Postfix manual - master(8)

    MASTER(8)                                                            MASTER(8)

    NAME
           master - Postfix master process

    SYNOPSIS
           master [-Dditvw] [-c config_dir] [-e exit_time]

    DESCRIPTION
           The  master(8) daemon is the resident process that runs Postfix daemons
           on demand: daemons to send or receive messages via the network, daemons
           to  deliver  mail locally, etc.  These daemons are created on demand up
           to a configurable maximum number per service.

           Postfix daemons terminate voluntarily, either after being  idle  for  a
           configurable  amount  of  time, or after having serviced a configurable
           number of requests. Exceptions to this rule are the resident queue man-
           ager,  address  verification  server,  and  the  TLS  session cache and
           pseudo-random number server.

           The behavior of the master(8) daemon is  controlled  by  the  master.cf
           configuration file, as described in master(5).

           Options:

           -c config_dir
                  Read  the main.cf and master.cf configuration files in the named
                  directory instead of the default configuration directory.   This
                  also  overrides the configuration files for other Postfix daemon
                  processes.

           -D     After initialization, run a debugger on the master process.  The
                  debugging  command is specified with the debugger_command in the
                  main.cf global configuration file.

           -d     Do not redirect stdin, stdout or stderr to /dev/null, and do not
                  discard  the  controlling terminal. This must be used for debug-
                  ging only.

           -e exit_time
                  Terminate the master process after exit_time seconds. Child pro-
                  cesses terminate at their convenience.

           -i     Enable  init mode: do not attempt to become a session or process
                  group leader; and to force termination, set an  explicit  signal
                  handler  instead  of  relying on the default signal action. This
                  mode is allowed only if the process ID equals 1.

           -t     Test mode. Return a zero exit status when  the  master.pid  lock
                  file  does  not  exist or when that file is not locked.  This is
                  evidence that the master(8) daemon is not running.

           -v     Enable verbose logging for debugging purposes.  This  option  is
                  passed on to child processes. Multiple -v options make the soft-
                  ware increasingly verbose.

           -w     Wait in a dummy foreground process, while the real master daemon
                  initializes  in  a  background  process.   The  dummy foreground
                  process returns a zero exit status only  if  the  master  daemon
                  initialization  is  successful, and if it completes in a reason-
                  able amount of time.

                  This feature is available in Postfix 2.10 and later.

           Signals:

           SIGHUP Upon receipt of a HUP signal (e.g., after "postfix reload"), the
                  master  process  re-reads  its configuration files. If a service
                  has been removed from the master.cf file, its running  processes
                  are  terminated  immediately.   Otherwise, running processes are
                  allowed to terminate as soon as is convenient, so  that  changes
                  in configuration settings affect only new service requests.

           SIGTERM
                  Upon receipt of a TERM signal (e.g., after "postfix abort"), the
                  master process passes the signal on to its child  processes  and
                  terminates.   This is useful for an emergency shutdown. Normally
                  one would terminate only the master ("postfix stop")  and  allow
                  running processes to finish what they are doing.

    DIAGNOSTICS
           Problems  are  reported  to  syslogd(8). The exit status is non-zero in
           case of problems, including problems while  initializing  as  a  master
           daemon process in the background.

    ENVIRONMENT
           MAIL_DEBUG
                  After  initialization,  start  a  debugger as specified with the
                  debugger_command configuration parameter in the main.cf configu-
                  ration file.

           MAIL_CONFIG
                  Directory with Postfix configuration files.

    CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS
           Unlike  most  Postfix  daemon  processes, the master(8) server does not
           automatically pick up changes to  main.cf.  Changes  to  master.cf  are
           never  picked up automatically.  Use the "postfix reload" command after
           a configuration change.

    RESOURCE AND RATE CONTROLS
           default_process_limit (100)
                  The default maximal number of Postfix child processes that  pro-
                  vide a given service.

           max_idle (100s)
                  The  maximum  amount of time that an idle Postfix daemon process
                  waits for an incoming connection before terminating voluntarily.

           max_use (100)
                  The maximal number of incoming connections that a Postfix daemon
                  process will service before terminating voluntarily.

           service_throttle_time (60s)
                  How long the Postfix master(8) waits  before  forking  a  server
                  that appears to be malfunctioning.

           Available in Postfix version 2.6 and later:

           master_service_disable (empty)
                  Selectively  disable master(8) listener ports by service type or
                  by service name and type.

    MISCELLANEOUS CONTROLS
           config_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
                  The default location of the Postfix main.cf and  master.cf  con-
                  figuration files.

           daemon_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
                  The directory with Postfix support programs and daemon programs.

           debugger_command (empty)
                  The external command to execute when a Postfix daemon program is
                  invoked with the -D option.

           inet_interfaces (all)
                  The  network  interface addresses that this mail system receives
                  mail on.

           inet_protocols (all)
                  The Internet protocols Postfix will attempt to use  when  making
                  or accepting connections.

           import_environment (see 'postconf -d' output)
                  The  list  of  environment  parameters that a privileged Postfix
                  process will  import  from  a  non-Postfix  parent  process,  or
                  name=value environment overrides.

           mail_owner (postfix)
                  The  UNIX  system  account  that owns the Postfix queue and most
                  Postfix daemon processes.

           process_id (read-only)
                  The process ID of a Postfix command or daemon process.

           process_name (read-only)
                  The process name of a Postfix command or daemon process.

           queue_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)
                  The location of the Postfix top-level queue directory.

           syslog_facility (mail)
                  The syslog facility of Postfix logging.

           syslog_name (see 'postconf -d' output)
                  A prefix that  is  prepended  to  the  process  name  in  syslog
                  records, so that, for example, "smtpd" becomes "prefix/smtpd".

           Available in Postfix 3.3 and later:

           service_name (read-only)
                  The master.cf service name of a Postfix daemon process.

    FILES
           To  expand  the directory names below into their actual values, use the
           command "postconf config_directory" etc.

           $config_directory/main.cf, global configuration file.
           $config_directory/master.cf, master server configuration file.
           $queue_directory/pid/master.pid, master lock file.
           $data_directory/master.lock, master lock file.

    SEE ALSO
           qmgr(8), queue manager
           verify(8), address verification
           master(5), master.cf configuration file syntax
           postconf(5), main.cf configuration file syntax
           syslogd(8), system logging

    LICENSE
           The Secure Mailer license must be distributed with this software.

    AUTHOR(S)
           Wietse Venema
           IBM T.J. Watson Research
           P.O. Box 704
           Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA

           Wietse Venema
           Google, Inc.
           111 8th Avenue
           New York, NY 10011, USA

                                                                         MASTER(8)