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FLUSH(8)                                                                                            FLUSH(8)



NAME
       flush - Postfix fast flush server

SYNOPSIS
       flush [generic Postfix daemon options]

DESCRIPTION
       The  flush(8) server maintains a record of deferred mail by destination.  This information is used to
       improve the performance of the SMTP ETRN request, and of its command-line equivalent, "sendmail  -qR"
       or "postqueue -f".  This program expects to be run from the master(8) process manager.

       The  record  is  implemented  as a per-destination logfile with as contents the queue IDs of deferred
       mail. A logfile is append-only, and is truncated when delivery is  requested  for  the  corresponding
       destination.  A  destination  is  the  part  on  the  right-hand side of the right-most @ in an email
       address.

       Per-destination logfiles of deferred mail are maintained only for eligible destinations. The list  of
       eligible  destinations  is  specified  with  the  fast_flush_domains  configuration  parameter, which
       defaults to $relay_domains.

       This server implements the following requests:

       add sitename queueid
              Inform the flush(8) server that the message with the specified queue  ID  is  queued  for  the
              specified destination.

       send_site sitename
              Request delivery of mail that is queued for the specified destination.

       send_file queueid
              Request delivery of the specified deferred message.

       refresh
              Refresh  non-empty  per-destination  logfiles  that  were not read in $fast_flush_refresh_time
              hours, by simulating send requests (see above) for the corresponding destinations.

              Delete empty per-destination logfiles that were not updated in $fast_flush_purge_time days.

              This request completes in the background.

       purge  Do a refresh for all per-destination logfiles.

SECURITY
       The flush(8) server is not security-sensitive. It does not talk to the network, and it does not  talk
       to local users.  The fast flush server can run chrooted at fixed low privilege.

DIAGNOSTICS
       Problems and transactions are logged to syslogd(8).

BUGS
       Fast  flush  logfiles are truncated only after a "send" request, not when mail is actually delivered,
       and therefore can accumulate outdated or redundant data. In order to maintain sanity, "refresh"  must
       be executed periodically. This can be automated with a suitable wakeup timer setting in the master.cf
       configuration file.

       Upon receipt of a request to deliver mail for an eligible destination, the flush(8)  server  requests
       delivery  of all messages that are listed in that destination's logfile, regardless of the recipients
       of those messages. This is not an issue for mail that is sent to a relay_domains destination  because
       such mail typically only has recipients in one domain.

CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS
       Changes to main.cf are picked up automatically as flush(8) processes run for only a limited amount of
       time. Use the command "postfix reload" to speed up a change.

       The text below provides only a parameter summary. See postconf(5) for more  details  including  exam-ples. examples.
       ples.

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

       daemon_timeout (18000s)
              How much time a Postfix daemon process may take to handle a request before it is terminated by
              a built-in watchdog timer.

       fast_flush_domains ($relay_domains)
              Optional list of destinations that are eligible for per-destination logfiles with mail that is
              queued to those destinations.

       fast_flush_refresh_time (12h)
              The  time  after which a non-empty but unread per-destination "fast flush" logfile needs to be
              refreshed.

       fast_flush_purge_time (7d)
              The time after which an empty per-destination "fast flush" logfile is deleted.

       ipc_timeout (3600s)
              The time limit for sending or receiving information over an internal communication channel.

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

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

       parent_domain_matches_subdomains (see 'postconf -d' output)
              What Postfix features match subdomains of "domain.tld" automatically, instead of requiring  an
              explicit ".domain.tld" pattern.

       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 (postfix)
              The  mail system name that is prepended to the process name in syslog records, so that "smtpd"
              becomes, for example, "postfix/smtpd".

FILES
       /var/spool/postfix/flush, "fast flush" logfiles.

SEE ALSO
       smtpd(8), SMTP server
       qmgr(8), queue manager
       postconf(5), configuration parameters
       master(5), generic daemon options
       master(8), process manager
       syslogd(8), system logging

README FILES
       Use "postconf readme_directory" or "postconf html_directory" to locate this information.
       ETRN_README, Postfix ETRN howto

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

HISTORY
       This service was introduced with Postfix version 1.0.

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



                                                                                                    FLUSH(8)

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