any of these
321 options shall cause Exim to exit after producing the requested output.
322 .TP 10
323 \fB\-bI:dscp\fP
324 This option causes Exim to emit an alphabetically sorted list of all
325 recognised DSCP names.
326 .TP 10
327 \fB\-bI:sieve\fP
328 This option causes Exim to emit an alphabetically sorted list of all supported
329 Sieve protocol extensions on stdout, one per line. This is anticipated to be
330 useful for ManageSieve (RFC 5804) implementations, in providing that protocol's
331 SIEVE capability response line. As the precise list may depend upon
332 compile\-time build options, which this option will adapt to, this is the only
333 way to guarantee a correct response.
334 .TP 10
335 \fB\-bm\fP
336 This option runs an Exim receiving process that accepts an incoming,
337 locally\-generated message on the standard input. The recipients are given as the
338 command arguments (except when \fB\-t\fP is also present \- see below). Each
339 argument can be a comma\-separated list of RFC 2822 addresses. This is the
340 default option for selecting the overall action of an Exim call; it is assumed
341 if no other conflicting option is present.
342 .sp
343 If any addresses in the message are unqualified (have no domain), they are
344 qualified by the values of the \fBqualify_domain\fP or \fBqualify_recipient\fP
345 options, as appropriate. The \fB\-bnq\fP option (see below) provides a way of
346 suppressing this for special cases.
347 .sp
348 Policy checks on the contents of local messages can be enforced by means of
349 the non\-SMTP ACL.
350 .sp
351 The return code is zero if the message is successfully accepted. Otherwise, the
352 action is controlled by the \fB\-oe\fP\fIx\fP option setting \- see below.
353 .sp
354 The format
355 of the message must be as defined in RFC 2822, except that, for
356 compatibility with Sendmail and Smail, a line in one of the forms
357 .sp
358 From sender Fri Jan 5 12:55 GMT 1997
359 From sender Fri, 5 Jan 97 12:55:01
360 .sp
361 (with the weekday optional, and possibly with additional text after the date)
362 is permitted to appear at the start of the message. There appears to be no
363 authoritative specification of the format of this line. Exim recognizes it by
364 matching against the regular expression defined by the \fBuucp_from_pattern\fP
365 option, which can be changed if necessary.
366 .sp
367 The specified sender is treated as if it were given as the argument to the
368 \fB\-f\fP option, but if a \fB\-f\fP option is also present, its argument is used in
369 preference to the address taken from the message. The caller of Exim must be a
370 trusted user for the sender of a message to be set in this way.
371 .TP 10
372 \fB\-bmalware\fP <\fIfilename\fP>
373 This debugging option causes Exim to scan the given file or directory
374 (depending on the used scanner interface),
375 using the malware scanning framework. The option of \fBav_scanner\fP influences
376 this option, so if \fBav_scanner\fP's value is dependent upon an expansion then
377 the expansion should have defaults which apply to this invocation. ACLs are
378 not invoked, so if \fBav_scanner\fP references an ACL variable then that variable
379 will never be populated and \fB\-bmalware\fP will fail.
380 .sp
381 Exim will have changed working directory before resolving the filename, so
382 using fully qualified pathnames is advisable. Exim will be running as the Exim
383 user when it tries to open the file, rather than as the invoking user.
384 This option requires admin privileges.
385 .sp
386 The \fB\-bmalware\fP option will not be extended to be more generally useful,
387 there are better tools for file\-scanning. This option exists to help
388 administrators verify their Exim and AV scanner configuration.
389 .TP 10
390 \fB\-bnq\fP
391 By default, Exim automatically qualifies unqualified addresses (those
392 without domains) that appear in messages that are submitted locally (that
393 is, not over TCP/IP). This qualification applies both to addresses in
394 envelopes, and addresses in header lines. Sender addresses are qualified using
395 \fBqualify_domain\fP, and recipient addresses using \fBqualify_recipient\fP (which
396 defaults to the value of \fBqualify_domain\fP).
397 .sp
398 Sometimes, qualification is not wanted. For example, if \fB\-bS\fP (batch SMTP) is
399 being used to re\-submit messages that originally came from remote hosts after
400 content scanning, you probably do not want to qualify unqualified addresses in
401 header lines. (Such lines will be present only if you have not enabled a header
402 syntax check in the appropriate ACL.)
403 .sp
404 The \fB\-bnq\fP option suppresses all qualification of unqualified addresses in
405 messages that originate on the local host. When this is used, unqualified
406 addresses in the envelope provoke errors (causing message rejection) and
407 unqualified addresses in header lines are left alone.
408 .TP 10
409 \fB\-bP\fP
410 If this option is given with no arguments, it causes the values of all Exim's
411 main configuration options to be written to the standard output. The values
412 of one or more specific options can be requested by giving their names as
413 arguments, for example:
414 .sp
415 exim \-bP qualify_domain hold_domains
416 .sp
417 However, any option setting that is preceded by the word "hide" in the
418 configuration file is not shown in full, except to an admin user. For other
419 users, the output is as in this example:
420 .sp
421 mysql_servers = <value not displayable>
422 .sp
423 If \fBconfig\fP is given as an argument, the config is
424 output, as it was parsed, any include file resolved, any comment removed.
425 .sp
426 If \fBconfig_file\fP is given as an argument, the name of the run time
427 configuration file is output. (\fBconfigure_file\fP works too, for
428 backward compatibility.)
429 If a list of configuration files was supplied, the value that is output here
430 is the name of the file that was actually used.
431 .sp
432 If the \fB\-n\fP flag is given, then for most modes of \fB\-bP\fP operation the
433 name will not be output.
434 .sp
435 If \fBlog_file_path\fP or \fBpid_file_path\fP are given, the names of the
436 directories where log files and daemon pid files are written are output,
437 respectively. If these values are unset, log files are written in a
438 sub\-directory of the spool directory called \fBlog\fP, and the pid file is
439 written directly into the spool directory.
440 .sp
441 If \fB\-bP\fP is followed by a name preceded by +, for example,
442 .sp
443 exim \-bP +local_domains
444 .sp
445 it searches for a matching named list of any type (domain, host, address, or
446 local part) and outputs what it finds.
447 .sp
448 If one of the words \fBrouter\fP, \fBtransport\fP, or \fBauthenticator\fP is given,
449 followed by the name of an appropriate driver instance, the option settings for
450 that driver are output. For example:
451 .sp
452 exim \-bP transport local_delivery
453 .sp
454 The generic driver options are output first, followed by the driver's private
455 options. A list of the names of drivers of a particular type can be obtained by
456 using one of the words \fBrouter_list\fP, \fBtransport_list\fP, or
457 \fBauthenticator_list\fP, and a complete list of all drivers with their option
458 settings can be obtained by using \fBrouters\fP, \fBtransports\fP, or
459 \fBauthenticators\fP.
460 .sp
461 If \fBenvironment\fP is given as an argument, the set of environment
462 variables is output, line by line. Using the \fB\-n\fP flag suppresses the value of the
463 variables.
464 .sp
465 If invoked by an admin user, then \fBmacro\fP, \fBmacro_list\fP and \fBmacros\fP
466 are available, similarly to the drivers. Because macros are sometimes used
467 for storing passwords, this option is restricted.
468 The output format is one item per line.
469 .TP 10
470 \fB\-bp\fP
471 This option requests a listing of the contents of the mail queue on the
472 standard output. If the \fB\-bp\fP option is followed by a list of message ids,
473 just those messages are listed. By default, this option can be used only by an
474 admin user. However, the \fBqueue_list_requires_admin\fP option can be set false
475 to allow any user to see the queue.
476 .sp
477 Each message on the queue is displayed as in the following example:
478 .sp
479 25m 2.9K 0t5C6f\-0000c8\-00 <alice@wonderland.fict.example>
480 red.king@looking\-glass.fict.example
481 <other addresses>
482 .sp
483 The first line contains the length of time the message has been on the queue
484 (in this case 25 minutes), the size of the message (2.9K), the unique local
485 identifier for the message, and the message sender, as contained in the
486 envelope. For bounce messages, the sender address is empty, and appears as
487 "<>". If the message was submitted locally by an untrusted user who overrode
488 the default sender address, the user's login name is shown in parentheses
489 before the sender address.
490 .sp
491 If the message is frozen (attempts to deliver it are suspended) then the text
492 "*** frozen ***" is displayed at the end of this line.
493 .sp
494 The recipients of the message (taken from the envelope, not the headers) are
495 displayed on subsequent lines. Those addresses to which the message has already
496 been delivered are marked with the letter D. If an original address gets
497 expanded into several addresses via an alias or forward file, the original is
498 displayed with a D only when deliveries for all of its child addresses are
499 complete.
500 .TP 10
501 \fB\-bpa\fP
502 This option operates like \fB\-bp\fP, but in addition it shows delivered addresses
503 that were generated from the original top level address(es) in each message by
504 alias or forwarding operations. These addresses are flagged with "+D" instead
505 of just "D".
506 .TP 10
507 \fB\-bpc\fP
508 This option counts the number of messages on the queue, and writes the total
509 to the standard output. It is restricted to admin users, unless
510 \fBqueue_list_requires_admin\fP is set false.
511 .TP 10
512 \fB\-bpr\fP
513 This option operates like \fB\-bp\fP, but the output is not sorted into
514 chronological order of message arrival. This can speed it up when there are
515 lots of messages on the queue, and is particularly useful if the output is
516 going to be post\-processed in a way that doesn't need the sorting.
517 .TP 10
518 \fB\-bpra\fP
519 This option is a combination of \fB\-bpr\fP and \fB\-bpa\fP.
520 .TP 10
521 \fB\-bpru\fP
522 This option is a combination of \fB\-bpr\fP and \fB\-bpu\fP.
523 .TP 10
524 \fB\-bpu\fP
525 This option operates like \fB\-bp\fP but shows only undelivered top\-level
526 addresses for each message displayed. Addresses generated by aliasing or
527 forwarding are not shown, unless the message was deferred after processing by a
528 router with the \fBone_time\fP option set.
529 .TP 10
530 \fB\-brt\fP
531 This option is for testing retry rules, and it must be followed by up to three
532 arguments. It causes Exim to look for a retry rule that matches the values
533 and to write it to the standard output. For example:
534 .sp
535 exim \-brt bach.comp.mus.example
536 Retry rule: *.comp.mus.example F,2h,15m; F,4d,30m;
537 .sp
538 The first
539 argument, which is required, can be a complete address in the form
540 \fIlocal_part@domain\fP, or it can be just a domain name. If the second argument
541 contains a dot, it is interpreted as an optional second domain name; if no
542 retry rule is found for the first argument, the second is tried. This ties in
543 with Exim's behaviour when looking for retry rules for remote hosts \- if no
544 rule is found that matches the host, one that matches the mail domain is
545 sought. Finally, an argument that is the name of a specific delivery error, as
546 used in setting up retry rules, can be given. For example:
547 .sp
548 exim \-brt haydn.comp.mus.example quota_3d
549 Retry rule: *@haydn.comp.mus.example quota_3d F,1h,15m
550 .TP 10
551 \fB\-brw\fP
552 This option is for testing address rewriting rules, and it must be followed by
553 a single argument, consisting of either a local part without a domain, or a
554 complete address with a fully qualified domain. Exim outputs how this address
555 would be rewritten for each possible place it might appear.
556 .TP 10
557 \fB\-bS\fP
558 This option is used for batched SMTP input, which is an alternative interface
559 for non\-interactive local message submission. A number of messages can be
560 submitted in a single run. However, despite its name, this is not really SMTP
561 input. Exim reads each message's envelope from SMTP commands on the standard
562 input, but generates no responses. If the caller is trusted, or
563 \fBuntrusted_set_sender\fP is set, the senders in the SMTP MAIL commands are
564 believed; otherwise the sender is always the caller of Exim.
565 .sp
566 The message itself is read from the standard input, in SMTP format (leading
567 dots doubled), terminated by a line containing just a single dot. An error is
568 provoked if the terminating dot is missing. A further message may then follow.
569 .sp
570 As for other local message submissions, the contents of incoming batch SMTP
571 messages can be checked using the non\-SMTP ACL.
572 Unqualified addresses are automatically qualified using \fBqualify_domain\fP and
573 \fBqualify_recipient\fP, as appropriate, unless the \fB\-bnq\fP option is used.
574 .sp
575 Some other SMTP commands are recognized in the input. HELO and EHLO act
576 as RSET; VRFY, EXPN, ETRN, and HELP act as NOOP;
577 QUIT quits, ignoring the rest of the standard input.
578 .sp
579 If any error is encountered, reports are written to the standard output and
580 error streams, and Exim gives up immediately. The return code is 0 if no error
581 was detected; it is 1 if one or more messages were accepted before the error
582 was detected; otherwise it is 2.
583 .sp
584 .TP 10
585 \fB\-bs\fP
586 This option causes Exim to accept one or more messages by reading SMTP commands
587 on the standard input, and producing SMTP replies on the standard output. SMTP
588 policy controls, as defined in ACLs are applied.
589 Some user agents use this interface as a way of passing locally\-generated
590 messages to the MTA.
591 .sp
592 In
593 this usage, if the caller of Exim is trusted, or \fBuntrusted_set_sender\fP is
594 set, the senders of messages are taken from the SMTP MAIL commands.
595 Otherwise the content of these commands is ignored and the sender is set up as
596 the calling user. Unqualified addresses are automatically qualified using
597 \fBqualify_domain\fP and \fBqualify_recipient\fP, as appropriate, unless the
598 \fB\-bnq\fP option is used.
599 .sp
600 The
601 \fB\-bs\fP option is also used to run Exim from \fIinetd\fP, as an alternative to
602 using a listening daemon. Exim can distinguish the two cases by checking
603 whether the standard input is a TCP/IP socket. When Exim is called from
604 \fIinetd\fP, the source of the mail is assumed to be remote, and the comments
605 above concerning senders and qualification do not apply. In this situation,
606 Exim behaves in exactly the same way as it does when receiving a message via
607 the listening daemon.
608 .TP 10
609 \fB\-bt\fP
610 This option runs Exim in address testing mode, in which each argument is taken
611 as a recipient address to be tested for deliverability. The results are
612 written to the standard output. If a test fails, and the caller is not an admin
613 user, no details of the failure are output, because these might contain
614 sensitive information such as usernames and passwords for database lookups.
615 .sp
616 If no arguments are given, Exim runs in an interactive manner, prompting with a
617 right angle bracket for addresses to be tested.
618 .sp
619 Unlike the \fB\-be\fP test option, you cannot arrange for Exim to use the
620 readline() function, because it is running as \fIroot\fP and there are
621 security issues.
622 .sp
623 Each address is handled as if it were the recipient address of a message
624 (compare the \fB\-bv\fP option). It is passed to the routers and the result is
625 written to the standard output. However, any router that has
626 \fBno_address_test\fP set is bypassed. This can make \fB\-bt\fP easier to use for
627 genuine routing tests if your first router passes everything to a scanner
628 program.
629 .sp
630 The return code is 2 if any address failed outright; it is 1 if no address
631 failed outright but at least one could not be resolved for some reason. Return
632 code 0 is given only when all addresses succeed.
633 .sp
634 \fBNote\fP: When actually delivering a message, Exim removes duplicate recipient
635 addresses after routing is complete, so that only one delivery takes place.
636 This does not happen when testing with \fB\-bt\fP; the full results of routing are
637 always shown.
638 .sp
639 \fBWarning\fP: \fB\-bt\fP can only do relatively simple testing. If any of the
640 routers in the configuration makes any tests on the sender address of a
641 message,
642 you can use the \fB\-f\fP option to set an appropriate sender when running
643 \fB\-bt\fP tests. Without it, the sender is assumed to be the calling user at the
644 default qualifying domain. However, if you have set up (for example) routers
645 whose behaviour depends on the contents of an incoming message, you cannot test
646 those conditions using \fB\-bt\fP. The \fB\-N\fP option provides a possible way of
647 doing such tests.
648 .TP 10
649 \fB\-bV\fP
650 This option causes Exim to write the current version number, compilation
651 number, and compilation date of the \fIexim\fP binary to the standard output.
652 It also lists the DBM library that is being used, the optional modules (such as
653 specific lookup types), the drivers that are included in the binary, and the
654 name of the run time configuration file that is in use.
655 .sp
656 As part of its operation, \fB\-bV\fP causes Exim to read and syntax check its
657 configuration file. However, this is a static check only. It cannot check
658 values that are to be expanded. For example, although a misspelt ACL verb is
659 detected, an error in the verb's arguments is not. You cannot rely on \fB\-bV\fP
660 alone to discover (for example) all the typos in the configuration; some
661 realistic testing is needed. The \fB\-bh\fP and \fB\-N\fP options provide more
662 dynamic testing facilities.
663 .TP 10
664 \fB\-bv\fP
665 This option runs Exim in address verification mode, in which each argument is
666 taken as a recipient address to be verified by the routers. (This does
667 not involve any verification callouts). During normal operation, verification
668 happens mostly as a consequence processing a \fBverify\fP condition in an ACL. If you want to test an entire ACL, possibly
669 including callouts, see the \fB\-bh\fP and \fB\-bhc\fP options.
670 .sp
671 If verification fails, and the caller is not an admin user, no details of the
672 failure are output, because these might contain sensitive information such as
673 usernames and passwords for database lookups.
674 .sp
675 If no arguments are given, Exim runs in an interactive manner, prompting with a
676 right angle bracket for addresses to be verified.
677 .sp
678 Unlike the \fB\-be\fP test option, you cannot arrange for Exim to use the
679 readline() function, because it is running as \fIexim\fP and there are
680 security issues.
681 .sp
682 Verification differs from address testing (the \fB\-bt\fP option) in that routers
683 that have \fBno_verify\fP set are skipped, and if the address is accepted by a
684 router that has \fBfail_verify\fP set, verification fails. The address is
685 verified as a recipient if \fB\-bv\fP is used; to test verification for a sender
686 address, \fB\-bvs\fP should be used.
687 .sp
688 If the \fB\-v\fP option is not set, the output consists of a single line for each
689 address, stating whether it was verified or not, and giving a reason in the
690 latter case. Without \fB\-v\fP, generating more than one address by redirection
691 causes verification to end successfully, without considering the generated
692 addresses. However, if just one address is generated, processing continues,
693 and the generated address must verify successfully for the overall verification
694 to succeed.
695 .sp
696 When \fB\-v\fP is set, more details are given of how the address has been handled,
697 and in the case of address redirection, all the generated addresses are also
698 considered. Verification may succeed for some and fail for others.
699 .sp
700 The
701 return code is 2 if any address failed outright; it is 1 if no address
702 failed outright but at least one could not be resolved for some reason. Return
703 code 0 is given only when all addresses succeed.
704 .sp
705 If any of the routers in the configuration makes any tests on the sender
706 address of a message, you should use the \fB\-f\fP option to set an appropriate
707 sender when running \fB\-bv\fP tests. Without it, the sender is assumed to be the
708 calling user at the default qualifying domain.
709 .TP 10
710 \fB\-bvs\fP
711 This option acts like \fB\-bv\fP, but verifies the address as a sender rather
712 than a recipient address. This affects any rewriting and qualification that
713 might happen.
714 .TP 10
715 \fB\-bw\fP
716 This option runs Exim as a daemon, awaiting incoming SMTP connections,
717 similarly to the \fB\-bd\fP option. All port specifications on the command\-line
718 and in the configuration file are ignored. Queue\-running may not be specified.
719 .sp
720 In this mode, Exim expects to be passed a socket as fd 0 (stdin) which is
721 listening for connections. This permits the system to start up and have
722 inetd (or equivalent) listen on the SMTP ports, starting an Exim daemon for
723 each port only when the first connection is received.
724 .sp
725 If the option is given as \fB\-bw\fP<\fItime\fP> then the time is a timeout, after
726 which the daemon will exit, which should cause inetd to listen once more.
727 .TP 10
728 \fB\-C\fP <\fIfilelist\fP>
729 This option causes Exim to find the run time configuration file from the given
730 list instead of from the list specified by the CONFIGURE_FILE
731 compile\-time setting. Usually, the list will consist of just a single file
732 name, but it can be a colon\-separated list of names. In this case, the first
733 file that exists is used. Failure to open an existing file stops Exim from
734 proceeding any further along the list, and an error is generated.
735 .sp
736 When this option is used by a caller other than root, and the list is different
737 from the compiled\-in list, Exim gives up its root privilege immediately, and
738 runs with the real and effective uid and gid set to those of the caller.
739 However, if a TRUSTED_CONFIG_LIST file is defined in Local/Makefile, that
740 file contains a list of full pathnames, one per line, for configuration files
741 which are trusted. Root privilege is retained for any configuration file so
742 listed, as long as the caller is the Exim user (or the user specified in the
743 CONFIGURE_OWNER option, if any), and as long as the configuration file is
744 not writeable by inappropriate users or groups.
745 .sp
746 Leaving TRUSTED_CONFIG_LIST unset precludes the possibility of testing a
747 configuration using \fB\-C\fP right through message reception and delivery,
748 even if the caller is root. The reception works, but by that time, Exim is
749 running as the Exim user, so when it re\-executes to regain privilege for the
750 delivery, the use of \fB\-C\fP causes privilege to be lost. However, root can
751 test reception and delivery using two separate commands (one to put a message
752 on the queue, using \fB\-odq\fP, and another to do the delivery, using \fB\-M\fP).
753 .sp
754 If ALT_CONFIG_PREFIX is defined in Local/Makefile, it specifies a
755 prefix string with which any file named in a \fB\-C\fP command line option
756 must start. In addition, the file name must not contain the sequence /../.
757 However, if the value of the \fB\-C\fP option is identical to the value of
758 CONFIGURE_FILE in Local/Makefile, Exim ignores \fB\-C\fP and proceeds as
759 usual. There is no default setting for ALT_CONFIG_PREFIX; when it is
760 unset, any file name can be used with \fB\-C\fP.
761 .sp
762 ALT_CONFIG_PREFIX can be used to confine alternative configuration files
763 to a directory to which only root has access. This prevents someone who has
764 broken into the Exim account from running a privileged Exim with an arbitrary
765 configuration file.
766 .sp
767 The \fB\-C\fP facility is useful for ensuring that configuration files are
768 syntactically correct, but cannot be used for test deliveries, unless the
769 caller is privileged, or unless it is an exotic configuration that does not
770 require privilege. No check is made on the owner or group of the files
771 specified by this option.
772 .TP 10
773 \fB\-D\fP<\fImacro\fP>=<\fIvalue\fP>
774 This option can be used to override macro definitions in the configuration file. However, like \fB\-C\fP, if it is used by an
775 unprivileged caller, it causes Exim to give up its root privilege.
776 If DISABLE_D_OPTION is defined in Local/Makefile, the use of \fB\-D\fP is
777 completely disabled, and its use causes an immediate error exit.
778 .sp
779 If WHITELIST_D_MACROS is defined in Local/Makefile then it should be a
780 colon\-separated list of macros which are considered safe and, if \fB\-D\fP only
781 supplies macros from this list, and the values are acceptable, then Exim will
782 not give up root privilege if the caller is root, the Exim run\-time user, or
783 the CONFIGURE_OWNER, if set. This is a transition mechanism and is expected
784 to be removed in the future. Acceptable values for the macros satisfy the
785 regexp: ^[A\-Za\-z0\-9_/.\-]*$
786 .sp
787 The entire option (including equals sign if present) must all be within one
788 command line item. \fB\-D\fP can be used to set the value of a macro to the empty
789 string, in which case the equals sign is optional. These two commands are
790 synonymous:
791 .sp
792 exim \-DABC ...
793 exim \-DABC= ...
794 .sp
795 To include spaces in a macro definition item, quotes must be used. If you use
796 quotes, spaces are permitted around the macro name and the equals sign. For
797 example:
798 .sp
799 exim '\-D ABC = something' ...
800 .sp
801 \fB\-D\fP may be repeated up to 10 times on a command line.
802 Only macro names up to 22 letters long can be set.
803 .TP 10
804 \fB\-d\fP<\fIdebug options\fP>
805 This option causes debugging information to be written to the standard
806 error stream. It is restricted to admin users because debugging output may show
807 database queries that contain password information. Also, the details of users'
808 filter files should be protected. If a non\-admin user uses \fB\-d\fP, Exim
809 writes an error message to the standard error stream and exits with a non\-zero
810 return code.
811 .sp
812 When \fB\-d\fP is used, \fB\-v\fP is assumed. If \fB\-d\fP is given on its own, a lot of
813 standard debugging data is output. This can be reduced, or increased to include
814 some more rarely needed information, by directly following \fB\-d\fP with a string
815 made up of names preceded by plus or minus characters. These add or remove sets
816 of debugging data, respectively. For example, \fB\-d+filter\fP adds filter
817 debugging, whereas \fB\-d\-all+filter\fP selects only filter debugging. Note that
818 no spaces are allowed in the debug setting. The available debugging categories
819 are:
820 .sp
821 acl ACL interpretation
822 auth authenticators
823 deliver general delivery logic
824 dns DNS lookups (see also resolver)
825 dnsbl DNS black list (aka RBL) code
826 exec arguments for execv() calls
827 expand detailed debugging for string expansions
828 filter filter handling
829 hints_lookup hints data lookups
830 host_lookup all types of name\-to\-IP address handling
831 ident ident lookup
832 interface lists of local interfaces
833 lists matching things in lists
834 load system load checks
835 local_scan can be used by local_scan()
836 lookup general lookup code and all lookups
837 memory memory handling
838 pid add pid to debug output lines
839 process_info setting info for the process log
840 queue_run queue runs
841 receive general message reception logic
842 resolver turn on the DNS resolver's debugging output
843 retry retry handling
844 rewrite address rewriting
845 route address routing
846 timestamp add timestamp to debug output lines
847 tls TLS logic
848 transport transports
849 uid changes of uid/gid and looking up uid/gid
850 verify address verification logic
851 all almost all of the above (see below), and also \fB\-v\fP
852 .sp
853 The all option excludes memory when used as +all, but includes it
854 for \-all. The reason for this is that +all is something that people
855 tend to use when generating debug output for Exim maintainers. If +memory
856 is included, an awful lot of output that is very rarely of interest is
857 generated, so it now has to be explicitly requested. However, \-all does
858 turn everything off.
859 .sp
860 The resolver option produces output only if the DNS resolver was compiled
861 with DEBUG enabled. This is not the case in some operating systems. Also,
862 unfortunately, debugging output from the DNS resolver is written to stdout
863 rather than stderr.
864 .sp
865 The default (\fB\-d\fP with no argument) omits expand, filter,
866 interface, load, memory, pid, resolver, and timestamp.
867 However, the pid selector is forced when debugging is turned on for a
868 daemon, which then passes it on to any re\-executed Exims. Exim also
869 automatically adds the pid to debug lines when several remote deliveries are
870 run in parallel.
871 .sp
872 The timestamp selector causes the current time to be inserted at the start
873 of all debug output lines. This can be useful when trying to track down delays
874 in processing.
875 .sp
876 If the \fBdebug_print\fP option is set in any driver, it produces output whenever
877 any debugging is selected, or if \fB\-v\fP is used.
878 .TP 10
879 \fB\-dd\fP<\fIdebug options\fP>
880 This option behaves exactly like \fB\-d\fP except when used on a command that
881 starts a daemon process. In that case, debugging is turned off for the
882 subprocesses that the daemon creates. Thus, it is useful for monitoring the
883 behaviour of the daemon without creating as much output as full debugging does.
884 .TP 10
885 \fB\-dropcr\fP
886 This is an obsolete option that is now a no\-op. It used to affect the way Exim
887 handled CR and LF characters in incoming messages.
888 .TP 10
889 \fB\-E\fP
890 This option specifies that an incoming message is a locally\-generated delivery
891 failure report. It is used internally by Exim when handling delivery failures
892 and is not intended for external use. Its only effect is to stop Exim
893 generating certain messages to the postmaster, as otherwise message cascades
894 could occur in some situations. As part of the same option, a message id may
895 follow the characters \fB\-E\fP. If it does, the log entry for the receipt of the
896 new message contains the id, following "R=", as a cross\-reference.
897 .TP 10
898 \fB\-e\fP\fIx\fP
899 There are a number of Sendmail options starting with \fB\-oe\fP which seem to be
900 called by various programs without the leading \fBo\fP in the option. For
901 example, the \fBvacation\fP program uses \fB\-eq\fP. Exim treats all options of the
902 form \fB\-e\fP\fIx\fP as synonymous with the corresponding \fB\-oe\fP\fIx\fP options.
903 .TP 10
904 \fB\-F\fP <\fIstring\fP>
905 This option sets the sender's full name for use when a locally\-generated
906 message is being accepted. In the absence of this option, the user's \fIgecos\fP
907 entry from the password data is used. As users are generally permitted to alter
908 their \fIgecos\fP entries, no security considerations are involved. White space
909 between \fB\-F\fP and the <\fIstring\fP> is optional.
910 .TP 10
911 \fB\-f\fP <\fIaddress\fP>
912 This option sets the address of the envelope sender of a locally\-generated
913 message (also known as the return path). The option can normally be used only
914 by a trusted user, but \fBuntrusted_set_sender\fP can be set to allow untrusted
915 users to use it.
916 .sp
917 Processes running as root or the Exim user are always trusted. Other
918 trusted users are defined by the \fBtrusted_users\fP or \fBtrusted_groups\fP
919 options. In the absence of \fB\-f\fP, or if the caller is not trusted, the sender
920 of a local message is set to the caller's login name at the default qualify
921 domain.
922 .sp
923 There is one exception to the restriction on the use of \fB\-f\fP: an empty sender
924 can be specified by any user, trusted or not, to create a message that can
925 never provoke a bounce. An empty sender can be specified either as an empty
926 string, or as a pair of angle brackets with nothing between them, as in these
927 examples of shell commands:
928 .sp
929 exim \-f '<>' user@domain
930 exim \-f "" user@domain
931 .sp
932 In addition, the use of \fB\-f\fP is not restricted when testing a filter file
933 with \fB\-bf\fP or when testing or verifying addresses using the \fB\-bt\fP or
934 \fB\-bv\fP options.
935 .sp
936 Allowing untrusted users to change the sender address does not of itself make
937 it possible to send anonymous mail. Exim still checks that the \fIFrom:\fP header
938 refers to the local user, and if it does not, it adds a \fISender:\fP header,
939 though this can be overridden by setting \fBno_local_from_check\fP.
940 .sp
941 White
942 space between \fB\-f\fP and the <\fIaddress\fP> is optional (that is, they can be
943 given as two arguments or one combined argument). The sender of a
944 locally\-generated message can also be set (when permitted) by an initial
945 "From " line in the message \- see the description of \fB\-bm\fP above \- but
946 if \fB\-f\fP is also present, it overrides "From ".
947 .TP 10
948 \fB\-G\fP
949 This option is equivalent to an ACL applying:
950 .sp
951 control = suppress_local_fixups
952 .sp
953 for every message received. Note that Sendmail will complain about such
954 bad formatting, where Exim silently just does not fix it up. This may change
955 in future.
956 .sp
957 As this affects audit information, the caller must be a trusted user to use
958 this option.
959 .TP 10
960 \fB\-h\fP <\fInumber\fP>
961 This option is accepted for compatibility with Sendmail, but has no effect. (In
962 Sendmail it overrides the "hop count" obtained by counting \fIReceived:\fP
963 headers.)
964 .TP 10
965 \fB\-i\fP
966 This option, which has the same effect as \fB\-oi\fP, specifies that a dot on a
967 line by itself should not terminate an incoming, non\-SMTP message. I can find
968 no documentation for this option in Solaris 2.4 Sendmail, but the \fImailx\fP
969 command in Solaris 2.4 uses it. See also \fB\-ti\fP.
970 .TP 10
971 \fB\-L\fP <\fItag\fP>
972 This option is equivalent to setting \fBsyslog_processname\fP in the config
973 file and setting \fBlog_file_path\fP to syslog.
974 Its use is restricted to administrators. The configuration file has to be
975 read and parsed, to determine access rights, before this is set and takes
976 effect, so early configuration file errors will not honour this flag.
977 .sp
978 The tag should not be longer than 32 characters.
979 .TP 10
980 \fB\-M\fP <\fImessage id\fP> <\fImessage id\fP> ...
981 This option requests Exim to run a delivery attempt on each message in turn. If
982 any of the messages are frozen, they are automatically thawed before the
983 delivery attempt. The settings of \fBqueue_domains\fP, \fBqueue_smtp_domains\fP,
984 and \fBhold_domains\fP are ignored.
985 .sp
986 Retry
987 hints for any of the addresses are overridden \- Exim tries to deliver even if
988 the normal retry time has not yet been reached. This option requires the caller
989 to be an admin user. However, there is an option called \fBprod_requires_admin\fP
990 which can be set false to relax this restriction (and also the same requirement
991 for the \fB\-q\fP, \fB\-R\fP, and \fB\-S\fP options).
992 .sp
993 The deliveries happen synchronously, that is, the original Exim process does
994 not terminate until all the delivery attempts have finished. No output is
995 produced unless there is a serious error. If you want to see what is happening,
996 use the \fB\-v\fP option as well, or inspect Exim's main log.
997 .TP 10
998 \fB\-Mar\fP <\fImessage id\fP> <\fIaddress\fP> <\fIaddress\fP> ...
999 This option requests Exim to add the addresses to the list of recipients of the
1000 message ("ar" for "add recipients"). The first argument must be a message
1001 id, and the remaining ones must be email addresses. However, if the message is
1002 active (in the middle of a delivery attempt), it is not altered. This option
1003 can be used only by an admin user.
1004 .TP 10
1005 \fB\-MC\fP <\fItransport\fP> <\fIhostname\fP> <\fIsequence number\fP> <\fImessage id\fP>
1006 This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
1007 by Exim to invoke another instance of itself to deliver a waiting message using
1008 an existing SMTP connection, which is passed as the standard input. This must be the final option, and the caller
1009 must be root or the Exim user in order to use it.
1010 .TP 10
1011 \fB\-MCA\fP
1012 This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
1013 by Exim in conjunction with the \fB\-MC\fP option. It signifies that the
1014 connection to the remote host has been authenticated.
1015 .TP 10
1016 \fB\-MCD\fP
1017 This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
1018 by Exim in conjunction with the \fB\-MC\fP option. It signifies that the
1019 remote host supports the ESMTP DSN extension.
1020 .TP 10
1021 \fB\-MCG\fP
1022 This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
1023 by Exim in conjunction with the \fB\-MC\fP option. It signifies that an
1024 alternate queue is used, named by the following option.
1025 .TP 10
1026 \fB\-MCP\fP
1027 This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
1028 by Exim in conjunction with the \fB\-MC\fP option. It signifies that the server to
1029 which Exim is connected supports pipelining.
1030 .TP 10
1031 \fB\-MCQ\fP <\fIprocess id\fP> <\fIpipe fd\fP>
1032 This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
1033 by Exim in conjunction with the \fB\-MC\fP option when the original delivery was
1034 started by a queue runner. It passes on the process id of the queue runner,
1035 together with the file descriptor number of an open pipe. Closure of the pipe
1036 signals the final completion of the sequence of processes that are passing
1037 messages through the same SMTP connection.
1038 .TP 10
1039 \fB\-MCS\fP
1040 This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
1041 by Exim in conjunction with the \fB\-MC\fP option, and passes on the fact that the
1042 SMTP SIZE option should be used on messages delivered down the existing
1043 connection.
1044 .TP 10
1045 \fB\-MCT\fP
1046 This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
1047 by Exim in conjunction with the \fB\-MC\fP option, and passes on the fact that the
1048 host to which Exim is connected supports TLS encryption.
1049 .TP 10
1050 \fB\-Mc\fP <\fImessage id\fP> <\fImessage id\fP> ...
1051 This option requests Exim to run a delivery attempt on each message in turn,
1052 but unlike the \fB\-M\fP option, it does check for retry hints, and respects any
1053 that are found. This option is not very useful to external callers. It is
1054 provided mainly for internal use by Exim when it needs to re\-invoke itself in
1055 order to regain root privilege for a delivery.
1056 However, \fB\-Mc\fP can be useful when testing, in order to run a delivery that
1057 respects retry times and other options such as \fBhold_domains\fP that are
1058 overridden when \fB\-M\fP is used. Such a delivery does not count as a queue run.
1059 If you want to run a specific delivery as if in a queue run, you should use
1060 \fB\-q\fP with a message id argument. A distinction between queue run deliveries
1061 and other deliveries is made in one or two places.
1062 .TP 10
1063 \fB\-Mes\fP <\fImessage id\fP> <\fIaddress\fP>
1064 This option requests Exim to change the sender address in the message to the
1065 given address, which must be a fully qualified address or "<>" ("es" for
1066 "edit sender"). There must be exactly two arguments. The first argument must
1067 be a message id, and the second one an email address. However, if the message
1068 is active (in the middle of a delivery attempt), its status is not altered.
1069 This option can be used only by an admin user.
1070 .TP 10
1071 \fB\-Mf\fP <\fImessage id\fP> <\fImessage id\fP> ...
1072 This option requests Exim to mark each listed message as "frozen". This
1073 prevents any delivery attempts taking place until the message is "thawed",
1074 either manually or as a result of the \fBauto_thaw\fP configuration option.
1075 However, if any of the messages are active (in the middle of a delivery
1076 attempt), their status is not altered. This option can be used only by an admin
1077 user.
1078 .TP 10
1079 \fB\-Mg\fP <\fImessage id\fP> <\fImessage id\fP> ...
1080 This option requests Exim to give up trying to deliver the listed messages,
1081 including any that are frozen. However, if any of the messages are active,
1082 their status is not altered. For non\-bounce messages, a delivery error message
1083 is sent to the sender, containing the text "cancelled by administrator".
1084 Bounce messages are just discarded. This option can be used only by an admin
1085 user.
1086 .TP 10
1087 \fB\-Mmad\fP <\fImessage id\fP> <\fImessage id\fP> ...
1088 This option requests Exim to mark all the recipient addresses in the messages
1089 as already delivered ("mad" for "mark all delivered"). However, if any
1090 message is active (in the middle of a delivery attempt), its status is not
1091 altered. This option can be used only by an admin user.
1092 .TP 10
1093 \fB\-Mmd\fP <\fImessage id\fP> <\fIaddress\fP> <\fIaddress\fP> ...
1094 This option requests Exim to mark the given addresses as already delivered
1095 ("md" for "mark delivered"). The first argument must be a message id, and
1096 the remaining ones must be email addresses. These are matched to recipient
1097 addresses in the message in a case\-sensitive manner. If the message is active
1098 (in the middle of a delivery attempt), its status is not altered. This option
1099 can be used only by an admin user.
1100 .TP 10
1101 \fB\-Mrm\fP <\fImessage id\fP> <\fImessage id\fP> ...
1102 This option requests Exim to remove the given messages from the queue. No
1103 bounce messages are sent; each message is simply forgotten. However, if any of
1104 the messages are active, their status is not altered. This option can be used
1105 only by an admin user or by the user who originally caused the message to be
1106 placed on the queue.
1107 .TP 10
1108 \fB\-Mset\fP <\fImessage id\fP>
1109 This option is useful only in conjunction with \fB\-be\fP (that is, when testing
1110 string expansions). Exim loads the given message from its spool before doing
1111 the test expansions, thus setting message\-specific variables such as
1112 \fI$message_size\fP and the header variables. The \fI$recipients\fP variable is made
1113 available. This feature is provided to make it easier to test expansions that
1114 make use of these variables. However, this option can be used only by an admin
1115 user. See also \fB\-bem\fP.
1116 .TP 10
1117 \fB\-Mt\fP <\fImessage id\fP> <\fImessage id\fP> ...
1118 This option requests Exim to "thaw" any of the listed messages that are
1119 "frozen", so that delivery attempts can resume. However, if any of the
1120 messages are active, their status is not altered. This option can be used only
1121 by an admin user.
1122 .TP 10
1123 \fB\-Mvb\fP <\fImessage id\fP>
1124 This option causes the contents of the message body (\-D) spool file to be
1125 written to the standard output. This option can be used only by an admin user.
1126 .TP 10
1127 \fB\-Mvc\fP <\fImessage id\fP>
1128 This option causes a copy of the complete message (header lines plus body) to
1129 be written to the standard output in RFC 2822 format. This option can be used
1130 only by an admin user.
1131 .TP 10
1132 \fB\-Mvh\fP <\fImessage id\fP>
1133 This option causes the contents of the message headers (\-H) spool file to be
1134 written to the standard output. This option can be used only by an admin user.
1135 .TP 10
1136 \fB\-Mvl\fP <\fImessage id\fP>
1137 This option causes the contents of the message log spool file to be written to
1138 the standard output. This option can be used only by an admin user.
1139 .TP 10
1140 \fB\-m\fP
1141 This is apparently a synonym for \fB\-om\fP that is accepted by Sendmail, so Exim
1142 treats it that way too.
1143 .TP 10
1144 \fB\-N\fP
1145 This is a debugging option that inhibits delivery of a message at the transport
1146 level. It implies \fB\-v\fP. Exim goes through many of the motions of delivery \-
1147 it just doesn't actually transport the message, but instead behaves as if it
1148 had successfully done so. However, it does not make any updates to the retry
1149 database, and the log entries for deliveries are flagged with "*>" rather
1150 than "=>".
1151 .sp
1152 Because \fB\-N\fP discards any message to which it applies, only root or the Exim
1153 user are allowed to use it with \fB\-bd\fP, \fB\-q\fP, \fB\-R\fP or \fB\-M\fP. In other
1154 words, an ordinary user can use it only when supplying an incoming message to
1155 which it will apply. Although transportation never fails when \fB\-N\fP is set, an
1156 address may be deferred because of a configuration problem on a transport, or a
1157 routing problem. Once \fB\-N\fP has been used for a delivery attempt, it sticks to
1158 the message, and applies to any subsequent delivery attempts that may happen
1159 for that message.
1160 .TP 10
1161 \fB\-n\fP
1162 This option is interpreted by Sendmail to mean "no aliasing".
1163 For normal modes of operation, it is ignored by Exim.
1164 When combined with \fB\-bP\fP it makes the output more terse (suppresses
1165 option names, environment values and config pretty printing).
1166 .TP 10
1167 \fB\-O\fP <\fIdata\fP>
1168 This option is interpreted by Sendmail to mean set option. It is ignored by
1169 Exim.
1170 .TP 10
1171 \fB\-oA\fP <\fIfile name\fP>
1172 This option is used by Sendmail in conjunction with \fB\-bi\fP to specify an
1173 alternative alias file name. Exim handles \fB\-bi\fP differently; see the
1174 description above.
1175 .TP 10
1176 \fB\-oB\fP <\fIn\fP>
1177 This is a debugging option which limits the maximum number of messages that can
1178 be delivered down one SMTP connection, overriding the value set in any smtp
1179 transport. If <\fIn\fP> is omitted, the limit is set to 1.
1180 .TP 10
1181 \fB\-odb\fP
1182 This option applies to all modes in which Exim accepts incoming messages,
1183 including the listening daemon. It requests "background" delivery of such
1184 messages, which means that the accepting process automatically starts a
1185 delivery process for each message received, but does not wait for the delivery
1186 processes to finish.
1187 .sp
1188 When all the messages have been received, the reception process exits,
1189 leaving the delivery processes to finish in their own time. The standard output
1190 and error streams are closed at the start of each delivery process.
1191 This is the default action if none of the \fB\-od\fP options are present.
1192 .sp
1193 If one of the queueing options in the configuration file
1194 (\fBqueue_only\fP or \fBqueue_only_file\fP, for example) is in effect, \fB\-odb\fP
1195 overrides it if \fBqueue_only_override\fP is set true, which is the default
1196 setting. If \fBqueue_only_override\fP is set false, \fB\-odb\fP has no effect.
1197 .TP 10
1198 \fB\-odf\fP
1199 This option requests "foreground" (synchronous) delivery when Exim has
1200 accepted a locally\-generated message. (For the daemon it is exactly the same as
1201 \fB\-odb\fP.) A delivery process is automatically started to deliver the message,
1202 and Exim waits for it to complete before proceeding.
1203 .sp
1204 The original Exim reception process does not finish until the delivery
1205 process for the final message has ended. The standard error stream is left open
1206 during deliveries.
1207 .sp
1208 However, like \fB\-odb\fP, this option has no effect if \fBqueue_only_override\fP is
1209 false and one of the queueing options in the configuration file is in effect.
1210 .sp
1211 If there is a temporary delivery error during foreground delivery, the
1212 message is left on the queue for later delivery, and the original reception
1213 process exits.
1214 .TP 10
1215 \fB\-odi\fP
1216 This option is synonymous with \fB\-odf\fP. It is provided for compatibility with
1217 Sendmail.
1218 .TP 10
1219 \fB\-odq\fP
1220 This option applies to all modes in which Exim accepts incoming messages,
1221 including the listening daemon. It specifies that the accepting process should
1222 not automatically start a delivery process for each message received. Messages
1223 are placed on the queue, and remain there until a subsequent queue runner
1224 process encounters them. There are several configuration options (such as
1225 \fBqueue_only\fP) that can be used to queue incoming messages under certain
1226 conditions. This option overrides all of them and also \fB\-odqs\fP. It always
1227 forces queueing.
1228 .TP 10
1229 \fB\-odqs\fP
1230 This option is a hybrid between \fB\-odb\fP/\fB\-odi\fP and \fB\-odq\fP.
1231 However, like \fB\-odb\fP and \fB\-odi\fP, this option has no effect if
1232 \fBqueue_only_override\fP is false and one of the queueing options in the
1233 configuration file is in effect.
1234 .sp
1235 When \fB\-odqs\fP does operate, a delivery process is started for each incoming
1236 message, in the background by default, but in the foreground if \fB\-odi\fP is
1237 also present. The recipient addresses are routed, and local deliveries are done
1238 in the normal way. However, if any SMTP deliveries are required, they are not
1239 done at this time, so the message remains on the queue until a subsequent queue
1240 runner process encounters it. Because routing was done, Exim knows which
1241 messages are waiting for which hosts, and so a number of messages for the same
1242 host can be sent in a single SMTP connection. The \fBqueue_smtp_domains\fP
1243 configuration option has the same effect for specific domains. See also the
1244 \fB\-qq\fP option.
1245 .TP 10
1246 \fB\-oee\fP
1247 If an error is detected while a non\-SMTP message is being received (for
1248 example, a malformed address), the error is reported to the sender in a mail
1249 message.
1250 .sp
1251 Provided
1252 this error message is successfully sent, the Exim receiving process
1253 exits with a return code of zero. If not, the return code is 2 if the problem
1254 is that the original message has no recipients, or 1 for any other error.
1255 This is the default \fB\-oe\fP\fIx\fP option if Exim is called as \fIrmail\fP.
1256 .TP 10
1257 \fB\-oem\fP
1258 This is the same as \fB\-oee\fP, except that Exim always exits with a non\-zero
1259 return code, whether or not the error message was successfully sent.
1260 This is the default \fB\-oe\fP\fIx\fP option, unless Exim is called as \fIrmail\fP.
1261 .TP 10
1262 \fB\-oep\fP
1263 If an error is detected while a non\-SMTP message is being received, the
1264 error is reported by writing a message to the standard error file (stderr).
1265 The return code is 1 for all errors.
1266 .TP 10
1267 \fB\-oeq\fP
1268 This option is supported for compatibility with Sendmail, but has the same
1269 effect as \fB\-oep\fP.
1270 .TP 10
1271 \fB\-oew\fP
1272 This option is supported for compatibility with Sendmail, but has the same
1273 effect as \fB\-oem\fP.
1274 .TP 10
1275 \fB\-oi\fP
1276 This option, which has the same effect as \fB\-i\fP, specifies that a dot on a
1277 line by itself should not terminate an incoming, non\-SMTP message. Otherwise, a
1278 single dot does terminate, though Exim does no special processing for other
1279 lines that start with a dot. This option is set by default if Exim is called as
1280 \fIrmail\fP. See also \fB\-ti\fP.
1281 .TP 10
1282 \fB\-oitrue\fP
1283 This option is treated as synonymous with \fB\-oi\fP.
1284 .TP 10
1285 \fB\-oMa\fP <\fIhost address\fP>
1286 A number of options starting with \fB\-oM\fP can be used to set values associated
1287 with remote hosts on locally\-submitted messages (that is, messages not received
1288 over TCP/IP). These options can be used by any caller in conjunction with the
1289 \fB\-bh\fP, \fB\-be\fP, \fB\-bf\fP, \fB\-bF\fP, \fB\-bt\fP, or \fB\-bv\fP testing options. In
1290 other circumstances, they are ignored unless the caller is trusted.
1291 .sp
1292 The \fB\-oMa\fP option sets the sender host address. This may include a port
1293 number at the end, after a full stop (period). For example:
1294 .sp
1295 exim \-bs \-oMa 10.9.8.7.1234
1296 .sp
1297 An alternative syntax is to enclose the IP address in square brackets,
1298 followed by a colon and the port number:
1299 .sp
1300 exim \-bs \-oMa [10.9.8.7]:1234
1301 .sp
1302 The IP address is placed in the \fI$sender_host_address\fP variable, and the
1303 port, if present, in \fI$sender_host_port\fP. If both \fB\-oMa\fP and \fB\-bh\fP
1304 are present on the command line, the sender host IP address is taken from
1305 whichever one is last.
1306 .TP 10
1307 \fB\-oMaa\fP <\fIname\fP>
1308 See \fB\-oMa\fP above for general remarks about the \fB\-oM\fP options. The \fB\-oMaa\fP
1309 option sets the value of \fI$sender_host_authenticated\fP (the authenticator
1310 name).
1311 This option can be used with \fB\-bh\fP and \fB\-bs\fP to set up an
1312 authenticated SMTP session without actually using the SMTP AUTH command.
1313 .TP 10
1314 \fB\-oMai\fP <\fIstring\fP>
1315 See \fB\-oMa\fP above for general remarks about the \fB\-oM\fP options. The \fB\-oMai\fP
1316 option sets the value of \fI$authenticated_id\fP (the id that was authenticated).
1317 This overrides the default value (the caller's login id, except with \fB\-bh\fP,
1318 where there is no default) for messages from local sources.
1319 .TP 10
1320 \fB\-oMas\fP <\fIaddress\fP>
1321 See \fB\-oMa\fP above for general remarks about the \fB\-oM\fP options. The \fB\-oMas\fP
1322 option sets the authenticated sender value in \fI$authenticated_sender\fP. It
1323 overrides the sender address that is created from the caller's login id for
1324 messages from local sources, except when \fB\-bh\fP is used, when there is no
1325 default. For both \fB\-bh\fP and \fB\-bs\fP, an authenticated sender that is
1326 specified on a MAIL command overrides this value.
1327 .TP 10
1328 \fB\-oMi\fP <\fIinterface address\fP>
1329 See \fB\-oMa\fP above for general remarks about the \fB\-oM\fP options. The \fB\-oMi\fP
1330 option sets the IP interface address value. A port number may be included,
1331 using the same syntax as for \fB\-oMa\fP. The interface address is placed in
1332 \fI$received_ip_address\fP and the port number, if present, in \fI$received_port\fP.
1333 .TP 10
1334 \fB\-oMm\fP <\fImessage reference\fP>
1335 See \fB\-oMa\fP above for general remarks about the \fB\-oM\fP options. The \fB\-oMm\fP
1336 option sets the message reference, e.g. message\-id, and is logged during
1337 delivery. This is useful when some kind of audit trail is required to tie
1338 messages together. The format of the message reference is checked and will
1339 abort if the format is invalid. The option will only be accepted if exim is
1340 running in trusted mode, not as any regular user.
1341 .sp
1342 The best example of a message reference is when Exim sends a bounce message.
1343 The message reference is the message\-id of the original message for which Exim
1344 is sending the bounce.
1345 .TP 10
1346 \fB\-oMr\fP <\fIprotocol name\fP>
1347 See \fB\-oMa\fP above for general remarks about the \fB\-oM\fP options. The \fB\-oMr\fP
1348 option sets the received protocol value that is stored in
1349 \fI$received_protocol\fP. However, it does not apply (and is ignored) when \fB\-bh\fP
1350 or \fB\-bs\fP is used. For \fB\-bh\fP, the protocol is forced to one of the standard
1351 SMTP protocol names. For \fB\-bs\fP, the protocol is always "local\-" followed by
1352 one of those same names. For \fB\-bS\fP (batched SMTP) however, the protocol can
1353 be set by \fB\-oMr\fP.
1354 .TP 10
1355 \fB\-oMs\fP <\fIhost name\fP>
1356 See \fB\-oMa\fP above for general remarks about the \fB\-oM\fP options. The \fB\-oMs\fP
1357 option sets the sender host name in \fI$sender_host_name\fP. When this option is
1358 present, Exim does not attempt to look up a host name from an IP address; it
1359 uses the name it is given.
1360 .TP 10
1361 \fB\-oMt\fP <\fIident string\fP>
1362 See \fB\-oMa\fP above for general remarks about the \fB\-oM\fP options. The \fB\-oMt\fP
1363 option sets the sender ident value in \fI$sender_ident\fP. The default setting for
1364 local callers is the login id of the calling process, except when \fB\-bh\fP is
1365 used, when there is no default.
1366 .TP 10
1367 \fB\-om\fP
1368 In Sendmail, this option means "me too", indicating that the sender of a
1369 message should receive a copy of the message if the sender appears in an alias
1370 expansion. Exim always does this, so the option does nothing.
1371 .TP 10
1372 \fB\-oo\fP
1373 This option is ignored. In Sendmail it specifies "old style headers",
1374 whatever that means.
1375 .TP 10
1376 \fB\-oP\fP <\fIpath\fP>
1377 This option is useful only in conjunction with \fB\-bd\fP or \fB\-q\fP with a time
1378 value. The option specifies the file to which the process id of the daemon is
1379 written. When \fB\-oX\fP is used with \fB\-bd\fP, or when \fB\-q\fP with a time is used
1380 without \fB\-bd\fP, this is the only way of causing Exim to write a pid file,
1381 because in those cases, the normal pid file is not used.
1382 .TP 10
1383 \fB\-or\fP <\fItime\fP>
1384 This option sets a timeout value for incoming non\-SMTP messages. If it is not
1385 set, Exim will wait forever for the standard input. The value can also be set
1386 by the \fBreceive_timeout\fP option.
1387 .TP 10
1388 \fB\-os\fP <\fItime\fP>
1389 This option sets a timeout value for incoming SMTP messages. The timeout
1390 applies to each SMTP command and block of data. The value can also be set by
1391 the \fBsmtp_receive_timeout\fP option; it defaults to 5 minutes.
1392 .TP 10
1393 \fB\-ov\fP
1394 This option has exactly the same effect as \fB\-v\fP.
1395 .TP 10
1396 \fB\-oX\fP <\fInumber or string\fP>
1397 This option is relevant only when the \fB\-bd\fP (start listening daemon) option
1398 is also given. It controls which ports and interfaces the daemon uses. When \fB\-oX\fP is used to start a daemon, no pid
1399 file is written unless \fB\-oP\fP is also present to specify a pid file name.
1400 .TP 10
1401 \fB\-pd\fP
1402 This option applies when an embedded Perl interpreter is linked with Exim. It overrides the setting of the \fBperl_at_start\fP
1403 option, forcing the starting of the interpreter to be delayed until it is
1404 needed.
1405 .TP 10
1406 \fB\-ps\fP
1407 This option applies when an embedded Perl interpreter is linked with Exim. It overrides the setting of the \fBperl_at_start\fP
1408 option, forcing the starting of the interpreter to occur as soon as Exim is
1409 started.
1410 .TP 10
1411 \fB\-p\fP<\fIrval\fP>:<\fIsval\fP>
1412 For compatibility with Sendmail, this option is equivalent to
1413 .sp
1414 \-oMr <\fIrval\fP> \-oMs <\fIsval\fP>
1415 .sp
1416 It sets the incoming protocol and host name (for trusted callers). The
1417 host name and its colon can be omitted when only the protocol is to be set.
1418 Note the Exim already has two private options, \fB\-pd\fP and \fB\-ps\fP, that refer
1419 to embedded Perl. It is therefore impossible to set a protocol value of d
1420 or s using this option (but that does not seem a real limitation).
1421 .TP 10
1422 \fB\-q\fP
1423 This option is normally restricted to admin users. However, there is a
1424 configuration option called \fBprod_requires_admin\fP which can be set false to
1425 relax this restriction (and also the same requirement for the \fB\-M\fP, \fB\-R\fP,
1426 and \fB\-S\fP options).
1427 .sp
1428 If other commandline options do not specify an action,
1429 the \fB\-q\fP option starts one queue runner process. This scans the queue of
1430 waiting messages, and runs a delivery process for each one in turn. It waits
1431 for each delivery process to finish before starting the next one. A delivery
1432 process may not actually do any deliveries if the retry times for the addresses
1433 have not been reached. Use \fB\-qf\fP (see below) if you want to override this.
1434 .sp
1435 If
1436 the delivery process spawns other processes to deliver other messages down
1437 passed SMTP connections, the queue runner waits for these to finish before
1438 proceeding.
1439 .sp
1440 When all the queued messages have been considered, the original queue runner
1441 process terminates. In other words, a single pass is made over the waiting
1442 mail, one message at a time. Use \fB\-q\fP with a time (see below) if you want
1443 this to be repeated periodically.
1444 .sp
1445 Exim processes the waiting messages in an unpredictable order. It isn't very
1446 random, but it is likely to be different each time, which is all that matters.
1447 If one particular message screws up a remote MTA, other messages to the same
1448 MTA have a chance of getting through if they get tried first.
1449 .sp
1450 It is possible to cause the messages to be processed in lexical message id
1451 order, which is essentially the order in which they arrived, by setting the
1452 \fBqueue_run_in_order\fP option, but this is not recommended for normal use.
1453 .TP 10
1454 \fB\-q\fP<\fIqflags\fP>
1455 The \fB\-q\fP option may be followed by one or more flag letters that change its
1456 behaviour. They are all optional, but if more than one is present, they must
1457 appear in the correct order. Each flag is described in a separate item below.
1458 .TP 10
1459 \fB\-qq...\fP
1460 An option starting with \fB\-qq\fP requests a two\-stage queue run. In the first
1461 stage, the queue is scanned as if the \fBqueue_smtp_domains\fP option matched
1462 every domain. Addresses are routed, local deliveries happen, but no remote
1463 transports are run.
1464 .sp
1465 The hints database that remembers which messages are waiting for specific hosts
1466 is updated, as if delivery to those hosts had been deferred. After this is
1467 complete, a second, normal queue scan happens, with routing and delivery taking
1468 place as normal. Messages that are routed to the same host should mostly be
1469 delivered down a single SMTP
1470 connection because of the hints that were set up during the first queue scan.
1471 This option may be useful for hosts that are connected to the Internet
1472 intermittently.
1473 .TP 10
1474 \fB\-q[q]i...\fP
1475 If the \fIi\fP flag is present, the queue runner runs delivery processes only for
1476 those messages that haven't previously been tried. (\fIi\fP stands for "initial
1477 delivery".) This can be helpful if you are putting messages on the queue using
1478 \fB\-odq\fP and want a queue runner just to process the new messages.
1479 .TP 10
1480 \fB\-q[q][i]f...\fP
1481 If one \fIf\fP flag is present, a delivery attempt is forced for each non\-frozen
1482 message, whereas without \fIf\fP only those non\-frozen addresses that have passed
1483 their retry times are tried.
1484 .TP 10
1485 \fB\-q[q][i]ff...\fP
1486 If \fIff\fP is present, a delivery attempt is forced for every message, whether
1487 frozen or not.
1488 .TP 10
1489 \fB\-q[q][i][f[f]]l\fP
1490 The \fIl\fP (the letter "ell") flag specifies that only local deliveries are to
1491 be done. If a message requires any remote deliveries, it remains on the queue
1492 for later delivery.
1493 .TP 10
1494 \fB\-q[q][i][f[f]][l][G<name>[/<time>]]]\fP
1495 If the \fIG\fP flag and a name is present, the queue runner operates on the
1496 queue with the given name rather than the default queue.
1497 The name should not contain a \fI/\fP character.
1498 For a periodic queue run (see below)
1499 append to the name a slash and a time value.
1500 .sp
1501 If other commandline options specify an action, a \fI\-qG<name>\fP option
1502 will specify a queue to operate on.
1503 For example:
1504 .sp
1505 exim \-bp \-qGquarantine
1506 mailq \-qGquarantine
1507 exim \-qGoffpeak \-Rf @special.domain.example
1508 .TP 10
1509 \fB\-q\fP<\fIqflags\fP> <\fIstart id\fP> <\fIend id\fP>
1510 When scanning the queue, Exim can be made to skip over messages whose ids are
1511 lexically less than a given value by following the \fB\-q\fP option with a
1512 starting message id. For example:
1513 .sp
1514 exim \-q 0t5C6f\-0000c8\-00
1515 .sp
1516 Messages that arrived earlier than 0t5C6f\-0000c8\-00 are not inspected. If a
1517 second message id is given, messages whose ids are lexically greater than it
1518 are also skipped. If the same id is given twice, for example,
1519 .sp
1520 exim \-q 0t5C6f\-0000c8\-00 0t5C6f\-0000c8\-00
1521 .sp
1522 just one delivery process is started, for that message. This differs from
1523 \fB\-M\fP in that retry data is respected, and it also differs from \fB\-Mc\fP in
1524 that it counts as a delivery from a queue run. Note that the selection
1525 mechanism does not affect the order in which the messages are scanned. There
1526 are also other ways of selecting specific sets of messages for delivery in a
1527 queue run \- see \fB\-R\fP and \fB\-S\fP.
1528 .TP 10
1529 \fB\-q\fP<\fIqflags\fP><\fItime\fP>
1530 When a time value is present, the \fB\-q\fP option causes Exim to run as a daemon,
1531 starting a queue runner process at intervals specified by the given time value. This form of the
1532 \fB\-q\fP option is commonly combined with the \fB\-bd\fP option, in which case a
1533 single daemon process handles both functions. A common way of starting up a
1534 combined daemon at system boot time is to use a command such as
1535 .sp
1536 /usr/exim/bin/exim \-bd \-q30m
1537 .sp
1538 Such a daemon listens for incoming SMTP calls, and also starts a queue runner
1539 process every 30 minutes.
1540 .sp
1541 When a daemon is started by \fB\-q\fP with a time value, but without \fB\-bd\fP, no
1542 pid file is written unless one is explicitly requested by the \fB\-oP\fP option.
1543 .TP 10
1544 \fB\-qR\fP<\fIrsflags\fP> <\fIstring\fP>
1545 This option is synonymous with \fB\-R\fP. It is provided for Sendmail
1546 compatibility.
1547 .TP 10
1548 \fB\-qS\fP<\fIrsflags\fP> <\fIstring\fP>
1549 This option is synonymous with \fB\-S\fP.
1550 .TP 10
1551 \fB\-R\fP<\fIrsflags\fP> <\fIstring\fP>
1552 The <\fIrsflags\fP> may be empty, in which case the white space before the string
1553 is optional, unless the string is \fIf\fP, \fIff\fP, \fIr\fP, \fIrf\fP, or \fIrff\fP,
1554 which are the possible values for <\fIrsflags\fP>. White space is required if
1555 <\fIrsflags\fP> is not empty.
1556 .sp
1557 This option is similar to \fB\-q\fP with no time value, that is, it causes Exim to
1558 perform a single queue run, except that, when scanning the messages on the
1559 queue, Exim processes only those that have at least one undelivered recipient
1560 address containing the given string, which is checked in a case\-independent
1561 way. If the <\fIrsflags\fP> start with \fIr\fP, <\fIstring\fP> is interpreted as a
1562 regular expression; otherwise it is a literal string.
1563 .sp
1564 If you want to do periodic queue runs for messages with specific recipients,
1565 you can combine \fB\-R\fP with \fB\-q\fP and a time value. For example:
1566 .sp
1567 exim \-q25m \-R @special.domain.example
1568 .sp
1569 This example does a queue run for messages with recipients in the given domain
1570 every 25 minutes. Any additional flags that are specified with \fB\-q\fP are
1571 applied to each queue run.
1572 .sp
1573 Once a message is selected for delivery by this mechanism, all its addresses
1574 are processed. For the first selected message, Exim overrides any retry
1575 information and forces a delivery attempt for each undelivered address. This
1576 means that if delivery of any address in the first message is successful, any
1577 existing retry information is deleted, and so delivery attempts for that
1578 address in subsequently selected messages (which are processed without forcing)
1579 will run. However, if delivery of any address does not succeed, the retry
1580 information is updated, and in subsequently selected messages, the failing
1581 address will be skipped.
1582 .sp
1583 If the <\fIrsflags\fP> contain \fIf\fP or \fIff\fP, the delivery forcing applies to
1584 all selected messages, not just the first; frozen messages are included when
1585 \fIff\fP is present.
1586 .sp
1587 The \fB\-R\fP option makes it straightforward to initiate delivery of all messages
1588 to a given domain after a host has been down for some time. When the SMTP
1589 command ETRN is accepted by its ACL, its default
1590 effect is to run Exim with the \fB\-R\fP option, but it can be configured to run
1591 an arbitrary command instead.
1592 .TP 10
1593 \fB\-r\fP
1594 This is a documented (for Sendmail) obsolete alternative name for \fB\-f\fP.
1595 .TP 10
1596 \fB\-S\fP<\fIrsflags\fP> <\fIstring\fP>
1597 This option acts like \fB\-R\fP except that it checks the string against each
1598 message's sender instead of against the recipients. If \fB\-R\fP is also set, both
1599 conditions must be met for a message to be selected. If either of the options
1600 has \fIf\fP or \fIff\fP in its flags, the associated action is taken.
1601 .TP 10
1602 \fB\-Tqt\fP <\fItimes\fP>
1603 This is an option that is exclusively for use by the Exim testing suite. It is not
1604 recognized when Exim is run normally. It allows for the setting up of explicit
1605 "queue times" so that various warning/retry features can be tested.
1606 .TP 10
1607 \fB\-t\fP
1608 When Exim is receiving a locally\-generated, non\-SMTP message on its standard
1609 input, the \fB\-t\fP option causes the recipients of the message to be obtained
1610 from the \fITo:\fP, \fICc:\fP, and \fIBcc:\fP header lines in the message instead of
1611 from the command arguments. The addresses are extracted before any rewriting
1612 takes place and the \fIBcc:\fP header line, if present, is then removed.
1613 .sp
1614 If the command has any arguments, they specify addresses to which the message
1615 is \fInot\fP to be delivered. That is, the argument addresses are removed from
1616 the recipients list obtained from the headers. This is compatible with Smail 3
1617 and in accordance with the documented behaviour of several versions of
1618 Sendmail, as described in man pages on a number of operating systems (e.g.
1619 Solaris 8, IRIX 6.5, HP\-UX 11). However, some versions of Sendmail \fIadd\fP
1620 argument addresses to those obtained from the headers, and the O'Reilly
1621 Sendmail book documents it that way. Exim can be made to add argument addresses
1622 instead of subtracting them by setting the option
1623 \fBextract_addresses_remove_arguments\fP false.
1624 .sp
1625 If there are any \fBResent\-\fP header lines in the message, Exim extracts
1626 recipients from all \fIResent\-To:\fP, \fIResent\-Cc:\fP, and \fIResent\-Bcc:\fP header
1627 lines instead of from \fITo:\fP, \fICc:\fP, and \fIBcc:\fP. This is for compatibility
1628 with Sendmail and other MTAs. (Prior to release 4.20, Exim gave an error if
1629 \fB\-t\fP was used in conjunction with \fBResent\-\fP header lines.)
1630 .sp
1631 RFC 2822 talks about different sets of \fBResent\-\fP header lines (for when a
1632 message is resent several times). The RFC also specifies that they should be
1633 added at the front of the message, and separated by \fIReceived:\fP lines. It is
1634 not at all clear how \fB\-t\fP should operate in the present of multiple sets,
1635 nor indeed exactly what constitutes a "set".
1636 In practice, it seems that MUAs do not follow the RFC. The \fBResent\-\fP lines
1637 are often added at the end of the header, and if a message is resent more than
1638 once, it is common for the original set of \fBResent\-\fP headers to be renamed as
1639 \fBX\-Resent\-\fP when a new set is added. This removes any possible ambiguity.
1640 .TP 10
1641 \fB\-ti\fP
1642 This option is exactly equivalent to \fB\-t\fP \fB\-i\fP. It is provided for
1643 compatibility with Sendmail.
1644 .TP 10
1645 \fB\-tls\-on\-connect\fP
1646 This option is available when Exim is compiled with TLS support. It forces all
1647 incoming SMTP connections to behave as if the incoming port is listed in the
1648 \fBtls_on_connect_ports\fP option.
1649 .TP 10
1650 \fB\-U\fP
1651 Sendmail uses this option for "initial message submission", and its
1652 documentation states that in future releases, it may complain about
1653 syntactically invalid messages rather than fixing them when this flag is not
1654 set. Exim ignores this option.
1655 .TP 10
1656 \fB\-v\fP
1657 This option causes Exim to write information to the standard error stream,
1658 describing what it is doing. In particular, it shows the log lines for
1659 receiving and delivering a message, and if an SMTP connection is made, the SMTP
1660 dialogue is shown. Some of the log lines shown may not actually be written to
1661 the log if the setting of \fBlog_selector\fP discards them. Any relevant
1662 selectors are shown with each log line. If none are shown, the logging is
1663 unconditional.
1664 .TP 10
1665 \fB\-x\fP
1666 AIX uses \fB\-x\fP for a private purpose ("mail from a local mail program has
1667 National Language Support extended characters in the body of the mail item").
1668 It sets \fB\-x\fP when calling the MTA from its \fBmail\fP command. Exim ignores
1669 this option.
1670 .TP 10
1671 \fB\-X\fP <\fIlogfile\fP>
1672 This option is interpreted by Sendmail to cause debug information to be sent
1673 to the named file. It is ignored by Exim.
1674 .TP 10
1675 \fB\-z\fP <\fIlog\-line\fP>
1676 This option writes its argument to Exim's logfile.
1677 Use is restricted to administrators; the intent is for operational notes.
1678 Quotes should be used to maintain a multi\-word item as a single argument,
1679 under most shells.
1680 .sp
1681 .
1682 .SH "SEE ALSO"
1683 .rs
1684 .sp
1685 The full Exim specification, the Exim book, and the Exim wiki.