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EXIM4(8) | System Manager's Manual | EXIM4(8) |
NAME¶
exim4 - a Mail Transfer AgentSYNOPSIS¶
exim4 [options] arguments ... mailq [options] arguments ... rsmtp [options] arguments ... rmail [options] arguments ... runq [options] arguments ... newaliases [options] arguments ...
DESCRIPTION¶
Exim is a mail transfer agent (MTA) developed at the University of Cambridge. It is a large program with very many facilities. For a full specification, see the reference manual. This man page contains only a description of the command line options. It has been automatically generated from the reference manual source, hopefully without too much mangling. Like other MTAs, Exim replaces Sendmail, and is normally called by user agents (MUAs) using the path /usr/sbin/sendmail when they submit messages for delivery (some operating systems use /usr/lib/sendmail). This path is normally set up as a symbolic link to the Exim binary. It may also be used by boot scripts to start the Exim daemon. Many of Exim's command line options are compatible with Sendmail so that it can act as a drop-in replacement.DEFAULT ACTION¶
If no options are present that require a specific action (such as starting the daemon or a queue runner, testing an address, receiving a message in a specific format, or listing the queue), and there are no arguments on the command line, Exim outputs a brief message about itself and exits./usr/sbin/exim4 -i <recipient-address(es)>
<message content, including all the header lines>
CTRL-D
SETTING OPTIONS BY PROGRAM NAME¶
If an Exim binary is called using one of the names listed in this section (typically via a symbolic link), certain options are assumed.- mailq
- Behave as if the option -bp were present before any other options. The -bp option requests a listing of the contents of the mail queue on the standard output.
- rsmtp
- Behaves as if the option -bS were present before any other options, for compatibility with Smail. The -bS option is used for reading in a number of messages in batched SMTP format.
- rmail
- Behave as if the -i and -oee options were present before any other options, for compatibility with Smail. The name rmail is used as an interface by some UUCP systems. The -i option specifies that a dot on a line by itself does not terminate a non-SMTP message; -oee requests that errors detected in non-SMTP messages be reported by emailing the sender.
- runq
- Behave as if the option -q were present before any other options, for compatibility with Smail. The -q option causes a single queue runner process to be started. It processes the queue once, then exits.
- newaliases
- Behave as if the option -bi were present before any other options, for compatibility with Sendmail. This option is used for rebuilding Sendmail's alias file. Exim does not have the concept of a single alias file, but can be configured to run a specified command if called with the -bi option.
OPTIONS¶
- --
- This is a pseudo-option whose only purpose is to terminate the options and therefore to cause subsequent command line items to be treated as arguments rather than options, even if they begin with hyphens.
- --help
- This option causes Exim to output a few sentences stating what it is. The same output is generated if the Exim binary is called with no options and no arguments.
- --version
- This option is an alias for -bV and causes version information to be displayed.
- -B<type>
- This is a Sendmail option for selecting 7 or 8 bit processing. Exim is 8-bit clean; it ignores this option.
- -bd
- This option runs Exim as a daemon, awaiting incoming SMTP
connections. Usually the -bd option is combined with the
-q< time> option, to specify that the daemon should
also initiate periodic queue runs.
- -bdf
- This option has the same effect as -bd except that it never disconnects from the controlling terminal, even when no debugging is specified.
- -be
- Run Exim in expansion testing mode. Exim discards its root
privilege, to prevent ordinary users from using this mode to read
otherwise inaccessible files. If no arguments are given, Exim runs
interactively, prompting for lines of data. Otherwise, it processes each
argument in turn.
- -bem <filename>
- This option operates like -be except that it must be
followed by the name of a file. For example:
exim4 -bem /tmp/testmessage
- -bF <filename>
- This option is the same as -bf except that it assumes that the filter being tested is a system filter. The additional commands that are available only in system filters are recognized.
- -bf <filename>
- This option runs Exim in user filter testing mode; the file
is the filter file to be tested, and a test message must be supplied on
the standard input. If there are no message-dependent tests in the filter,
an empty file can be supplied.
exim4 -bF /system/filter -bf /user/filter </test/message
# Exim filter
# Sieve filter
- -bfd <domain>
- This sets the domain of the recipient address when a filter file is being tested by means of the -bf option. The default is the value of $qualify_domain.
- -bfl <local part>
- This sets the local part of the recipient address when a filter file is being tested by means of the -bf option. The default is the username of the process that calls Exim. A local part should be specified with any prefix or suffix stripped, because that is how it appears to the filter when a message is actually being delivered.
- -bfp <prefix>
- This sets the prefix of the local part of the recipient address when a filter file is being tested by means of the -bf option. The default is an empty prefix.
- -bfs <suffix>
- This sets the suffix of the local part of the recipient address when a filter file is being tested by means of the -bf option. The default is an empty suffix.
- -bh <IP address>
- This option runs a fake SMTP session as if from the given
IP address, using the standard input and output. The IP address may
include a port number at the end, after a full stop. For example:
exim4 -bh 10.9.8.7.1234
exim4 -bh fe80::a00:20ff:fe86:a061.5678
- -bhc <IP address>
- This option operates in the same way as -bh, except that address verification callouts are performed if required. This includes consulting and updating the callout cache database.
- -bi
- Sendmail interprets the -bi option as a request to
rebuild its alias file. Exim does not have the concept of a single alias
file, and so it cannot mimic this behaviour. However, calls to
/usr/lib/sendmail with the -bi option tend to appear in various
scripts such as NIS make files, so the option must be recognized.
- -bm
- This option runs an Exim receiving process that accepts an
incoming, locally-generated message on the current input. The recipients
are given as the command arguments (except when -t is also present
- see below). Each argument can be a comma-separated list of RFC 2822
addresses. This is the default option for selecting the overall action of
an Exim call; it is assumed if no other conflicting option is present.
From sender Fri Jan 5 12:55 GMT 1997
From sender Fri, 5 Jan 97 12:55:01
- -bmalware <filename>
- This debugging option causes Exim to scan the given file,
using the malware scanning framework. The option of av_scanner
influences this option, so if av_scanner's value is dependent upon
an expansion then the expansion should have defaults which apply to this
invocation. ACLs are not invoked, so if av_scanner references an
ACL variable then that variable will never be populated and
-bmalware will fail.
- -bnq
- By default, Exim automatically qualifies unqualified
addresses (those without domains) that appear in messages that are
submitted locally (that is, not over TCP/IP). This qualification applies
both to addresses in envelopes, and addresses in header lines. Sender
addresses are qualified using qualify_domain, and recipient
addresses using qualify_recipient (which defaults to the value of
qualify_domain).
- -bP
- If this option is given with no arguments, it causes the
values of all Exim's main configuration options to be written to the
standard output. The values of one or more specific options can be
requested by giving their names as arguments, for example:
exim4 -bP qualify_domain hold_domains
mysql_servers = <value not displayable>
exim4 -bP +local_domains
exim4 -bP transport local_delivery
- -bp
- This option requests a listing of the contents of the mail
queue on the standard output. If the -bp option is followed by a
list of message ids, just those messages are listed. By default, this
option can be used only by an admin user. However, the
queue_list_requires_admin option can be set false to allow any user
to see the queue.
25m 2.9K 0t5C6f-0000c8-00 <alice@wonderland.fict.example>
red.king@looking-glass.fict.example
<other addresses>
- -bpa
- This option operates like -bp, but in addition it shows delivered addresses that were generated from the original top level address(es) in each message by alias or forwarding operations. These addresses are flagged with "+D" instead of just "D".
- -bpc
- This option counts the number of messages on the queue, and writes the total to the standard output. It is restricted to admin users, unless queue_list_requires_admin is set false.
- -bpr
- This option operates like -bp, but the output is not sorted into chronological order of message arrival. This can speed it up when there are lots of messages on the queue, and is particularly useful if the output is going to be post-processed in a way that doesn't need the sorting.
- -bpra
- This option is a combination of -bpr and -bpa.
- -bpru
- This option is a combination of -bpr and -bpu.
- -bpu
- This option operates like -bp but shows only undelivered top-level addresses for each message displayed. Addresses generated by aliasing or forwarding are not shown, unless the message was deferred after processing by a router with the one_time option set.
- -brt
- This option is for testing retry rules, and it must be
followed by up to three arguments. It causes Exim to look for a retry rule
that matches the values and to write it to the standard output. For
example:
exim4 -brt bach.comp.mus.example
Retry rule: *.comp.mus.example F,2h,15m; F,4d,30m;
The first argument, which is required, can be a complete address in the form local_part@domain, or it can be just a domain name. If the second argument contains a dot, it is interpreted as an optional second domain name; if no retry rule is found for the first argument, the second is tried. This ties in with Exim's behaviour when looking for retry rules for remote hosts - if no rule is found that matches the host, one that matches the mail domain is sought. Finally, an argument that is the name of a specific delivery error, as used in setting up retry rules, can be given. For example:
exim4 -brt haydn.comp.mus.example quota_3d
Retry rule: *@haydn.comp.mus.example quota_3d F,1h,15m
- -brw
- This option is for testing address rewriting rules, and it must be followed by a single argument, consisting of either a local part without a domain, or a complete address with a fully qualified domain. Exim outputs how this address would be rewritten for each possible place it might appear.
- -bS
- This option is used for batched SMTP input, which is an
alternative interface for non-interactive local message submission. A
number of messages can be submitted in a single run. However, despite its
name, this is not really SMTP input. Exim reads each message's envelope
from SMTP commands on the standard input, but generates no responses. If
the caller is trusted, or untrusted_set_sender is set, the senders
in the SMTP MAIL commands are believed; otherwise the sender is always the
caller of Exim.
- -bs
- This option causes Exim to accept one or more messages by
reading SMTP commands on the standard input, and producing SMTP replies on
the standard output. SMTP policy controls, as defined in ACLs are applied.
Some user agents use this interface as a way of passing locally-generated
messages to the MTA.
- -bt
- This option runs Exim in address testing mode, in which
each argument is taken as a recipient address to be tested for
deliverability. The results are written to the standard output. If a test
fails, and the caller is not an admin user, no details of the failure are
output, because these might contain sensitive information such as
usernames and passwords for database lookups.
- -bV
- This option causes Exim to write the current version
number, compilation number, and compilation date of the exim binary
to the standard output. It also lists the DBM library that is being used,
the optional modules (such as specific lookup types), the drivers that are
included in the binary, and the name of the run time configuration file
that is in use.
- -bv
- This option runs Exim in address verification mode, in
which each argument is taken as a recipient address to be verified by the
routers. (This does not involve any verification callouts). During normal
operation, verification happens mostly as a consequence processing a
verify condition in an ACL. If you want to test an entire ACL,
possibly including callouts, see the -bh and -bhc options.
- -bvs
- This option acts like -bv, but verifies the address as a sender rather than a recipient address. This affects any rewriting and qualification that might happen.
- -bw
- This option runs Exim as a daemon, awaiting incoming SMTP
connections, similarly to the -bd option. All port specifications
on the command-line and in the configuration file are ignored.
Queue-running may not be specified.
- -C <filelist>
- This option causes Exim to find the run time configuration
file from the given list instead of from the list specified by the
CONFIGURE_FILE compile-time setting. Usually, the list will consist of
just a single file name, but it can be a colon-separated list of names. In
this case, the first file that exists is used. Failure to open an existing
file stops Exim from proceeding any further along the list, and an error
is generated.
- -D<macro>=<value>
- This option can be used to override macro definitions in
the configuration file. However, like -C, if it is used by an
unprivileged caller, it causes Exim to give up its root privilege. If
DISABLE_D_OPTION is defined in Local/Makefile, the use of -D is
completely disabled, and its use causes an immediate error exit.
exim4 -DABC ...
exim4 -DABC= ...
exim4 '-D ABC = something' ...
- -d<debug options>
- This option causes debugging information to be written to
the standard error stream. It is restricted to admin users because
debugging output may show database queries that contain password
information. Also, the details of users' filter files should be protected.
If a non-admin user uses -d, Exim writes an error message to the
standard error stream and exits with a non-zero return code.
acl ACL interpretation
auth authenticators
deliver general delivery logic
dns DNS lookups (see also resolver)
dnsbl DNS black list (aka RBL) code
exec arguments for execv() calls
expand detailed debugging for string expansions
filter filter handling
hints_lookup hints data lookups
host_lookup all types of name-to-IP address handling
ident ident lookup
interface lists of local interfaces
lists matching things in lists
load system load checks
local_scan can be used by local_scan()
lookup general lookup code and all lookups
memory memory handling
pid add pid to debug output lines
process_info setting info for the process log
queue_run queue runs
receive general message reception logic
resolver turn on the DNS resolver's debugging output
retry retry handling
rewrite address rewriting
route address routing
timestamp add timestamp to debug output lines
tls TLS logic
transport transports
uid changes of uid/gid and looking up uid/gid
verify address verification logic
all almost all of the above (see below), and also -v
- -dd<debug options>
- This option behaves exactly like -d except when used on a command that starts a daemon process. In that case, debugging is turned off for the subprocesses that the daemon creates. Thus, it is useful for monitoring the behaviour of the daemon without creating as much output as full debugging does.
- -dropcr
- This is an obsolete option that is now a no-op. It used to affect the way Exim handled CR and LF characters in incoming messages.
- -E
- This option specifies that an incoming message is a locally-generated delivery failure report. It is used internally by Exim when handling delivery failures and is not intended for external use. Its only effect is to stop Exim generating certain messages to the postmaster, as otherwise message cascades could occur in some situations. As part of the same option, a message id may follow the characters -E. If it does, the log entry for the receipt of the new message contains the id, following "R=", as a cross-reference.
- -ex
- There are a number of Sendmail options starting with -oe which seem to be called by various programs without the leading o in the option. For example, the vacation program uses -eq. Exim treats all options of the form -ex as synonymous with the corresponding -oex options.
- -F <string>
- This option sets the sender's full name for use when a locally-generated message is being accepted. In the absence of this option, the user's gecos entry from the password data is used. As users are generally permitted to alter their gecos entries, no security considerations are involved. White space between -F and the < string> is optional.
- -f <address>
- This option sets the address of the envelope sender of a
locally-generated message (also known as the return path). The option can
normally be used only by a trusted user, but untrusted_set_sender
can be set to allow untrusted users to use it.
exim4 -f '<>' user@domain
exim4 -f "" user@domain
- -G
- This is a Sendmail option which is ignored by Exim.
- -h <number>
- This option is accepted for compatibility with Sendmail, but has no effect. (In Sendmail it overrides the "hop count" obtained by counting Received: headers.)
- -i
- This option, which has the same effect as -oi, specifies that a dot on a line by itself should not terminate an incoming, non-SMTP message. I can find no documentation for this option in Solaris 2.4 Sendmail, but the mailx command in Solaris 2.4 uses it. See also -ti.
- -M <message id> <message id> ...
- This option requests Exim to run a delivery attempt on each
message in turn. If any of the messages are frozen, they are automatically
thawed before the delivery attempt. The settings of queue_domains,
queue_smtp_domains, and hold_domains are ignored.
- -Mar <message id> <address> < address> ...
- This option requests Exim to add the addresses to the list of recipients of the message ("ar" for "add recipients"). The first argument must be a message id, and the remaining ones must be email addresses. However, if the message is active (in the middle of a delivery attempt), it is not altered. This option can be used only by an admin user.
- -MC <transport> <hostname> < sequence number> <message id>
- This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally by Exim to invoke another instance of itself to deliver a waiting message using an existing SMTP connection, which is passed as the standard input. This must be the final option, and the caller must be root or the Exim user in order to use it.
- -MCA
- This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally by Exim in conjunction with the -MC option. It signifies that the connection to the remote host has been authenticated.
- -MCP
- This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally by Exim in conjunction with the -MC option. It signifies that the server to which Exim is connected supports pipelining.
- -MCQ <process id> <pipe fd>
- This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally by Exim in conjunction with the -MC option when the original delivery was started by a queue runner. It passes on the process id of the queue runner, together with the file descriptor number of an open pipe. Closure of the pipe signals the final completion of the sequence of processes that are passing messages through the same SMTP connection.
- -MCS
- This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally by Exim in conjunction with the -MC option, and passes on the fact that the SMTP SIZE option should be used on messages delivered down the existing connection.
- -MCT
- This option is not intended for use by external callers. It is used internally by Exim in conjunction with the -MC option, and passes on the fact that the host to which Exim is connected supports TLS encryption.
- -Mc <message id> <message id> ...
- This option requests Exim to run a delivery attempt on each message in turn, but unlike the -M option, it does check for retry hints, and respects any that are found. This option is not very useful to external callers. It is provided mainly for internal use by Exim when it needs to re-invoke itself in order to regain root privilege for a delivery. However, -Mc can be useful when testing, in order to run a delivery that respects retry times and other options such as hold_domains that are overridden when -M is used. Such a delivery does not count as a queue run. If you want to run a specific delivery as if in a queue run, you should use -q with a message id argument. A distinction between queue run deliveries and other deliveries is made in one or two places.
- -Mes <message id> <address>
- This option requests Exim to change the sender address in the message to the given address, which must be a fully qualified address or "<>" ("es" for "edit sender"). There must be exactly two arguments. The first argument must be a message id, and the second one an email address. However, if the message is active (in the middle of a delivery attempt), its status is not altered. This option can be used only by an admin user.
- -Mf <message id> <message id> ...
- This option requests Exim to mark each listed message as "frozen". This prevents any delivery attempts taking place until the message is "thawed", either manually or as a result of the auto_thaw configuration option. However, if any of the messages are active (in the middle of a delivery attempt), their status is not altered. This option can be used only by an admin user.
- -Mg <message id> <message id> ...
- This option requests Exim to give up trying to deliver the listed messages, including any that are frozen. However, if any of the messages are active, their status is not altered. For non-bounce messages, a delivery error message is sent to the sender, containing the text "cancelled by administrator". Bounce messages are just discarded. This option can be used only by an admin user.
- -Mmad <message id> <message id> ...
- This option requests Exim to mark all the recipient addresses in the messages as already delivered ("mad" for "mark all delivered"). However, if any message is active (in the middle of a delivery attempt), its status is not altered. This option can be used only by an admin user.
- -Mmd <message id> <address> < address> ...
- This option requests Exim to mark the given addresses as already delivered ("md" for "mark delivered"). The first argument must be a message id, and the remaining ones must be email addresses. These are matched to recipient addresses in the message in a case-sensitive manner. If the message is active (in the middle of a delivery attempt), its status is not altered. This option can be used only by an admin user.
- -Mrm <message id> <message id> ...
- This option requests Exim to remove the given messages from the queue. No bounce messages are sent; each message is simply forgotten. However, if any of the messages are active, their status is not altered. This option can be used only by an admin user or by the user who originally caused the message to be placed on the queue.
- -Mset <message id>
- This option is useful only in conjunction with -be (that is, when testing string expansions). Exim loads the given message from its spool before doing the test expansions, thus setting message-specific variables such as $message_size and the header variables. The $recipients variable is made available. This feature is provided to make it easier to test expansions that make use of these variables. However, this option can be used only by an admin user. See also -bem.
- -Mt <message id> <message id> ...
- This option requests Exim to "thaw" any of the listed messages that are "frozen", so that delivery attempts can resume. However, if any of the messages are active, their status is not altered. This option can be used only by an admin user.
- -Mvb <message id>
- This option causes the contents of the message body (-D) spool file to be written to the standard output. This option can be used only by an admin user.
- -Mvc <message id>
- This option causes a copy of the complete message (header lines plus body) to be written to the standard output in RFC 2822 format. This option can be used only by an admin user.
- -Mvh <message id>
- This option causes the contents of the message headers (-H) spool file to be written to the standard output. This option can be used only by an admin user.
- -Mvl <message id>
- This option causes the contents of the message log spool file to be written to the standard output. This option can be used only by an admin user.
- -m
- This is apparently a synonym for -om that is accepted by Sendmail, so Exim treats it that way too.
- -N
- This is a debugging option that inhibits delivery of a
message at the transport level. It implies -v. Exim goes through
many of the motions of delivery - it just doesn't actually transport the
message, but instead behaves as if it had successfully done so. However,
it does not make any updates to the retry database, and the log entries
for deliveries are flagged with "*>" rather than
"=>".
- -n
- This option is interpreted by Sendmail to mean "no aliasing". It is ignored by Exim.
- -O <data>
- This option is interpreted by Sendmail to mean set option. It is ignored by Exim.
- -oA <file name>
- This option is used by Sendmail in conjunction with -bi to specify an alternative alias file name. Exim handles -bi differently; see the description above.
- -oB <n>
- This is a debugging option which limits the maximum number of messages that can be delivered down one SMTP connection, overriding the value set in any smtp transport. If < n> is omitted, the limit is set to 1.
- -odb
- This option applies to all modes in which Exim accepts
incoming messages, including the listening daemon. It requests
"background" delivery of such messages, which means that the
accepting process automatically starts a delivery process for each message
received, but does not wait for the delivery processes to finish.
- -odf
- This option requests "foreground" (synchronous)
delivery when Exim has accepted a locally-generated message. (For the
daemon it is exactly the same as -odb.) A delivery process is
automatically started to deliver the message, and Exim waits for it to
complete before proceeding.
- -odi
- This option is synonymous with -odf. It is provided for compatibility with Sendmail.
- -odq
- This option applies to all modes in which Exim accepts incoming messages, including the listening daemon. It specifies that the accepting process should not automatically start a delivery process for each message received. Messages are placed on the queue, and remain there until a subsequent queue runner process encounters them. There are several configuration options (such as queue_only) that can be used to queue incoming messages under certain conditions. This option overrides all of them and also -odqs. It always forces queueing.
- -odqs
- This option is a hybrid between -odb/-odi and
-odq. However, like -odb and -odi, this option has no
effect if queue_only_override is false and one of the queueing
options in the configuration file is in effect.
- -oee
- If an error is detected while a non-SMTP message is being
received (for example, a malformed address), the error is reported to the
sender in a mail message.
- -oem
- This is the same as -oee, except that Exim always exits with a non-zero return code, whether or not the error message was successfully sent. This is the default -oex option, unless Exim is called as rmail.
- -oep
- If an error is detected while a non-SMTP message is being received, the error is reported by writing a message to the standard error file (stderr). The return code is 1 for all errors.
- -oeq
- This option is supported for compatibility with Sendmail, but has the same effect as -oep.
- -oew
- This option is supported for compatibility with Sendmail, but has the same effect as -oem.
- -oi
- This option, which has the same effect as -i, specifies that a dot on a line by itself should not terminate an incoming, non-SMTP message. Otherwise, a single dot does terminate, though Exim does no special processing for other lines that start with a dot. This option is set by default if Exim is called as rmail. See also -ti.
- -oitrue
- This option is treated as synonymous with -oi.
- -oMa <host address>
- A number of options starting with -oM can be used to
set values associated with remote hosts on locally-submitted messages
(that is, messages not received over TCP/IP). These options can be used by
any caller in conjunction with the -bh, -be, -bf,
-bF, -bt, or -bv testing options. In other
circumstances, they are ignored unless the caller is trusted.
exim4 -bs -oMa 10.9.8.7.1234
exim4 -bs -oMa [10.9.8.7]:1234
- -oMaa <name>
- See -oMa above for general remarks about the -oM options. The -oMaa option sets the value of $sender_host_authenticated (the authenticator name). This option can be used with -bh and -bs to set up an authenticated SMTP session without actually using the SMTP AUTH command.
- -oMai <string>
- See -oMa above for general remarks about the -oM options. The -oMai option sets the value of $authenticated_id (the id that was authenticated). This overrides the default value (the caller's login id, except with -bh, where there is no default) for messages from local sources.
- -oMas <address>
- See -oMa above for general remarks about the -oM options. The -oMas option sets the authenticated sender value in $authenticated_sender. It overrides the sender address that is created from the caller's login id for messages from local sources, except when -bh is used, when there is no default. For both -bh and -bs, an authenticated sender that is specified on a MAIL command overrides this value.
- -oMi <interface address>
- See -oMa above for general remarks about the -oM options. The -oMi option sets the IP interface address value. A port number may be included, using the same syntax as for -oMa. The interface address is placed in $received_ip_address and the port number, if present, in $received_port.
- -oMr <protocol name>
- See -oMa above for general remarks about the -oM options. The -oMr option sets the received protocol value that is stored in $received_protocol. However, it does not apply (and is ignored) when -bh or -bs is used. For -bh, the protocol is forced to one of the standard SMTP protocol names. For -bs, the protocol is always "local-" followed by one of those same names. For -bS (batched SMTP) however, the protocol can be set by -oMr.
- -oMs <host name>
- See -oMa above for general remarks about the -oM options. The -oMs option sets the sender host name in $sender_host_name. When this option is present, Exim does not attempt to look up a host name from an IP address; it uses the name it is given.
- -oMt <ident string>
- See -oMa above for general remarks about the -oM options. The -oMt option sets the sender ident value in $sender_ident. The default setting for local callers is the login id of the calling process, except when -bh is used, when there is no default.
- -om
- In Sendmail, this option means "me too", indicating that the sender of a message should receive a copy of the message if the sender appears in an alias expansion. Exim always does this, so the option does nothing.
- -oo
- This option is ignored. In Sendmail it specifies "old style headers", whatever that means.
- -oP <path>
- This option is useful only in conjunction with -bd or -q with a time value. The option specifies the file to which the process id of the daemon is written. When -oX is used with -bd, or when -q with a time is used without -bd, this is the only way of causing Exim to write a pid file, because in those cases, the normal pid file is not used.
- -or <time>
- This option sets a timeout value for incoming non-SMTP messages. If it is not set, Exim will wait forever for the standard input. The value can also be set by the receive_timeout option.
- -os <time>
- This option sets a timeout value for incoming SMTP messages. The timeout applies to each SMTP command and block of data. The value can also be set by the smtp_receive_timeout option; it defaults to 5 minutes.
- -ov
- This option has exactly the same effect as -v.
- -oX <number or string>
- This option is relevant only when the -bd (start listening daemon) option is also given. It controls which ports and interfaces the daemon uses. When -oX is used to start a daemon, no pid file is written unless -oP is also present to specify a pid file name.
- -pd
- This option applies when an embedded Perl interpreter is linked with Exim. It overrides the setting of the perl_at_start option, forcing the starting of the interpreter to be delayed until it is needed.
- -ps
- This option applies when an embedded Perl interpreter is linked with Exim. It overrides the setting of the perl_at_start option, forcing the starting of the interpreter to occur as soon as Exim is started.
- -p<rval>:<sval>
- For compatibility with Sendmail, this option is equivalent
to
-oMr < rval> -oMs <sval>
- -q
- This option is normally restricted to admin users. However,
there is a configuration option called prod_requires_admin which
can be set false to relax this restriction (and also the same requirement
for the -M, -R, and -S options).
- -q<qflags>
- The -q option may be followed by one or more flag letters that change its behaviour. They are all optional, but if more than one is present, they must appear in the correct order. Each flag is described in a separate item below.
- -qq...
- An option starting with -qq requests a two-stage
queue run. In the first stage, the queue is scanned as if the
queue_smtp_domains option matched every domain. Addresses are
routed, local deliveries happen, but no remote transports are run.
- -q[q]i...
- If the i flag is present, the queue runner runs delivery processes only for those messages that haven't previously been tried. ( i stands for "initial delivery".) This can be helpful if you are putting messages on the queue using -odq and want a queue runner just to process the new messages.
- -q[q][i]f...
- If one f flag is present, a delivery attempt is forced for each non-frozen message, whereas without f only those non-frozen addresses that have passed their retry times are tried.
- -q[q][i]ff...
- If ff is present, a delivery attempt is forced for every message, whether frozen or not.
- -q[q][i][f[f]]l
- The l (the letter "ell") flag specifies that only local deliveries are to be done. If a message requires any remote deliveries, it remains on the queue for later delivery.
- -q<qflags> <start id> <end id>
- When scanning the queue, Exim can be made to skip over
messages whose ids are lexically less than a given value by following the
-q option with a starting message id. For example:
exim4 -q 0t5C6f-0000c8-00
exim4 -q 0t5C6f-0000c8-00 0t5C6f-0000c8-00
- -q<qflags><time>
- When a time value is present, the -q option causes
Exim to run as a daemon, starting a queue runner process at intervals
specified by the given time value. This form of the -q option is
commonly combined with the -bd option, in which case a single
daemon process handles both functions. A common way of starting up a
combined daemon at system boot time is to use a command such as
/usr/sbin/exim4 -bd -q30m
- -qR<rsflags> <string>
- This option is synonymous with -R. It is provided for Sendmail compatibility.
- -qS<rsflags> <string>
- This option is synonymous with -S.
- -R<rsflags> <string>
- The <rsflags> may be empty, in which case the
white space before the string is optional, unless the string is f,
ff, r, rf, or rff, which are the possible
values for < rsflags>. White space is required if <
rsflags> is not empty.
exim4 -q25m -R @special.domain.example
- -r
- This is a documented (for Sendmail) obsolete alternative name for -f.
- -S<rsflags> <string>
- This option acts like -R except that it checks the string against each message's sender instead of against the recipients. If -R is also set, both conditions must be met for a message to be selected. If either of the options has f or ff in its flags, the associated action is taken.
- -Tqt <times>
- This an option that is exclusively for use by the Exim testing suite. It is not recognized when Exim is run normally. It allows for the setting up of explicit "queue times" so that various warning/retry features can be tested.
- -t
- When Exim is receiving a locally-generated, non-SMTP
message on its standard input, the -t option causes the recipients
of the message to be obtained from the To:, Cc:, and
Bcc: header lines in the message instead of from the command
arguments. The addresses are extracted before any rewriting takes place
and the Bcc: header line, if present, is then removed.
- -ti
- This option is exactly equivalent to -t -i. It is provided for compatibility with Sendmail.
- -tls-on-connect
- This option is available when Exim is compiled with TLS support. It forces all incoming SMTP connections to behave as if the incoming port is listed in the tls_on_connect_ports option.
- -U
- Sendmail uses this option for "initial message submission", and its documentation states that in future releases, it may complain about syntactically invalid messages rather than fixing them when this flag is not set. Exim ignores this option.
- -v
- This option causes Exim to write information to the standard error stream, describing what it is doing. In particular, it shows the log lines for receiving and delivering a message, and if an SMTP connection is made, the SMTP dialogue is shown. Some of the log lines shown may not actually be written to the log if the setting of log_selector discards them. Any relevant selectors are shown with each log line. If none are shown, the logging is unconditional.
- -x
- AIX uses -x for a private purpose ("mail from a
local mail program has National Language Support extended characters in
the body of the mail item"). It sets -x when calling the MTA
from its mail command. Exim ignores this option.