Import Upstream version 4.92
[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 runtime 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 .sp
174 Macro processing is done on lines before string\-expansion: new macros can be
175 defined and macros will be expanded.
176 Because macros in the config file are often used for secrets, those are only
177 available to admin users.
178 .TP 10
179 \fB\-bem\fP <\fIfilename\fP>
180 This option operates like \fB\-be\fP except that it must be followed by the name
181 of a file. For example:
182 .sp
183 exim \-bem /tmp/testmessage
184 .sp
185 The file is read as a message (as if receiving a locally\-submitted non\-SMTP
186 message) before any of the test expansions are done. Thus, message\-specific
187 variables such as \fI$message_size\fP and \fI$header_from:\fP are available. However,
188 no \fIReceived:\fP header is added to the message. If the \fB\-t\fP option is set,
189 recipients are read from the headers in the normal way, and are shown in the
190 \fI$recipients\fP variable. Note that recipients cannot be given on the command
191 line, because further arguments are taken as strings to expand (just like
192 \fB\-be\fP).
193 .TP 10
194 \fB\-bF\fP <\fIfilename\fP>
195 This option is the same as \fB\-bf\fP except that it assumes that the filter being
196 tested is a system filter. The additional commands that are available only in
197 system filters are recognized.
198 .TP 10
199 \fB\-bf\fP <\fIfilename\fP>
200 This option runs Exim in user filter testing mode; the file is the filter file
201 to be tested, and a test message must be supplied on the standard input. If
202 there are no message\-dependent tests in the filter, an empty file can be
203 supplied.
204 .sp
205 If you want to test a system filter file, use \fB\-bF\fP instead of \fB\-bf\fP. You
206 can use both \fB\-bF\fP and \fB\-bf\fP on the same command, in order to test a system
207 filter and a user filter in the same run. For example:
208 .sp
209 exim \-bF /system/filter \-bf /user/filter </test/message
210 .sp
211 This is helpful when the system filter adds header lines or sets filter
212 variables that are used by the user filter.
213 .sp
214 If the test filter file does not begin with one of the special lines
215 .sp
216 # Exim filter
217 # Sieve filter
218 .sp
219 it is taken to be a normal .forward file, and is tested for validity under
220 that interpretation.
221 .sp
222 The result of an Exim command that uses \fB\-bf\fP, provided no errors are
223 detected, is a list of the actions that Exim would try to take if presented
224 with the message for real. More details of filter testing are given in the
225 separate document entitled \fIExim's interfaces to mail filtering\fP.
226 .sp
227 When testing a filter file,
228 the envelope sender can be set by the \fB\-f\fP option,
229 or by a "From " line at the start of the test message. Various parameters
230 that would normally be taken from the envelope recipient address of the message
231 can be set by means of additional command line options (see the next four
232 options).
233 .TP 10
234 \fB\-bfd\fP <\fIdomain\fP>
235 This sets the domain of the recipient address when a filter file is being
236 tested by means of the \fB\-bf\fP option. The default is the value of
237 \fI$qualify_domain\fP.
238 .TP 10
239 \fB\-bfl\fP <\fIlocal part\fP>
240 This sets the local part of the recipient address when a filter file is being
241 tested by means of the \fB\-bf\fP option. The default is the username of the
242 process that calls Exim. A local part should be specified with any prefix or
243 suffix stripped, because that is how it appears to the filter when a message is
244 actually being delivered.
245 .TP 10
246 \fB\-bfp\fP <\fIprefix\fP>
247 This sets the prefix 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 prefix.
250 .TP 10
251 \fB\-bfs\fP <\fIsuffix\fP>
252 This sets the suffix of the local part of the recipient address when a filter
253 file is being tested by means of the \fB\-bf\fP option. The default is an empty
254 suffix.
255 .TP 10
256 \fB\-bh\fP <\fIIP address\fP>
257 This option runs a fake SMTP session as if from the given IP address, using the
258 standard input and output. The IP address may include a port number at the end,
259 after a full stop. For example:
260 .sp
261 exim \-bh 10.9.8.7.1234
262 exim \-bh fe80::a00:20ff:fe86:a061.5678
263 .sp
264 When an IPv6 address is given, it is converted into canonical form. In the case
265 of the second example above, the value of \fI$sender_host_address\fP after
266 conversion to the canonical form is
267 fe80:0000:0000:0a00:20ff:fe86:a061.5678.
268 .sp
269 Comments as to what is going on are written to the standard error file. These
270 include lines beginning with "LOG" for anything that would have been logged.
271 This facility is provided for testing configuration options for incoming
272 messages, to make sure they implement the required policy. For example, you can
273 test your relay controls using \fB\-bh\fP.
274 .sp
275 \fBWarning 1\fP:
276 You can test features of the configuration that rely on ident (RFC 1413)
277 information by using the \fB\-oMt\fP option. However, Exim cannot actually perform
278 an ident callout when testing using \fB\-bh\fP because there is no incoming SMTP
279 connection.
280 .sp
281 \fBWarning 2\fP: Address verification callouts
282 are also skipped when testing using \fB\-bh\fP. If you want these callouts to
283 occur, use \fB\-bhc\fP instead.
284 .sp
285 Messages supplied during the testing session are discarded, and nothing is
286 written to any of the real log files. There may be pauses when DNS (and other)
287 lookups are taking place, and of course these may time out. The \fB\-oMi\fP option
288 can be used to specify a specific IP interface and port if this is important,
289 and \fB\-oMaa\fP and \fB\-oMai\fP can be used to set parameters as if the SMTP
290 session were authenticated.
291 .sp
292 The \fIexim_checkaccess\fP utility is a "packaged" version of \fB\-bh\fP whose
293 output just states whether a given recipient address from a given host is
294 acceptable or not.
295 .sp
296 Features such as authentication and encryption, where the client input is not
297 plain text, cannot easily be tested with \fB\-bh\fP. Instead, you should use a
298 specialized SMTP test program such as
299 \fBswaks\fP.
300 .TP 10
301 \fB\-bhc\fP <\fIIP address\fP>
302 This option operates in the same way as \fB\-bh\fP, except that address
303 verification callouts are performed if required. This includes consulting and
304 updating the callout cache database.
305 .TP 10
306 \fB\-bi\fP
307 Sendmail interprets the \fB\-bi\fP option as a request to rebuild its alias file.
308 Exim does not have the concept of a single alias file, and so it cannot mimic
309 this behaviour. However, calls to /usr/lib/sendmail with the \fB\-bi\fP option
310 tend to appear in various scripts such as NIS make files, so the option must be
311 recognized.
312 .sp
313 If \fB\-bi\fP is encountered, the command specified by the \fBbi_command\fP
314 configuration option is run, under the uid and gid of the caller of Exim. If
315 the \fB\-oA\fP option is used, its value is passed to the command as an argument.
316 The command set by \fBbi_command\fP may not contain arguments. The command can
317 use the \fIexim_dbmbuild\fP utility, or some other means, to rebuild alias files
318 if this is required. If the \fBbi_command\fP option is not set, calling Exim with
319 \fB\-bi\fP is a no\-op.
320 .TP 10
321 \fB\-bI:help\fP
322 We shall provide various options starting \-bI: for querying Exim for
323 information. The output of many of these will be intended for machine
324 consumption. This one is not. The \fB\-bI:help\fP option asks Exim for a
325 synopsis of supported options beginning \-bI:. Use of any of these
326 options shall cause Exim to exit after producing the requested output.
327 .TP 10
328 \fB\-bI:dscp\fP
329 This option causes Exim to emit an alphabetically sorted list of all
330 recognised DSCP names.
331 .TP 10
332 \fB\-bI:sieve\fP
333 This option causes Exim to emit an alphabetically sorted list of all supported
334 Sieve protocol extensions on stdout, one per line. This is anticipated to be
335 useful for ManageSieve (RFC 5804) implementations, in providing that protocol's
336 SIEVE capability response line. As the precise list may depend upon
337 compile\-time build options, which this option will adapt to, this is the only
338 way to guarantee a correct response.
339 .TP 10
340 \fB\-bm\fP
341 This option runs an Exim receiving process that accepts an incoming,
342 locally\-generated message on the standard input. The recipients are given as the
343 command arguments (except when \fB\-t\fP is also present \- see below). Each
344 argument can be a comma\-separated list of RFC 2822 addresses. This is the
345 default option for selecting the overall action of an Exim call; it is assumed
346 if no other conflicting option is present.
347 .sp
348 If any addresses in the message are unqualified (have no domain), they are
349 qualified by the values of the \fBqualify_domain\fP or \fBqualify_recipient\fP
350 options, as appropriate. The \fB\-bnq\fP option (see below) provides a way of
351 suppressing this for special cases.
352 .sp
353 Policy checks on the contents of local messages can be enforced by means of
354 the non\-SMTP ACL.
355 .sp
356 The return code is zero if the message is successfully accepted. Otherwise, the
357 action is controlled by the \fB\-oe\fP\fIx\fP option setting \- see below.
358 .sp
359 The format
360 of the message must be as defined in RFC 2822, except that, for
361 compatibility with Sendmail and Smail, a line in one of the forms
362 .sp
363 From sender Fri Jan 5 12:55 GMT 1997
364 From sender Fri, 5 Jan 97 12:55:01
365 .sp
366 (with the weekday optional, and possibly with additional text after the date)
367 is permitted to appear at the start of the message. There appears to be no
368 authoritative specification of the format of this line. Exim recognizes it by
369 matching against the regular expression defined by the \fBuucp_from_pattern\fP
370 option, which can be changed if necessary.
371 .sp
372 The specified sender is treated as if it were given as the argument to the
373 \fB\-f\fP option, but if a \fB\-f\fP option is also present, its argument is used in
374 preference to the address taken from the message. The caller of Exim must be a
375 trusted user for the sender of a message to be set in this way.
376 .TP 10
377 \fB\-bmalware\fP <\fIfilename\fP>
378 This debugging option causes Exim to scan the given file or directory
379 (depending on the used scanner interface),
380 using the malware scanning framework. The option of \fBav_scanner\fP influences
381 this option, so if \fBav_scanner\fP's value is dependent upon an expansion then
382 the expansion should have defaults which apply to this invocation. ACLs are
383 not invoked, so if \fBav_scanner\fP references an ACL variable then that variable
384 will never be populated and \fB\-bmalware\fP will fail.
385 .sp
386 Exim will have changed working directory before resolving the filename, so
387 using fully qualified pathnames is advisable. Exim will be running as the Exim
388 user when it tries to open the file, rather than as the invoking user.
389 This option requires admin privileges.
390 .sp
391 The \fB\-bmalware\fP option will not be extended to be more generally useful,
392 there are better tools for file\-scanning. This option exists to help
393 administrators verify their Exim and AV scanner configuration.
394 .TP 10
395 \fB\-bnq\fP
396 By default, Exim automatically qualifies unqualified addresses (those
397 without domains) that appear in messages that are submitted locally (that
398 is, not over TCP/IP). This qualification applies both to addresses in
399 envelopes, and addresses in header lines. Sender addresses are qualified using
400 \fBqualify_domain\fP, and recipient addresses using \fBqualify_recipient\fP (which
401 defaults to the value of \fBqualify_domain\fP).
402 .sp
403 Sometimes, qualification is not wanted. For example, if \fB\-bS\fP (batch SMTP) is
404 being used to re\-submit messages that originally came from remote hosts after
405 content scanning, you probably do not want to qualify unqualified addresses in
406 header lines. (Such lines will be present only if you have not enabled a header
407 syntax check in the appropriate ACL.)
408 .sp
409 The \fB\-bnq\fP option suppresses all qualification of unqualified addresses in
410 messages that originate on the local host. When this is used, unqualified
411 addresses in the envelope provoke errors (causing message rejection) and
412 unqualified addresses in header lines are left alone.
413 .TP 10
414 \fB\-bP\fP
415 If this option is given with no arguments, it causes the values of all Exim's
416 main configuration options to be written to the standard output. The values
417 of one or more specific options can be requested by giving their names as
418 arguments, for example:
419 .sp
420 exim \-bP qualify_domain hold_domains
421 .sp
422 However, any option setting that is preceded by the word "hide" in the
423 configuration file is not shown in full, except to an admin user. For other
424 users, the output is as in this example:
425 .sp
426 mysql_servers = <value not displayable>
427 .sp
428 If \fBconfig\fP is given as an argument, the config is
429 output, as it was parsed, any include file resolved, any comment removed.
430 .sp
431 If \fBconfig_file\fP is given as an argument, the name of the runtime
432 configuration file is output. (\fBconfigure_file\fP works too, for
433 backward compatibility.)
434 If a list of configuration files was supplied, the value that is output here
435 is the name of the file that was actually used.
436 .sp
437 If the \fB\-n\fP flag is given, then for most modes of \fB\-bP\fP operation the
438 name will not be output.
439 .sp
440 If \fBlog_file_path\fP or \fBpid_file_path\fP are given, the names of the
441 directories where log files and daemon pid files are written are output,
442 respectively. If these values are unset, log files are written in a
443 sub\-directory of the spool directory called \fBlog\fP, and the pid file is
444 written directly into the spool directory.
445 .sp
446 If \fB\-bP\fP is followed by a name preceded by +, for example,
447 .sp
448 exim \-bP +local_domains
449 .sp
450 it searches for a matching named list of any type (domain, host, address, or
451 local part) and outputs what it finds.
452 .sp
453 If one of the words \fBrouter\fP, \fBtransport\fP, or \fBauthenticator\fP is given,
454 followed by the name of an appropriate driver instance, the option settings for
455 that driver are output. For example:
456 .sp
457 exim \-bP transport local_delivery
458 .sp
459 The generic driver options are output first, followed by the driver's private
460 options. A list of the names of drivers of a particular type can be obtained by
461 using one of the words \fBrouter_list\fP, \fBtransport_list\fP, or
462 \fBauthenticator_list\fP, and a complete list of all drivers with their option
463 settings can be obtained by using \fBrouters\fP, \fBtransports\fP, or
464 \fBauthenticators\fP.
465 .sp
466 If \fBenvironment\fP is given as an argument, the set of environment
467 variables is output, line by line. Using the \fB\-n\fP flag suppresses the value of the
468 variables.
469 .sp
470 If invoked by an admin user, then \fBmacro\fP, \fBmacro_list\fP and \fBmacros\fP
471 are available, similarly to the drivers. Because macros are sometimes used
472 for storing passwords, this option is restricted.
473 The output format is one item per line.
474 For the "\-bP macro <name>" form, if no such macro is found
475 the exit status will be nonzero.
476 .TP 10
477 \fB\-bp\fP
478 This option requests a listing of the contents of the mail queue on the
479 standard output. If the \fB\-bp\fP option is followed by a list of message ids,
480 just those messages are listed. By default, this option can be used only by an
481 admin user. However, the \fBqueue_list_requires_admin\fP option can be set false
482 to allow any user to see the queue.
483 .sp
484 Each message in the queue is displayed as in the following example:
485 .sp
486 25m 2.9K 0t5C6f\-0000c8\-00 <alice@wonderland.fict.example>
487 red.king@looking\-glass.fict.example
488 <other addresses>
489 .sp
490 The first line contains the length of time the message has been in the queue
491 (in this case 25 minutes), the size of the message (2.9K), the unique local
492 identifier for the message, and the message sender, as contained in the
493 envelope. For bounce messages, the sender address is empty, and appears as
494 "<>". If the message was submitted locally by an untrusted user who overrode
495 the default sender address, the user's login name is shown in parentheses
496 before the sender address.
497 .sp
498 If the message is frozen (attempts to deliver it are suspended) then the text
499 "*** frozen ***" is displayed at the end of this line.
500 .sp
501 The recipients of the message (taken from the envelope, not the headers) are
502 displayed on subsequent lines. Those addresses to which the message has already
503 been delivered are marked with the letter D. If an original address gets
504 expanded into several addresses via an alias or forward file, the original is
505 displayed with a D only when deliveries for all of its child addresses are
506 complete.
507 .TP 10
508 \fB\-bpa\fP
509 This option operates like \fB\-bp\fP, but in addition it shows delivered addresses
510 that were generated from the original top level address(es) in each message by
511 alias or forwarding operations. These addresses are flagged with "+D" instead
512 of just "D".
513 .TP 10
514 \fB\-bpc\fP
515 This option counts the number of messages in the queue, and writes the total
516 to the standard output. It is restricted to admin users, unless
517 \fBqueue_list_requires_admin\fP is set false.
518 .TP 10
519 \fB\-bpr\fP
520 This option operates like \fB\-bp\fP, but the output is not sorted into
521 chronological order of message arrival. This can speed it up when there are
522 lots of messages in the queue, and is particularly useful if the output is
523 going to be post\-processed in a way that doesn't need the sorting.
524 .TP 10
525 \fB\-bpra\fP
526 This option is a combination of \fB\-bpr\fP and \fB\-bpa\fP.
527 .TP 10
528 \fB\-bpru\fP
529 This option is a combination of \fB\-bpr\fP and \fB\-bpu\fP.
530 .TP 10
531 \fB\-bpu\fP
532 This option operates like \fB\-bp\fP but shows only undelivered top\-level
533 addresses for each message displayed. Addresses generated by aliasing or
534 forwarding are not shown, unless the message was deferred after processing by a
535 router with the \fBone_time\fP option set.
536 .TP 10
537 \fB\-brt\fP
538 This option is for testing retry rules, and it must be followed by up to three
539 arguments. It causes Exim to look for a retry rule that matches the values
540 and to write it to the standard output. For example:
541 .sp
542 exim \-brt bach.comp.mus.example
543 Retry rule: *.comp.mus.example F,2h,15m; F,4d,30m;
544 .sp
545 The first
546 argument, which is required, can be a complete address in the form
547 \fIlocal_part@domain\fP, or it can be just a domain name. If the second argument
548 contains a dot, it is interpreted as an optional second domain name; if no
549 retry rule is found for the first argument, the second is tried. This ties in
550 with Exim's behaviour when looking for retry rules for remote hosts \- if no
551 rule is found that matches the host, one that matches the mail domain is
552 sought. Finally, an argument that is the name of a specific delivery error, as
553 used in setting up retry rules, can be given. For example:
554 .sp
555 exim \-brt haydn.comp.mus.example quota_3d
556 Retry rule: *@haydn.comp.mus.example quota_3d F,1h,15m
557 .TP 10
558 \fB\-brw\fP
559 This option is for testing address rewriting rules, and it must be followed by
560 a single argument, consisting of either a local part without a domain, or a
561 complete address with a fully qualified domain. Exim outputs how this address
562 would be rewritten for each possible place it might appear.
563 .TP 10
564 \fB\-bS\fP
565 This option is used for batched SMTP input, which is an alternative interface
566 for non\-interactive local message submission. A number of messages can be
567 submitted in a single run. However, despite its name, this is not really SMTP
568 input. Exim reads each message's envelope from SMTP commands on the standard
569 input, but generates no responses. If the caller is trusted, or
570 \fBuntrusted_set_sender\fP is set, the senders in the SMTP MAIL commands are
571 believed; otherwise the sender is always the caller of Exim.
572 .sp
573 The message itself is read from the standard input, in SMTP format (leading
574 dots doubled), terminated by a line containing just a single dot. An error is
575 provoked if the terminating dot is missing. A further message may then follow.
576 .sp
577 As for other local message submissions, the contents of incoming batch SMTP
578 messages can be checked using the non\-SMTP ACL.
579 Unqualified addresses are automatically qualified using \fBqualify_domain\fP and
580 \fBqualify_recipient\fP, as appropriate, unless the \fB\-bnq\fP option is used.
581 .sp
582 Some other SMTP commands are recognized in the input. HELO and EHLO act
583 as RSET; VRFY, EXPN, ETRN, and HELP act as NOOP;
584 QUIT quits, ignoring the rest of the standard input.
585 .sp
586 If any error is encountered, reports are written to the standard output and
587 error streams, and Exim gives up immediately. The return code is 0 if no error
588 was detected; it is 1 if one or more messages were accepted before the error
589 was detected; otherwise it is 2.
590 .sp
591 .TP 10
592 \fB\-bs\fP
593 This option causes Exim to accept one or more messages by reading SMTP commands
594 on the standard input, and producing SMTP replies on the standard output. SMTP
595 policy controls, as defined in ACLs are applied.
596 Some user agents use this interface as a way of passing locally\-generated
597 messages to the MTA.
598 .sp
599 In
600 this usage, if the caller of Exim is trusted, or \fBuntrusted_set_sender\fP is
601 set, the senders of messages are taken from the SMTP MAIL commands.
602 Otherwise the content of these commands is ignored and the sender is set up as
603 the calling user. Unqualified addresses are automatically qualified using
604 \fBqualify_domain\fP and \fBqualify_recipient\fP, as appropriate, unless the
605 \fB\-bnq\fP option is used.
606 .sp
607 The
608 \fB\-bs\fP option is also used to run Exim from \fIinetd\fP, as an alternative to
609 using a listening daemon. Exim can distinguish the two cases by checking
610 whether the standard input is a TCP/IP socket. When Exim is called from
611 \fIinetd\fP, the source of the mail is assumed to be remote, and the comments
612 above concerning senders and qualification do not apply. In this situation,
613 Exim behaves in exactly the same way as it does when receiving a message via
614 the listening daemon.
615 .TP 10
616 \fB\-bt\fP
617 This option runs Exim in address testing mode, in which each argument is taken
618 as a recipient address to be tested for deliverability. The results are
619 written to the standard output. If a test fails, and the caller is not an admin
620 user, no details of the failure are output, because these might contain
621 sensitive information such as usernames and passwords for database lookups.
622 .sp
623 If no arguments are given, Exim runs in an interactive manner, prompting with a
624 right angle bracket for addresses to be tested.
625 .sp
626 Unlike the \fB\-be\fP test option, you cannot arrange for Exim to use the
627 readline() function, because it is running as \fIroot\fP and there are
628 security issues.
629 .sp
630 Each address is handled as if it were the recipient address of a message
631 (compare the \fB\-bv\fP option). It is passed to the routers and the result is
632 written to the standard output. However, any router that has
633 \fBno_address_test\fP set is bypassed. This can make \fB\-bt\fP easier to use for
634 genuine routing tests if your first router passes everything to a scanner
635 program.
636 .sp
637 The return code is 2 if any address failed outright; it is 1 if no address
638 failed outright but at least one could not be resolved for some reason. Return
639 code 0 is given only when all addresses succeed.
640 .sp
641 \fBNote\fP: When actually delivering a message, Exim removes duplicate recipient
642 addresses after routing is complete, so that only one delivery takes place.
643 This does not happen when testing with \fB\-bt\fP; the full results of routing are
644 always shown.
645 .sp
646 \fBWarning\fP: \fB\-bt\fP can only do relatively simple testing. If any of the
647 routers in the configuration makes any tests on the sender address of a
648 message,
649 you can use the \fB\-f\fP option to set an appropriate sender when running
650 \fB\-bt\fP tests. Without it, the sender is assumed to be the calling user at the
651 default qualifying domain. However, if you have set up (for example) routers
652 whose behaviour depends on the contents of an incoming message, you cannot test
653 those conditions using \fB\-bt\fP. The \fB\-N\fP option provides a possible way of
654 doing such tests.
655 .TP 10
656 \fB\-bV\fP
657 This option causes Exim to write the current version number, compilation
658 number, and compilation date of the \fIexim\fP binary to the standard output.
659 It also lists the DBM library that is being used, the optional modules (such as
660 specific lookup types), the drivers that are included in the binary, and the
661 name of the runtime configuration file that is in use.
662 .sp
663 As part of its operation, \fB\-bV\fP causes Exim to read and syntax check its
664 configuration file. However, this is a static check only. It cannot check
665 values that are to be expanded. For example, although a misspelt ACL verb is
666 detected, an error in the verb's arguments is not. You cannot rely on \fB\-bV\fP
667 alone to discover (for example) all the typos in the configuration; some
668 realistic testing is needed. The \fB\-bh\fP and \fB\-N\fP options provide more
669 dynamic testing facilities.
670 .TP 10
671 \fB\-bv\fP
672 This option runs Exim in address verification mode, in which each argument is
673 taken as a recipient address to be verified by the routers. (This does
674 not involve any verification callouts). During normal operation, verification
675 happens mostly as a consequence processing a \fBverify\fP condition in an ACL. If you want to test an entire ACL, possibly
676 including callouts, see the \fB\-bh\fP and \fB\-bhc\fP options.
677 .sp
678 If verification fails, and the caller is not an admin user, no details of the
679 failure are output, because these might contain sensitive information such as
680 usernames and passwords for database lookups.
681 .sp
682 If no arguments are given, Exim runs in an interactive manner, prompting with a
683 right angle bracket for addresses to be verified.
684 .sp
685 Unlike the \fB\-be\fP test option, you cannot arrange for Exim to use the
686 readline() function, because it is running as \fIexim\fP and there are
687 security issues.
688 .sp
689 Verification differs from address testing (the \fB\-bt\fP option) in that routers
690 that have \fBno_verify\fP set are skipped, and if the address is accepted by a
691 router that has \fBfail_verify\fP set, verification fails. The address is
692 verified as a recipient if \fB\-bv\fP is used; to test verification for a sender
693 address, \fB\-bvs\fP should be used.
694 .sp
695 If the \fB\-v\fP option is not set, the output consists of a single line for each
696 address, stating whether it was verified or not, and giving a reason in the
697 latter case. Without \fB\-v\fP, generating more than one address by redirection
698 causes verification to end successfully, without considering the generated
699 addresses. However, if just one address is generated, processing continues,
700 and the generated address must verify successfully for the overall verification
701 to succeed.
702 .sp
703 When \fB\-v\fP is set, more details are given of how the address has been handled,
704 and in the case of address redirection, all the generated addresses are also
705 considered. Verification may succeed for some and fail for others.
706 .sp
707 The
708 return code is 2 if any address failed outright; it is 1 if no address
709 failed outright but at least one could not be resolved for some reason. Return
710 code 0 is given only when all addresses succeed.
711 .sp
712 If any of the routers in the configuration makes any tests on the sender
713 address of a message, you should use the \fB\-f\fP option to set an appropriate
714 sender when running \fB\-bv\fP tests. Without it, the sender is assumed to be the
715 calling user at the default qualifying domain.
716 .TP 10
717 \fB\-bvs\fP
718 This option acts like \fB\-bv\fP, but verifies the address as a sender rather
719 than a recipient address. This affects any rewriting and qualification that
720 might happen.
721 .TP 10
722 \fB\-bw\fP
723 This option runs Exim as a daemon, awaiting incoming SMTP connections,
724 similarly to the \fB\-bd\fP option. All port specifications on the command\-line
725 and in the configuration file are ignored. Queue\-running may not be specified.
726 .sp
727 In this mode, Exim expects to be passed a socket as fd 0 (stdin) which is
728 listening for connections. This permits the system to start up and have
729 inetd (or equivalent) listen on the SMTP ports, starting an Exim daemon for
730 each port only when the first connection is received.
731 .sp
732 If the option is given as \fB\-bw\fP<\fItime\fP> then the time is a timeout, after
733 which the daemon will exit, which should cause inetd to listen once more.
734 .TP 10
735 \fB\-C\fP <\fIfilelist\fP>
736 This option causes Exim to find the runtime configuration file from the given
737 list instead of from the list specified by the CONFIGURE_FILE
738 compile\-time setting. Usually, the list will consist of just a single filename,
739 but it can be a colon\-separated list of names. In this case, the first
740 file that exists is used. Failure to open an existing file stops Exim from
741 proceeding any further along the list, and an error is generated.
742 .sp
743 When this option is used by a caller other than root, and the list is different
744 from the compiled\-in list, Exim gives up its root privilege immediately, and
745 runs with the real and effective uid and gid set to those of the caller.
746 However, if a TRUSTED_CONFIG_LIST file is defined in Local/Makefile, that
747 file contains a list of full pathnames, one per line, for configuration files
748 which are trusted. Root privilege is retained for any configuration file so
749 listed, as long as the caller is the Exim user (or the user specified in the
750 CONFIGURE_OWNER option, if any), and as long as the configuration file is
751 not writeable by inappropriate users or groups.
752 .sp
753 Leaving TRUSTED_CONFIG_LIST unset precludes the possibility of testing a
754 configuration using \fB\-C\fP right through message reception and delivery,
755 even if the caller is root. The reception works, but by that time, Exim is
756 running as the Exim user, so when it re\-executes to regain privilege for the
757 delivery, the use of \fB\-C\fP causes privilege to be lost. However, root can
758 test reception and delivery using two separate commands (one to put a message
759 in the queue, using \fB\-odq\fP, and another to do the delivery, using \fB\-M\fP).
760 .sp
761 If ALT_CONFIG_PREFIX is defined in Local/Makefile, it specifies a
762 prefix string with which any file named in a \fB\-C\fP command line option
763 must start. In addition, the filename must not contain the sequence /../.
764 However, if the value of the \fB\-C\fP option is identical to the value of
765 CONFIGURE_FILE in Local/Makefile, Exim ignores \fB\-C\fP and proceeds as
766 usual. There is no default setting for ALT_CONFIG_PREFIX; when it is
767 unset, any filename can be used with \fB\-C\fP.
768 .sp
769 ALT_CONFIG_PREFIX can be used to confine alternative configuration files
770 to a directory to which only root has access. This prevents someone who has
771 broken into the Exim account from running a privileged Exim with an arbitrary
772 configuration file.
773 .sp
774 The \fB\-C\fP facility is useful for ensuring that configuration files are
775 syntactically correct, but cannot be used for test deliveries, unless the
776 caller is privileged, or unless it is an exotic configuration that does not
777 require privilege. No check is made on the owner or group of the files
778 specified by this option.
779 .TP 10
780 \fB\-D\fP<\fImacro\fP>=<\fIvalue\fP>
781 This option can be used to override macro definitions in the configuration file. However, like \fB\-C\fP, if it is used by an
782 unprivileged caller, it causes Exim to give up its root privilege.
783 If DISABLE_D_OPTION is defined in Local/Makefile, the use of \fB\-D\fP is
784 completely disabled, and its use causes an immediate error exit.
785 .sp
786 If WHITELIST_D_MACROS is defined in Local/Makefile then it should be a
787 colon\-separated list of macros which are considered safe and, if \fB\-D\fP only
788 supplies macros from this list, and the values are acceptable, then Exim will
789 not give up root privilege if the caller is root, the Exim run\-time user, or
790 the CONFIGURE_OWNER, if set. This is a transition mechanism and is expected
791 to be removed in the future. Acceptable values for the macros satisfy the
792 regexp: ^[A\-Za\-z0\-9_/.\-]*$
793 .sp
794 The entire option (including equals sign if present) must all be within one
795 command line item. \fB\-D\fP can be used to set the value of a macro to the empty
796 string, in which case the equals sign is optional. These two commands are
797 synonymous:
798 .sp
799 exim \-DABC ...
800 exim \-DABC= ...
801 .sp
802 To include spaces in a macro definition item, quotes must be used. If you use
803 quotes, spaces are permitted around the macro name and the equals sign. For
804 example:
805 .sp
806 exim '\-D ABC = something' ...
807 .sp
808 \fB\-D\fP may be repeated up to 10 times on a command line.
809 Only macro names up to 22 letters long can be set.
810 .TP 10
811 \fB\-d\fP<\fIdebug options\fP>
812 This option causes debugging information to be written to the standard
813 error stream. It is restricted to admin users because debugging output may show
814 database queries that contain password information. Also, the details of users'
815 filter files should be protected. If a non\-admin user uses \fB\-d\fP, Exim
816 writes an error message to the standard error stream and exits with a non\-zero
817 return code.
818 .sp
819 When \fB\-d\fP is used, \fB\-v\fP is assumed. If \fB\-d\fP is given on its own, a lot of
820 standard debugging data is output. This can be reduced, or increased to include
821 some more rarely needed information, by directly following \fB\-d\fP with a string
822 made up of names preceded by plus or minus characters. These add or remove sets
823 of debugging data, respectively. For example, \fB\-d+filter\fP adds filter
824 debugging, whereas \fB\-d\-all+filter\fP selects only filter debugging. Note that
825 no spaces are allowed in the debug setting. The available debugging categories
826 are:
827 .sp
828 acl ACL interpretation
829 auth authenticators
830 deliver general delivery logic
831 dns DNS lookups (see also resolver)
832 dnsbl DNS black list (aka RBL) code
833 exec arguments for execv() calls
834 expand detailed debugging for string expansions
835 filter filter handling
836 hints_lookup hints data lookups
837 host_lookup all types of name\-to\-IP address handling
838 ident ident lookup
839 interface lists of local interfaces
840 lists matching things in lists
841 load system load checks
842 local_scan can be used by local_scan()
843 lookup general lookup code and all lookups
844 memory memory handling
845 noutf8 modifier: avoid UTF\-8 line\-drawing
846 pid modifier: add pid to debug output lines
847 process_info setting info for the process log
848 queue_run queue runs
849 receive general message reception logic
850 resolver turn on the DNS resolver's debugging output
851 retry retry handling
852 rewrite address rewriting
853 route address routing
854 timestamp modifier: add timestamp to debug output lines
855 tls TLS logic
856 transport transports
857 uid changes of uid/gid and looking up uid/gid
858 verify address verification logic
859 all almost all of the above (see below), and also \fB\-v\fP
860 .sp
861 The all option excludes memory when used as +all, but includes it
862 for \-all. The reason for this is that +all is something that people
863 tend to use when generating debug output for Exim maintainers. If +memory
864 is included, an awful lot of output that is very rarely of interest is
865 generated, so it now has to be explicitly requested. However, \-all does
866 turn everything off.
867 .sp
868 The resolver option produces output only if the DNS resolver was compiled
869 with DEBUG enabled. This is not the case in some operating systems. Also,
870 unfortunately, debugging output from the DNS resolver is written to stdout
871 rather than stderr.
872 .sp
873 The default (\fB\-d\fP with no argument) omits expand, filter,
874 interface, load, memory, pid, resolver, and timestamp.
875 However, the pid selector is forced when debugging is turned on for a
876 daemon, which then passes it on to any re\-executed Exims. Exim also
877 automatically adds the pid to debug lines when several remote deliveries are
878 run in parallel.
879 .sp
880 The timestamp selector causes the current time to be inserted at the start
881 of all debug output lines. This can be useful when trying to track down delays
882 in processing.
883 The noutf8 selector disables the use of
884 UTF\-8 line\-drawing characters to group related information.
885 When disabled. ascii\-art is used instead.
886 Using the +all option does not set this modifier,
887 .sp
888 If the \fBdebug_print\fP option is set in any driver, it produces output whenever
889 any debugging is selected, or if \fB\-v\fP is used.
890 .TP 10
891 \fB\-dd\fP<\fIdebug options\fP>
892 This option behaves exactly like \fB\-d\fP except when used on a command that
893 starts a daemon process. In that case, debugging is turned off for the
894 subprocesses that the daemon creates. Thus, it is useful for monitoring the
895 behaviour of the daemon without creating as much output as full debugging does.
896 .TP 10
897 \fB\-dropcr\fP
898 This is an obsolete option that is now a no\-op. It used to affect the way Exim
899 handled CR and LF characters in incoming messages.
900 .TP 10
901 \fB\-E\fP
902 This option specifies that an incoming message is a locally\-generated delivery
903 failure report. It is used internally by Exim when handling delivery failures
904 and is not intended for external use. Its only effect is to stop Exim
905 generating certain messages to the postmaster, as otherwise message cascades
906 could occur in some situations. As part of the same option, a message id may
907 follow the characters \fB\-E\fP. If it does, the log entry for the receipt of the
908 new message contains the id, following "R=", as a cross\-reference.
909 .TP 10
910 \fB\-e\fP\fIx\fP
911 There are a number of Sendmail options starting with \fB\-oe\fP which seem to be
912 called by various programs without the leading \fBo\fP in the option. For
913 example, the \fBvacation\fP program uses \fB\-eq\fP. Exim treats all options of the
914 form \fB\-e\fP\fIx\fP as synonymous with the corresponding \fB\-oe\fP\fIx\fP options.
915 .TP 10
916 \fB\-F\fP <\fIstring\fP>
917 This option sets the sender's full name for use when a locally\-generated
918 message is being accepted. In the absence of this option, the user's \fIgecos\fP
919 entry from the password data is used. As users are generally permitted to alter
920 their \fIgecos\fP entries, no security considerations are involved. White space
921 between \fB\-F\fP and the <\fIstring\fP> is optional.
922 .TP 10
923 \fB\-f\fP <\fIaddress\fP>
924 This option sets the address of the envelope sender of a locally\-generated
925 message (also known as the return path). The option can normally be used only
926 by a trusted user, but \fBuntrusted_set_sender\fP can be set to allow untrusted
927 users to use it.
928 .sp
929 Processes running as root or the Exim user are always trusted. Other
930 trusted users are defined by the \fBtrusted_users\fP or \fBtrusted_groups\fP
931 options. In the absence of \fB\-f\fP, or if the caller is not trusted, the sender
932 of a local message is set to the caller's login name at the default qualify
933 domain.
934 .sp
935 There is one exception to the restriction on the use of \fB\-f\fP: an empty sender
936 can be specified by any user, trusted or not, to create a message that can
937 never provoke a bounce. An empty sender can be specified either as an empty
938 string, or as a pair of angle brackets with nothing between them, as in these
939 examples of shell commands:
940 .sp
941 exim \-f '<>' user@domain
942 exim \-f "" user@domain
943 .sp
944 In addition, the use of \fB\-f\fP is not restricted when testing a filter file
945 with \fB\-bf\fP or when testing or verifying addresses using the \fB\-bt\fP or
946 \fB\-bv\fP options.
947 .sp
948 Allowing untrusted users to change the sender address does not of itself make
949 it possible to send anonymous mail. Exim still checks that the \fIFrom:\fP header
950 refers to the local user, and if it does not, it adds a \fISender:\fP header,
951 though this can be overridden by setting \fBno_local_from_check\fP.
952 .sp
953 White
954 space between \fB\-f\fP and the <\fIaddress\fP> is optional (that is, they can be
955 given as two arguments or one combined argument). The sender of a
956 locally\-generated message can also be set (when permitted) by an initial
957 "From " line in the message \- see the description of \fB\-bm\fP above \- but
958 if \fB\-f\fP is also present, it overrides "From ".
959 .TP 10
960 \fB\-G\fP
961 This option is equivalent to an ACL applying:
962 .sp
963 control = suppress_local_fixups
964 .sp
965 for every message received. Note that Sendmail will complain about such
966 bad formatting, where Exim silently just does not fix it up. This may change
967 in future.
968 .sp
969 As this affects audit information, the caller must be a trusted user to use
970 this option.
971 .TP 10
972 \fB\-h\fP <\fInumber\fP>
973 This option is accepted for compatibility with Sendmail, but has no effect. (In
974 Sendmail it overrides the "hop count" obtained by counting \fIReceived:\fP
975 headers.)
976 .TP 10
977 \fB\-i\fP
978 This option, which has the same effect as \fB\-oi\fP, specifies that a dot on a
979 line by itself should not terminate an incoming, non\-SMTP message. I can find
980 no documentation for this option in Solaris 2.4 Sendmail, but the \fImailx\fP
981 command in Solaris 2.4 uses it. See also \fB\-ti\fP.
982 .TP 10
983 \fB\-L\fP <\fItag\fP>
984 This option is equivalent to setting \fBsyslog_processname\fP in the config
985 file and setting \fBlog_file_path\fP to syslog.
986 Its use is restricted to administrators. The configuration file has to be
987 read and parsed, to determine access rights, before this is set and takes
988 effect, so early configuration file errors will not honour this flag.
989 .sp
990 The tag should not be longer than 32 characters.
991 .TP 10
992 \fB\-M\fP <\fImessage id\fP> <\fImessage id\fP> ...
993 This option requests Exim to run a delivery attempt on each message in turn. If
994 any of the messages are frozen, they are automatically thawed before the
995 delivery attempt. The settings of \fBqueue_domains\fP, \fBqueue_smtp_domains\fP,
996 and \fBhold_domains\fP are ignored.
997 .sp
998 Retry
999 hints for any of the addresses are overridden \- Exim tries to deliver even if
1000 the normal retry time has not yet been reached. This option requires the caller
1001 to be an admin user. However, there is an option called \fBprod_requires_admin\fP
1002 which can be set false to relax this restriction (and also the same requirement
1003 for the \fB\-q\fP, \fB\-R\fP, and \fB\-S\fP options).
1004 .sp
1005 The deliveries happen synchronously, that is, the original Exim process does
1006 not terminate until all the delivery attempts have finished. No output is
1007 produced unless there is a serious error. If you want to see what is happening,
1008 use the \fB\-v\fP option as well, or inspect Exim's main log.
1009 .TP 10
1010 \fB\-Mar\fP <\fImessage id\fP> <\fIaddress\fP> <\fIaddress\fP> ...
1011 This option requests Exim to add the addresses to the list of recipients of the
1012 message ("ar" for "add recipients"). The first argument must be a message
1013 id, and the remaining ones must be email addresses. However, if the message is
1014 active (in the middle of a delivery attempt), it is not altered. This option
1015 can be used only by an admin user.
1016 .TP 10
1017 \fB\-MC\fP <\fItransport\fP> <\fIhostname\fP> <\fIsequence number\fP> <\fImessage id\fP>
1018 This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
1019 by Exim to invoke another instance of itself to deliver a waiting message using
1020 an existing SMTP connection, which is passed as the standard input. This must be the final option, and the caller
1021 must be root or the Exim user in order to use it.
1022 .TP 10
1023 \fB\-MCA\fP
1024 This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
1025 by Exim in conjunction with the \fB\-MC\fP option. It signifies that the
1026 connection to the remote host has been authenticated.
1027 .TP 10
1028 \fB\-MCD\fP
1029 This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
1030 by Exim in conjunction with the \fB\-MC\fP option. It signifies that the
1031 remote host supports the ESMTP DSN extension.
1032 .TP 10
1033 \fB\-MCG\fP <\fIqueue name\fP>
1034 This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
1035 by Exim in conjunction with the \fB\-MC\fP option. It signifies that an
1036 alternate queue is used, named by the following argument.
1037 .TP 10
1038 \fB\-MCK\fP
1039 This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
1040 by Exim in conjunction with the \fB\-MC\fP option. It signifies that a
1041 remote host supports the ESMTP CHUNKING extension.
1042 .TP 10
1043 \fB\-MCP\fP
1044 This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
1045 by Exim in conjunction with the \fB\-MC\fP option. It signifies that the server to
1046 which Exim is connected supports pipelining.
1047 .TP 10
1048 \fB\-MCQ\fP <\fIprocess id\fP> <\fIpipe fd\fP>
1049 This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
1050 by Exim in conjunction with the \fB\-MC\fP option when the original delivery was
1051 started by a queue runner. It passes on the process id of the queue runner,
1052 together with the file descriptor number of an open pipe. Closure of the pipe
1053 signals the final completion of the sequence of processes that are passing
1054 messages through the same SMTP connection.
1055 .TP 10
1056 \fB\-MCS\fP
1057 This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
1058 by Exim in conjunction with the \fB\-MC\fP option, and passes on the fact that the
1059 SMTP SIZE option should be used on messages delivered down the existing
1060 connection.
1061 .TP 10
1062 \fB\-MCT\fP
1063 This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
1064 by Exim in conjunction with the \fB\-MC\fP option, and passes on the fact that the
1065 host to which Exim is connected supports TLS encryption.
1066 .TP 10
1067 \fB\-MCt\fP <\fIIP address\fP> <\fIport\fP> <\fIcipher\fP>
1068 This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally
1069 by Exim in conjunction with the \fB\-MC\fP option, and passes on the fact that the
1070 connection is being proxied by a parent process for handling TLS encryption.
1071 The arguments give the local address and port being proxied, and the TLS cipher.
1072 .TP 10
1073 \fB\-Mc\fP <\fImessage id\fP> <\fImessage id\fP> ...
1074 This option requests Exim to run a delivery attempt on each message, in turn,
1075 but unlike the \fB\-M\fP option, it does check for retry hints, and respects any
1076 that are found. This option is not very useful to external callers. It is
1077 provided mainly for internal use by Exim when it needs to re\-invoke itself in
1078 order to regain root privilege for a delivery.
1079 However, \fB\-Mc\fP can be useful when testing, in order to run a delivery that
1080 respects retry times and other options such as \fBhold_domains\fP that are
1081 overridden when \fB\-M\fP is used. Such a delivery does not count as a queue run.
1082 If you want to run a specific delivery as if in a queue run, you should use
1083 \fB\-q\fP with a message id argument. A distinction between queue run deliveries
1084 and other deliveries is made in one or two places.
1085 .TP 10
1086 \fB\-Mes\fP <\fImessage id\fP> <\fIaddress\fP>
1087 This option requests Exim to change the sender address in the message to the
1088 given address, which must be a fully qualified address or "<>" ("es" for
1089 "edit sender"). There must be exactly two arguments. The first argument must
1090 be a message id, and the second one an email address. However, if the message
1091 is active (in the middle of a delivery attempt), its status is not altered.
1092 This option can be used only by an admin user.
1093 .TP 10
1094 \fB\-Mf\fP <\fImessage id\fP> <\fImessage id\fP> ...
1095 This option requests Exim to mark each listed message as "frozen". This
1096 prevents any delivery attempts taking place until the message is "thawed",
1097 either manually or as a result of the \fBauto_thaw\fP configuration option.
1098 However, if any of the messages are active (in the middle of a delivery
1099 attempt), their status is not altered. This option can be used only by an admin
1100 user.
1101 .TP 10
1102 \fB\-Mg\fP <\fImessage id\fP> <\fImessage id\fP> ...
1103 This option requests Exim to give up trying to deliver the listed messages,
1104 including any that are frozen. However, if any of the messages are active,
1105 their status is not altered. For non\-bounce messages, a delivery error message
1106 is sent to the sender, containing the text "cancelled by administrator".
1107 Bounce messages are just discarded. This option can be used only by an admin
1108 user.
1109 .TP 10
1110 \fB\-Mmad\fP <\fImessage id\fP> <\fImessage id\fP> ...
1111 This option requests Exim to mark all the recipient addresses in the messages
1112 as already delivered ("mad" for "mark all delivered"). However, if any
1113 message is active (in the middle of a delivery attempt), its status is not
1114 altered. This option can be used only by an admin user.
1115 .TP 10
1116 \fB\-Mmd\fP <\fImessage id\fP> <\fIaddress\fP> <\fIaddress\fP> ...
1117 This option requests Exim to mark the given addresses as already delivered
1118 ("md" for "mark delivered"). The first argument must be a message id, and
1119 the remaining ones must be email addresses. These are matched to recipient
1120 addresses in the message in a case\-sensitive manner. If the message is active
1121 (in the middle of a delivery attempt), its status is not altered. This option
1122 can be used only by an admin user.
1123 .TP 10
1124 \fB\-Mrm\fP <\fImessage id\fP> <\fImessage id\fP> ...
1125 This option requests Exim to remove the given messages from the queue. No
1126 bounce messages are sent; each message is simply forgotten. However, if any of
1127 the messages are active, their status is not altered. This option can be used
1128 only by an admin user or by the user who originally caused the message to be
1129 placed in the queue.
1130 .TP 10
1131 \fB\-Mset\fP <\fImessage id\fP>
1132 This option is useful only in conjunction with \fB\-be\fP (that is, when testing
1133 string expansions). Exim loads the given message from its spool before doing
1134 the test expansions, thus setting message\-specific variables such as
1135 \fI$message_size\fP and the header variables. The \fI$recipients\fP variable is made
1136 available. This feature is provided to make it easier to test expansions that
1137 make use of these variables. However, this option can be used only by an admin
1138 user. See also \fB\-bem\fP.
1139 .TP 10
1140 \fB\-Mt\fP <\fImessage id\fP> <\fImessage id\fP> ...
1141 This option requests Exim to "thaw" any of the listed messages that are
1142 "frozen", so that delivery attempts can resume. However, if any of the
1143 messages are active, their status is not altered. This option can be used only
1144 by an admin user.
1145 .TP 10
1146 \fB\-Mvb\fP <\fImessage id\fP>
1147 This option causes the contents of the message body (\-D) spool file to be
1148 written to the standard output. This option can be used only by an admin user.
1149 .TP 10
1150 \fB\-Mvc\fP <\fImessage id\fP>
1151 This option causes a copy of the complete message (header lines plus body) to
1152 be written to the standard output in RFC 2822 format. This option can be used
1153 only by an admin user.
1154 .TP 10
1155 \fB\-Mvh\fP <\fImessage id\fP>
1156 This option causes the contents of the message headers (\-H) spool file to be
1157 written to the standard output. This option can be used only by an admin user.
1158 .TP 10
1159 \fB\-Mvl\fP <\fImessage id\fP>
1160 This option causes the contents of the message log spool file to be written to
1161 the standard output. This option can be used only by an admin user.
1162 .TP 10
1163 \fB\-m\fP
1164 This is apparently a synonym for \fB\-om\fP that is accepted by Sendmail, so Exim
1165 treats it that way too.
1166 .TP 10
1167 \fB\-N\fP
1168 This is a debugging option that inhibits delivery of a message at the transport
1169 level. It implies \fB\-v\fP. Exim goes through many of the motions of delivery \-
1170 it just doesn't actually transport the message, but instead behaves as if it
1171 had successfully done so. However, it does not make any updates to the retry
1172 database, and the log entries for deliveries are flagged with "*>" rather
1173 than "=>".
1174 .sp
1175 Because \fB\-N\fP discards any message to which it applies, only root or the Exim
1176 user are allowed to use it with \fB\-bd\fP, \fB\-q\fP, \fB\-R\fP or \fB\-M\fP. In other
1177 words, an ordinary user can use it only when supplying an incoming message to
1178 which it will apply. Although transportation never fails when \fB\-N\fP is set, an
1179 address may be deferred because of a configuration problem on a transport, or a
1180 routing problem. Once \fB\-N\fP has been used for a delivery attempt, it sticks to
1181 the message, and applies to any subsequent delivery attempts that may happen
1182 for that message.
1183 .TP 10
1184 \fB\-n\fP
1185 This option is interpreted by Sendmail to mean "no aliasing".
1186 For normal modes of operation, it is ignored by Exim.
1187 When combined with \fB\-bP\fP it makes the output more terse (suppresses
1188 option names, environment values and config pretty printing).
1189 .TP 10
1190 \fB\-O\fP <\fIdata\fP>
1191 This option is interpreted by Sendmail to mean set option. It is ignored by
1192 Exim.
1193 .TP 10
1194 \fB\-oA\fP <\fIfile name\fP>
1195 This option is used by Sendmail in conjunction with \fB\-bi\fP to specify an
1196 alternative alias filename. Exim handles \fB\-bi\fP differently; see the
1197 description above.
1198 .TP 10
1199 \fB\-oB\fP <\fIn\fP>
1200 This is a debugging option which limits the maximum number of messages that can
1201 be delivered down one SMTP connection, overriding the value set in any smtp
1202 transport. If <\fIn\fP> is omitted, the limit is set to 1.
1203 .TP 10
1204 \fB\-odb\fP
1205 This option applies to all modes in which Exim accepts incoming messages,
1206 including the listening daemon. It requests "background" delivery of such
1207 messages, which means that the accepting process automatically starts a
1208 delivery process for each message received, but does not wait for the delivery
1209 processes to finish.
1210 .sp
1211 When all the messages have been received, the reception process exits,
1212 leaving the delivery processes to finish in their own time. The standard output
1213 and error streams are closed at the start of each delivery process.
1214 This is the default action if none of the \fB\-od\fP options are present.
1215 .sp
1216 If one of the queueing options in the configuration file
1217 (\fBqueue_only\fP or \fBqueue_only_file\fP, for example) is in effect, \fB\-odb\fP
1218 overrides it if \fBqueue_only_override\fP is set true, which is the default
1219 setting. If \fBqueue_only_override\fP is set false, \fB\-odb\fP has no effect.
1220 .TP 10
1221 \fB\-odf\fP
1222 This option requests "foreground" (synchronous) delivery when Exim has
1223 accepted a locally\-generated message. (For the daemon it is exactly the same as
1224 \fB\-odb\fP.) A delivery process is automatically started to deliver the message,
1225 and Exim waits for it to complete before proceeding.
1226 .sp
1227 The original Exim reception process does not finish until the delivery
1228 process for the final message has ended. The standard error stream is left open
1229 during deliveries.
1230 .sp
1231 However, like \fB\-odb\fP, this option has no effect if \fBqueue_only_override\fP is
1232 false and one of the queueing options in the configuration file is in effect.
1233 .sp
1234 If there is a temporary delivery error during foreground delivery, the
1235 message is left in the queue for later delivery, and the original reception
1236 process exits.
1237 .TP 10
1238 \fB\-odi\fP
1239 This option is synonymous with \fB\-odf\fP. It is provided for compatibility with
1240 Sendmail.
1241 .TP 10
1242 \fB\-odq\fP
1243 This option applies to all modes in which Exim accepts incoming messages,
1244 including the listening daemon. It specifies that the accepting process should
1245 not automatically start a delivery process for each message received. Messages
1246 are placed in the queue, and remain there until a subsequent queue runner
1247 process encounters them. There are several configuration options (such as
1248 \fBqueue_only\fP) that can be used to queue incoming messages under certain
1249 conditions. This option overrides all of them and also \fB\-odqs\fP. It always
1250 forces queueing.
1251 .TP 10
1252 \fB\-odqs\fP
1253 This option is a hybrid between \fB\-odb\fP/\fB\-odi\fP and \fB\-odq\fP.
1254 However, like \fB\-odb\fP and \fB\-odi\fP, this option has no effect if
1255 \fBqueue_only_override\fP is false and one of the queueing options in the
1256 configuration file is in effect.
1257 .sp
1258 When \fB\-odqs\fP does operate, a delivery process is started for each incoming
1259 message, in the background by default, but in the foreground if \fB\-odi\fP is
1260 also present. The recipient addresses are routed, and local deliveries are done
1261 in the normal way. However, if any SMTP deliveries are required, they are not
1262 done at this time, so the message remains in the queue until a subsequent queue
1263 runner process encounters it. Because routing was done, Exim knows which
1264 messages are waiting for which hosts, and so a number of messages for the same
1265 host can be sent in a single SMTP connection. The \fBqueue_smtp_domains\fP
1266 configuration option has the same effect for specific domains. See also the
1267 \fB\-qq\fP option.
1268 .TP 10
1269 \fB\-oee\fP
1270 If an error is detected while a non\-SMTP message is being received (for
1271 example, a malformed address), the error is reported to the sender in a mail
1272 message.
1273 .sp
1274 Provided
1275 this error message is successfully sent, the Exim receiving process
1276 exits with a return code of zero. If not, the return code is 2 if the problem
1277 is that the original message has no recipients, or 1 for any other error.
1278 This is the default \fB\-oe\fP\fIx\fP option if Exim is called as \fIrmail\fP.
1279 .TP 10
1280 \fB\-oem\fP
1281 This is the same as \fB\-oee\fP, except that Exim always exits with a non\-zero
1282 return code, whether or not the error message was successfully sent.
1283 This is the default \fB\-oe\fP\fIx\fP option, unless Exim is called as \fIrmail\fP.
1284 .TP 10
1285 \fB\-oep\fP
1286 If an error is detected while a non\-SMTP message is being received, the
1287 error is reported by writing a message to the standard error file (stderr).
1288 The return code is 1 for all errors.
1289 .TP 10
1290 \fB\-oeq\fP
1291 This option is supported for compatibility with Sendmail, but has the same
1292 effect as \fB\-oep\fP.
1293 .TP 10
1294 \fB\-oew\fP
1295 This option is supported for compatibility with Sendmail, but has the same
1296 effect as \fB\-oem\fP.
1297 .TP 10
1298 \fB\-oi\fP
1299 This option, which has the same effect as \fB\-i\fP, specifies that a dot on a
1300 line by itself should not terminate an incoming, non\-SMTP message. Otherwise, a
1301 single dot does terminate, though Exim does no special processing for other
1302 lines that start with a dot. This option is set by default if Exim is called as
1303 \fIrmail\fP. See also \fB\-ti\fP.
1304 .TP 10
1305 \fB\-oitrue\fP
1306 This option is treated as synonymous with \fB\-oi\fP.
1307 .TP 10
1308 \fB\-oMa\fP <\fIhost address\fP>
1309 A number of options starting with \fB\-oM\fP can be used to set values associated
1310 with remote hosts on locally\-submitted messages (that is, messages not received
1311 over TCP/IP). These options can be used by any caller in conjunction with the
1312 \fB\-bh\fP, \fB\-be\fP, \fB\-bf\fP, \fB\-bF\fP, \fB\-bt\fP, or \fB\-bv\fP testing options. In
1313 other circumstances, they are ignored unless the caller is trusted.
1314 .sp
1315 The \fB\-oMa\fP option sets the sender host address. This may include a port
1316 number at the end, after a full stop (period). For example:
1317 .sp
1318 exim \-bs \-oMa 10.9.8.7.1234
1319 .sp
1320 An alternative syntax is to enclose the IP address in square brackets,
1321 followed by a colon and the port number:
1322 .sp
1323 exim \-bs \-oMa [10.9.8.7]:1234
1324 .sp
1325 The IP address is placed in the \fI$sender_host_address\fP variable, and the
1326 port, if present, in \fI$sender_host_port\fP. If both \fB\-oMa\fP and \fB\-bh\fP
1327 are present on the command line, the sender host IP address is taken from
1328 whichever one is last.
1329 .TP 10
1330 \fB\-oMaa\fP <\fIname\fP>
1331 See \fB\-oMa\fP above for general remarks about the \fB\-oM\fP options. The \fB\-oMaa\fP
1332 option sets the value of \fI$sender_host_authenticated\fP (the authenticator
1333 name).
1334 This option can be used with \fB\-bh\fP and \fB\-bs\fP to set up an
1335 authenticated SMTP session without actually using the SMTP AUTH command.
1336 .TP 10
1337 \fB\-oMai\fP <\fIstring\fP>
1338 See \fB\-oMa\fP above for general remarks about the \fB\-oM\fP options. The \fB\-oMai\fP
1339 option sets the value of \fI$authenticated_id\fP (the id that was authenticated).
1340 This overrides the default value (the caller's login id, except with \fB\-bh\fP,
1341 where there is no default) for messages from local sources.
1342 .TP 10
1343 \fB\-oMas\fP <\fIaddress\fP>
1344 See \fB\-oMa\fP above for general remarks about the \fB\-oM\fP options. The \fB\-oMas\fP
1345 option sets the authenticated sender value in \fI$authenticated_sender\fP. It
1346 overrides the sender address that is created from the caller's login id for
1347 messages from local sources, except when \fB\-bh\fP is used, when there is no
1348 default. For both \fB\-bh\fP and \fB\-bs\fP, an authenticated sender that is
1349 specified on a MAIL command overrides this value.
1350 .TP 10
1351 \fB\-oMi\fP <\fIinterface address\fP>
1352 See \fB\-oMa\fP above for general remarks about the \fB\-oM\fP options. The \fB\-oMi\fP
1353 option sets the IP interface address value. A port number may be included,
1354 using the same syntax as for \fB\-oMa\fP. The interface address is placed in
1355 \fI$received_ip_address\fP and the port number, if present, in \fI$received_port\fP.
1356 .TP 10
1357 \fB\-oMm\fP <\fImessage reference\fP>
1358 See \fB\-oMa\fP above for general remarks about the \fB\-oM\fP options. The \fB\-oMm\fP
1359 option sets the message reference, e.g. message\-id, and is logged during
1360 delivery. This is useful when some kind of audit trail is required to tie
1361 messages together. The format of the message reference is checked and will
1362 abort if the format is invalid. The option will only be accepted if exim is
1363 running in trusted mode, not as any regular user.
1364 .sp
1365 The best example of a message reference is when Exim sends a bounce message.
1366 The message reference is the message\-id of the original message for which Exim
1367 is sending the bounce.
1368 .TP 10
1369 \fB\-oMr\fP <\fIprotocol name\fP>
1370 See \fB\-oMa\fP above for general remarks about the \fB\-oM\fP options. The \fB\-oMr\fP
1371 option sets the received protocol value that is stored in
1372 \fI$received_protocol\fP. However, it does not apply (and is ignored) when \fB\-bh\fP
1373 or \fB\-bs\fP is used. For \fB\-bh\fP, the protocol is forced to one of the standard
1374 SMTP protocol names. For \fB\-bs\fP, the protocol is always "local\-" followed by
1375 one of those same names. For \fB\-bS\fP (batched SMTP) however, the protocol can
1376 be set by \fB\-oMr\fP. Repeated use of this option is not supported.
1377 .TP 10
1378 \fB\-oMs\fP <\fIhost name\fP>
1379 See \fB\-oMa\fP above for general remarks about the \fB\-oM\fP options. The \fB\-oMs\fP
1380 option sets the sender host name in \fI$sender_host_name\fP. When this option is
1381 present, Exim does not attempt to look up a host name from an IP address; it
1382 uses the name it is given.
1383 .TP 10
1384 \fB\-oMt\fP <\fIident string\fP>
1385 See \fB\-oMa\fP above for general remarks about the \fB\-oM\fP options. The \fB\-oMt\fP
1386 option sets the sender ident value in \fI$sender_ident\fP. The default setting for
1387 local callers is the login id of the calling process, except when \fB\-bh\fP is
1388 used, when there is no default.
1389 .TP 10
1390 \fB\-om\fP
1391 In Sendmail, this option means "me too", indicating that the sender of a
1392 message should receive a copy of the message if the sender appears in an alias
1393 expansion. Exim always does this, so the option does nothing.
1394 .TP 10
1395 \fB\-oo\fP
1396 This option is ignored. In Sendmail it specifies "old style headers",
1397 whatever that means.
1398 .TP 10
1399 \fB\-oP\fP <\fIpath\fP>
1400 This option is useful only in conjunction with \fB\-bd\fP or \fB\-q\fP with a time
1401 value. The option specifies the file to which the process id of the daemon is
1402 written. When \fB\-oX\fP is used with \fB\-bd\fP, or when \fB\-q\fP with a time is used
1403 without \fB\-bd\fP, this is the only way of causing Exim to write a pid file,
1404 because in those cases, the normal pid file is not used.
1405 .TP 10
1406 \fB\-or\fP <\fItime\fP>
1407 This option sets a timeout value for incoming non\-SMTP messages. If it is not
1408 set, Exim will wait forever for the standard input. The value can also be set
1409 by the \fBreceive_timeout\fP option.
1410 .TP 10
1411 \fB\-os\fP <\fItime\fP>
1412 This option sets a timeout value for incoming SMTP messages. The timeout
1413 applies to each SMTP command and block of data. The value can also be set by
1414 the \fBsmtp_receive_timeout\fP option; it defaults to 5 minutes.
1415 .TP 10
1416 \fB\-ov\fP
1417 This option has exactly the same effect as \fB\-v\fP.
1418 .TP 10
1419 \fB\-oX\fP <\fInumber or string\fP>
1420 This option is relevant only when the \fB\-bd\fP (start listening daemon) option
1421 is also given. It controls which ports and interfaces the daemon uses. When \fB\-oX\fP is used to start a daemon, no pid
1422 file is written unless \fB\-oP\fP is also present to specify a pid filename.
1423 .TP 10
1424 \fB\-pd\fP
1425 This option applies when an embedded Perl interpreter is linked with Exim. It overrides the setting of the \fBperl_at_start\fP
1426 option, forcing the starting of the interpreter to be delayed until it is
1427 needed.
1428 .TP 10
1429 \fB\-ps\fP
1430 This option applies when an embedded Perl interpreter is linked with Exim. It overrides the setting of the \fBperl_at_start\fP
1431 option, forcing the starting of the interpreter to occur as soon as Exim is
1432 started.
1433 .TP 10
1434 \fB\-p\fP<\fIrval\fP>:<\fIsval\fP>
1435 For compatibility with Sendmail, this option is equivalent to
1436 .sp
1437 \-oMr <\fIrval\fP> \-oMs <\fIsval\fP>
1438 .sp
1439 It sets the incoming protocol and host name (for trusted callers). The
1440 host name and its colon can be omitted when only the protocol is to be set.
1441 Note the Exim already has two private options, \fB\-pd\fP and \fB\-ps\fP, that refer
1442 to embedded Perl. It is therefore impossible to set a protocol value of d
1443 or s using this option (but that does not seem a real limitation).
1444 Repeated use of this option is not supported.
1445 .TP 10
1446 \fB\-q\fP
1447 This option is normally restricted to admin users. However, there is a
1448 configuration option called \fBprod_requires_admin\fP which can be set false to
1449 relax this restriction (and also the same requirement for the \fB\-M\fP, \fB\-R\fP,
1450 and \fB\-S\fP options).
1451 .sp
1452 If other commandline options do not specify an action,
1453 the \fB\-q\fP option starts one queue runner process. This scans the queue of
1454 waiting messages, and runs a delivery process for each one in turn. It waits
1455 for each delivery process to finish before starting the next one. A delivery
1456 process may not actually do any deliveries if the retry times for the addresses
1457 have not been reached. Use \fB\-qf\fP (see below) if you want to override this.
1458 .sp
1459 If
1460 the delivery process spawns other processes to deliver other messages down
1461 passed SMTP connections, the queue runner waits for these to finish before
1462 proceeding.
1463 .sp
1464 When all the queued messages have been considered, the original queue runner
1465 process terminates. In other words, a single pass is made over the waiting
1466 mail, one message at a time. Use \fB\-q\fP with a time (see below) if you want
1467 this to be repeated periodically.
1468 .sp
1469 Exim processes the waiting messages in an unpredictable order. It isn't very
1470 random, but it is likely to be different each time, which is all that matters.
1471 If one particular message screws up a remote MTA, other messages to the same
1472 MTA have a chance of getting through if they get tried first.
1473 .sp
1474 It is possible to cause the messages to be processed in lexical message id
1475 order, which is essentially the order in which they arrived, by setting the
1476 \fBqueue_run_in_order\fP option, but this is not recommended for normal use.
1477 .TP 10
1478 \fB\-q\fP<\fIqflags\fP>
1479 The \fB\-q\fP option may be followed by one or more flag letters that change its
1480 behaviour. They are all optional, but if more than one is present, they must
1481 appear in the correct order. Each flag is described in a separate item below.
1482 .TP 10
1483 \fB\-qq...\fP
1484 An option starting with \fB\-qq\fP requests a two\-stage queue run. In the first
1485 stage, the queue is scanned as if the \fBqueue_smtp_domains\fP option matched
1486 every domain. Addresses are routed, local deliveries happen, but no remote
1487 transports are run.
1488 .sp
1489 The hints database that remembers which messages are waiting for specific hosts
1490 is updated, as if delivery to those hosts had been deferred. After this is
1491 complete, a second, normal queue scan happens, with routing and delivery taking
1492 place as normal. Messages that are routed to the same host should mostly be
1493 delivered down a single SMTP
1494 connection because of the hints that were set up during the first queue scan.
1495 This option may be useful for hosts that are connected to the Internet
1496 intermittently.
1497 .TP 10
1498 \fB\-q[q]i...\fP
1499 If the \fIi\fP flag is present, the queue runner runs delivery processes only for
1500 those messages that haven't previously been tried. (\fIi\fP stands for "initial
1501 delivery".) This can be helpful if you are putting messages in the queue using
1502 \fB\-odq\fP and want a queue runner just to process the new messages.
1503 .TP 10
1504 \fB\-q[q][i]f...\fP
1505 If one \fIf\fP flag is present, a delivery attempt is forced for each non\-frozen
1506 message, whereas without \fIf\fP only those non\-frozen addresses that have passed
1507 their retry times are tried.
1508 .TP 10
1509 \fB\-q[q][i]ff...\fP
1510 If \fIff\fP is present, a delivery attempt is forced for every message, whether
1511 frozen or not.
1512 .TP 10
1513 \fB\-q[q][i][f[f]]l\fP
1514 The \fIl\fP (the letter "ell") flag specifies that only local deliveries are to
1515 be done. If a message requires any remote deliveries, it remains in the queue
1516 for later delivery.
1517 .TP 10
1518 \fB\-q[q][i][f[f]][l][G<name>[/<time>]]]\fP
1519 If the \fIG\fP flag and a name is present, the queue runner operates on the
1520 queue with the given name rather than the default queue.
1521 The name should not contain a \fI/\fP character.
1522 For a periodic queue run (see below)
1523 append to the name a slash and a time value.
1524 .sp
1525 If other commandline options specify an action, a \fI\-qG<name>\fP option
1526 will specify a queue to operate on.
1527 For example:
1528 .sp
1529 exim \-bp \-qGquarantine
1530 mailq \-qGquarantine
1531 exim \-qGoffpeak \-Rf @special.domain.example
1532 .TP 10
1533 \fB\-q\fP<\fIqflags\fP> <\fIstart id\fP> <\fIend id\fP>
1534 When scanning the queue, Exim can be made to skip over messages whose ids are
1535 lexically less than a given value by following the \fB\-q\fP option with a
1536 starting message id. For example:
1537 .sp
1538 exim \-q 0t5C6f\-0000c8\-00
1539 .sp
1540 Messages that arrived earlier than 0t5C6f\-0000c8\-00 are not inspected. If a
1541 second message id is given, messages whose ids are lexically greater than it
1542 are also skipped. If the same id is given twice, for example,
1543 .sp
1544 exim \-q 0t5C6f\-0000c8\-00 0t5C6f\-0000c8\-00
1545 .sp
1546 just one delivery process is started, for that message. This differs from
1547 \fB\-M\fP in that retry data is respected, and it also differs from \fB\-Mc\fP in
1548 that it counts as a delivery from a queue run. Note that the selection
1549 mechanism does not affect the order in which the messages are scanned. There
1550 are also other ways of selecting specific sets of messages for delivery in a
1551 queue run \- see \fB\-R\fP and \fB\-S\fP.
1552 .TP 10
1553 \fB\-q\fP<\fIqflags\fP><\fItime\fP>
1554 When a time value is present, the \fB\-q\fP option causes Exim to run as a daemon,
1555 starting a queue runner process at intervals specified by the given time value. This form of the
1556 \fB\-q\fP option is commonly combined with the \fB\-bd\fP option, in which case a
1557 single daemon process handles both functions. A common way of starting up a
1558 combined daemon at system boot time is to use a command such as
1559 .sp
1560 /usr/exim/bin/exim \-bd \-q30m
1561 .sp
1562 Such a daemon listens for incoming SMTP calls, and also starts a queue runner
1563 process every 30 minutes.
1564 .sp
1565 When a daemon is started by \fB\-q\fP with a time value, but without \fB\-bd\fP, no
1566 pid file is written unless one is explicitly requested by the \fB\-oP\fP option.
1567 .TP 10
1568 \fB\-qR\fP<\fIrsflags\fP> <\fIstring\fP>
1569 This option is synonymous with \fB\-R\fP. It is provided for Sendmail
1570 compatibility.
1571 .TP 10
1572 \fB\-qS\fP<\fIrsflags\fP> <\fIstring\fP>
1573 This option is synonymous with \fB\-S\fP.
1574 .TP 10
1575 \fB\-R\fP<\fIrsflags\fP> <\fIstring\fP>
1576 The <\fIrsflags\fP> may be empty, in which case the white space before the string
1577 is optional, unless the string is \fIf\fP, \fIff\fP, \fIr\fP, \fIrf\fP, or \fIrff\fP,
1578 which are the possible values for <\fIrsflags\fP>. White space is required if
1579 <\fIrsflags\fP> is not empty.
1580 .sp
1581 This option is similar to \fB\-q\fP with no time value, that is, it causes Exim to
1582 perform a single queue run, except that, when scanning the messages on the
1583 queue, Exim processes only those that have at least one undelivered recipient
1584 address containing the given string, which is checked in a case\-independent
1585 way. If the <\fIrsflags\fP> start with \fIr\fP, <\fIstring\fP> is interpreted as a
1586 regular expression; otherwise it is a literal string.
1587 .sp
1588 If you want to do periodic queue runs for messages with specific recipients,
1589 you can combine \fB\-R\fP with \fB\-q\fP and a time value. For example:
1590 .sp
1591 exim \-q25m \-R @special.domain.example
1592 .sp
1593 This example does a queue run for messages with recipients in the given domain
1594 every 25 minutes. Any additional flags that are specified with \fB\-q\fP are
1595 applied to each queue run.
1596 .sp
1597 Once a message is selected for delivery by this mechanism, all its addresses
1598 are processed. For the first selected message, Exim overrides any retry
1599 information and forces a delivery attempt for each undelivered address. This
1600 means that if delivery of any address in the first message is successful, any
1601 existing retry information is deleted, and so delivery attempts for that
1602 address in subsequently selected messages (which are processed without forcing)
1603 will run. However, if delivery of any address does not succeed, the retry
1604 information is updated, and in subsequently selected messages, the failing
1605 address will be skipped.
1606 .sp
1607 If the <\fIrsflags\fP> contain \fIf\fP or \fIff\fP, the delivery forcing applies to
1608 all selected messages, not just the first; frozen messages are included when
1609 \fIff\fP is present.
1610 .sp
1611 The \fB\-R\fP option makes it straightforward to initiate delivery of all messages
1612 to a given domain after a host has been down for some time. When the SMTP
1613 command ETRN is accepted by its ACL, its default
1614 effect is to run Exim with the \fB\-R\fP option, but it can be configured to run
1615 an arbitrary command instead.
1616 .TP 10
1617 \fB\-r\fP
1618 This is a documented (for Sendmail) obsolete alternative name for \fB\-f\fP.
1619 .TP 10
1620 \fB\-S\fP<\fIrsflags\fP> <\fIstring\fP>
1621 This option acts like \fB\-R\fP except that it checks the string against each
1622 message's sender instead of against the recipients. If \fB\-R\fP is also set, both
1623 conditions must be met for a message to be selected. If either of the options
1624 has \fIf\fP or \fIff\fP in its flags, the associated action is taken.
1625 .TP 10
1626 \fB\-Tqt\fP <\fItimes\fP>
1627 This is an option that is exclusively for use by the Exim testing suite. It is not
1628 recognized when Exim is run normally. It allows for the setting up of explicit
1629 "queue times" so that various warning/retry features can be tested.
1630 .TP 10
1631 \fB\-t\fP
1632 When Exim is receiving a locally\-generated, non\-SMTP message on its standard
1633 input, the \fB\-t\fP option causes the recipients of the message to be obtained
1634 from the \fITo:\fP, \fICc:\fP, and \fIBcc:\fP header lines in the message instead of
1635 from the command arguments. The addresses are extracted before any rewriting
1636 takes place and the \fIBcc:\fP header line, if present, is then removed.
1637 .sp
1638 If the command has any arguments, they specify addresses to which the message
1639 is \fInot\fP to be delivered. That is, the argument addresses are removed from
1640 the recipients list obtained from the headers. This is compatible with Smail 3
1641 and in accordance with the documented behaviour of several versions of
1642 Sendmail, as described in man pages on a number of operating systems (e.g.
1643 Solaris 8, IRIX 6.5, HP\-UX 11). However, some versions of Sendmail \fIadd\fP
1644 argument addresses to those obtained from the headers, and the O'Reilly
1645 Sendmail book documents it that way. Exim can be made to add argument addresses
1646 instead of subtracting them by setting the option
1647 \fBextract_addresses_remove_arguments\fP false.
1648 .sp
1649 If there are any \fBResent\-\fP header lines in the message, Exim extracts
1650 recipients from all \fIResent\-To:\fP, \fIResent\-Cc:\fP, and \fIResent\-Bcc:\fP header
1651 lines instead of from \fITo:\fP, \fICc:\fP, and \fIBcc:\fP. This is for compatibility
1652 with Sendmail and other MTAs. (Prior to release 4.20, Exim gave an error if
1653 \fB\-t\fP was used in conjunction with \fBResent\-\fP header lines.)
1654 .sp
1655 RFC 2822 talks about different sets of \fBResent\-\fP header lines (for when a
1656 message is resent several times). The RFC also specifies that they should be
1657 added at the front of the message, and separated by \fIReceived:\fP lines. It is
1658 not at all clear how \fB\-t\fP should operate in the present of multiple sets,
1659 nor indeed exactly what constitutes a "set".
1660 In practice, it seems that MUAs do not follow the RFC. The \fBResent\-\fP lines
1661 are often added at the end of the header, and if a message is resent more than
1662 once, it is common for the original set of \fBResent\-\fP headers to be renamed as
1663 \fBX\-Resent\-\fP when a new set is added. This removes any possible ambiguity.
1664 .TP 10
1665 \fB\-ti\fP
1666 This option is exactly equivalent to \fB\-t\fP \fB\-i\fP. It is provided for
1667 compatibility with Sendmail.
1668 .TP 10
1669 \fB\-tls\-on\-connect\fP
1670 This option is available when Exim is compiled with TLS support. It forces all
1671 incoming SMTP connections to behave as if the incoming port is listed in the
1672 \fBtls_on_connect_ports\fP option.
1673 .TP 10
1674 \fB\-U\fP
1675 Sendmail uses this option for "initial message submission", and its
1676 documentation states that in future releases, it may complain about
1677 syntactically invalid messages rather than fixing them when this flag is not
1678 set. Exim ignores this option.
1679 .TP 10
1680 \fB\-v\fP
1681 This option causes Exim to write information to the standard error stream,
1682 describing what it is doing. In particular, it shows the log lines for
1683 receiving and delivering a message, and if an SMTP connection is made, the SMTP
1684 dialogue is shown. Some of the log lines shown may not actually be written to
1685 the log if the setting of \fBlog_selector\fP discards them. Any relevant
1686 selectors are shown with each log line. If none are shown, the logging is
1687 unconditional.
1688 .TP 10
1689 \fB\-x\fP
1690 AIX uses \fB\-x\fP for a private purpose ("mail from a local mail program has
1691 National Language Support extended characters in the body of the mail item").
1692 It sets \fB\-x\fP when calling the MTA from its \fBmail\fP command. Exim ignores
1693 this option.
1694 .TP 10
1695 \fB\-X\fP <\fIlogfile\fP>
1696 This option is interpreted by Sendmail to cause debug information to be sent
1697 to the named file. It is ignored by Exim.
1698 .TP 10
1699 \fB\-z\fP <\fIlog\-line\fP>
1700 This option writes its argument to Exim's logfile.
1701 Use is restricted to administrators; the intent is for operational notes.
1702 Quotes should be used to maintain a multi\-word item as a single argument,
1703 under most shells.
1704 .sp
1705 .
1706 .SH "SEE ALSO"
1707 .rs
1708 .sp
1709 The full Exim specification, the Exim book, and the Exim wiki.